Week 51: December
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12/17 of… 1886
Sam Starr (husband of Belle) and BIA Police Officer Frank West kill each other in a shootout at a dance, near the Canadian River, Oklahoma Territory. {001}
1888
The Denson farm, 15 miles south of Graham, TX: Both drunk, Young County Sheriff Marion DeKalb Wallace and deputy Thomas B. “Tom” Collier attempt to re-arrest the Marlow brothers [Alfred, Boone and Llewellyn (out on bail) for a horse theft charge. Showing no warrant, Collier opened fire on Boone and when Marlow returned fire he killed Sheriff Wallace, [who had just rounded a corner behind Collier to investigate the shot] by mistake. Boone escaped in the confusion and the other brothers including Charles and George who had not been present, went to Graham (TX) and surrendered on the existing horse theft charge. {001}
1928
Yellowstone Kelley (Luther Sage Kelley), age 79, died in California. Soldier , Hunter, Trapper and Scout on the frontier from 1868 to 1885 when he again entered government service and went to Alaska and later the Philippines. {001}
1999
Rex Elvie Allen, “The Arizona Cowboy”, age, 78, died in Tucson, AZ; Rodeo Rider, Country Singer/Songwriter, Movie and TV star and narrator. He starred in 19 Western movies for Republic Pictures with sidekicks Buddy Ebsen then Slim Pickens. He made the last “Singing Western” film in 1954. (Horse: Koko) Next he led in 39 episodes of TV’s Frontier Doctor (1958-59). Later, Allen did narration and commercials. His son, Rex Allen Jr. is a Country & Western Singer. {001}
12/18 of…1858
The Territorial Enterprise: founded in Virgina City, NV by Alfred James and William Jernegan. Mark Twain served as editor for a time at the paper making $25 a week, publishing writings treasured today. {001}
1865
Secretary of State William H. Seward proclaims the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment. The United States abolishes and continues to prohibit, slavery and involuntary servitude. {001}
1888
Charlie Mason and Richard Weatherill discover and explore the Anasazi Indian ruins that will become Mesa Verde National Park, near Cortez, CO {001}
1914
At the age of 66, cattleman and gunfighter, John Calhoun “Pink Higgins dies of a heart attack at his ranch in Spur, TX.
1914
Dale L. Morgan (Lowell Dale Morgan) born in Salt Lake City, UT: Western Historian. {001}
1971
The feral descendents of Old World Spanish stock (1500′s); mustangs and wild burros are to be protected as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West”. Congress passes and President Richard M. Nixon signs into law; The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. Approximately 40, 000 horse and 5,000 burros in 2010. This is a good place to remember that the American Indian only had horses from the 1500′s onwards. Before that, the largest beast of burden in the New World was the llama and the Indians, north of Mexico, didn’t have any. (see: Quotes – Indians, Reno) {001}
12/19 of… 1880
LCW: Tom “Big Foot” O’Folliard killed and Tom Pickett wounded in ambush
