Mountain Man Joe Meek
By 1840 Meek realized the golden era of the mountain man was coming to an end. So, he took his Indian wife and led one of the first wagon trains along the Oregon Trail. Meek settled down in western Oregon and became a farmer.
At this time Oregon wasn’t a territory of the United States, and there was no military protection from Indians. So, in 1847 Meek led a delegation to Washington seeking territorial status. The heavily bearded and buckskin Meek was a sight to behold. He announced himself as the “envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the Republic of Oregon to the Court of the United States.” Congress responded by making Oregon an American territory.
Developing The Cherokee Language and Alphabet
Sequohah, born in 1760 in Tennessee, grew up among his mother’s people, the Cherokee. He became a metal craftsman, making beautiful silver jewelry. As a young man he joined the Cherokee volunteers who joined Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. While with the American soldiers, he became intrigued with what he called “talking leaves,” or words on paper that somehow recorded human speech. Although Sequohah had no formal education, he somehow comprehended the basic nature of the symbolic representation of sounds.
Remember The Alamo
In the early 1830’s what is now Texas was part of Mexico. Wanting to settle the vastness of the territory, Mexico invited Americans to come south. Before long the approximately 20,000 Texacans became tired of the regulations put on them by Mexico, and wanted things to be done the way they were in America. So, in 1833 a convention took place that adopted a constitution for an independent state. Sam Houston took the request to Mexico, and ended up spending two years in jail for his troubles. When Sam Houston got out, the revolution was at hand.
The first confrontation in the battle was at the Alamo. As we know, Santa Anna and his 5,000 troops were victorious. The second strike came in March of 1836 when again Mexican troops were victorious, and the Texican survivors were shot near Golead.
Sam Houston and a rag-tag group of 900 men were all that was left of the Texican resistance. Santa Anna, with the smell of victory in his nostrils, starting burning everything in his path as he moved toward the final destruction of Houston and the revolution.An overly confident Santa Anna with 1,400 men encamped in a poorly defended area near the San Jacinto River. Sam Houston, only a mile away, saw his opportunity. So, on April 21, 1836, during the Mexican’s afternoon siesta his much smaller band of Texas soldiers came down upon the Mexican regulars with screams of “remember the Alamo,” and “remember Golead”, and in just 18 minutes Sam Houston was victorious. In spite of Santa Anna’s past victories, and that it was only a few rag-tag rebels against a country, in about the time it takes for a coffee break, Mexico lost Texas.
The Crime of 1873
When this happened a financial panic started taking place. Obviously the bottom fell out of the silver market. A man who was a wealthy owner of a silver mine one day, found himself the owner of a worthless hole in the ground the next day. In addition… farmers or anyone who carried a heavy debt load felt this bill made for a tighter supply of money, and therefore harder to pay off their debt. Congress’ bill became known as the “Crime of ’73.”
With the United States going through widespread financial difficulties, it was mystically thought that going back to both silver and gold would solve all problems.
The leader of the fight to go back to silver again was Congressman Richard Bland, an ex-miner and farmer. He was so tireless in his efforts that he received the nickname “Silver Dick.”
Unfortunately, those who found it difficult to pay off their debt prior to the Bland-Allison Act found it just as difficult afterward.
Indian Fighter Jim Baker
As an illustration of the type of man Baker was, in 1841 Baker and about 20 other trappers encountered over 500 Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux at the Little Snake River, and although unbelievably outnumbered, they were able to hold off the Indians.
After successfully guiding an army detachment on a dramatic midwinter trek from Fort Bridger, Wyoming to New Mexico, and back again in order to get emergency provisions for Fort Bridger, in 1858, at the age of 40, he moved to what is now downtown Denver, Colorado. Although at the time, a settlement of a few shacks, over the next five years Denver grew to the point that Baker decided it was just too crowded, and he moved to a more remote area…Wyoming.
Lone Survivor Of Little Big Horn
Following George Custer’s defeat at the Little Big Horn the military was looking for a bright spot. That bright spot was the lone survivor on the battlefield, Comanche. Now, I said Comanche, not a Comanche. For Comanche was the name of Captain Myles Keogh’s horse. Let me explain.In September of 1868, Captain Keogh was involved in the Sand Hills battle with Comanche Indians. Keogh rode his backup mount during the battle. The horse was shot with an arrow in the right hindquarter, but showed no signs of the injury, which wasn’t discovered until after the battle. Keogh immediately made his backup horse; his primarily mount, and named him “Comanche.”
Keogh rode Comanche until the Battle of the Little Big Horn where he was killed. Following the battle, Comanche was found casually drinking water from the Little Bighorn River. He had seven wounds.
The Indians had either killed or taken all the military horses, but not Comanche. The reason was that during the battle Keogh had dismounted, holding the reigns in one hand as he shot his pistol with the other. When Keogh was killed he maintained a hold on the reigns. And no Indian would take the horse when a dead man was holding it.
The Death of Lawman Ed Crawford
Not much is known about Ed Crawford before he came to Ellsworth, Kansas. In 1873, he was serving off and on as an Ellsworth policeman. The sheriff was Chauncey Whitney. On August 15, brothers Ben and Billy Thompson were in town. Both were outlaws. But Billy was a crazy outlaw. Although Sheriff Whitney was a friend of the Thompsons, on this day Billy got mad at him and shot and killed him. Obviously, Billy hightailed it out of town.
The incident, and Billy Thompson’s escape so infuriated the Mayor that he fired the entire police force. Since, at that time, Ed Crawford wasn’t on the force, the mayor hired him as a replacement. Because the Thompsons were Texans, and Texans were notorious for causing problems, there were hard feelings against any Texan in town. There was even talk about forming a vigilante group. One of the people supposedly on the vigilante’s list was a Cad Pierce.The Real Hugh Glass Of “The Revenant” Film
Back in 1823, explorer and fur trader Major Andrew Henry took a group of men to explore what is now northwestern South Dakota. One of the adventurers who went on the trip was a man named Hugh Glass. On May 8 Hugh went on a hunting trip and didn’t return. Some of the other men went to find him. On the way they came across a wounded grizzly bear. Shortly after dispatching it, they found the mangled body of Hugh Glass. Obviously, the grizzly and Hugh had tangled, and Hugh had gotten the worse of the battle.
Since Hugh was near death, Major Henry decided to push on. Being a bit compassionate, Major Henry offered to pay two men $40 if they would stay until Hugh died, and then bury him. The volunteers were John Fitzgerald and a 19 year old, future famous mountain man, named Jim Bridger.
Fitzgerald and Bridger waited only a few hours before deciding they had enough, and leaving him still alive, they appropriating Glass’ rifle and other equipment, and caught up with the rest of the group, stating that Glass was dead and buried.
Even in his bad state, Hugh Glass had heard the men talking and knew what had happened. With vengeance burning inside him, and surviving on berries and whatever else he could scrape up, he crawled 150 miles to Fort Kiowa.
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.
