took a few days but finished all 21 pages. Thanks Gibson, have enjoyed very much.
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took a few days but finished all 21 pages. Thanks Gibson, have enjoyed very much.
Wal has sent numerous photos concerning Ned Kelly. I will post them here tonight.
Thank you Wal'!
Tonight:
Elfego Baca and "The Frisco Shootout".
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/phot...oBaca2-500.jpg
Interesting little story.
I admit to being passionate in my sketches. One can tell a story with passion as long as one sticks to the facts :)
One can view Elfago Baca as a hero or as a sort of one man vigilance force. I tend to see him as a bit of both. Remember, Baca took the law into his own hands. No matter how people try to lawyer it in. He was NOT an elected official nor was he employed as a law officer. I find it comical how folks try to paint up Robin Hood for everyone. But it isn't so. Baca even admits as much. He states that he pinned on a fake badge and rode into a lawless town and tried to restore some order.
It seems there are two predicates for the "Robin Hood" role:
1) The Mexican/Hispanic community in that area (as well as others) was suffering tremendously.
2) The cowboys from Texas and Oklahoma were out of control, especially with regards to the Mexican community.
Both certainly bear up under scrutiny BUT neither gives on the right to be a self appointed righter of wrongs. It seems appropriate to think about these towns for a second. Many of these one-horse crapholes would not exist without the cowboys. And one can rest assured that the local saloon,gambling hall/brother was VERY glad to extract every dime they could from the cowboys.
We will view Baca as we do all of our subjects, as a tough man in tough times.
In October, 1884 Baca is in Socorro, New Mexico when he is supposed to have been given details of the general out of control behavior of the cowboys along with two terrible atrocities visited upon two Mexicans. Baca rebuked the man who told him the stories, the sheriff of Lower Frisco, Pedro Sarracino, for being a coward. With rage in his heart, Elfago Baca pinned on his toy badge procured a pair of sixguns (Colt's .45) and set out for the place of the tales, Frisco, New Mexico. It is ~120 miles south of where he lives in Socorro.
Baca rides into town on October 29th, 1884. He was 19 years old. Very shortly a legend with be born.
legendsofamerica.com
"Soon after his arrival on the 29th, a cowboy named Charlie McCarty decided to celebrate the good life with a shooting spree inside a bar located in the Upper Frisco Plaza. The owner was an Irish-blooded army vet by the name of Bill Milligan, who at first requested Baca's assistance in the matter. Convincing three local Hispanics to help, Baca quickly caught up with McCarty and disarmed him, sticking the unfortunate sod’s loaded revolver into his own belt. Their new prisoner hailed from a notoriously rowdy outfit at the John B. Slaughter ranch, who were none too happy to hear their boy had been snagged by this self-appointed hero. When the local magistrate proved too intimidated to try the case, Baca considered whether or not to take him all the way to Socorro. Meanwhile he and his friends would move McCarty to an adobe house in Middle Plaza where it would be easier to maintain possession of their prisoner."
Many state that Pedro Sarracino accompanied Baca in a buckboard. One can find a version where Baca has his shot shot off his head by Charley McCarty but never flinches and goes about his business of stopping McCarty, along with his drafted help. It appears from most accounts that the cowboy in question was simply drunk howling, and shooting off his sixgun up in the air, as most place his shooting as a outside. There are also conflicting accounts as to where Baca arrested McCarty. Some sat he bolted to the outfits camp but Baca barged in and calling himself a deputy, arrested the guy.
McCarty was placed into custody at Sirracino's place. It appears that McCarty was a member of a rather large cattle outfit from Texas, The John B. Slaughter outfit. A group of a dozen of McCarty's friends show up demanding his release. Baca answers by shooting one cowboy in the lag and killing another one's horse, which fell on the rider and crushed him to death. They retreat.
The cowboys send for a deputy. Deputy Dan Bechtol arrives. The next morning Baca rides into a hornet's nest with his prisoner. The Justice of the Peace hears the case and fines the man $5 for shooting up the town. Baca is somewhat infuriated and runs from the room while still having McCarty's confiscated sixgun. He takes refuge in a nearby jacal. The men have now decided to take Baca's lead and appoint themselves deputies with the intention of arresting Baca for his role in the cowboys death the night before.
