Week 6: February 5th thru 11th

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Names in bold will be found in PLAYERS; bolded Titles in References.

2/5 of… 1848

Myra Belle Shirley born in Carthage, MO. She will be remembered as Belle Starr.  {001}

1864

Armory Hall in Aurora, NV: Citizen Vigilantes haul from the Nevada Saloon and lynch the Daly Gang. The hapless gang members: Leader “Three Fingered Jack” McDowell, John Daly, Jim Masterson and William Buckley.  {001}
see:
Wk. 05, 02/01, 1864 – Daly Gang

1864

Confederate saboteurs burn Colt’s Armory at Hartford, CT. All manufacturing records prior to 1861 are lost. Engraving: U.S. PD 1857 – unknown, Colt’s Armory in 1857, United States Magazine (1857) LOC.  {001}

1876

Doc Holliday arrives in Cheyenne, WY, to work at The Bella Union Variety.  {001}

1880

Arizona Wells Fargo detective Robert H. “Bob” Paul reels in stage robber Demetria Dominguez. Reported in the Arizona Weekly.  {001}

1903

“$1,000 Dead or Alive” offered for Elliot Lyons in the killing of Sheriff Bill Withers. Walton, OR.  {001}

1942

Gordon William Lillie aka: Pawnee Bill: Western Showman, died at the age of 81 in his home near of Pawnee, Oklahoma. (Article in process) Photo: U.S. PD pre-1923.  {001}

2020

Died, Issur Danielovitch (aka Izzy Demsky) Kirk Douglas (103 yrs. old) in Beverly Hills, CA. Actor, producer, director. He supported and starred in some westerns: Along the Great Divide (1951) with Walter Brennan, The Big Sky (1952), Man Without a Star (1955), Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957) with Burt Lancaster, Last Train From Gun Hill (1959) with Anthony Quinn, Lonely are the Brave (1962), and The War Wagon (1967) with John Wayne. Photo: U.S. PD, Studio promo.  {001}

2/6 of… 1865

The immense Northbound band of Indians (estimates run to four or five thousand), Arapaho+3, Cheyenne+4 and Sioux+3, crossed the North Platte River+3 on the ice and camped among the bluffs about five miles north of the river. Here, they were joined by the raiding parties that had been terrorizing the South Platte River+2 Valley. Resting the people and the horses for the 40 mile water-less (in winter) trek across the Nebraska Sandhills+2, they also thought that they had some time to enjoy some of the spoils of their raids. It would prove not be so…  {001}
see also:
The originals Index – Landmarks and Registers – Sandhills

1873

The Chocktaw Indians have captured sixteen horse thieves and executed six. Fort Smith, AR, Western Independent.

1899

At 11:30 the night before, in a blinding snowstorm, D&RGW passenger train #1 had rammed a 200 yard wide avalanche across the tracks near Shoshone Creek in Glenwood Canyon (CO). The tender telescoped the mail car which then telescoped the baggage car. The engineer and fireman had jumped and survived and fortunately, no one else had been seriously injured. At dawn, a wreck train with 100 men arrived to dig out train #1. At 9 a.m another small side covered the wreck train and 50 men set to dig it out. The giant slide at 12:40 in the afternoon pushed the 56 ton engine, a tool car and a caboose down to the edge of the water. Roadmaster McMahon, John Dempsy and John Mulvahill were killed when they were swept into the Colorado River. Now, there was 20 feet of snow over the damaged train sent to dig out the first wreck! Over 300 passengers were stranded in Glenwood Springs, CO during the week it took to dig out six slides, covering 375 feet of track from five to twenty feet deep, in the nine miles to Shoshone Creek. Typical of old time mountain railroading in the winter.  {009 & 001}

1900

Article in The Lincoln Evening News (NE) reports from Cheyenne, WY, on the activities of “Col.” Tom Horn and “a half breed Indian” by the name of Ed Tewksbury in the killing of two rustlers/train robbers in the Tetons. Tom had visited the Tewksbury’s in 1887 during the height of The Pleasant Valley War in AZ.  {001}

1903

The Thermopolis Record reports that cattlemen have murdered herders and scattered their sheep in the Big Horn Basin (WY).  {001}

1919

Angel De Cora (Dietz), age 47, died in Northampton, Mass. Noted Winnebago painter and illustrator, perhaps the best known Native American artist in pre WWI America. She was a teacher at Carlisle Indian School and an advocate of Native American rights.  Unfortunately, most of her original work is lost. Photo: U.S. PD  {001}
see:
References – Books – Novels & History (non-ref)
– Waggoner, Linda M. 

