A Great Rhode Island Cowboy
Abel Head Pierce was born in Rhode Island on June 29, 1834. At the age of twenty he stowed away on a schooner and ended up in southern Texas. Abel took a job for a cattleman named Grimes. Starting out doing odd jobs, Abel worked his way up to trail boss, taking cattle to New Orleans.
A Nobleman Smitten by The West
Windham Thomas Wyndham-Quin was born on February 12, 1841 as the fourth Earl of Dunraven. In 1874, at the age of 34 the Irish nobleman came to the United States to check on some land that he owned. Incidentally, that land was 60,000 acres where Estes Park, Colorado is located.
Ike Clanton
 N. H. Clanton, better known as “Old Man” Clanton, was the leader of a band of outlaws that at one time numbered as many as 300 men. They operated in southeast Arizona. They were known to rustle Mexican cattle and rob a bullion train now and then. In 1881 a group of the clan headed by the Old Man robbed a bullion train in Guadalupe Canyon, killing 19 Mexicans in the process. A few weeks later the Old Man and 5 gang members were in turn ambushed and killed by friends of the murdered Mexicans. With Old Man Clanton dead, one of his sons, Joseph Isaac Clanton, took over the business. “Ike” Clanton, as he was known around Tombstone, just didn’t have the grit. And although the gang was still known as “The Clantons”, the actual leader became Curly Bill Brocius.
 But Ike was still around. He was like that fly that keeps landing on your face when you’re trying to catch a nap. With a feud between the Clantons and the Earps developing, Ike Clanton seemed to always be talking tough, but stopping just short of an actual fight.
True to his nature, when it came time for the big shootout, Ike refused to fight… and even though Wyatt fired at him several times, Ike escaped with only a slight neck wound. Later Ike supposedly masterminded the ambushes of Virgil and Morgan Earp. After the Earp bunch left Tombstone Ike settled in northeast Arizona, where he continued his cattle rustling. But what Wyatt and Doc couldn’t do, a couple of novice deputies were able to accomplish, and on June 1, 1877 while being arrested, Ike Clanton finally pulled his gun and was shot dead.
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Seth Bullock of Deadwood
In 1867, at the age of twenty, Seth Bullock left Canada to come down to the Montana Territory and do some gold mining. Four years later he was elected to the territory’s state senate. Next Seth took a horseback ride around the Yellowstone area, and sent back reports that helped influence its becoming our first National Park.
Johnson County War Build-Up
Frank M. Canton was known as a lawman, operating as a range detective for the Wyoming Cattle Grower’s Association, and then twice as the sheriff of Johnson County, Wyoming. At the time of his defeat, the Johnson County War was building up. This was a battle between the big cattle ranchers and the small ranchers and farmers.
With failing health, Frank Canton went to Texas where he supposedly had an audience with Jim Hogg, who was a friend as well as the Governor of Texas. Frank confessed to the Governor that his real name was Joe Horner. And that while in his mid 20’s, while living in Texas, he had been wanted for bank robbery, rustling and the shooting of two soldiers.Black Faced Charlie & The Dalton Gang
McCarty Crime Family
The McCartys were from Utah, and for a while, brothers Tom, Bill & George ran with the Wild Bunch. When Tom McCarty got married, he not only gained a wife, he also gained a member of the gang, brother-in-law Matt Warner.
The Reno Gang
A short-lived, but very active gang of the 1860s was the Reno gang. They were the first gang to rob a train. They also engaged in crimes of all kinds, including counterfeiting.
Seeing the writing on the wall, five members of the gang, including Frank Reno escaped to Canada.
But, the Pinkertons also crossed over the border, and arrested them. After an extradition battle that even included the involvement of President Andrew Johnson, these members of the gang were returned to the States and secured in the New Albany jail.
But it did no good. On the evening of December 11, a group of men wearing scarlet masks rushed the jail, wounded the sheriff,
and secured the keys. One at a time, the Indiana Vigilantes hanged the jailed members of the Reno gang.
