Matthew Kerns's Blog: The Dime Library, page 27

A Trek Out West - Part 5

Continued from A Trek Out West - Part 4.

[Dr. Ferber] 14th.—Our stomachs having been well filled with elk tongue, breaded elk steaks, trout, flapjacks, and coffee, we packed up. On the road, we fired at great distances at buck-antelopes but did not do them any harm. At 2:30 pm., after about fifteen miles ride, we got in camp, took dinner and then went shooting. Frank and Tip killed a black-tailed buck each. Frank's buck was a young one and furnished us with very tender meat. I was not lucky enough to get a shot at or even to see a deer but started in a thicket a grizzly, who, grunting, ran away without letting me have a sight of him, which was, perhaps, all the better for me.

[Otto Franc] Wednesday Aug 14 - Break camp, ride 7 hours & stop at the head of Sage Creek; after eating we go out to get some fresh meat; as I enter a canyon I see a black tail Buck but too far off to shoot, he sees me also & disappears in some timber, I walk around to the other end of the canyon & sit down expecting the Deer to come out of the thicket soon, I change places several times 8. as the Deer does not come out I finally determine to drive him out if possible; after walking 4-500 yards in very thick brush I come out in the open & see the Deer over 150 yards off & looking at me, I fire 3 times quickly in succession, he runs about 20 yards & falls down dead to my greatest joy as this is my first deer; it is a 2 year old Buck in splendid condition; I return to camp get an axe & bag & butcher the animal in fine style, securing the horns, brains, loins, liver, heart & kidneys; when I return to camp I find somewhat of an excitement the Dr. had been close to a large Bear & Tip & Jack had seen fresh tracks; we will give him a hunt to morrow.

[Dr. Ferber] 15th—Breakfast 6:30. Bill of fare, kidneys, and heart of deer stewed; brain of deer fried; deer liver saute; breaded elk-steaks, flapjacks, coffee. Having gone through this we went for the game again. Tip and I saw several black-tailed bucks, but could not get a shot at them, out going home I killed by mistake a young antelope, which I thought to be a buck. The same evening Jack killed one.

[Otto Franc] Thursday Aug 15 - Jack & I had a long & tiresome hunt after Bear but had to return to camp without having seen one; Dr. & Tip were out for Antelope but came home empty.

[Dr. Ferber] 16th—At 8 we broke up and made a quick and long ride of about twenty miles to Beckman's hay ranch, this place being only fifteen miles from Rawlins. Frank and I, after an hour's rest, concluded to ride the same day to town. We left Beckman's at 4:30 and made these fifteen miles in two hours. We put our horses into the stable, got our letters, and then went to Fred Wolfe's saloon, who refreshed us with delicious, cool Cheyenne lager. After that, we directed our steps to the hotel, took supper, and slept the sleep of the just.

[Otto Franc] Friday Aug 16 - We break camp 8. travel 20 miles without anything of interest occurring, we halt at Beckmans Ranch to cook Dinner; we are now 15 miles from Rawlins; after Dinner the Dr. & I set out for Rawlins leaving Tip, Jack & the pack train to pass the night at the ranch,; we reach Rawlins in 2 hours & call immediately on our friend F. Wolff who is delighted to see us; "Beer" is the only utterance we make & for 10 minutes we keep him busy running between a keg of Lager & ourselves. Thus ends our first trip; we have passed through the finest & wildest country I have ever seen abounding with fish & game; we might have killed wagon loads of the latter, but we only hunted when we needed meat; the custom here is to cut only the choicest parts of an animal, so that a good deal of hunting is necessary to supply 4 stomachs; although the game is so very plentiful it is just as wild & wary as any where & hunting is by no means an easy task, it involves great labor & hardship, climbing mountains & crawling through almost impenetrable timber, this latter being the favorite place of the Deer; a hunter may be surrounded by hundreds of Antelope staring at him at 1000 yds distance but to get within shooting distance of a large old buck requires such an amount of wriggling through sage brush & occassional1y over a patch of prickly pears that when he finally kills one he feels as if he richly deserved his game; the very clear atmosphere is quite apt to mislead one as to distance; I have often fired at antelope thinking them to be no more than 150 yds. off & when measuring the distance, it turned out to be 800-1000 yds. I think there is more powder burnt uselessly in hunting Antelope than in any other kind of hunting I know of. In all our party killed during the entire trip: 100# Trout 4 Elk 7 Antelope 4 Deer quite a number of sage hens & different kinds of Grouse; I contributed more than my share towards the Larder as the following list of my individual game bag will show:

Quantity of Trout: unknown 2 Elk 2 Antelope 1 Deer About 1/2 half of the sage hens & Grouse.

[Dr. Ferber] 17th—At noon Jack and Tip came in with the train.

[Dr. Ferber] On next Tuesday, 20th, we start for the second trip north to the Sweetwater and Bighorn Mountains. Very likely we will not have much fishing on this trip. They all say that every stream that runs into North Platte has no trout, while all the streams that run west contain trout in great number. My opinion is that the water of these streams, containing great quantities of lime and alkali (carbonate of soda), are not natural for trout; so I found some streams running into Green River, as one branch of Savery and others, had no trout or any other kind of fish, caused by containing too much lime. Anyhow, I will take my rods with me and try every stream. If parties should like to come out here they can be supplied with all the outfit at Mr. James France's store, with horses by Mr. T. Rankins or W. Gordon. For guides, I should advise or direct them to Fred Wolf, who gave us very valuable information and knows all the guides around here. It is not necessary at all to engage guides beforehand. Had we known this before, we would have saved several hundred dollars.

Fred Wolf, as mentioned above, keeps a house of entertainment, where you can be made comfortable. So much for this time. We will soon have some notes on our next trip.

[Otto Franc] Monday Aug 19 - We prepare for our second trip which will occupy 6 weeks or more; we take in 100# of flour 50# of Bacon, a quantity of canned fruit & coffee & c & bundle everything up in order to get an early start in the morning we also hire a team to take our outfit to Lanckins ranch 75 miles north of the U.P.R.R. & miles beyond S.W.R. the road to that place takes us the greater part through an Alkali dessert without any game & we want to get through the same as quick as possible & reserve our pack horses till after that period when we expect to get into mountainous country. The team consists of a mule & a balky horse Tip asks for a vacation of 2 days he is a detective for the U.P.R.R. & the Co. wants him to follow the trail & if possible to locate a party of train robbers that has committed depredations along the line near Rawlins for some time, he will overtake us at Lanckins ranch; I loan him my Sharp Rifle as I shall have no use for the same until after we start from the ranch until then my light Winchester Rifle is serviceable enough for any antelope or Deer that we might meet.