The fight. . .
http://www.hmdb.org/Photos2/205/Photo205877.jpg
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7OFa6Rc3nUg/0.jpg
So, we have Baca in a small jacal- a sort of hut- when somebody tries something that seems reasonable given the situation. The cowboys wanted Baca arrested and Baca, probably correctly thinks arrest equates to lynched.
"Justice of the peace Ted White granted Charlie's freedom. After the verdict, Elfego Baca ran out of the courtroom still in possession of McCarty's gun.
Bert Hearne, a rancher from Spur Lake Ranch, was summoned to bring Baca back to the Justice for questioning in the murder of Jon Slaughter's foreman. After Baca refused to come out of the adobe jacal, Hearne broke down the door and ordered Baca to come out with his hands up. Not soon after that, shots volleyed from the jacal and hit Hearne in the stomach, resulting in his death."
I don't think I would have kicked the door, but. . . As my friend used to say, "it's on like a pot o' beans!" Baca's two Colt's .45s spoke loud and true.
The cowboys now began to congregate and Jim Cook a WS foreman and one of their leaders was trying to come up with a plan. Cook would later write a firsthand account of this incident. Baca respected Cook, of him he stated in 1936, :"I ate dinner with some men afterward but I don't remember who they were now. I don't think that man French [an English rancher who in actuality was there and a leader] was there at all, although he must have been in the neighborhood, as he seemed to know all about it. But I don't remember him. Jim Cook was one that was shooting at me though. He was a pretty tough man, but he came near getting it." The cowboy made a plea to Baca in Spanish to surrender BUT Baca did not speak Spanish well enough, he answered with the universal language known as LEAD. The cowboys took cover and sent a massive volley into the jacal. The jacal was constructed such that the floor was significantly lower than the grade level at the door entry! Frankly, it's amazing the building didn't collapse during the siege, it was nothing more than a shelter"Made of thin cedar poles stuck into the ground and coated on both sides with an adobe (mud) slip, its walls would offer little resistance to the concerted attack he expected to follow." Indeed.
The sides exchanged volleys regularly until it was too dark. The jacal was suffering from the onslaught with a section of roof collapsing. The cowboys strung up sheets as blinds, one industrious cowboy even grabbed an iron stove door for a shield and advanced he took a bullet laceration to his scalp for his efforts.
Come first light the cowboys readied to root a dead or severely injured Baca out of the shack, but then there was a strange sight. Puffs of smoke and the smell of grub! Yes, Baca was cooking some beef tortillas.
It's back to a full force battle. According to Baca, two more cowboys were killed, Baca was unscathed. Let's finish the story as we started, with a quote from legendsofthewest.com:
"When at last James Cook and the newly arrived Deputy Ross of Socorro convinced Baca to come out, personally guaranteeing his safety, some of the Hispanic spectators yelled for him to run. With both guns in hand and every cowboy's rifle trained on his chest, Elfego slowly approached to make his truce. Yes, he would surrender... but only if he could keep his weapons, travel in the back of a buckboard with his and McCarty’s Colts, and with all accompanying cowhands keeping at least thirty feet behind them for the entire trip to the Socorro courthouse! The ever-blessed Elfego even missed an ambush planned for him on route, when two different groups of avengers each mistakenly thought the other had carried out the mercenary deed. In jail only four months, Elfego was tried on two separate occasions, and was surprisingly acquitted each time."
Thus ended the siege of the jacal. Baca's final tally was four dead cowboys with eight others wounded. I cannot find any proof of this. The cowboys claimed two of their men were killed, One when his horse crushed him and the other being Hearme who was killed early on.
Whatever. Baca held out against exceedingly tremendous firepower. Tough man. Baca's own words:
"Did you see the letter that Englishman [French] wrote to Crichton? He wanted to hang me. 'Why don't you hang that little Mexican so-and-so?' he asked. I said, 'Why don't you be the one to do it?' and pulled my guns, and wooo, he wasn't so eager. You know I surrendered only on condition that I keep my guns. They placed six guards over me, but they rode 25 steps ahead of me all the way to Socorro.