Cattle Industry Going Wild
Colorow and His People
This story is about an Indian chief who used intimidation and psychological warfare, more than warfare to keep the whites out of his land.
Colorow was a 300-pound surly leader of a band of Northern Ute. His weight was the result of his love for biscuits covered in syrup, which he regularly got by intimidating settler housewives in the Denver area.
But Colorow wasn’t always that size. As a boy he was a Comanche captured by the Ute. However, because of his skills in battle and his leadership qualities, he was made a chief. Although Colorow never really declared war with the whites, he was a persistent thorn in their sides. In 1876 the Ute owned 32 million acres in western Colorado, and Colorow and his people made sure they kept it by threatening and intimidating any miners or settlers who entered the area.
In 1878 a new Indian agent arrived in town. Agent Nathan Meeker’s objective was to transform the Ute into farmers. At the same time Colorado elected a governor on the platform that “the Utes must go.” It was only a matter of time before the sparks lit the gunpowder. And it happened when Meeker, fearing an uprising…because he cut the Ute’s rations to a bare starvation point…called in troops. Colorow ambushed the troops, killing 13, and wounding 43. At the same time another group attacked Meeker’s family, and killed all of them. A truce was arranged. And the Ute who killed the Meekers were punished, but Colorow’s attack was considered an engagement of war.
Again in 1887 a skirmish broke out. As with the one before, it was needless. This one ended when both sides ran out of ammunition.
Finally, on December 11, 1888, Colorow died. It has been estimated that Colorow’s persistent psychological intimidation of any white entering the Ute lands probably delayed the settling of the central Rocky Mountains by at least a decade.
Elizabeth Ann Clifton
Do you think you’ve had a rough life? I can assure you that when we get through with the story of Elizabeth Ann Clifton; you’ll feel your life is a piece of cake.
Born in 1825, Elizabeth Ann Clifton had no schooling and suffered with bouts of epilepticy. At the age of sixteen, she married Alexander Carter. They became ranchers outside of Dallas. Elizabeth managed the ranch, and ran a boarding house. Her husband and his father ran a freight company. In 1857, both her husband and his father were mysteriously killed.
A little over a year later Elizabeth married a Lieutenant Sprague. He disappeared eighteen months later. Elizabeth continued with the boarding house and ranch, becoming one of the most prosperous people in the area. At the age of 36, Elizabeth married a third time…one of her ranch’s cowboys. They were married a year and a half when he was murdered.
Surviving three husbands was tough enough to bear. But the worse was yet to come. In 1864, when she was 39, her ranch was attacked by Comanche, during which Elizabeth’s daughter and daughter’s son were both killed. Elizabeth, her thirteen-year-old son and two surviving granddaughters were taken captive.
Elizabeth was sold to the Kiowa. One of her granddaughters froze to death during the winter of 1864. The other spent nine months as a captive. The Comanche tattooed her arms and forehead before releasing her.
After spending twelve months in captivity, Elizabeth was rescued. And on August 27, 1866, at the age of 41, she headed home. Elizabeth reunited with her granddaughter. Three years later, she married again, and lived quietly until her death at the age of 57.
Truly, it took strong women to survive in the Old West.
Buffalo Bill Cody
One of the Old West’s most famous personalities quite possibly received his fame because someone else refused it.
On July 24, 1869 Ned Buntline was looking for fresh material. Now Buntline was a prolific writer of fictionalized books about the Old West called “dime novels.” At $20,000 a year Buntline was by far the highest paid writer of his time…exceeding the income of such famous authors as Whitman, Twain and Melville.
Buntline came to Fort Larned, Kansas looking for a prospective subject…Major Frank North. When he found North and made his proposition, North explained that real men didn’t brag about themselves. “But,” he said, “If you want a man to fill that bill, he’s over there under a wagon.” Buntline went over to the wagon and saw to a young scout sleeping off a hangover.