1946

The passing of Evett Dumas Nix (aka E.D. Nix), age 84 in Riverside, CA. Grocer, hardware man, marshall. Appointed U.S. Marshall at 32, the youngest in service at the time. He was the initial organizing force in eliminating the outlaw element in The Indian Territory (1893-96). He had a large number of marshals in the field (100) and a not-so-secret weapon in the Three Guardsmen: Chris Madsen, Heck Thomas and Bill Tilghman. The procedure was relatively simple: relentless, heavy pursuit and trailing pressure, coupled with a “surrender or die” policy. Nix’s men could count on him backing them up in court. By 1898 this had led to the eradication of the entire Doolin Gang (save Arkansas Tom Jones who went to prison), the Jennings Gang, and numerous other outlaws, with estimates running to as many as 300+. Official records indicate some 50,000 arrests, and admit to forty-seven outlaws “neutralized”. Nix was forced from office by a debatable scandal in 1896 and returned to merchandising. He later co-authored a book with Gordon Hines, Oklahombres (1929), which in part addressed his exploits as a lawman. Photo: U.S. PD c. 1890’s? unknown.  {001}
see:
PLAYERS – Timelines Index – Timelines M-Z Index – Three Guardsmen Timeline
Photo Gallery Index – Hangings and Shootings (Caution!) – Bill Doolin

2/7 of… 1804

Farmer, inventor John Deere, born in Rutland, Vt. {003}

1840

Isom Prentice “Print” Olive+2 born in either Louisiana or Mississippi. The family relocated to Williamson County, TX on the frontier and Print grew up as a working cowboy, rounding up maverick longhorns to brand and add to ever growing the Olive herd.  {003}

1854

Died of pneumonia in Washington D.C. – mountain man Thomas Fitzpatrick (“Broken Hand“), age 55 or 56): trapper, trader, head of The Rocky Mountain Fur Co. Guide to the Bartleson-Bidwell party (1841), John C. Frémont’s second expedition (1843-44) and Col. Philip Kearny and the Army of the West to Alta California (1845). Fitzpatrick helped negotiate the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851), the largest council of Native Americans ever assembled of the Plains.  {001}

1855

Charles A. “Charlie” Siringo born in Matagorda County, TX. Cowboy, merchant, Pinkerton detective, author.  {001}

1867

Laura (Elizabeth) Ingalls Wilder+2, born in “The Big Woods” of Pepin County, WI. Author.  {001}

1908

Clarence Linden “Buster” Crabbe, born in Oakland, CA. Movie actor.  {001}

1912

Ansley, Custer County, NE sees the passing of James “Nigger Jim” Kelly. Born c. 1839 to manumitted slaves who had belonged to the Olive family and named after patriarch James Olive, Kelly grew up beside Print Olive+2 and was ever his friend and employee: gunfighter, horse breaker, enforcer, Trail Boss, etc. He was chief enforcer for The Custer County Livestock Association when Print Olive was president of the organization. Notably a “proud and fearless” man, who, in his old age, always had candy in his pockets for the children. Photo: U.S. PD pre-1912, “Nigger Jim” Kelly.   {003}
see also:
Quotes Index – Cowboy Quotes – An Olive Ranch drover, c. 1870’s

1917

Official end of Major General John J. Pershing‘s Mexican Expedition to capture Mexican Revolutionary Pancho Villa. Very little has actually been accomplished and the troops and resources are needed in Europe.  {001}

1955

The Dumas Brothel, Butte, MT: Madame Elinor Knott dies a suicide. Legend has it that her ghost is occasionally seen in all 43 rooms of the old bordello.  {001}
see:
The Originals Index – Entertainment in the Old West
– Brothels, Saloons, Dance Halls, Gambling

2001

Dale Evans, “Queen of the West” (Lucille Wood Smith, Frances Octavia Smith), age 81, died in Apple Valley, CA. Wife of Roy Rogers. Singer, songwriter, radio star, western film star. First film with Roy Rogers: Home in Old Oklahoma (1946), and many more would follow. TV Star on the Roy Rogers Show (1951-57). Horse: Buttermilk   TYH! Photo: U.S. PD, cropped – Roy & Dale at Knott’s Berry Farm c. 1970   {001}

2/8 of… 1853

Washington Territory split off from the Oregon Territory.  {001}

1865

Battle of Rush Creek: U.S. army Lt. Col. William O. Collins+3, with 185 men, (some accounts say fewer) of the 11th Ohio Cavalry+3, left Mud Springs in hot pursuit of the Indians who had attacked the station. Passing an abandoned camp littered with codfish, flour, and empty cans of oysters, meat, and fruit, they followed the trail to the North Platte. As they neared the large Indian encampment (see: 02/06/1865 – above), some 1,000 Arapaho+3, Cheyenne+4 and Lakota Sioux+3 warriors came out to fight. Collins dug in and withstood the siege but could make no further progress against the Indians and the bitter cold weather. Inconclusive skirmishes took place along both banks of the North Platte River+2 for two days (southeast of today’s Broadwater, NE).  {001}