"Those were great old days. Everything is very quiet now, isn't it?" said Mr. Baca looking up. "I think I'll run for something this fall, but I don't know what yet.
http://www.truewestmagazine.com/jcon...fights_250.jpg
Frisco:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/at...isco-store.jpg
Baca's final repose:
http://image2.findagrave.com/photos2...1843224685.jpg
Must have been an interesting life, from the Wild West up to WWII. Sounds like a cool customer who gave better than he got. Thank you again for taking the time to do this for our benefit.
In the Sam Bass sketch: Did anyone notice, in the descriptions, there was a dun horse with a glass eye mentioned?
WHT? I'm no horseman, despite where I live, but I've never heard of such a thing. Was or is it commonly done?
I noticed it and took it to mean it had a blind eye or odd-looking eye, i.e. "glassed-over." Would be surprised to learn it was a real glass eye. Actually, here is the answer, read down the thread.
http://www.horsegroomingsupplies.com...yes-37943.html
Quote from thread:
"When horsemen speak of a glass-eyed horse, they refer to an eye that is
any color other than normal [brown], but the eye is usually some shade of
blue. A 'china eye' is blue, a 'wall eye' is part blue and part white, and
a 'watch eye' is a mixture of yellow and blue.
Glass eyes are hereditary and may be seen in any kind of horse, although
they are most common in Appaloosas and paints. A horse may have two glass
eyes, or one glass eye and one normal eye. Horses with glass eyes have
perfectly normal vision. There are a lot of old wives' tales around about
such horses having poor vision or being susceptible to snow blindness. A
glass-eyed horse is no more susceptible to snow blindness than a blue-eyed
man as compared to a brown-eyed man. One often hears that glass-eyed
horses are night-blind. This is not ordinarily true.
….
Another popular fallacy is that glass-eyed horses are spookier or wilder
than other horses. This is simply not true. The white around the eye, or
'staring' effect, often makes them LOOK wilder, but the glass eye is not
related to disposition. There have been many well known horses with glass
eyes."
There also is an explanation of glass-eyes and some OK pictures at the
following site. http://www.ara
bian-horses.com/feature/margo/glass.htm
Gib, thanks for posting all the great stories of the Old West, I am 76 years old and really enjoy crawling in my sack each nite hoping for another great tale.
The Old West was one of the many building blocks that made our country great, unlike today with the horrible people running our beloved country and tearing it apart, including our constitution.
GOD be with us.
Thanks partner,
Smokeyloads
BINGO!
Everyone, that is exactly why I put the time and effort into finding this material. The hard part is finding it uploaded. God knows I put many a hour in Texas libraries and talking with old timers in Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Nevada, Arizona, SD. ND, etc. but much of the stuff I've gleaned is not online, so I do what I can and I tell the truth as best as can be known.
I learn, as well. I thought Bat Masterson was all myth, but then I learn recently that he killed AT LEAST three men in gun fights.
This post will be:
Copy-paste-print.
Thanks Floyd!
It's a shame you're in such a hurry to level criticism that you couldn't take the time to do even the briefest survey of historical information, and from same learn that "Liver-Eating" Johnson/Johnston is termed as John Jeremiah Johnson/Johnston by noted scholars of the fur trade era. It is hyper-critical, nit-picking, over-bearing ignorati like you that have largely discouraged me from posting info and experiences on this board. If you can't say something helpful or positive, just don't say anything at all.
It looks like my intent was taken the wrong way. If my statements came accross the wrong way I am sorry. What I ment was to write about the real John Johnson not the fictional Jeremiah Johnson of R. Thorp's book "Crow Killer" or the one in the movie "Jeremiah Johnson". I am always willing to learn more about history and would like to read more about John Johnson and will if you will inform me of the histroical scolars you speak. I would hope that their info does not come from R. Thorp as it has been shown that he wrote fiction but has been quoted as fact by many.