The writer and the 23-year-old scout ended up spending 10 days together, drinking and swapping stories. Before the end of the year Ned Buntline had written and published “Buffalo Bill, King of the Border Men, The Wildest and Truest Story I Ever Wrote.”
The book was made into a stage production in New York. Incidentally, the New York press called it the adventures of “Bison William.” Buffalo Bill came to see the show, and was intrigued with performing on the stage…After all it was a less dangerous than fighting Indians.
So, they rewrote the show and named it “The Scouts of the Plains.” The opening night was in Chicago. Even though there were no professional actors on the stage, and no lines were delivered as written, the audience applauded it enthusiastically.
They went on to St. Louis and eventually New York where Buffalo Bill and Buntline had a falling out. Buntline then hired Wild Bill Hickok, who, incidentally maintained that Buntline’s original novel “King of the Border Men” actually contained his exploits, not Buffalo Bills.
Dodge City
As the railroad headed west, towns grew up along side it. One of the more famous Western towns was named Buffalo City. However, that wasn’t the name under which it became famous.
It was the middle of July 1872 when the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad reached a peddler’s camp by the name of Buffalo City, Kansas, located about five miles from the military reservation of Fort Dodge. Almost overnight tent saloons and gambling dens sprang up. Within a matter of weeks it was a town of false-fronted buildings. And shortly afterward the Buffalo City town signs were taken down and replaced with signs reading, Dodge City, after the name of one of the town fathers, Colonel Richard I. Dodge.
Because it was against the law to sell liquor in unorganized regions of Kansas, the Dodge City residents petitioned to organize the county of Ford. Interestingly, the petition contained the names of as many transients and railroad people as residents. Even though it was challenged, the state legislature, out of expediency, approved Ford County
Dodge City started out as a hangout for buffalo hunters. Then when the cattle drives and cowboys started coming north, with twenty saloons, numerous dance halls and houses of ill repute, Dodge City became known as the “Queen of the Cow Towns.”
Over the next few years the likes of Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson and Belle Starr took residence there. But, they only stayed there temporarily, because fame had other places to go and other events in which to participate.
Dodge City only had about 3,000 residents at the height of the population. By 1885, a little over 15 years after it became a town, the railhead had moved on to other towns. The Chisholm Trail was being plowed under by wheat farmers, and the law was maintaining order, so Dodge City settled down and became civilized.
Warren Earp
As we shall see this week, it’s tough being a little brother…Especially if your older brothers are famous, and you’re still living at home with mom and dad.
Imagine you’re the youngest of five brothers living at home with your parents in Colton, California, while your older brothers James, Morgan, Virgil and Wyatt are having fun in a wild town named Tombstone. That was exactly Warren Earp’s situation.
But, in 1880, at the age of 25, he got a chance to go to Tombstone. Virgil was a lawman at the time, and Warren got to guard prisoners and join in posses. Unfortunately, in July of 1881 Warren got shot in a ruckus with some Mexicans, and went back to Colton to recuperate. And, wouldn’t you know it, while he was still at mom and dad’s, he missed out on the O. K. Corral shootout.
Warren returned to Tombstone after brother Virgil was shot, and was there when Morgan was killed. Warren finally saw action as he accompanied Wyatt seeking revenge against the cowboys. Bitter, disillusioned, and deep in the bottle, he returned to Colton.
With Warren regularly getting into trouble, his father got fed up with him and sent him packing. Warren ended up in Willcox, Arizona where he did a little cowboying and a lot of drinking. On July 6, 1900, Warren got crossways with a John Boyet. Some say it was because of a woman, others say it was a carry-over from the Tombstone days. In a confrontation, Warren kept pushing Boyet, until Boyet finally pulled his gun and killed him. This was a case of bringing a knife to a gunfight. For, it was discovered that Warren didn’t have a gun. But he did have a knife.
