Week 22: May 28 thru June 3rd

< previous… next >

Use Cmd/Ctrl+F to search Week 22.
Working links are Red, other references, use Navigation Panel choices.
Names in bold will be found in Players; bolded Titles in References.

5/28 of… 1830

Congress passes President Andrew Jackson‘s Indian Removal Act into law.  It deviated from older policies which respected Native rights.  The Act hit the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole nations of the southeastern states hardest.  The five nations resisted nonviolently and tried to embrace Anglo-American practices of education, farming, and slave-holding, but to no avail, and about 100,000 Indians were forcibly marched thousands of miles – sometimes in manacles – to lands west of the Mississippi, most of which were judged undesirable by white settlers.  The Cherokee fought the Removal Act in court, and Seminoles of Florida fought it literally and as many as 25 percent died in-route. In the next eight years, thousands will be driven from their historic lands. Map U.S. PD © Maps.com – Fair Use  {003 & 001}
see also:
Wk. 09, 02/28/1823 – Johnson vs. M’Intosh
Wk. 11, 03/18/1831 – Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Players – Timelines – Timelines M-Z – Time to Ponder
Quotes Index – Indian Quotes – Andrew Johnson and Chief Osceola
PLAYERS – Timelines – Timelines A-L – Indian Treaties Timeline

1864

Montana Territory incorporated (organized out of the existing Idaho Territory).  {001}

1894

William Dowdle, the missing stage robber from the Angels Camp holdup attempt*, captured in a chicken coop. He names Amos Bierer as a co-conspirator. Both are convicted and sent to Folsom Prison. Dowdle is paroled in 1902 and Bierer in 1903.  {001}
see:
*Wk. 20, 05/19/1894 – Stage Robbery

1902

Novelist Owen Wister published The Virginian, now considered the first true western. Born in Philadelphia, he moved to Wyoming, and loved it.  He was stirred to write about a cowboy known as “the Virginian,” who comes to Bear Creek, Wyoming, gets a job on a ranch, and falls in love with the schoolmarm, Molly Wood. There he meets a gang of rustlers. Gang leader Trampas threatens the Virginian. The novel contains the famous line, “This town ain’t big enough for both of us,” and it ends with a shootout in the street. One of the most popular books of the time, it sold 20,000 copies the first month, 300,000 by year’s end, and 1½ million copies by the time of Wister’s death in 1938.  It was his only book about the American West.  {003}
see:
Wk. 29, 07/21/1938 – Owen Wister,

1971

Audie Leon Murphy, age 44, died in a plane crash near Catawba, VA. Medal of Honor recipient, most decorated soldier in WWII. Western music composer, movie star, (44 films, 33 were westerns): No Name on the Bullet (1959), Hell Bent for Leather (1960), Posse from Hell (1961. He also starred in a short-lived Western detective TV series titled Whispering Smith (1961). TYH!  {001}

1980

Destroyed by an earthquake! Having been rescued from the dump after Panama-Pacific International Exposition closed in San Francisco (1916) and moved to Mooney Grove Park in Visalia, CA — The Pioneer — a sculpture by Solon Borglum (1915). Only the base exists today but the sculpture remains on The National Register of Historic Places.  {001}

5/29 of…1857

Mormon officials report passing a herd of 4,000 cattle bound for California somewhere east of Ash Hollow, NE. Is this the West’s first major cattle drive?  {001}

1869

The Dan Castello Circus, performing in North Platte, NE, is the first revelation for 23 year old William F. Cody.  {001}
see also:
The Originals Index – Entertainment in the Old West
– Rodeos and Wild West Shows

1882

Colorado Governor Fredrick W. Pitkin will not honor the requisition carried by Pima County, AZ, Sheriff Bob Paul attempting to return Doc Holliday to Arizona to face charges for the murders of Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton at the Gunfight at the OK Corral.*  {001}
see:
*As reported in The Rocky Mountain News, 05/30/1882
Wk. 43, 10/26/1881 – OK Corral

1892

Fredrick Schiller Faust born in Seattle, WA. He will grow to become the well known western author, Max Brand.  {001}

