Ike Clanton and the Seven Bears: This entertaining story comes from the "Arizona Weekly Citizen" of November 21, 1885. With Ike Clanton's reputation as a rustler, I think we all know how his horse magically changed colors.
While researching some upcoming videos, I came across this illustration of Hickok's murder by Jack McCall, and I had never seen this one before so I thought I'd share it. In the bottom left corner you can see the name "Reedstrom." This is in reference to Ernest Lisle Reedstrom, a painter/illustrator known for his work about the American frontier.
I have just uploaded a new photo video: 19th Century Cowboys (100 Photos). Since I have completed 10 volumes of the "Photos of the Wild West" series, my new photo videos will be on more specific topics. On these specific topic photo videos, I will be reusing some of the photos I've used in the past, so some may seem familiar to you. Thank you for all of your support! The photo in this post is one I decided to not include in the video, I found it on Calisphere, and the only information associated with it is the title "Cowboys." I still think it's a cool photo and wanted to share it.
Happy 4th of July! Here’s a photo of a past celebration: “Parade of the Yukon Order of Pioneers for the July 4th celebration, Nome, Alaska, 1901.” From the University of Washington. digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/coll…
Merry Christmas! Wishing everyone a holly jolly Christmas, from Legacy of the West.
“Three children gathered around Christmas tree with toys.”
George Barker, photographer. Circa 1889.
From the Library of Congress.
I found this sketch of California Joe while doing some research and thought I'd share it. It comes from the book "Hard Knocks: A Life Story of the Vanishing West," written by Harry Young, published in 1915. The sketch is located between pages 160 and 161. Moses Embree Milner, known as "California Joe," was a scout for the military, but is perhaps best known as a friend of Wild Bill Hickok. Harry Young, the author of the book, whose description is what inspired the sketch, was the bartender at the Number 10 saloon where Wild Bill was killed. (First image is the sketch, second image is California Joe in 1870.)
John Wallace “Captain Jack” Crawford, who was known as “The Poet Scout”, wrote the following poem about his friend Wild Bill Hickok (which could be found on pages 210 and 211 of “Heroes of the Plains…” By James W. Buel, Published in 1881).
“Wild Bill’s Grave.
[Written for the Virginia Evening Chronicle, August 4, 1877.]
By His Pard, Captain Jack.
On the side of the hill between Whitewood and Deadwood,
At the foot of a pine stump, there lies a lone grave,
Environed with rocks, and with pine trees and redwood,
Where the wild roses bloom over the breast of the brave.
A mantle of brushwood the greensward encloses;
The green boughs are waving far up overhead;
While under the sod and the flow’rets reposes
The brave and the dead.
Did I know him in life? Yes, as brother knows brother;
I knew him and loved him–’twas all I could give,
My love. But the fact is we loved one another,
And either would die that the other might live.
Rough in his ways? Yes, but kind and good-hearted;
There wasn’t a flaw in the heart of Wild Bill,
And well I remember the day that he started
That graveyard on top of the hill.
A good scout? I reckon there wasn’t his equal,
Both Fremont and Custer could vouch for that fact.
Quick as chain-lightning with rifle or pistol–
And Custer said, “Bill never backed!”
He called me his “kid”--Buffalo Bill was his “boy”--
And in fact he knew more than us both:
And, though we have shared both in sorrow and joy,
Nary an oath.
And now let me show you the good that was in him–
The letters he wrote to his Agnes–his wife.
Why, a look or a smile, one kind word could win him.
Hear part of this letter–the last of this life:
“Agnes Darling: If such should be that we never meet
Again, while firing my last shot I will gently breathe the name
of my wife–my Agnes–and with a kind wish even for my
enemies, I will make the plunge and try to swim to the other shore.”
Oh Charity! come fling our mantle about him,
Judge him not harshly–he sleeps ‘neath the sod;
Custer, brave Custer! was lonely without him,
Even with God.
Charge, comrades, charge! see young Custer ahead
His charger leaps forth, almost flying.
One volley! and half his comrades are dead–
The other half fighting and dying!
Let us hope while their dust is reposing beneath
The dirge-singing pines in the mountains,
That Christ has crowned each with an evergreen wreath
And giv’n them to drink from his fountains.”
Custer and his men died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876-Wild Bill Hickok would die in Deadwood on August 2, 1876. Just a month and one week separated the two events; with Wild Bill having served as a scout under Custer, it is no wonder Captain Jack wrote the end of the poem as he did. (Pictured is a sketch of Charlie Utter at Hickok's grave, a photo of Captain Jack in 1881, and the photo that the previous sketch was based on.)