It seems that, to his dying day, Warren was trying to live up to the reputation of his brothers Wyatt and Virgil by being able to buffalo a man, and disarm him
Abel Head Pierce
“There aren’t any cowboys in Rhode Island,” said a friend recently. I had to correct him, for as we will see this week there was a great cowboy who came from Rhode Island.
Abel Head Pierce was born in Rhode Island on June 29, 1834. At the age of twenty he stowed away on a schooner and ended up in southern Texas. Abel took a job for a cattleman named Grimes. Starting out doing odd jobs, Abel worked his way up to trail boss, taking cattle to New Orleans.
Abel Head Pierce was a 6 foot, 5 inch bearded giant of a man who had a habit of wearing spurs with extra large rowels, and strutting around town. Someone remarked that Abel looked like a Shanghai rooster, and he became Shanghai Pierce. Now, that’s a name any cowboy would be proud of.
After serving in the Civil War, Shanghai returned to Texas and started accumulating cattle. Shanghai took a couple of years out in Kansas… supposedly to let things cool down in Texas after lynching a couple of rustlers.
He ended up with a 250,000 acre ranch appropriately called the Rancho Grande. Obviously, Shanghai was a major factor in the Texas cattle industry.
Looking for cattle that would be resistant to ticks that was causing problems with Texas cattle going north, and a breed that would produce more meat, Shanghai went to Europe and ended up bringing home some Brahma cattle, which he crossed with the Texas Longhorns.
By the end of the 19th century Shanghai Pierce’s Rancho Grande approached a million acres. When Shanghai felt his life was close to coming to an end he hired a San Antonio sculptor to make a larger than life statue of himself to be placed over his grave. Asked why, Shanghai responded, “I knew that if I didn’t do it, no one else would.”
Santa Anna
I’m aware of no one who had higher highs and lower lows than the subject of this week’s story did. Even though he wasn’t a citizen of the United States, his fate was important to our country.
He was born Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, the son of middle-class parents in Vera Cruz, Mexico. Joining the military, he distinguished himself during Mexico’s fight for independence from Spain. In 1833, he won election to the presidency of Mexico. Within two years, he declared himself Mexico’s dictator.
This brought him into conflict with the Anglos who had settled in a northern part of Mexico, known as Texas. Determined to crush the rebellion, Santa Anna took personal command of the army that went to Texas. After the defeat of the Alamo, and the execution of 400 prisoners at Goliad, Santa Anna became overconfident, and in April of 1836, at San Jacinto, Santa Anna was captured. In exchange for his release, Santa Anna signed an order resulting in Texas becoming an independent republic.
White Santa Anna was in Texas, he was deposed in Mexico. Although he returned to Mexico powerless, Santa Anna took advantage of an unstable situation, becoming, once again, the dictator of Mexico…But an unstable situation is both good and bad. For, once again Santa Anna was overthrown. As a matter of fact, Santa Anna became the dictator of Mexico, and was overthrown eleven times.
Finally, overthrown in 1855, Santa Anna spent his last twenty years scheming with elements of Mexico, United States and France to get back on top. But it never happened. And, on June 22, 1876, this man who played a part in Mexico’s gaining its independence, and loosing a large part of its territory, died in absolute poverty.
BILLY THE KID CONVICTED
Early in 1880, Sheriff Pat Garrett deposited Billy the Kid in jail, and left town thinking this would be the last he would ever see of “the Kid”. But it wasn’t so. Here is the story of what happened.
Pat Garrett was elected sheriff on the promise that he would bring in Billy the Kid. And within a couple of months after being elected, he made good on his promise. Feeling that chapter closed, Pat Garrett left to find other outlaws.
Billy the Kid was transferred to the town of Messilla, New Mexico for trial. Having a number of possible charges to place against him, they settled on the killing Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady three years earlier.
Billy the Kid was convicted of murdering Sheriff Brady. In pronouncing the sentence, Judge Bristol said, “You are sentenced to be hanged by the neck until you are dead, dead, dead.” Billy the Kid comely responded, “And you can go to…” three times. The hanging was set for May.