1911

Porum Range War – Some 25 members of the Hester Faction attacked Pony Starr and Joe Davis (Jack Davis’ son) of the Davis Faction at Pony Starr’s ranch about 1/2 mile north east of Porum. George Maxwell, brother Arty Maxwell and Cliff Hester (Thomas L. Hester’s son) were killed in the gun battle. Davis and Starr fought and escaped, riding horses south through the one street of Porum into the hills. They surrendered two days later and all charged were dropped.  {028}
see also:
PLAYERS – Timelines Master Index- Timelines A-L – Porum Range War Timeline

1916

St. Paul, MN, sees the passing of James J. Hill at age 77. Called “Empire Builder“, Hill was involved in transportation (shipping and railroads), specifically the control of products shipped (coal, iron). He built a fortune with his business skills. He expanded his railroads into the Great Northern Railroad: 1,700 miles from St. Paul, MN, to Seattle, WA, completed in January of 1893. The only transcontinental railroad built with private money, very few government grants and one of the few which did not go bankrupt in the Panic of 1893. (Through various mergers it is today part of the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe RR.) Photo: U.S. PD, c. 1890  {001 & 003}

5/30 of… 1849

‘49er Joseph Berrien arrives at Fort Laramie and observing the apparently endless fields and mounds of discards left by previous wagon trains he christened the place “Camp Sacrifice”. The first great dumping ground was trail side within fifty miles of St Joseph, MO, the start of the great journey. By Fort Laramie the reality of the wagon trek over the looming mountains was a strong motivator to lighten the load. Many had hauled extra trade goods hoping to sell them at points west, but the supplies far exceeded need. Over ten tons of bacon dumped near the fort and the real “rush” only beginning.  {003}
also at:
The Originals Index – Trade in the Old West – Commerce in the Old West – 1849 – Camp Sacrifice

1854

The Kansas-Nebraska Act repeals the Missouri Compromise in yet another attempt to deal with slavery issues: the so-called “Popular Sovereignty” (a citizens vote to be slave or free state for new states. This set the stage for what would become “Bleeding Kansas” 1854 – ‘58). Nebraska and Kansas organized as incorporated territories to the United States, with the territorial capitols at Omaha, NE, and Fort Leavenworth, KS.  {001}

1871

Pioche, NV: Gunmen hired by Tom and Ed Newlands, had stolen the mining claim of William H. Raymond and John Ely at gunpoint. The aggrieved miners then hired Michael Casey +2 and three friends to run off the squatters in exchange for a thirty-day lease on the mine. The lease secured a $60,000 loan for the four rescuers. When Casey went to the bank to deposit his quarter share, he ran into Tom Gossen +2 who reminded him of a $100 debt. Casey had the bank teller the deliver money, but Gossen demanded interest as well. Casey took umbrage at this and the men exchanged harsh words, then drew pistols. Backing away, each man stepped out a different door of the bank and yet found themselves facing each other on the street. Casey shot Gossen in the exchange of gunfire. Gossen died the following day, but not before dividing his $15,000 share with his three partners and setting a $5,000, reward for anyone who killed Casey. The citizenry were outraged at Gossen’s murder.  {001}

1888

Holbrook, AZ, merchant Adolph Schuster read the note and quickly obliged Arizona outlaw and poet Red McNeil: $200 and a new suit of clothes. It was a good exchange for his life.  {001}
see:
Quotes Index – Robbers and Poets Quotes – Red McNeil

1892

His “stage career” now over, Jesse James‘ assassin, Robert “Bob” Ford opens a tent saloon/dance hall in Creede, CO. It will be a short run…  {001}

1894

Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO. The leader of The Western Federation of Miners, mine owners and Colorado Governor David H. Waite are holding a meeting attempting to deal with the miner’s strike at Cripple Creek. A mob attacks the meeting intending to lynch the union boss and the governor. The officials narrowly escape via the governor’s train.  {001}

1899

Joe Boot and Pearl Hart rob the Globe to Florence Stage at Cane Springs Canyon, some thirty miles southeast of Globe, AZ. The take is $431.20 and three guns. However, Pearl returns $1 to each passenger for “bed and supper”. This is the last known stage robbery by a woman in the U.S.  {001}