Steve
I think Steve was just saying "give us some straight-up history" - not "Dime Store history." Fortunately, I am certain that is Mr. Jay's intent, to clear the smoke and get down to it. If you read his commentary, it is clear what he intends. I think we all love the "real" west and "real" mountain men. We can all rest assured that we are talking about unvarnished history as best as possible with the study of history being what it is.
Some one always has to come along and piss in the overflowing bucket.
Gib, thanks for posting all the awesome tales of the Old West, I know it's a lot of work:)
Smokeyloads
The single-best American source on Fur Trade Era hostory is likely Bernard DeVoto, with his several works spanning that timeframe. His overview "Across The Wide Missouri" is a classic.
I'm sorry to have come across obnoxiously, and I may have been wrong to do so in this case. I respect your concern about a writer or source "getting the history right", and Jay is doing a WONDERFUL job of presenting multi-sourced and timely accounts of what really happened. As for that Robert Redford trash pile known as "Jeremiah Johnson", it is at least as historically corrupt as his and Robert Blake's work in "Tell Them Willie Boy Was Here". That latter incident occurred in my home county, and my great-grandfather was a marginal participant within it. Utter cowflop.
You may have been the victim of my irritation with fools on this site that fault California gun owners for the stupid and oppressive laws we live with out here, and with the Cadre of Cop Haters who assume that all acts by officers are done in bad faith, and who figuratively piss on the graves of good men and women with their hateful drivel. I'm a retired LEO. That nonsense gets old, and it lowers the collective intellectual worth and hobby worth of this site. I get annoyed when someone calls me on material that I know for a fact or based upon my own experience. I don't come here for that--I'm here to share experiences and knowledge freely and without reservation, and for the peanut gallery to take glib potshots at such donations provides a huge disincentive to participation.
This evening it will be a short sketch on Edward O'Kelley, killer of "the dirty little coward that shot Mr. Howard".
We'll hit his killing of Robert Ford and his own death at the hand of Oklahoma City police officer Joe Burnett, in 1904.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_QIgHcbNTJf...O%27Kelley.jpg
A little background on our protagonist:
"Thomas Katlet O'Kelley, M.D. ("T. K."). T. K. married Margaret Ann Capehart July 14, 1857 [in Tennessee,] and Edward Capehart O'Kelley was their first-born child. After the Civil War, T. K., Margaret and their family moved to Patton (Bollinger County), Missouri, where they lived until their deaths (Margaret: 1903; T. K.: 1923)." So our guy was born in Tennessee in 1858, it is believed, and relocated mid 1860s to Patton Missouri.
This youngster saw the end of the Civil War and lived in blood soaked Missouri. Had to have some effect on him!
It appears that O'Kelley left Missouri and eventually wound up in Colorado, working as a lawman on more than one occasion. Hang-dog appearance and ill temper, not the best traits for a lawman. . . "In Bachelor City, he was employed as the town marshal, and, later, as a deputy sheriff of Hinsdale County. Ford wasn't the only man that the ill-humored O'Kelley killed. In 1891, he shot a black man named Ed Riley in Pueblo, Colorado, because the other man had accidentally stepped on his toes."
The setup to our first story seems to be an altercation that took place. O'Kelley was working as a policeman in Pueblo, Colorado when there was an altercation between himself and Robert Ford Ford over theft of property. One can safely assume it got ugly.
Fast Forward to Creede Colorado. Make no mistake about it Creede was another of the mining towns that seemed to spring up overnight, and had all the warts that the others had. (Actually this one did have a small population prior to the silver strikes.) "Creede was the last silver boom town in Colorado in the 19th century. The town grew from a population of 600 in 1889 to more than 10,000 people in December 1891. . ." A rather lurid but likely accurate description: ""Creede the new pride of Colorado the famous mining camp that bids fair to out rival Leadvilhe and its world wide celebrity had not been long talked about when Bob and his following swooped down upon this fresh field of adventure Creede like all such cities grown like a mushroom during a night's time was infected with the very scum of the gambling drinking and throat cutting fraternity Of course thousands of honest respectable workers were attracted by the sudden and extraordinary boom and investors of the best kind also abounded but as it always happens in such cases the lower and worse element was on top and bragging about the loudest by day and by night Many of the better kind were induced to enter the dens of infamy opened all along the leading thoroughfares and Bob Ford's saloon gambling hell and dancing hall counted among the most disreputable. . ."