Billy the Kid was sent back to Lincoln, New Mexico. Lincoln didn’t have a formal jail so he was shackled, locked in a room on the second floor of the courthouse and placed under a twenty-four hour guard.
On April 28, 1881 Billy received a note with one word on it…“Privy”. Understanding the meaning, Billy said he had to go to the outhouse. Hidden in the outhouse was a pistol. As Billy the Kid was returning to his room, he pulled the pistol and shot his escort. Next he broke into the armory, and got a shotgun. From a second floor window he yelled down to Robert Olinger, a guard that had been ragging on him. When Robert looked up, he was sent to eternity by a blast from his own shotgun.
An hour later, with shackles still hanging from one leg, Billy the Kid rode out of town, once again escaping death.
STAGE HOLD-UP
On March 15, 1881 the Benson-Tombstone stage was held up. Although not intended as such, it ended up being one of the causes for the O. K. Corral shootout. On the other hand, the two objectives of the hold-up were not accomplished.
The main objective was the assassination of Wells Fargo shotgun guard, Bob Paul. As a Wells Fargo guard, Bob Paul had hampered the activities of the cowboys. And, the word around town was that he was to become the Pima County Sheriff. So the cowboys wanted to get rid of him. The assassination failed because when the stage departed Tombstone, stage driver Budd Philpot had gotten stomach pains and Budd exchanged positions with Paul. Orders were to kill the guard…which they did, but it was Philpot instead of Paul.
Paul was also responsible for the robbers not accomplishing their second objective…the theft of $26,000 in silver. When Philpot was shot, Bob grabbed his shotgun and fired off both barrels. One robber was killed and the noise of the shotgun spooked the horses. As the stagecoach was careening out of control, Paul climbed down; secured the reigns of the runaway steeds; and brought the stage safely into Benson.
Later, when he did became the Pima County Sheriff this 6’ 6”, 240-pound mountain of a man, typically using a shotgun, brought in bad guys, stopped lynchings, and hanged many a man legally. It always seemed that he was able to dodge that fatal bullet…That is until 1893 when he couldn’t dodge the one called cancer, and he died on March 26, 1901.
UNDERDOGS
When it comes to public opinion, quite often being the underdog and particularly a persecuted underdog gets everyone’s sympathy.
In 1874, Jesse and Frank James were robbing banks and trains to the point that the railroads decided to hire the famous detective group the Pinkertons to hunt them down. But, the Pinkertons, in spite of their numbers and skill, weren’t having any luck rounding up the James boys. Then late in 1874 one of their agents, John Wicher was found dead close to the James home. The Pinkertons were convinced that the James’ or one of their people had killed him, and they decided to raise the ante.
Receiving information that Jesse and Frank were visiting their mother in Kearney, Missouri, on January 26, 1875, the Pinkertons surrounded the James home with the idea of catching Jesse and Frank. In the process, they threw an incendiary device into the house to illuminate the interior. But it exploded. Unfortunately, it blew off the arm of Jesse and Frank’s mother and killed their little brother. In addition to this, neither Jesse nor Frank was there.
Although the Pinkerstons never acknowledged that they were responsible for the bombing, everyone knew they did it. Realizing they had overplayed their hand, from this point forward the Pinkertons developed a low profile in their search for the James Brothers.
The bombing convinced everyone that the James Brothers were innocent victims of the powerful railroads. The Missouri legislature even came close to passing a bill that would give amnesty to the Jameses. And Zerelda Samuel, their mother, was always willing to make public appearances, showing her missing arm, and giving a melodramatic speech about how the evil railroads were persecuting her innocent sons.
It worked too. Because farmers throughout the region hid and protected the James Brothers, so the Pinkertons were never able to come close to catching them.
ELFEGO BACA
The subject of this story had more grit that the most famous heroes of the Old West. But chances are you’ve never heard of him.