On this day 142 years ago, the gunfight known as the “Battle of the Plaza” took place in Dodge City (April 16, 1881). The gunfight was between celebrated lawman and gunfighter Bat Masterson, and saloon owner A.J. Peacock and his bartender Al Updegraff. Bat’s brother James was part owner of the Lady Gay Dancehall with Peacock. Trouble arose between James and Peacock because of bartender Updegraff. Pistols were drawn and fired, but nobody was hurt. James telegraphed his brother that trouble was brewing, and Bat came to Dodge City in defense of his younger sibling. What happened on April 16, 1881 was chronicled in the local papers:
From the “Ford County Globe” April 19, 1881:
“The Festive Revolver.
Again its Musical Voice is Heard in the Land.
Shooting all Along the Line and Only One Man Hurt.
Last Saturday about noon one of the most daring and dangerous shooting scrapes took place that Dodge City has ever experienced.
The facts as near as we can gather them are about as follows:
A.J. Peacock and James Masterson have been partners in the dance hall and saloon business in Dodge City, and for some time past their business relations have not been as smooth as polished glass.
A few weeks ago Mr. Al Updegraff was employed as bartender in the dance hall, and it seemed he was a strong friend of Peacock’s.
Something occurred last week which caused an open quarrel between Masterson on the one side and Updegraff and Peacock on the other. Pistols were drawn and several shots fired, but no one was hurt.
It appears that immediately after this quarrel Masterson telegraphed to his brother, Bat Masterson, in New Mexico, asking him to come to Dodge and help him out of his difficulties. In response to the invitation Bat came on the first train, arriving here last Friday morning about 11:50. About the first objects that met his eyes were Peacock and Updegraff walking across the street. He followed them up, hailed them, and immediately the shooting commenced. Masterson fortified himself behind an embankment near the railroad track, while Peacock and Updegraff took shelter behind the corners of the calaboose building. Both sides continued to shoot for about three or four minutes, during which time the excitement along the street was rather lively, as the shots from the calaboose party were in direct range with the stores and business houses. One bullet passed through the front of Dr. McCarty’s drug store, one through the Long Branch, and one through the front of G.M. Hoover’s wholesale liquor store. Some unknown party was at one time seen to fire two or three shots from a point to the right of Masterson’s position, at the Peacock party, and then disappeared to be seen no more. It is asserted, and is probably true, that several shots were fired by other parties along the street at Peacock and Updegraff. When the shooting, which lasted but a few minutes, had ceased, it was found that the pistols of Masterson and Peacock were empty, while Updegraff had one shot left. Updegraff was the only man hurt. He was shot through the lungs, the ball passing entirely through his body. The wound was at first thought to be fatal, but there is now fair prospect of his recovery.
Masterson was arrested by the city officers and fined in the police court for disturbing the peace. A State warrant was issued later in the evening for several parties connected with the affair, but they were allowed to leave town, with the understanding that they were not to return.
Great indignation was manifested and is still felt by the citizens against the Masterson party, as the shooting was caused by a private quarrel, and the parties who were anxious to fight should have had at least a thought for the danger they were causing disinterested parties on the street and in business houses.
Such was the nature of the affair that the officers thought best not to undertake the process of criminal prosecution, although many advised it. At any rate the citizens are thoroughly aroused and will not stand any more foolishness. They will not wait for the law to take its course if such an outrage should again occur.”
From the “Dodge City Times” April 21, 1881:
“Al Updegraff, who was shot in the street rencontre Saturday last, is recovering slowly, and will soon be well. The shot entered the lower part of the right lung, and shattered the ribs. The cause of the shooting arose from trouble between the proprietors of the Lady Gay dancehall. Al is barkeeper of the house. He was shot by Bat Masterson, who came up from New Mexico to take his brother’s part. The firing on the street by Bat Masterson, and jeopardizing the lives of citizens, is severely condemned by our people, and the good opinion many citizens had of Bat has been changed to one of contempt. The parties engaged in this reckless affray were permitted to leave town, though warrants were sworn out for their arrest. Bat Masterson, James Masterson, Chas. Ronan and Tom O’Brien were the accused, and there is good reason to believe they will never darken Dodge City any more. We believe the authorities did perfectly right in permitting these men to go. If they will remain away there will be no more trouble in Dodge City. Should they return they will be prosecuted.”