[Dr. Ferber] ON the 18th, 19th, and 20th of August we were fully engaged in buying fresh provisions, some new bedding, as some of it was burned on the day of the eclipse. On the evening of the 18th, our second guide, Tip, asked our permission to stay away for two or three days. The U.P.R.R. Co., in whose service he was before, engaged him and another to pursue train robbers that had tried the night before to wreck the train by undermining the rails. Tip was well armed with a six-shooter and Frank's Sharps rifle. He was a very courageous man and had no fear of being killed. We should never see him again. After our return from our second trip, we learned that he and his companion were found dead with four and eight bullets, respectively, and stripped of rifles and clothes. We waited over three days for Tip, but as he did not come then we concluded to start for Lanckens ranch, about seventy-five miles north of Rawlins, on the Sweetwater creek. We had two of our ponies exchanged, one being lame and the other having a sore back: this time we had them all shoed. and putting our whole outfit on a wagon we started on the 20th, at about noon. We did not make more than sixteen miles and put camp up at Bell Springs. Toward evening we had thunder and lightning, and a very heavy rainstorm. The rain was driven right through the tent, making the bedclothing very damp.

[Otto Franc] Tuesday Aug 20 - After the usual vexing delays so common before a first start we finally get away at 11 a/m & without any notable incident driving the empty Pack horses behind the wagon & Dr. Jack & myself following on horseback we reach Bills Springs 16 miles from Rawlins where we have to camp as there is no more drinkable water to be found for the next 20 miles. During the night we get a heavy shower which is quite one-sided as it floods the Doctors side of the tent & leaves me dry.

[This story will continue, following the summer trek of Texas Jack, Otto Franc, and Dr. Ferber in Part 6.]

August in Yellowstone

In August of 1877, George Cowan and his wife Emma decided to spend their second wedding anniversary camping in Yellowstone Park. George, 35 years old, was a moderately successful attorney in Radersberg, Montana, a small town located just about halfway between Bozeman and Helena. Seven of George and Emma's family and friends joined them for their trip to the Park, including Emma's brother Frank Carpenter and their 14-year-old sister Ida. The group was excited to see the geysers and waterfalls and natural wonders they had heard about from neighbors and read about in newspapers.

Frank Carpenter, who recorded the trip in his journals, wrote about one thrilling moment when the Radersberg party and their guide Mr. Houston chanced across another group:

"A man emerges from the bushes ahead. He is a tall, powerfully built man, and as he rode carelessly along, with his long rifle crossed in front of him, he was a picture. He was dressed in a complete suit of buckskin and wore a flaming red neckerchief, a broad sombrero fastened up on one side with a large eagle feather, and a pair of beautifully beaded moccasins. The costume of the man, his self-confident pose, and the quick penetrating glance of his keen black eye, would give the impression that he was no ordinary mountaineer. We meet; Houston recognizes him, it is the world-renowned Rocky Mountain hunter and scout, Texas Jack. While Houston was in conversation with him, our party sat silently staring at him. This is our first sight of the man, whom, above all others, we were anxious to see, and we were in a measure excusable for our seeming impertinence."

Texas Jack, who was guiding a party of British aristocrats through the Yellowstone that summer, conversed with Mr. Houston about the party of Nez Perce that was riding through the Park, escaping from the Army and the threat of being confined to a reservation with the rest of the Palouse tribe far from their ancestral lands in the Pacific Northwest. The Nez Perce, who called themselves the Niimíipuu (we, the people), were being removed from their lands illegally and in violation of the Treaty of Walla Walla, which they had signed and which had been agreed to and ratified by the United States Senate. In signing the treaty, the Nez Perce had agreed to a reservation that encompassed much of their traditional hunting grounds while seceeding to the state of Washington some forty-five thousand square miles of land. When the state and the Army came to move them off of their land in violation of this treaty, some of the Nez Perce fled.

They initially sought aid from the Crow (Apsáalooke) tribe, but determined to seek out the Lakota (Lakȟóta) and their leader Sitting Bull, who had fled to Canada months earlier following the Battle of the Little Bighorn the previous year. The U.S. Army pursued the fleeing Nez Perce group, which included 250 warriors and 500 of their wives, children, and elderly. That pursuit had pushed the Nez Perce into Yellowstone Park, and now into direct conflict with tourists visiting that season. Just two weeks before they reached the Park, 89 members of their tribe, mostly women, children, and elders, had been killed in a surprise attack by the troops of General Oliver Howard at what is now called the Battle of the Big Hole.

On August 23, 1877, George Cowan and his party were camped in the Park beside Tangle Creek, near the Lower Geyser Basin nearly halfway between Madison campground and Old Faithful. A handful of Nez Perce warriors rode into the camp. Some of the party members later said that these warriors stole sugar and flour from the camp provisions. Others said that a frightened party member gave these to the Nez Perce, hoping they would go away. George was worried that any loss of supplies would endanger the survival of the party, so he stopped the warriors from taking anything and forced them to leave the camp. Cowan and the rest of the party hastily packed up their camp and made to ride north, but their two wagons and their horses were soon stopped at what is now called Nez Perce Creek by a larger party of warriors with Chief Joseph.

The party was taken to the Nez Perce camp, where a tribal council voted to release them. Unfortunately, they were soon captured by a group of young warriors who were less forgiving. “Every gun in the whole party of Indians was leveled at us three,” Emma Cowan would later recall. “I shall never forget the picture, which left an impression that years cannot efface. The holes in those gun barrels looked as big as saucers.” Texas Jack told a newspaper what happened next:

“The Indians had jumped the Radersburg party, Oldham, a miner, was the first man shot. [George] Cowan was the next—he was shot through the leg. His wife rushed to him and took his head in her lap when an Indian came up and shot him through the head. Mrs. Cowan was dragged to the Indian camp, along with Ida Carpenter and young Frank Carpenter. They tied him to a tree and he would have been killed but for a sign he made, by which Chief Joseph recognized him as the son of an old Indian trader. He unloosed Frank from the tree and sent him back to his sister.”

Emma, Frank, and their sister Ida were taken hostage and moved to Nez Perce Ford in Hayden Valley, where they were eventually released. All three were worried that they wouldn't escape Yellowstone Park alive. Frank wrote that they walked as far as their feet would carry them, and:

"[We] were soon at the springs...Here we found Texas Jack’s party...two photographers came and told us that if we would wait until ten o’clock they would take us to Bozeman with their four-mule team. This was good news, as neither Emma nor Ida could walk or ride horseback.