Although the Mexican people had traditionally occupied the southwest, by the 1880’s it comprised primarily of Angelo cattle ranches and towns…some, of whom, considered the Mexicans second-class citizens. A ranch owned by John B. Slaughter occupied the area around what is now Reserve, New Mexico. Now, John B. Slaughter isn’t to be confused with the famous rancher and lawman John Horton Slaughter.
The Slaughter cowboys were known to use the Hispanics in the area for target practice.
A young 19-year-old Mexican by the name of Elfego Baca got tired of this harassment, and got commissioned as a deputy sheriff to do something about it. One of the Slaughter cowboys, Charles McCarthy, shot at Baca. So, Baca arrested him. That evening some of the Slaughter cowboys tried to spring McCarthy loose. During the gunfight a falling horse killed one of the cowboys. The cowboys now felt justified in killing him.
On December 1, 1884 about 80 cowboys came after Baca. By now Baca had taken refuge in a tiny shack. For 36 hours the cowboys, surrounding the shack, filling it with bullet holes. They literally fired thousands of rounds at the shack. Supposedly, many as 400 bullets struck the door alone.
By nightfall Baca had killed a cowboy and wounded several others. By now the cowboys were sure Baca was dead. But they decided to wait until morning to go in after him. In the morning, the cowboys caught the smell of food cooking. It was Baca, cooking breakfast in what was left of the cabin.
Fortunately, for the cowboys, two deputies and several of Baca’s friends showed up, and they retreated. Elfego Baca was tried for killing one of the cowboys, and found innocent. He returned home, an obvious hero to the Hispanics of the area.
GOLD MINE SCAM
One of the keys to a great scam is for the scam artist not to appear to be as smart as the victim. This week’s story is about a couple of con men who were dumb like foxes.
With the discovery of gold in California fake gold and silver mines became common. Swindlers and con men fooled many a greenhorn with “salted” mines. But there were few con men who did as great a job as two cousins from Kentucky named Philip Arnold and John Slack.
In early 1872 Arnold and Slack showed up in a San Francisco bank attempting to deposit a bag of uncut diamonds. When questioned about the diamonds, the two men immediately left with the diamonds. Curious, the bank’s director, William Ralston later found Arnold and Slack, and discovered that the diamonds came from a mine the men had found. The banker, assuming he was dealing with a couple of country bumpkins, schemed to take control of the mine.
A mining expert looked at the mine, and he reported back that it was rich with diamonds and rubies. The banker, Ralston, formed a mining company and capitalized it to the tune of $10 million. He was able to buy the country cousins off with a meager $600,000.
A young geographical surveyor by the name of Clarence King was suspicious of the stories he heard about the mine. It took him one visit to the mine to realize it had been salted…Some of the gems he found had already been cut by a jeweler.
On November 26, 1872 the whole scheme collapsed. Banker Ralston had to refund the investors, with much of the money coming from his own pocket. The two country bumpkins? They disappeared back in Kentucky, along with the meager $600,000 they had been given.
Incidentally, the young man who exposed the fraud, Clarence King, ended up becoming the first director of the United States Geological Survey.
CARRY MOORE VS JOHN L. SULLIVAN
Carry Moore, the subject of today’s story was the only woman to be challenged by famous boxer John L. Sullivan, and accept that challenge. The outcome of that confrontation is interesting.
On November 21, 1867 Carry Amelia Moore married Dr. Charlie Gloyd. The marriage didn’t start out well, because the groom arrived drunk. And it seems he stayed drunk most of their marriage, which, incidentally, only lasted a year and a half. However this failed marriage ended up affecting a large portion of the population of this country.
After the death of Dr. Gloyd, Carry Gloyd married a David Nation. Although David neither drank nor smoked, Carry found he had his share of problems, and he and Carry had a rocky marriage, with a number of separations.