5/31 of… 1824

Jessie Benton Fremont born in Lexington,VA. American author.  {001}

1870

Having left Boston, MA, on the 23rd of May, a train arrives in San Francisco, CA, with its passengers prepared to deliver the Trans-Continental newspaper, which they had written, edited and printed during the journey.  {001}
see:
Wk. 19, 05/10/1869 – Promontory Summit

1876

Bismark, SD. The Bismark Tribune publishes the first three dispatches from reporter Marcus “Mark” H. Kellogg. They are the first of the last, as he is riding with Custer.  {001}

1881

Massachusetts sees the passing of Martha A. Maxwell “The Colorado Huntress” at age 49. Victims of the Panic of 1857,* Maxwell and her family joined the Colorado Gold Rush of 1860. In time, in Colorado she became interested in taxidermy, went back east for training and returned to Colorado to practice the art. Original and innovative, she developed new methods and perspectives. However, her 1874 efforts at a museum in Boulder & Denver met with no financial success. In 1876, she produced an exhibit for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, which proved to be one of the most popular at the internationally attended event. Even so, financial success always eluded her and in the end, even her collection was lost. Photo: U.S. PD c. 1876, unknown.  {001}
see:
*Wk. 34, 08/24/1857 – The Panic of 1857

1882

Zwingle Richard “Zwing” Hunt, age 24, killed by Indians at Russell Canyon, AZ. Brother (uncle) Hugh Hunt barely escapes to tell the tale. But is it true, or did Hugh fool the army into burying a stolen corpse? Or did he and Zwing really return to Texas where Zwing actually died, after drawing a map to the alleged treasure…  {001}

1896

Born in what is today Rainier Beach in Seattle, WA. (c. 1820). Princess Angeline, was the daughter of Chief Seattle, but she was named by Catherine Broshears Maynard, the second wife of Doc Maynard.  When the Duwamish Indians were forced to leave their ancestral lands and move to the reservation by The Treaty of Point Elliott (1855), Angeline remained in Seattle and kept her waterfront cabin on Western Avenue between Pike and Pine Streets, near what is now Pike Place Market. Well known in the community and eventually throughout the world, she made her meager living doing laundry and sold her handwoven baskets through the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. She joined her ancestors on this day, at 76 or 77 years old, and was buried in Lake View Cemetery on Capitol Hill. Photos: LH U.S. PD c. 1893, Frank La Roche Photograph Collection; RH U.S. PD pre- 1896, Ye Olde Curiosity Shop postcard.  {001}

June

The rest of this week falls in June.

6/1 of… 1801

Brigham Young born in Whitingham, VT. Mormon leader.  {001}

1867

Offended at being dunned for payment of a debt to a store owner, Cullen Baker arrived at night demanding that proprietor Rowden come outside. Armed with a shotgun, the storekeeper complied — only to be killed by four bullets from Baker’s pistol. Cass County, TX.

1877

Eadweard Muybridge’s first attempt to answer the question “Does a horse lift all its hooves off the ground at the same time?”.  The “automatic electro-photograph” showed Occident, a Stanford racehorse, seemingly with all four feet off the ground.  But it was not accepted as proof, because it was clearly retouched.  The photo had been painted over, then rephotographed and produced as a woodcut of the photo.  Muybridge and Stanford will try again next year.  {003}

1877

Deadwood Dick completes his first round trip to Dodge City, KS, on a cattle drive after his fight and escape from the camp of Yellow Dog*. The trip is without incident (but for the rampage of the local watering holes after delivery of the herd). The one incident worth noting has to do with Dick, “getting too much bad whiskey under his shirt”. Leaving town, he rode boldly into Ft. Dodge and roped a cannon with the intent to drag it back to Texas to fight Indians. The cannon proving too heavy to move, he made good his escape from the fort; but was soon apprehended by pursuing troopers. Only the intervention of Bat Masterson, who sprung for a $15 round of whiskey, saw Dick safely on his way back south. Bat said Dick was the only cowboy he liked.  {001}
see:
*Wk. 40, 10/04/1876 – Yellow Dog

1879

The Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad arrives slightly east of the existing city of Las Vegas, in the New Mexico Territory.  East Las Vegas will soon be towed (from the original Las Vegas) to, or constructed alongside, the railroad.  {001}