When we had reached the summit of the hill below the springs we saw Texas Jack looking through his spy-glass up the canyon towards Gardiner’s River. Looking in the direction I saw two persons running towards us in and out of the bushes skirting the river.

“Who is it?” I asked, “Indians or white men?”

“I think it is two white men,” he replied, “but I think there are five or six Indians following them.”

Jack, turning to us, said, “You go on and overtake our party which is not far in advance, and I’ll go back and give those Indians a shot or two.”

We now started down the mountain towards the Yellowstone three miles distant. Just as we began the descent we heard firing in the rear. This frightened Emma and Ida, and they became very nervous again.

Down the mountains we went pell-mell, and we soon reached Henderson’s Ranche [sic], eight miles from the springs. Here we were rejoined by Texas Jack, who told us that he had shot two of the Indian ponies and driven the Indians back. This news relieved our anxiety considerably and we began to breathe easier. We soon drove down into the canyon of the Yellowstone, a wild and rugged place, just suited for an ambuscade for Indians. We feared trouble here, but Texas Jack went in advance scouting for us, and about midnight we emerged on to Boteler’s Ranche. The Boteler Brothers showed us every possible attention, and an old Scotch lady was very kind.

The next morning many friends from Emigrant Gulch and the surrounding country came in, and the ladies cheered up Mrs. Cowan considerably. Ida had fully recovered the use of her feet and here Texas Jack presented her with a pair of beautiful moccasins. They were very acceptable."

George, shot through the thigh and then again in the head, came to after these shots and tried to drag himself to a stream, but a warrior saw him and shot him a third time. Somehow George Cowan, shot three times and left for dead, managed to crawl nine miles down Nez Perce Creek over the next three days, where he found the party's wagons abandoned and destroyed but his dog happily waiting for him. George, now in the company of his dog but unable to use his legs, had one thought in his mind. Coffee.

“It occurred to me that I had spilled some coffee when in camp, on Thursday in the Lower Geyser Basin, and calling my dog we started for it, I crawling as before, and the dog walking by my side,” George later wrote. “The coffee was four miles distant, but I thought not of that. The only idea was to possess the coffee. I was starving.” A cup of coffee after a four-mile crawl was George's only sustenance in five days, but he set of at a crawl again, crossing Firehole River before passing out on the bank, exhausted from agonizing miles of crawling through the forest, three bullet wounds, blood loss, and searing pain.

A pair of General Howard's scouts chanced along and discovered Mr. Cowan, building him a fire, boiling him another cup of coffee, and offering him a blanket and a bit of hardtack before again setting off in pursuit of the Nez Perce. Cowan drifted off to sleep and the fire spread to surround him, adding burns to the bullet wounds and scrapes and cuts he had already endured. Despite all of this, Cowan wrote that "my desire for life returned, and it seems the spirit of revenge took complete possession of me. I knew that I would live and I took a solemn vow that I would devote the rest of my life to killing Indians, especially Nez Perce.” Cowan assumed that his wife Emma and her sibling Frank and Ida had been held captive or killed by the same warriors that had left him for dead.

General Howard's troops eventually found and assisted George Cowan. An Army surgeon removed the flattened bullet from Cowan's head and handed it to him. George later had it turned into a watch fob. Emma, Frank, and Ida had camped with the Army after their escape with Texas Jack, eventually returning to Townsend, Montana, to stay with their parents. In the local newspaper, Emma read that her husband Geoge had somehow miraculously survived his ordeal, and she immediately rented a wagon and a driver to take her to the ranch in the Paradise Valley where he was recuperating. 21 days after being found alive by General Howard's troops, George and Emma Cowan were reunited. George would recuperate from his injuries and walk again, living to the age of 84.

The Nez Perce fought one of the most successful wars in American history despite being outnumbered by their American counterparts 2,000 to 250. American newspapers begrudgingly noted the tactical genius of Chief Joseph, one going so far as to call him "the Red Napoleon." A Montana newspaper noted that "Their warfare since they entered Montana has been almost universally marked so far by the highest characteristics recognized by civilized nations." The New York Times wrote that "On our part, the war was in its origin and motive nothing short of a gigantic blunder and a crime." Despite all of this, the Nez Perce were met with another surprise attack at the end of September. Three days later, General Howard's troops surrounded the tribe and Chief Joseph surrendered, declaring that he would "fight no more forever."

General Howard and General Miles promised Joseph that he and his people would be allowed to return to their reservation in Idaho. The Army's commanding general, William Tecumseh Sherman overruled them and sent the Nez Perce to Kansas. "I believed General Miles," said Chief Joseph, "or I never would have surrendered." The tribe was moved from Kansas to Oklahoma before finally being allowed to return to the Pacific Northwest in 1885. Joseph was never allowed to return to the Nez Perce reservation and died at the Colville Reservation in 1904.

In 1901, 24 years after that fateful trip, George and Emma returned to Yellowstone Park. By all accounts, the second trip was a better one.

Leadville Herald Review

https://www.leadvilleherald.com/free_content/article_c2b7bc0e-e4b1-11eb-a3bf-231526233657.html

Leadville has a long history of people coming here, making their fortune and then heading to Denver or back east to continue accumulating, and spending, their wealth.

As a result, many of the famous names associated with this city — Molly Brown, David May, the Guggenheims, Horace Tabor and many others — are not to be found in Leadville’s Evergreen Cemetery, but are buried elsewhere.

Evergreen, however, is the final resting place of John B. “Texas Jack” Omohundro, called America’s First Cowboy Star in a recently-published book by Matthew Kerns.

The book covers Texas Jack’s rather short but eventful life of almost 34 years. His parents owned a plantation in Virginia before the war, and it tells of his service in the Civil War on the Confederate side. After the war, he headed to Texas, because Virginia and the south offered little opportunity to make a living. In Texas he became a real cowboy, driving cattle north from the huge Texas ranches.

In 1869, Texas Jack became friends with James B. “Wild Bill” Hickok and William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Through Cody’s intercession, Texas Jack was subsequently hired as a scout and trail guide for the government despite his earlier stint as a Confederate soldier. He also led hunting parties for well-heeled Americans and foreigners.

A humorous part of Kerns’ book describes how the first Wild West Show, “Scouts of the Prairie,” came about, starring Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack.