By now Carrie Nation decided that a number of activities that men participated in were not good, including membership in the Masonic Order, sex, and especially strong drink. Even though Kansas was a dry state, there were a number of bootleg outlets. And Carrie took it on herself to “harass these dive-keepers.” The first place she attacked was actually a drug store, where she destroyed a barrel of “medicinal” whiskey.
Getting rid of her second husband, Carry was now free to spread her word beyond Kansas. She traveled the nation lecturing and destroying. When Carry was lecturing in New York, boxing champion John L. Sullivan, the owner of a beer joint said that if she ever entered his place he would “push her down the sewer.” Taking up the challenge Carry went to his place, and chased Sullivan into hiding in the men’s room where Carry refused to follow. A sign in another New York bar read, “All Nations Welcome Except Carry!”
Although Carry Nation was not able to see the ultimate fruit of her work, in 1919, just 8 years after her death, Prohibition became the law across the nation.
Death of Ned Christie
More firepower was used to kill the subject of today’s story that any other single man in the Old West. When you’re finished I think you’ll agree.
Ned Christie was a well-respected member of the Cherokee National Council. But he enjoyed his drink. And in May of 1887, after one such drinking spree, he was accused of killing Marshal Dan Maples. Ned protested his innocence. But, realizing he was getting nowhere, lit out on the run.
For about 6 years Christie was on the lamb. With the exception of one close call, the law just couldn’t catch him.
During this time virtually every crime that took place in the Indian Territory was blamed on him. Dime novels built his reputation to that of the most vicious man to ever raise a gun in the Indian Territory. He was reputed to have engaged in everything from peddling whiskey, to horse thievery and banditry. In the process, he was reputed to have killed as many as 11 people.
With a reward of $1,000 on his head, it was only a matter of time until someone collected it. And it happened on November 3, 1892. Marshal Heck Thomas trailed Christie to a log fort that he had built. Realizing the place was almost impregnable, Thomas sent for reinforcements. As well as plenty of ammunition, the reinforcements also brought along a three-pound field cannon.
During the assault more than 2,000 small-arm rounds were fired. They also shot 38 cannon balls. But they just bounced off. A heaver charge was used. It only succeeded in blowing up the cannon. Finally a dozen sticks of dynamite were placed next to the house. This did the trick.
With black smoke enveloping the area, Ned Christie came out of the house firing his rifle. The deputies returned fire, riddling Christie’s body. It may have taken as much armament as used in a major battle, but the law got their man.
DON’T KILL A MINISTER
As we all know, if someone kills a lawman, he’ll draw the attention of lawmen everywhere until he’s caught. In the Old West the same was true of ministers. And, that ain’t good.
Reverend F. J. Tolby was a Methodist circuit minister, who, in September of 1875, was traveling between Elizabeth and Cimarron in the New MexicoTerritory when he was waylaid and killed. Suspicion fell upon a mail carrier by the name of Cruz Vega. Cruz was arrested, and later, because of the lack of evidence, released
Friend and fellow minister, O. P. Mains was sure Cruz was the villain. So, he persuaded Clay Allison to talk to Cruz about the murder. You may remember Clay Allison being the subject of a couple of earlier stories. If not, just let me say that Allison was a maniacal killer. Using his own special method of persuasion, Allison was able to get Cruz to spill his guts. In the spilling, Cruz indicated that a Manuel Cardenas actually did the killing.
But, Allison and friends wanted someone to pay for the killing of Reverend Tolby, and unfortunately, Cardenas wasn’t around. So, on October 30, they decided to hang Cruz Vega. But, Clay Allison was a companionate person. So, while Cruz was choking to death, Allison shot him in the back, according to Allison “to put the poor Mexican out of his misery.” And even though Allison wasn’t a religious man, he evidently felt it was important to show people that no one should mess with a man of the cloth, so Allison cut Cruz down from the tree and drug him through town.
Manuel Cardenas was arrested and about ten days later vigilantes shot him to death.
I wonder if the following Sunday’s sermon of Reverend O. P. Mains, the man who started the killing spree, was on the sixth commandment.