1887

Ike Clanton killed by Detective J.V. Brighton and George Powell at Eagle Creek, close to Blue River near Springerville, Greelee County, AZ. Photo: U.S. PD pre-1887, unknown.  {001}

1887

The previous month, San Carlos post officers had left on business, leaving the Apache Kid (Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl), then an army Sergeant, in charge of the Apache scouts; who promptly brewed up some tiswin and threw a party. Several became intoxicated, leading to a fight between a scout named Gon-Zizzie and the Kid’s father, Togo-de-Chuz, who was killed. Then, friends of the Kid killed Gon-Zizzie and, to round it all off, the Kid killed Gon-Zizzie’s brother, Rip.
Lt. John Pierce and Al Sieber, Chief of Scouts, confronted everyone involved in the altercations, and ordered them to disarm and comply with arrest, until the incidents could investigated. The Kid and the others complied. However, shots were fired from the watching crowd, including one that hit Sieber in the ankle. During the confusion which followed, the Apache Kid and several others fled.
The army immediately sent two troops of the U.S. 4th Cavalry in pursuit. The Kid and the other scouts evaded the soldiers with help from sympathetic local Apaches…  {001}
see:
References – Dictionary – tiswin

1904

The Model Indian School created by Samuel M. McCowan officially opened at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, MO. It is replete with demonstrations of many Indian skills such as: jewelry making, basket weaving, flint knapping and birch bark canoe construction. To inform the public, “…not only living Indians in native dress, settings, and environments, but such displays as will illustrate the government’s policy, methods of instruction, and progress being made by the Indians themselves.”  {001}
See also:
Wk. 18, 04/30/1904 – Louisiana Purchase Treaty

6/2 of… 1865

The Civil War comes to a final conclusion. The Commander of Confederate Forces West of the Mississippi, General Edmund Kirby Smith, capitulated (05/26/1865), signed the Terms of Surrender at Galveston, TX and the last Confederate army ceased to be. The war was almost over,* 620,000 Americans were dead, and the prosecutions for treason against high profile ex-Union officers such as Smith would soon begin. Smith prudently fled to Mexico. Photo: U.S. PD, General Smith c. 1860’s  {003 & 001}
see also:
*(see: Wk 45, 11/06/1865)
PLAYERS – Timelines Index – Timelines A-L Index – Civil War Timeline

1874

Belmont, NV. Murderer John Walker and cellmate Charles McIntyre are introduced to Judge Lynch by the local “301 Vigilante Movement”.  {001}

1876

Driver A.C. Adams, running his stage between Roseburg and Yreka, finds Black Bart blocking his way…  {001}

1904

Kirby Creek, south of Worland, WY. Sheep man Lincoln A. Morrison murdered at his camp by “persons unknown”.  {001}

1924

President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act: full U.S. citizenship is granted to all “indigenous” people.  {001}

6/3 of… 1808

Jefferson Finis Davis born in Christian County, KY (president of the Confederacy).  {001}

1850

Alleged perpetrators of the Whitman Massacre, Cayuse Indians Isaiachalkis, Kimasumpkin, Klokamas, Tilaukaikt and Tomahas are hanged by U.S. Marshal Joseph L. Meek, a prominent pioneer, sheriff, and legislator. Another major blow to relations between whites and Indians. The conflicts would last nearly forty-five more years.  {001}
see:
Wk. 48, 11/29/1847 – Whitman Massacre
Quotes Index – Indian Quotes – The Indians themselves… – Tilaukaikt

1850

The California Trail (1840’s…), The Santa Fe Trail (1820’s…) (see graphic, 1845) and The Oregon Trail (1811…) — all originated in Jackson County, MO. Citizens form “The Town of Kansas” at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, which then becomes Kansas City, MO, in 1889. Graphic: U.S. PD National Park Service.  {001}

1869

Stockton, CA. William Dennis outshoots Judge Gordon Belt, age 40. Belt was a southern sympathizer who led the alleged “partisans” of  The Mason Henry Gang in murders, robberies, etc. in southern California during the War Between the States. Said to have been leader of the posse that hung Tom Bell.  {001}
see:
Wk. 40, 10/04/1856 – Tom Bell