Apparently Ned Buntline, writer of dime novels which had featured both Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack, claimed he had written a play which would be performed in Chicago involving many of the exploits of the two men, some real and some imagined.

When Texas Jack and Buffalo Bill agreed to perform in it, they ran into a number of obstacles. First of all, Buntline had not yet written the play, but said he could put one together in the four days before the opening performance. Also of concern was the fact that neither Buffalo Bill nor Texas Jack had ever learned to act, although they had spoken in public about their adventures.

Buntline cobbled together pieces of his novels, as well as stories he had heard the two men tell, and came up with a play in four hours. Texas Jack and Buffalo Bill had just a few days to learn their lines.

The show debuted in December 1872. Although the actors had spent a few days and nights memorizing their lines, they forgot everything when the curtains opened. After two hours of what Kerns described as local actors dressed as Indians being “lassoed, stabbed multiple times, shot and thrown offstage by the two scouts,” the play was over.

The Chicago audience loved it.

Also significant about the performance was that it marked the meeting between Texas Jack and Giuseppina Morlacchi. The Italian ballerina, known for introducing the can-can to America, had quite an international following and had been hired for a role in “Scouts of the Prairie.” The two were married in Rochester, New York in 1873. Unlike some romances, this one never lost its luster and lasted until death finally parted the two.

After performing with Buffalo Bill for some time, in 1877, Texas Jack formed his own acting troupe in St. Louis, known as the Texas Jack Combination, and began touring, performing in a series of plays, often with his wife.

Texas Jack and his wife came to Leadville in 1880 when each agreed to separate performances at different theaters. Although Morlacchi owned a house and farm in Massachusetts, the couple was considering retiring from show business in Leadville. By that time, Texas Jack was battling with alcoholism. It was said he was suffering from tuberculosis and using whiskey to self-medicate. Eventually he developed a cold which turned into pneumonia, leading to his death on June 28, 1880. Following a spectacular funeral held at the Tabor Opera House, he was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

Morlacchi returned to Massachusetts and never resumed her stage career. Six years after her husband died, she died of cancer in Massachusetts, where she is buried.

Buffalo Bill came to Leadville with his Wild West Show in 1909, some 29 years after Texas Jack’s death. Accompanied by his troupe and numerous others, he rode his horse to Evergreen Cemetery and gave a speech memorializing his old friend, well covered in the Herald Democrat. Noticing the wooden marker on Texas Jack’s grave, Buffalo Bill ordered a more appropriate tombstone, which still marks the grave today.

Buffalo Bill did not return to Leadville again until 1917. At that time he was quite ill. He spent a night in his railroad car in Leadville, but Buffalo Bill was not well enough to leave the train and visit his old friend’s grave. Four days later, he died in Denver.

It’s interesting that both Texas Jack and Buffalo Bill’s final resting places turned out to be in Colorado, since neither is from this state. As far as the tourists are concerned, Texas Jack has mostly been forgotten, whereas Buffalo Bill is still well known today. Kerns noted in his book that Buffalo Bill’s grave on Lookout Mountain gets around 400,000 visitors a year. Texas Jack’s grave in Leadville, he said, gets only a few dozen, most of them relatives who come to decorate the grave on the anniversary of his death.

Considering that Texas Jack died at age 33 and Buffalo Bill at age 70, the attention Buffalo Bill receives isn’t surprising, as he took his Wild West Show all over America and then to Europe. It is a bit surprising that Texas Jack doesn’t receive much recognition from Leadvillians. He does have a Facebook page, Facebook.com/jbomohundro, and the Texas Jack Association was formed to remind the public of his legacy. That group meets every other year and is responsible for Texas Jack being added to the Hall of Great Western Performers in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1994.

After Buffalo Bill died in Denver on Jan. 10, 1917, a fight over where he would be buried commenced between Denver, Cody, Wyoming, and North Platte, Nebraska, which served as his home base and where his famous Wild West Show was founded. The matter was settled when the city of Denver offered Louisa Cody, Wild Bill’s widow, $10,000 for the city to arrange the funeral and bury the body on Lookout Mountain.

I visited Buffalo Bill’s grave more than 30 years ago when a visitor from out of state wanted to see it. I was surprised by the number of coins visitors had left on the gravestone, apparently a continuing tradition.

I’ve visited Texas Jack’s grave a number of times, most recently this past Saturday after completing the Kerns book. Aside from a group visit some years ago, most likely from the Texas Jack Association on the anniversary of his death, I’ve never seen anyone at the gravesite. There was no one there Saturday, but there were signs of visitors. A number of coins covered the top of the gravestone.

Martinek served for 17 1/2 years as editor of the Herald Democrat. As editor emerita, she continues to contribute articles and this column. Reach her at marcia@leadvilleherald.com .

A Trek Out West - Part 4

Continued from A Trek Out West - Part 3.[Dr. Ferber] 7th.—We moved camp and made a twenty-mile ride, which tired us out, as well as the horses. We had got into rough, but more picturesque country; had to pass many high and steep mountains; sometimes it was not without danger to go down the steep canyons and slide down the rocks. At about 4 o'clock we arrived at the junction of the two branches of Battle Creek in a lovely valley, which is surrounded on three sides, forming a triangle, by high mountains. We put our camp up near the junction of the two branches, both of them splendid streams, large enough for fly casting. We had scarcely put our feet on the ground when I made my rod ready to catch. Almost with every cast one or two fine trout were lauded. I never had a better trout fishing. Not to say that fish were of large size, but they were so abundant and so gamey that I could not stop fishing, although I had to put them all back, as we could not eat them all. Out of one pool, where the branches came together, I caught thirty-two trout, from six to eighteen ounces, without moving from my stand. The fish were delicious, and we had them cooked in three different styles.

[Otto Franc] Wednesday, Aug 7 - We break up camp & start out for Battle Creek; after 8 1/2 hours ride through beautiful up & down very steep mountains & after crossing some lovely little streams we come upon Battle Creek & camp in a very nice narrow valley; We find the creek full of very gamey trout that take the fly greedily; we have excellent sport with them; 1 try to steal a march on a deer in some willow bushes close to camp but the deer will not have it & escapes unhurt. I also saw a monster of a black tail Buck, I could not get a shot at him.

[Dr. Ferber] Aug 8th.—After breakfast Jack and Frank with the rifle, and I with the shot-gun, went out hunting. I bagged four fine mountain grouse, and in the afternoon Frank killed three and Jack one. These birds, which some call blue grouse, are here in great numbers and are of fine flavor. Two of them weighed two pounds and fourteen ounces each.