Bat Masterson had actually been in Tombstone, Arizona with his friend Wyatt Earp when he received the telegram from his brother, not New Mexico as had been reported. The bad blood between the citizens of Dodge City and Bat Masterson would not last long. In the following years Bat would be in and out of Dodge City, he was even voted the “most popular man in Dodge City” in 1885, and received an engraved pocket watch.
145 years ago today, City Marshal Ed Masterson was killed in Dodge City (April 9, 1878). Ed Masterson was 25 years old. There has been debate about how he died, namely was his brother Bat involved in killing Jack Wagner and wounding Alf Walker (Jack Wagner had shot Ed, and Walker had snapped a pistol in the face of officer Haywood during the attack). The Dodge City Times of April 13 said that Ed had shot Walker and Wagner, and the Ford County Globe of April 16 just said "Five shots followed in quick succession" without naming who had done the shooting. According to Dodge City citizens, it was Bat who came to his brother's aid and wounded Walker and killed Wagner. This is backed up by two court cases in which Bat testified that he had shot both men. Bat was very good at arriving quickly to the scene of a gunfight, he was one of the first to arrive right after Mysterious Dave Mather shot and killed Tom Nixon on July 21, 1884 in Dodge City. The Ford County Globe said this of Ed Masterson: "Everyone in the city knew Ed Masterson and liked him. They liked him as a boy, they liked him as a man, and they liked him as an officer." Photograph of Ed Masterson and the headlines of the Dodge City Times and the Ford County Globe concerning his death.
Historic photographs of Tombstone, Arizona. The first photo is a view of Tombstone in 1879, looking north. The second photo is of Allen Street, looking Northwest in 1879. The third was taken in 1882, and is a view of Tombstone looking North. The fourth is of Tombstone in the aftermath of the fire, taken in May 1882.
Legacy of the West
Legacy of the West
Ike Clanton and the Seven Bears:
This entertaining story comes from the "Arizona Weekly Citizen" of November 21, 1885. With Ike Clanton's reputation as a rustler, I think we all know how his horse magically changed colors.
5 months ago | [YT] | 25
View 1 reply
Legacy of the West
While researching some upcoming videos, I came across this illustration of Hickok's murder by Jack McCall, and I had never seen this one before so I thought I'd share it. In the bottom left corner you can see the name "Reedstrom." This is in reference to Ernest Lisle Reedstrom, a painter/illustrator known for his work about the American frontier.
5 months ago | [YT] | 42
View 2 replies
Legacy of the West
I have just uploaded a new photo video: 19th Century Cowboys (100 Photos). Since I have completed 10 volumes of the "Photos of the Wild West" series, my new photo videos will be on more specific topics. On these specific topic photo videos, I will be reusing some of the photos I've used in the past, so some may seem familiar to you. Thank you for all of your support! The photo in this post is one I decided to not include in the video, I found it on Calisphere, and the only information associated with it is the title "Cowboys." I still think it's a cool photo and wanted to share it.
8 months ago | [YT] | 63
View 0 replies
Legacy of the West
Happy 4th of July! Here’s a photo of a past celebration: “Parade of the Yukon Order of Pioneers for the July 4th celebration, Nome, Alaska, 1901.” From the University of Washington. digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/coll…
1 year ago | [YT] | 24
View 1 reply
Legacy of the West
Merry Christmas! Wishing everyone a holly jolly Christmas, from Legacy of the West.
“Three children gathered around Christmas tree with toys.”
George Barker, photographer. Circa 1889.
From the Library of Congress.
1 year ago | [YT] | 62
View 8 replies
Legacy of the West
I found this sketch of California Joe while doing some research and thought I'd share it. It comes from the book "Hard Knocks: A Life Story of the Vanishing West," written by Harry Young, published in 1915. The sketch is located between pages 160 and 161. Moses Embree Milner, known as "California Joe," was a scout for the military, but is perhaps best known as a friend of Wild Bill Hickok. Harry Young, the author of the book, whose description is what inspired the sketch, was the bartender at the Number 10 saloon where Wild Bill was killed. (First image is the sketch, second image is California Joe in 1870.)
2 years ago | [YT] | 67
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Legacy of the West
John Wallace “Captain Jack” Crawford, who was known as “The Poet Scout”, wrote the following poem about his friend Wild Bill Hickok (which could be found on pages 210 and 211 of “Heroes of the Plains…” By James W. Buel, Published in 1881).