1887

Luke L. Short kills Sheriff Longhair Jim Courtright {15} (aka: Timothy Issiah ” Big Jim” Courtright) in a gunfight over a protection racket shakedown attempt at the White Elephant Saloon in Ft. Worth, TX. Luke blasts Jim’s thumb off, then follows with four more shots to finish up the duel. Photos: U.S  . PD pre-1887 unknown, LH – Luke, RH – Big Jim.  {001}
see:
The Originals Index – Gunfighter Statistics – 15

1887

Passage of the Dawes Act (General Allotment Act). Intended to survey Indian lands, destroy the Indian concept of common ownership of the land, make certain classes of Indians “property owners” and steal most of the land for white settlement. Along with other “acts”, ultimately successful. Complicated, go look it up.  {001}
see:
Quotes Index – Indian Quotes – Senator Henry M. Teller

1890

Born in Robeline, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana: Thomas Gilcrease (Indian Tom). Oilman and noted collector of art and Indian artifacts.  {001}

1999

Died: Myrtle Elenore Cooper, age 86. The lively half of the duo Lulu Belle and Scotty. Regulars on the National Barn Dance (1930’s early 40’s) and pioneers in country music. Their most popular record was, Have I Told You Lately that I Love You (1934). Photo: U.S. PD c. 1945 unknown  {001}

2/9 of… 1865

While a large number of warriors kept Lt. Col. Collins+3 and 11th Ohio Cavalry+3 pinned down until late in the day; the immense three tribe assemblage (Arapaho+3, Cheyenne+4 and Lakota Sioux+3) broke camp and began a two day crossing of the water-less (in winter) Nebraska Sandhills+2, then turning west towards the Powder River country in the Wyoming territory. When clear of the army pursuit, the tribes divided, each eventually joining northern relatives. The South Platte River+2 attacks were over. In the trek from Sand Creek they had killed more whites than the number of Cheyenne killed at Sand Creek and completely destroyed the facilities on a hundred miles of Butterfields’s Overland Stage Line.  {001}
see also:
Quotes Index – Indian Quotes
– Politicians, Soldiers, Preachers & others… – George E. Hyde
Wk. 38, 09/23/1865 – Butterfield Overland Dispatch
The originals Index – Landmarks and Registers – Sandhills

1869

The now-famous Running W of the King Ranch in Texas appeared in the 1860s and is still used today. It was registered on this date, as the official brand for King Ranch. Richard King’s first officially recorded brand was the HK, in 1859.  {001}

1874

Against the advice of Ute Chief Ouray, Alferd Packer and five companions leave the Montrose, CO, area for Gunnison on a wintertime prospecting expedition.  {001}

1906

Morristown, NJ sees the passing of Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe, at age 87. Under the nom de plume “Dame Shirley” Her letters, twenty-three in all, were written between September 1851 and November 1852 to her sister Molly. They were first published in a California magazine, The Pioneer, between 1854 and 1855. After her death, they would be compiled and published as a book – The Shirley Letters from California Mines, 1851-52, edited by Thomas C. Russell (1922), which many credit as being among the best first-hand accounts of the mining camps. Writer Bret Harte, with whom she was acquainted in California, was said to have been influenced by her letters.  {001}
see also:
Wk. 47, 11/24/2017 – Girls of the Golden West

1917

Evans Gang leader: farmer, teamster, train robber and killer, Chris Evans, age 70, died a natural death in Portland, OR (banished from California). He had served seventeen years at Folsom Prison (CA) for his crimes [mostly robbing Southern Pacific trains and maybe a killing or two?]. He was paroled by the new Governor, Hiram Johnson [R] in 1911. A slap in the face to the unpopular Southern Pacific Railroad, despised by much of the population at the time. Photos: U.S. PD, LH – Prison ID pre-1911? RH – Evans likely before prison, pre-1894?  {001}
see:
The Originals Index – Outlaw Gangs Index – Evans Gang (Chris)

1969

Gabby Hayes (George Francis Hayes), age 83, died in Burbank, CA.  Western film star, TV star, sidekick to Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Wild Bill Elliott, Gene Autry, Randolph Scott and Hopalong Cassidy in more than sixty movies. Photo: U.S. PD, frame from a trailer for Hopalong Cassidy (1935).  {001}