[Otto Franc] Thursday, Aug 8 - The Doctor, who is an experienced Fisherman, says he never saw a stream so full of trout as Battle Creek; although the temptation is very great we do not kill any more than we can eat. We found signs of Mountain Sheep; I climb two very high & steep mountains in search of them without finding any, but am richly rewarded by the beautiful view I have from the tops of them; it reminded me of a part of the Alps near Chamonix. We see a great many Eagles they are very shy, also plenty of sandhill cranes, I tried very hard this morning to shoot one but they were too wary for me; in the afternoon Dr. & I go out with the Shotguns & kill a number of Mountain Grouse, among them a male bird that weighs almost 3 #. Supper consists of: Trout Grouse Antelope Flap jacks Coffee

[Dr. Ferber] 9th—Started from camp 7:30 a.m. to get to Battle Lake. But it was no go ! After eight hours horrible tramp through thick bushes, fallen timber, over rocks, in a hard rain-storm, we all felt tired, and concluded to give it up for that day and go to camp. Before we got down to the creek Tip killed a deer, and we shot at an elk pretty far off without doing him any harm. Our camp outfit was, although it was covered, pretty damp, and the first thing when we stopped was to make a big fire and get warm and dry. The rest was to cook dinner, which we were anxiously waiting for, as our appetite was grand. My friend, Frank, ate half as much in meat as the weight of his body, not to speak of the flapjacks. In half an hour we were quite different men, and smoked another pipe of peace. This camp, 8,700 feet high, in the narrow valley of the main branch of Battle Creek was surrounded on both sides by high wooded mountains. We did not feel very comfortable here, but still had to stay another day in order to send the guides out to look for the lake. We passed an unpleasant night, as all our camp outfit, as quilts, blankets, etc., was damp. The next morning, on the 10th Aug., Jack and Tip started to hunt for Battle Lake, while Frank and I went out fishing. The trout were not very hungry, and did take the fly well, because there was so much food washed down the mountain for them by the freshet, still I caught enough for our table. At noon the guides came back, bringing us good news. They found the lake about two miles off. We could have gone there the same day, but we thought better to wait till our bedding was dry again. To speak of the trout I caught here, I never saw Salma fontinalis like them before.

[Otto Franc] Friday Aug 9 - Start in search of Battle Lake which is supposed to be near the head of Battle Creek on top of a mountain; very few people have ever been to it & our guides have only a vague idea where it is situated; it is said to be so full of Trout that it is only necessary to dip your finger in the lake & you will pull out a Trout at the end of it; We rode through one extremely rough & wild country, so rough indeed that only a Rocky Mountain Pony can pass through it, an Eastern horse never would; we were kept busy al1 the time admiring the wonderful scenery; we started without a bit of meat & consequently kept our eyes open for something to shoot for supper, but a train of 8 horses passing through the timber makes so much noise that it is very seldom one gets a fair shot at deer or elk. We were out about 2 hours when a series of severe thundershowers set in & drenched us to the skin in less time then it takes to tell, I wore my pants tucked into my boots & the water actually ran out of the tops of the boots; the rain made the ground very slippery & our ponies had a hard time of it to keep their foothold; after we had been riding 7 hours we gave up al1 hopes of finding the lake to day & commenced to look for a good camping ground which is a very difficult task in these wild mountains as it requires quite a piece of pasture to fill the stomachs of 8 hungry Rocky Mountain ponies; we were just getting reconciled to the idea of suppering on Bacon & flap jacks when suddenly Tip who is the leader of the party jumped off his horse, fired & roiled over a fat black tail deer; this causes great rejoicing as we were all wet & tired & did not feel like hunting very much after getting into camp; we only take the loins as our ponies can only carry very light loads over such rough ground; we had hardly secured the meat whena band of 12-15 Elk cross our path at 300 yards distance, the timber is very thick so that we cannot see them plainly but Tip, Jack & the Dr. jump off their horses & open fire, 1 doz shots were fired in a minute & the Elk were at once lost to sight presumably without any holes in them, I did not fire as I thought it useless & had a good laugh at the ardent hunters; 1/2 hour later we find a beautiful valley with plenty of grass & water, we select a spot under a cluster of large Pine trees & soon have a roaring fire, venison & bacon in the pan, coffee in the pot & forget all about our wet clothes; when we travel we have only 2 meals a day viz: Breakfast & Supper & consequently plenty of appetite; after the meal we light our pipes sit around the fire & listen to the Indian & hunting stories of Tip & Jack; our camp is 8700 feet above the sea the air is delightfully fresh but very thin so that mountain climbing gets us terribly our of breath; our ponies seem to be accustomed to it as they never seem to suffer after the severest climbing; we saw some Grouse but the woods were so wet that we did not care to go after them, we also saw plenty of ripe raspberries but we were so ardent in our search of the Lake that we did not take the time to pick them.

[Otto Franc] Saturday Aug 10 - We got up stiff & chilly from having slept in wet blankets, a big fire & good breakfast soon remedy that. Tip & Jack start off to look for the lake; Dr. & I go fishing - have moderate success we find some excellent ripe strawberries. At noon Tip & Jack return & report the lake 2 miles from camp & full of fish, we shall move camp there tomorrow, I go hunting in the afternoon on some wooded hills but do not get anything; there is a high mountain 5-6 miles from camp with snow on it which I intend to climb in order to look for mountain sheep & to enjoy the view; Jack was out hunting & came home empty.

[Dr. Ferber] 11th.—Early in the morning we started for the lake, where we arrived after a half-hour's riding over rocky hills and thickly fallen timber. What a wonderful panorama we had after we had ascended the last hill. I am not able to describe it. A fine, but rather small, sheet of water before us, about 500 or 500 yards long, and 300 yards wide, was surrounded on one side by a steep, bare rock, 1,000 feet high; on the other sides by high wooded hills. The water of the lake was as smooth as a mirror, and we saw hundreds, even thousands, of small trout playing or rising to the surface for insects. Toward the high rock the water seems to be very deep, but on other parts pretty shallow. Frank and myself being ahead, we had not to wait very long for our train, and then we rode slowly along the lake to the place where, several years ago, Prospector (gold digger) had built a log-house. This we used for camp, being large and dry. That it did not take very long for me to get ready for the trout you will imagine. The poor fish were so hungry that they came to us on shore where we were standing, waiting for our artificial flies, and even bare hooks. I fished all around the lake, and caught several hundred, but put them back again, as I left it to Frank to furnish our table. He only fished a while, and caught his basket nearly full. Never in all my fishing have I found a pond or lake so well stocked with trout as this Battle Lake, but we did not catch a larger fish than one pound six ounces. I think there was too little food for the great number of fish.