“Wild Bill’s Grave.
[Written for the Virginia Evening Chronicle, August 4, 1877.]
By His Pard, Captain Jack.
On the side of the hill between Whitewood and Deadwood,
At the foot of a pine stump, there lies a lone grave,
Environed with rocks, and with pine trees and redwood,
Where the wild roses bloom over the breast of the brave.
A mantle of brushwood the greensward encloses;
The green boughs are waving far up overhead;
While under the sod and the flow’rets reposes
The brave and the dead.
Did I know him in life? Yes, as brother knows brother;
I knew him and loved him–’twas all I could give,
My love. But the fact is we loved one another,
And either would die that the other might live.
Rough in his ways? Yes, but kind and good-hearted;
There wasn’t a flaw in the heart of Wild Bill,
And well I remember the day that he started
That graveyard on top of the hill.
A good scout? I reckon there wasn’t his equal,
Both Fremont and Custer could vouch for that fact.
Quick as chain-lightning with rifle or pistol–
And Custer said, “Bill never backed!”
He called me his “kid”--Buffalo Bill was his “boy”--
And in fact he knew more than us both:
And, though we have shared both in sorrow and joy,
Nary an oath.
And now let me show you the good that was in him–
The letters he wrote to his Agnes–his wife.
Why, a look or a smile, one kind word could win him.
Hear part of this letter–the last of this life:
“Agnes Darling: If such should be that we never meet
Again, while firing my last shot I will gently breathe the name
of my wife–my Agnes–and with a kind wish even for my
enemies, I will make the plunge and try to swim to the other shore.”
Oh Charity! come fling our mantle about him,
Judge him not harshly–he sleeps ‘neath the sod;
Custer, brave Custer! was lonely without him,
Even with God.
Charge, comrades, charge! see young Custer ahead
His charger leaps forth, almost flying.
One volley! and half his comrades are dead–
The other half fighting and dying!
Let us hope while their dust is reposing beneath
The dirge-singing pines in the mountains,
That Christ has crowned each with an evergreen wreath
And giv’n them to drink from his fountains.”
Custer and his men died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 1876-Wild Bill Hickok would die in Deadwood on August 2, 1876. Just a month and one week separated the two events; with Wild Bill having served as a scout under Custer, it is no wonder Captain Jack wrote the end of the poem as he did.
(Pictured is a sketch of Charlie Utter at Hickok's grave, a photo of Captain Jack in 1881, and the photo that the previous sketch was based on.)
2 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 54
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Legacy of the West
On this day 142 years ago, the gunfight known as the “Battle of the Plaza” took place in Dodge City (April 16, 1881). The gunfight was between celebrated lawman and gunfighter Bat Masterson, and saloon owner A.J. Peacock and his bartender Al Updegraff. Bat’s brother James was part owner of the Lady Gay Dancehall with Peacock. Trouble arose between James and Peacock because of bartender Updegraff. Pistols were drawn and fired, but nobody was hurt. James telegraphed his brother that trouble was brewing, and Bat came to Dodge City in defense of his younger sibling. What happened on April 16, 1881 was chronicled in the local papers:
From the “Ford County Globe” April 19, 1881:
“The Festive Revolver.
Again its Musical Voice is Heard in the Land.
Shooting all Along the Line and Only One Man Hurt.
Last Saturday about noon one of the most daring and dangerous shooting scrapes took place that Dodge City has ever experienced.
The facts as near as we can gather them are about as follows:
A.J. Peacock and James Masterson have been partners in the dance hall and saloon business in Dodge City, and for some time past their business relations have not been as smooth as polished glass.
A few weeks ago Mr. Al Updegraff was employed as bartender in the dance hall, and it seemed he was a strong friend of Peacock’s.
Something occurred last week which caused an open quarrel between Masterson on the one side and Updegraff and Peacock on the other. Pistols were drawn and several shots fired, but no one was hurt.