http://www.vistabooks.com/vistco34.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2uhRrPgC8S...4_Creede_3.jpg
It has always been reported that Bob Ford owned and operated the "Exchange Saloon" (and dance hall) in Creede prior to the fire mentioned above, that decimated the business district. O'Kelly's biographer says Ford opened his saloon on May 29, 1892. Whatever happened, happened. What we do know is that on June 5, the great fire swept through and on June 8, Ford had this tent saloon set up up:
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/phot...n%20Creede.jpg
On the afternoon of June 8th, Bob Ford is in his saloon when a rather shabby looking woman bearing a long piece of paper, replete with names. It is a subscription for donations to bury a recently passed prostitute, "Slanting Annie". Bob Ford donated $5. Here is what happened next:
". . . Upon the threshold she met a man in miner's clothes and even as she turned to look at him a very short man rode up to the door of the tent and handed a double barrelled shotgun to the man at the entrance As the miner looking man entered the tent with the gun the woman with the paper turned as if she would follow him for she feared that the stranger might do violence reluctant as she was to believe that a man in a refined mining centre would resort to the use of so clumsy not to say unconventional a shooting iron as a shot gun Hello Bob called the man with the gun and as the keeper of the dance hall turned he raised the weapon and let go both barrels The shot without scattering entered the throat of the victim and carried his gold collar button out through the back of his neck ." (This same button was allegedly presented to conman "Soapy Smith" an avowed enemy of Bob Ford.)
The shotgun was heard around the camp and brought many miners and others running. No one really is clear on the motive for Ed O'Kelley's killing of Robert Ford but it was clearly calculated and executed with BRUTAL efficiency. A shotgun blast to the throat is a helluva way to die! O'Kelley was indeed a rough customer who took very off other men. Despite longstanding rumors that the well known shady figure Soapy Smith put him up to killing Ford or that it was in direct retaliation for Jeese James' murder, or even that O'Kelley sought the notoriety that would be incurred with killing such a figure, I suspect none are the real reason. I tend to believe that O"Kelley had a personal beef with Ford that likely stemmed from Pueblo and continued in Creede. It stems from my notion that O'Kelley did not very much "manure" from ANY man. "O'Kelley was convicted of murder on July 12, 1892 and sentenced to life in prison. After ten years, he was released on October 14, 1902 due to health problems."
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zBJbBx9nyw.../J_U049911.jpg
Ford's funeral procession:
http://www.usgwarchives.org/co/miner...rds/ffuner.jpg
Upon being released, Ed relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Clearly he was still seen as a dangerous man. Although aging, still clearly a tough guy. He was recognized around town as a man to steer clear of and the guy who shotgunned Bob Ford a decade prior.
On the night of Decenber 3, 1903, fully a year since his release Ed ran up against Joe Burnett, an Oklahoma City. Burnett, for the odd charge of being "a suspicious person" placed O'Kelly under arrest. This could be quite serious for a parolee, I would think. It also seems an odd thing to bother with if it is well known that he is a "dangerous man" as mentioned earlier. Anyway Burnett arrested him. O'Kelly was released and swore he'd get the officer. According to an article by Jim Cloud, ". . . [he] returned to the Lewis Hotel where he was staying, he made open threats that he was gunning for a policeman. Kelly was known to wear an overcoat and carried two guns with him at all times. Kelly kept his hands in his pockets while on the streets, and hung out around the low dives on west 4th and 2nd streets."
Edward Capehart O"Kelley, unlike so many of our modern bad a**es did not make idle threats. He had already shot at least two men in his life, VERY likely others.
Mid evening January 13, 1904 Officer Joe Burnett, no doubt a brave officer would come to understand how serious a man O'Kelly really was. Here is the often recounted story, taken from the Oklahoma Geneology website:
"On the evening of January 13, 1904, Joe Burnett was walking his beat on the south side of First Street, in front of the McCord & Collins building. Burnett encountered O'Kelley and greeted him politely. In reply. O'Kelley struck at the lawman and drew a revolver. O'Kelley told Burnett, "You come with me. I'll arrest you, you son of a bitch." As O'Kelley struck at the officer again, Burnett grabbed the gun with his left hand.