[Otto Franc] Sunday, Aug 11 - After another rainy night we start for Battle Lake although the distance is only 1 1/2 miles it is over 2 hours before our pack animals reach the same on account of the great quantity of fallen timber. Battle Lake is a beautiful sheet of water 500 yards long 250 yds. wide, clear water & of great depth; 9150 feet above the sea, on one side overtopped by a very steep mountain which is exactly 1000 feet higher than the lake; there is another smaller lake about 250 yards from the main lake & 50 feet lower than it; it is formed by an outlet of the upper one; the main lake is crammed full of small trout that will bite at anything; I commenced fishing with a fly and pulled out fish as fast as I could throw the line, pretty soon the fly was tore off & only the bare hook left, I continued fishing with that & caught just as many fish as before; they do not seem to grow larger than 1/2 #, the most of them are 1/4 #; in the afternoon I climbed the mountain on the side of the lake, it was very hard work as most of the time I had to use both hands & feet; the view is magnificent & of vast extent as the mountain is 10,150 feet above the level of the sea, however I could see more than 25 mountains higher than the one on which 1 was, a good many of them snow covered. I saw some Elk feeding in the distance but could not approach them on account of obstacles in the way; by the lake we found a log cabin & the names of a party that had camped there in September 1877, we appropriate the cabin for our own use; we seem to be above the fly & mosquito line, as we see none of them; game must be plenty in the neighborhood judging from the numerous tracks, we will try to get some tomorrow; for curiosity sake, we get up supper in the following manner; Jack built a fire gets the frying pan ready; take the fishing pole catch a fish hand it to Jack who cleans it in a few seconds puts it in the pan over the fire & so on until the pan is full & in about 5 minutes from the time the fish are caught we are eating them; they are very gamey little fellows & fairly fight amongst themselves for the hook.

[Dr. Ferber] On the second day, Aug. 12, I cleaned fifteen fish, and found worms in five of them. Of course I threw them away, and we did not eat any more fish out of the lake. Frank took the aneroid and climbed up the high rock near the lake, where he found that he had ascended 1,000 feet; the top was 10,150 feet. The same day, all of us, Tip with Frank and Jack with me, started for a hunt. Frank was so lucky as to kill a doe elk and spikebuck elk, and could have shot many more; we could have killed some, too, but, having enough of meat, did not like to slaughter them. We found elk by the hundreds, but no large bucks, and could get close up to them. We ascended mountain after mountain, very heavily wooded on the lower parts of them, while on the tops only bare rocks and snow, and at last we got up the principal peak of this range, where my aneroid showed 10,850 feet. Here we were on the great divide between the Pacific and Atlantic, and on the line between Wyoming and Colorado. The view from here was grand. We saw nearly all the high peaks of the northern part of Colorado, as well north of us the Elk mountains and some other high ranges. The wind was blowing very fresh, so we did not stay long, and rode down again to our camp. I tried the trout once more to hook bigger fish, but without result. The little fellows took anything we threw in, and would have taken " a red-hot stove," as my friend, F. Endicott, likes to say.

Although the elevation we were traveling on now was from 9,000 to 11,000 feet, the vegetation was luxuriant, while we found on the lower plateaus, 6,000 to 8,000 feet, scarcely a shrub. Wo saw here timber of enormous size—pine and poplar—not so very high, but of great diameter and of dense growth. There was high and good grass everywhere, and a great variety of flowers; a splendid country for botanists to make studies and collections.

[Otto Franc] Monday Aug 12 - We have no meat & all start out to get some; Tip & I are about 1 mile from camp when I catch a glimpse of a large Elk feeding among some young pines; I jump quickly off the horse & roll over a fine fat Doe Elk by a good shot just behind the shoulder; this must have been (one) of a band of several hundred as immediately after I fired we could see & hear Elk running in every direction; we found my Elk dead not more than 3 or 4 yds. from where I shot her; after having taken the loins & the tongue we proceed toward a high mountain to look for mountain sheep; after 1/2 hours ride we see another band of Elk with a nice young Buck on the outside; as the loin of a young Elk are delicious eating I resolve to get him if possible, we lead the horses quietly out of sight - & I crawl towards the band when 100 yards off I get a fair chance at the buck & drop him in his tracks with a bullet through his shoulder; as these are my first Elk & both very well shot I am not little proud of my achievement; after having secured the desired meat we start again for the big mountains. This first one we climb we find to be 10,500 feet high, with plenty of large snowfields & a most brilliant view of the surrounding country but no sheep, we then try another whose summit we reach nearly exhausted, as we had to drag our ponies after us a good deal of the time, it is 11,000 feet high, presents a grander view than the first one but no sheep again, we then try another with the same success; the wind blows very strong & cold & as we are tired & hungry we turn homeward; on the return trip I miss a black tail Deer [head on] at 80 yards; this puts a damper on my morning doings & teaches me that I am not quite the crackshot I supposed myself to be; During to days tramp we crossed & recrossed the "Divide". We saw the North Platte plainly; the water from Battle Lake reaches the Pacific Ocean by way of Snake, Green & Colorado Rivers.

[Dr. Ferber] 13th.. —We left this lovely little spot, and, going westward, we followed this dividing range of mountains through forests, crossing brooks and canyons, till after a ride of about twenty four hours, we came to an old camp of ours on the Savery, where we stopped on the 5th and 6th. Having had a very early breakfast, we felt awful hungry at 4 o'clock, when we came in camp, and we proved that a pound of juicy elk steak each was not too much. My pipe was lighted then, and I took my rod and brought a nice mess of trout home.

[Otto Franc] Tuesday Aug 13 - We break camp & commence to travel back toward Rawlins; in order to escape the dense & fallen timber of the valley which is a serious impediment to our pack horses we ascend to the summit of the Divide & follow the same for several miles, we are 10000 feet above the sea - the summit being narrow we have a beautiful view right & left; when we get down a little lower we strike several bands ofElk but do not shoot any as we have plenty of meat; after 7 1/2 hours ride we reach Savory Creek & go into camp; we have now left the mountains & are again in the Plains.[This story will continue, following the summer trek of Texas Jack, Otto Franc, and Dr. Ferber in Part 5.]