2/10 of… 1846

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—also known as the Mormons—left Illinois for the West. Their journey had begun in New York, where Joseph Smith reported that in 1823 he had been visited by an angel named Moroni. Moroni had directed him to a buried cache of gold plates, on which were written the history of the Israelites. He retrieved these and translated them with the help of two seer stones that were with them, and so wrote the Book of Mormon—on which he based a new sect of Christianity.  {003}

1864

Guadalupe Miranda had fled the country during the Taos Revolt (Jan. ’47), and when Charles Beaubien died, Lucian Maxwell inherited the giant Mexican land grant. He soon purchased what he hadn’t inherited, then a fortuitous gold strike increased his revenue and wealth. He would soon sell the grant.  {001}

1865

The Indians had abandoned their holding action the afternoon before. The troopers have been out for 10 days, ridden nearly 400 miles, fought two battles, are suffering from cold and lack of food and everyone is exhausted. With two men killed, nine wounded and another 10 men suffering frostbite, not to mention being outnumbered by about five to one; Lt. Col. Collins+3 decides that further action would be “injudicious and useless” and the 11th Ohio Cavalry+3 makes trail for Fort Laramie.  Collins estimates Indian casualties at Mud Springs and Rush Creek at 100 to 150. Cheyenne+4 warrior George Bent, claimed that only two Indians were wounded at Rush Creek. {001}
see:
Wk. 05, 02/04/1865 – Battle of Mud Springs
02/08/1865 – Battle of Rush Creek – above
Quotes Index – Indian Quotes – Politicians, Soldiers, Preachers & others…
– quotes from two unknown soldiers on the campaign.)

1869

Born a slave in 1854, Ned Love leaves Tennessee at the age of fifteen and sets out for Kansas to seek his fortune. In Dodge City, KS, he acquires a job with the Duval outfit from Texas (testing for the job by riding a wild horse by the name of Good Eye). Impressed at his skill and courage, they hire him at $30 a month, buy his cowboy gear for him, name him Red River Dick, and start back to Texas. He will work for the Pig Pen brand outfit for the next three years, becoming a highly competent cowboy—little knowing he will someday become Deadwood Dick.  {001}

1873

In January 1873, several of the ever pugnacious Horrell Brothers had interfered in the attempted arrest of locals, Mark and Wash Short by Lampasas County (TX) Sheriff Shadrick T. Denson. Denson was killed in the resulting gunfight. An appeal to Texas Governor Edmund J. Davis for help, by a Lampasas County judge, resulted in the Governor issuing a specific order for Lampasas, TX. It prohibited the carrying of firearms inside town limits. He would also send in the Texas State Police to arrest the miscreants and restore order…  {001}

1957

Laura Ingalls Wilder+2, dead at 90, Mansfield, MO. Teacher, columnist, author, libertarian. She successfully wove her experiences of life on the frontier into a writing career, beginning with Little House in the Big Woods (1932). She gained national notice with Little House on the Prairie (1935), which then grew into a popular series. Her economic success eventually allowed her to stop writing fiction and exercise her interest in Libertarian issues. Wilder has had significant influence on our perception of her times.  Wilder’s first book, her autobiography (1930), was finally published in 2014. TYH! (There is an interesting controversy about the level of contribution to Wilder’s writings by her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, a successful author in her own right… or did mom help her?  Look it up—a little more insight into the world presented in the books.) Photo: U.S. PD c. 1894 unknown.  {001}
see:
Quotes Index – Women Quotes – Wilder

2/11 of… 1850

The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway (BBB&C), Only the second railroad west of the Mississippi River, it was the first railroad chartered and operated in Texas. The railroad had constructed 20 miles of track by 1853. It would eventually became a component of the Southern Pacific RR.  {001}
see also:
Railroads in the West – Some Western Railroads –
Buffalo Bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway
This event also appears in Firsts in the Old West – 1850, 02/11

1857

John Reynolds Hughes born in Cambridge, IL. Drover, rancher, Texas Ranger.  {001}

1976

Lee J.Cobb (Leon Jacob), age 64, died in Woodland Hills, CA. Well known stage and screen actor. He played Wyoming rancher Judge Henry Garth in the NBC TV series, “The Virginian“ – 1962-65. Photo: U.S. PD c. 1960’s promo shot, unknown.  {001}

1985

Henry Hathaway (Henri Leonard de Fiennes), age 86, died in Hollywood, CA. Silent and talkie movie director. Western Films include: Heritage of the Desert (based on a Zane Grey novel [1932]), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), Nevada Smith starring Steve McQueen (1966), True Grit starring John Wayne (1969), How the West Was Won (1977) (TV). Photo: book photo from Kings of the “Bs ©1975.  {001}

End: Week 6, February 5th thru 11th.
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{001} C 12/21; E 08/18; F 06/11; P 08/18