The two men began to wrestle in a life and death struggle. O'Kelley fired his pistol several times, trying to shoot the policeman. At the same time, O'Kelley repeatedly called Burnett foul names, saying he was going to kill him. Burnett called out for help repeatedly. O'Kelley did not hit Burnett with his gunfire, but Burnett did receive powder burns on one ear. Once out of bullets, O'Kelley used his teeth to bite chunks out of both of the policeman's ears.
A friend of O'Kelley came to his aid and fired one shot at the policeman, but then lost his nerve and ran away. O'Kelley called out to him to come back, allegedly saying, "We will murder this fellow."
R. E. Chapin, witnessed the fight from the rear of the building on West Main Street and telephoned police headquarters. Chapin heard officer Burnett call out to several men passing by, "I am a police officer, help me!" One of the men replied, "We don't know whether you are a police officer or not."
Finally, A. G. Paul, a railroad baggage man, came running from the depot, and grabbed O'Kelley's hand, thus freeing Burnett's gun hand. The policeman immediately fired two shots, killing Ed O'Kelley.
It was then discovered just how close Burnett had come to death. There were two bullet holes in the back of his overcoat and the left hip pocket was torn by a bullet. Burnett's gloves were burned and his clothing was on fire by the time his friends reached his side.
An ambulance was called and O'Kelley's body taken to the morgue at Street and Harpers furniture store. His body had a bullet wound in his left leg just above the knee. The fatal shot entered his head just behind the left temple and exited behind the right ear.
O'Kelley's body remained at the morgue for about two weeks. A number of people identified the dead man as the killer of Robert Ford, including Otto Ewing. The warden of the Colorado State Penitentiary sent a description and photograph of O'Kelley, leaving no doubt of his identification.
On January 28, 1904, O'Kelley was interned at Fairlawn Cemetery in north Oklahoma City. The casket was provided by the county at a cost to the taxpayers of $12.50."
That is the long and short of it, all accounts seem to agree. I suppose one could take careful notice of the fact that if not for the interference of the Frisco Railroad baggageman it would likely have resulted differently as reports make it sound as if O'Kelley was gong to cannibalize Burnett! When he rushed in and grabbed O'Kelley's hand it allowed the officer to draw and fire point blank at O'Kelley. The battle was a terrible one, without doubt.
Ed O'Kelley was and is buried in a pauper's grave in Fairlawn Cemetary in Oklahoma City.
http://image1.findagrave.com/photos/...8175074531.jpg
A relative and his biographer, Mrs. Ries, placed the following marker in the family plot in Patton, Missouri:
http://www.okgenweb.org/~photogaller...ers/Image1.jpg
Officer Burnett went on to a distinguished career. His obit from Daily Oklahoman:
"Joe Burnett, Oklahoma City's oldest policeman in point of service who died Friday morning at St. Anthony's hospital, will be buried with honors this afternoon by the Oklahoma City police department; Chief Nichols has charge of the arrangements, and all members of the force are co-operating to pay their last respects to the man who served with them fourteen years.
Uniformed patrolmen will act as pallbearers, They are patrolmen Milan, Veazey, Orgon, Wilkie, Thompson and Carter. Chief Nichols announced yesterday that he had made arrangement for leave of absence for half of the force" during the ceremonies.
The funeral procession will form at the home at 617 East Poplar at 2:35 this afternoon, and proceed to the Capitol Hill Catholic church, where the services will he held. Burial will be in Fairlawn cemetery.
The order of the procession will be: traffic officers, detectives, uniformed patrol, motorcycle patrol. The Woodmen of the World, of which the dead man was a member, will furnish an escort, and will conduct the ceremonies at the grave. Oklahoma City livery car drivers have offered the service of nineteen cars to convey friends and relatives to the cemetery.
Burnett leaves a wife and six children. His brother, Roe Burnett, is a patrolman."
Officer Burnett's headstone:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ok...es/burnet1.jpg