Captain Jack Crawford's Winchester

Captain Jack Crawford was a western scout who replaced Texas Jackas Buffalo Bill's right-hand man when Cody and Omohundro split up their theatrical partnership after four seasons of theatrical touring. Captain Jack's partnership with Buffalo Bill was to be short-lived—Crawford blamed Cody for an injury he sustained during one of their plays and the two remained bitter enemies for the rest of their long lives. Crawford was also a writer, known as the "Poet Scout" and he wrote one of the plays that Texas Jack occasionally performed.

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/2726...

WINCHESTER BELONGING TO CAPTAIN JACK CRAWFORD, ALSO KNOWN AS THE POET-SCOUT. Captain Jack Crawford was a friend to "Wild Bill" Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody, and rode as a scout for Generals Phillip Sheridan and George Crook, among others. As Cody recalls in his Autobiography of Buffalo Bill, Crawford, a teetotaler, famously delivered a bottle of whiskey to Cody in camp, a gift from General Jones in Cheyenne, after a 300 mile ride: "I will say in passing that I don't believe there is another scout in the West that would have brought a full bottle of whiskey 300 miles." Crawford joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in 1876, but left in 1877 after he accidentally shot himself on stage during a battle scene, and blamed Cody's drunkenness. After an unsuccessful attempt to form his own troupe, the "Poet-Scout" went back to scouting. When he retired in the mid-1890s, however, he finally found fame both on stage and in print, and his touring show "The Campfire and the Trail" charmed audiences across the U.S. and briefly, in England. His broadsides announced, "This is Not a Lecture, but a Budget of Jewels, Sparkling, Pathetic, Humorous and Original," and audiences, sometimes numbering in the thousands, were "held ... spell-bound for two hours by a simple narration of his life," according to the New York World.

A Trek Out West - Part 3

[Otto Franc] Wednesday July 31 - Our fish are all eaten up and we go out to hunt for meat in earnest. Tip soon has a fat buck antelope, Jack gets a fawn I put 2 bullets into a large buck but he gets away, Dr. wounds a doe with the same result; After dinner, we go out again, Tip and I start 4 enormous buck elk out of a timbered canyon but can not get a shot at them they run in the direction where Dr. and Jack are hunting and the Dr. kills the largest of them, Tip and I start a blacktail buck and Tip kills him.

[Dr. Ferber] 31st.—Soon after breakfast we all went out to kill some game for our dinner. Jack and Tip killed an antelope each, while Frank and myself only wounded one each ; I broke the hind leg of one, but my old Jimmy, being slow, could not catch him, and gave the chase up. After dinner we tried it again. Jack and I came in camp at 6 o'clock, let our horses loose, and I took the cartridge out of my rifle. When we were putting our saddles aside we saw four large buck elks coming down a canyon. We took our rifles and ran all speed to cut them off in a little cut-out in the mountain. Jack was over 100 yards ahead of me, when I could not run any more. I rested a minute, and then I saw Jack making signs to me to come up to him. I tried all my strength, and when on the top of the hill I saw three elks to the left and the big buck about 100 yards ahead of them near the creek, 200 yards from me. I put my Sharps to the shoulder and pulled, but no shot responded—I forgot to load. Still the buck gave me time to do this, and then I fired, with what success I could not tell. He ran after a sudden jump over the hill and got out of sight. Meanwhile Jack fired several shots at the others, broke one down, which ran off again. When I climbed up to the top of the hill I saw Jack raising his gun at my big buck that had fallen down in the high grass, and tried to gel up again; but he was so sick that he could only walk, and after a bullet broke one of his fore feet he sank down close to the creek, where a bullet through his head killed him. When he was lying there he looked at us angrily and showed fight. My bullet had penetrated the abdomen about three inches before his right hind leg, and very likely went through the bowels into the lungs. He was a very large buck, and Jack estimated his weight up to 800 or 900 pounds. His antlers are enormous, large and fine, although in velvet. The guides said that they seldom saw such large horns in velvet. I felt proud, but at the same time a kind of sadness came over me for having killed such a large animal and not being able to make use of all the meat. We only took the loins, tongue and antlers. When we came to camp, Tip brought a black-tailed buck home.

[Otto Franc] Thursday August 1 - We break camp, travel 10 miles and camp on Savery Creek which is supposed to contain a good many trout, we fish with poor success and come home very hungry when we find a splendid dinner waiting for us, the menu was: Loin of Elk, Hindquarter of Antelope, Saddle of Deer, Coffee. Supper consists of: Trout Venison Flapjacks Coffee.

[Dr. Ferber] August 1. —We moved south about eight miles to the main branch of the Savery Creek. Here I found good trouting of small size; could catch more than we could eat. Frank and Jack went out shooting, and Frank succeeded in killing a fine antelope buck, whose horns he brought in camp as a trophy.

[Otto Franc] Friday August 2 - One-half inch of ice in the waterpots; during the day the thermometer rose to 92 degrees (altitude 7200 feet) Dr. and Tip catch a nice lot of trout; Jack and I go out looking at the country; Antelope, doe, and fawns are so plenty we might have killed 25 of them, but we do not care to butcher them. So I wait till I get a chance at a buck and kill one at 125 yards; I also kill 2 sage hens running at 25 yards with one bullet. The valley where we camp seems to be a favorite breeding place for waterbirds; we see a good many geese, I find a nest with young sandpipers, Tip catches some young geese and I chase a young duck but he got away; In the evening we will take a swim in the creek.

[Dr. Ferber] 2nd.—Tip and I took horses and rode up the creek about three miles, where I caught some good-sized trout, but not many; while Tip, during his fishing, caught by chance a young wild goose. Our camp was very well furnished with meat and fish, and for dinner our bill of fare showed elk, deer, antelope, trout, flapjacks and coffee.

[Otto Franc] Saturday August 3 - Tip and Jack go out to look for a shady camp, they come back at 10 o'clock and report a good place 8 miles up the creek; Dr. and I stay in camp and do some washing and sewing, as we have enough meat and fish on hand; Thermometer 96 degrees 3 p.m. - 5 –

[Dr. Ferber] 3d. —Today, like the last few days, the thermometer showed between 80 and 90, while in the morning at 5 o'clock we found ice in our cups. It was too hot to go shooting or fishing, so we stayed in camp and put our things to rights. In the morning we had a good wash and in the afternoon we mended our clothes and smoked the pipe of peace. After this hard work we took a nice, cooling and refreshing bath in the Savery. Jack and Tip had looked out for the next day's camp. Elevation, 7,700 feet.