It appears that immediately after this quarrel Masterson telegraphed to his brother, Bat Masterson, in New Mexico, asking him to come to Dodge and help him out of his difficulties. In response to the invitation Bat came on the first train, arriving here last Friday morning about 11:50. About the first objects that met his eyes were Peacock and Updegraff walking across the street. He followed them up, hailed them, and immediately the shooting commenced. Masterson fortified himself behind an embankment near the railroad track, while Peacock and Updegraff took shelter behind the corners of the calaboose building. Both sides continued to shoot for about three or four minutes, during which time the excitement along the street was rather lively, as the shots from the calaboose party were in direct range with the stores and business houses. One bullet passed through the front of Dr. McCarty’s drug store, one through the Long Branch, and one through the front of G.M. Hoover’s wholesale liquor store. Some unknown party was at one time seen to fire two or three shots from a point to the right of Masterson’s position, at the Peacock party, and then disappeared to be seen no more. It is asserted, and is probably true, that several shots were fired by other parties along the street at Peacock and Updegraff. When the shooting, which lasted but a few minutes, had ceased, it was found that the pistols of Masterson and Peacock were empty, while Updegraff had one shot left. Updegraff was the only man hurt. He was shot through the lungs, the ball passing entirely through his body. The wound was at first thought to be fatal, but there is now fair prospect of his recovery.
Masterson was arrested by the city officers and fined in the police court for disturbing the peace. A State warrant was issued later in the evening for several parties connected with the affair, but they were allowed to leave town, with the understanding that they were not to return.
Great indignation was manifested and is still felt by the citizens against the Masterson party, as the shooting was caused by a private quarrel, and the parties who were anxious to fight should have had at least a thought for the danger they were causing disinterested parties on the street and in business houses.
Such was the nature of the affair that the officers thought best not to undertake the process of criminal prosecution, although many advised it. At any rate the citizens are thoroughly aroused and will not stand any more foolishness. They will not wait for the law to take its course if such an outrage should again occur.”
From the “Dodge City Times” April 21, 1881:
“Al Updegraff, who was shot in the street rencontre Saturday last, is recovering slowly, and will soon be well. The shot entered the lower part of the right lung, and shattered the ribs. The cause of the shooting arose from trouble between the proprietors of the Lady Gay dancehall. Al is barkeeper of the house. He was shot by Bat Masterson, who came up from New Mexico to take his brother’s part. The firing on the street by Bat Masterson, and jeopardizing the lives of citizens, is severely condemned by our people, and the good opinion many citizens had of Bat has been changed to one of contempt. The parties engaged in this reckless affray were permitted to leave town, though warrants were sworn out for their arrest. Bat Masterson, James Masterson, Chas. Ronan and Tom O’Brien were the accused, and there is good reason to believe they will never darken Dodge City any more. We believe the authorities did perfectly right in permitting these men to go. If they will remain away there will be no more trouble in Dodge City. Should they return they will be prosecuted.”
Bat Masterson had actually been in Tombstone, Arizona with his friend Wyatt Earp when he received the telegram from his brother, not New Mexico as had been reported. The bad blood between the citizens of Dodge City and Bat Masterson would not last long. In the following years Bat would be in and out of Dodge City, he was even voted the “most popular man in Dodge City” in 1885, and received an engraved pocket watch.
2 years ago | [YT] | 128
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Legacy of the West
145 years ago today, City Marshal Ed Masterson was killed in Dodge City (April 9, 1878). Ed Masterson was 25 years old. There has been debate about how he died, namely was his brother Bat involved in killing Jack Wagner and wounding Alf Walker (Jack Wagner had shot Ed, and Walker had snapped a pistol in the face of officer Haywood during the attack). The Dodge City Times of April 13 said that Ed had shot Walker and Wagner, and the Ford County Globe of April 16 just said "Five shots followed in quick succession" without naming who had done the shooting. According to Dodge City citizens, it was Bat who came to his brother's aid and wounded Walker and killed Wagner. This is backed up by two court cases in which Bat testified that he had shot both men. Bat was very good at arriving quickly to the scene of a gunfight, he was one of the first to arrive right after Mysterious Dave Mather shot and killed Tom Nixon on July 21, 1884 in Dodge City. The Ford County Globe said this of Ed Masterson: "Everyone in the city knew Ed Masterson and liked him. They liked him as a boy, they liked him as a man, and they liked him as an officer." Photograph of Ed Masterson and the headlines of the Dodge City Times and the Ford County Globe concerning his death.
2 years ago | [YT] | 127
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Legacy of the West
Historic photographs of Tombstone, Arizona. The first photo is a view of Tombstone in 1879, looking north. The second photo is of Allen Street, looking Northwest in 1879. The third was taken in 1882, and is a view of Tombstone looking North. The fourth is of Tombstone in the aftermath of the fire, taken in May 1882.
2 years ago | [YT] | 59
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