1871

The James-Younger Gang robs the Obocock Brothers Bank in Corydon, IA.  {001}

1871

Pioche, NV +2: Michael Casey +2 ran into Dublin born miner Jim Leavy in Felsenthal‘s store and they argued, Leavy, claiming he had shot Tom Gasson +2 in self-defense, but Leavy holding that it was not true. Infuriated, Casey verbally abused him. Leavy, still wearing his mining gear, told Casey he had no gun and that was the only reason Casey dared talk to him like that. Casey raged, “Go get your gun and come a-shooting.” Leavy  retrieved his gun from his cabin and returned to the store. Casey’s friend  David Neagle was waiting on the front porch, so Leavy surprised Casey by arriving through an side alley. In an exchange of gunfire, Casey went down, shot in the neck, Leavy charged and buffaloed him, a fatal blow. Neagle then fired, striking Leavy through both cheeks, shattering his jaw, knocking out several teeth and disfiguring him for life. Even so, Leavey”s return shot creased Neagle’s skull.
Leavy was soon arrested but quickly acquitted for self-defense. He collected his reward, quit his job as a miner and over the next 10 years traveled to Virginia City, NV, Cheyenne, WY,  Deadwood, SD, Leadville, CO, Tombstone and Tucson, AZ Territory, working as a gunman and a gambler. Allegedly having another fatal gunfight with a man named Thomas Ryan (1873), before leaving Nevada, again being acquitted. Legend claims he fought and survived more than sixteen shootouts over that time.  {001}

During a disagreement over money with soiled dove Emma Stanley, one of several cavalry troopers slightly wounds her with his pistol. “Red” Beard, owner of the dance hall, responds by seriously wounding two of the miscreant’s innocent companions as the perpetrator himself escapes. Delano, near Wichita, KS.  {001}
see:
Wk. 23, 06/05/1873 – soldiers attack

1882

Rico, CO; Marshal George A. Smith killed attempting to apprehend Charlie “Trinidad” Cummings and Tom Wall for the theft of several saddles from Schueler and Bang’s store. Smith was the first local lawman killed in the line of duty.  {001}

1891

“Zip” Wyatt hurrah’s the street in Mulhall, OK on horseback. Shoots it out with some citizens and wounds two. This event is probably the founding of his outlaw career.  {001}

1936

Birthday of novelist Larry McMurtry, born in Archer City, Texas. Archer City was a small town, and his parents and grandparents were cattle ranchers. At 25 he published. His first novel, Horseman, Pass By (1961), was well received and two years later, it was made into the film Hud (1963) with Paul Newman. His best known western books are Lonesome Dove (1985) and its sequel, Streets of Laredo (1993). He is the author of over 30 novels, including Leaving Cheyenne (1963), Buffalo Girls (1990), Sin Killer (2002), and The Last Kind Words Saloon (2014). Photo: Fair Use, recent  {003}
see also:
References – Books – Novels and History (non-ref) – Larry McMurtry
Quotes Index – Commentators Quotes – Larry McMurtry

1947

The “Border Boss” John R. Hughes {16} died in Austin Texas, a suicide at 92. Cowboy, rancher, gunfighter and Texas Ranger with 28 years service. Hughes and his exploits appear in several historical publications and fictional accounts. He thought he was the inspiration for The Lone Ranger. Photo: U.S. PD published 1894 Ysleta, Texas. Company D of The Texas Rangers, Hughes, seated at right.  {001}

1948

Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski began work on the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He would continue with the project for the next thirty-four years. It was still incomplete at the time of his death in 1982. The project continues today. The tribes generally disapprove of the entire affair, with many viewing it as a desecration of the Black Hills. Crazy Horse would not let his image be taken, and the disputers are very unhappy with the pointing finger, as the Lakota do not point with that finger. Far too complex for The Reader, look this one up. Photo: U.S. PD? 2011 Mike Tigas. A model of the proposed work with the in-progress work in the background.  {001}
see also:
Photo Gallery Index – Indian Photos – Crazy Horse

1959

The 39th and last episode of Frontier Doctor, starring Rex Allen Jr.. Outlaw Legion (1958), Broken Barrier, (1959).  {001}

End: Week 22, May 28th thru June 3rd

< previous… next >

{001} C 03/21; E 08/18; F 06/11; P 10/17