[Otto Franc] Sunday August 4 - Move camp to the foot of the Mountains in a pretty little grove on the bank of Savery Creek, which here swarms with Trout; Jack and I go out hunting but a thunderstorm soon compels us to return without game; Dr. and Tip come home with plenty of trout.

[Dr. Ferber] 4th—At five we got up, took breakfast at 5:30, and started at seven, and then moved about eight or ten miles south to the head of Savery Creek. The stream is small here, and so are fish, which everywhere in this water take the fly readily, so that I could catch a mess at any time. While I was fishing, wading the stream and casting the fly into a shadowy pool, overhung by willow bushes, suddenly I saw a big old antelope buck standing within five yards before me without any fear, knowing very well that I could not kill him with my split bamboo rod, then walked slowly away. Nothing of importance occurred this day.

[Otto Franc] Monday August 5 - Our meat is eaten up and we go hunting; I mistake a large doe antelope for a buck and shoot her at a long distance, she is able to run and gives Tip and myself a lively chase as fast as our horses could run for one-half hour up and downhill over rocks and through brush, when finally I come near enough to give her another bullet which finishes her, we find her to be so lean and old that we could not use her meat; we then climb a very high mountain and have a magnificent view into Colorado. In coming back I kill a mountain grouse with a bullet; we see some deer but cannot get a shot at them; in the afternoon we go hunting again but cannot get anything decent to shoot at so Jack kills an antelope fawn for breakfast (2nd) & supper (1st).

[Dr. Ferber] 5th. —Game was here in great abundance, but as we had meat enough in camp Jack and I took our horses and went out sight-seeing; but, unluckily, I forgot to take my aneroid with me. We climbed up very high mountains, and had magnificent views. The highest point we ascended was about 10,000 feet. When we came in camp we heard that Frank had killed an antelope.

[Otto Franc] Tuesday, Aug 6 - Game is very wild, we were all out hunting but could not get anything. Does and fawns are very plenty but we do not like to kill them; Tip & I take a very long ride through some beautiful timber & over some high mountains [10,000 feet], my horse & I roll down a steep but not high bank, both very much frightened but not hurt; get home very tired & hungry & make a good meal of stewed gooseberries & flapjacks; the country abounds with gooseberries which are just ripe & make a splendid sauce.

[Dr. Ferber] 6th.—The day was hot again, and we did not do much hunting or fishing. I caught some trout near the camp, and then Frank and I picked gooseberries, of which we cooked with sugar a fine preserve, which went first-rate with the fat flap-jacks we had for supper.

[This story will continue, following the summer trek of Texas Jack, Otto Franc, and Dr. Ferber in Part 4.]

The Jim Fisk Cloverleaf

Among Josephine Morlacchi’s many admirers was Jim Fisk, New York robber baron and business partner of Jay Gould. Fisk—who owned the Grand Opera House, where Josephine was performing—earned his riches as a stockbroker after a rocky start in life. At the age of fifteen, he ran away from home to join a circus before becoming a waiter, a shoe peddler, and eventually a salesman in Boston. During the Civil War, he sourced cotton smuggled from the South to fulfill his textile contract with the federal government. His attempt, with Gould, to corner the market on gold would result in the famous Black Friday market scare of 1869.

As Morlacchi waited backstage at the theater one evening, Fisk walked into the room and placed a diamond ring on her finger. Without time to respond, she was rushed to the stage to dance. Returning to her room after the show, she found Fisk waiting. She removed the ring from her finger and handed it back to Fisk.

“My dear young lady, it’s real,” he promised. “I don’t think you quite understand the value of that little stone. It’s of the first order and worth at least $5,000!”

Josephine shrugged and showed Mr. Fisk the door. “Bah! I can make that with one of my toes.”

As he left the theatre, Fisk commented to an associate, “There is a good woman that a bad man could fight for.” Bad man Fisk was eventually murdered after a failed extortion attempt by a business associate who had fallen in love with Fisk’s mistress. The gun used to kill Fisk is up for auction at the end of the month.

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27262/lot/1/?category=list&length=12&page=1

THE ORIGINAL JIM FISK CLOVERLEAF, USED BY STOKES TO KILL "DIAMOND JIM" FISK, and the reason that the Colt House Model became known as the "Fisk Cloverleaf." "Diamond Jim" Fisk, or "Jubilee Jim," was one of the most famous, and infamous, "robber barons" of the Gilded Age. Most famously, he and Jay Gould attempted to corner the gold market in 1869, leading to the first "Black Friday" in September 1869 as the financial markets collapsed after President Grant released $4 million in government gold into the markets.

However, Fisk's business exploits would soon be overshadowed by his personal life. In 1867, he began a relationship with Josie Mansfield, a voluptuous beauty who had up until then led a hard life. Fisk gave her money and bought her a four-story brownstone on West 24th St in New York. In 1869, Fisk befriended Edward Stokes, went into business with him, and on New Year's Day, 1870, introduced Mansfield to Stokes. Stokes and Mansfield soon began an affair, leading to a contentious love triangle and legal battles both personal and in their businesses. When Stokes tried to extort Fisk for $200,000, threatening to release the love letters of Fisk & Mansfield to the press, Fisk refused to pay. As the tension mounted, and Fisk threatened to expose the blackmail, Stokes snapped. On January 6, 1872, Stokes waited for Fisk at the Grand Central Hotel. As Fisk entered through the Ladies' entrance, as he always did, Stokes descended from the second floor, shooting Fisk twice with this Colt House Model.

An historic gun, commemorating one of the great scandals of the Gilded Age, as well as the origin of the classic Jim Fisk Cloverleaf.

A Trek Out West - Part 2

[Dr. Ferber] July 27, 11:30 A.M We started from here, but did not travel further than about eight miles when we camped near a little creek. After dinner, we took our guns, but without any success, except that I killed a couple of young sagehens. Elevation, 7,200 feet.

[Otto Franc] Saturday July 27 - Started out; have considerable trouble with our pack horses they not being used to the work make only 10 miles on that account and camp at the mouth of a nicely wooded canyon in which is a very cold spring; after having cooked and eaten dinner we go out to see what we can shoot; Dr. gets 2. sage hens and misses an antelope, so does Jack. I see nothing to shoot at.

[Dr. Ferber] 28th.—Left camp at 7:30; came at noon upon a plateau where the aneroid showed 8,200 feet. We made about eighteen miles, and got in camp at 3 o'clock, near Muddy Creek. We had a lovely place in a little poplar grove at the head of a spring. Near the camp the fish were scarce, and I caught only twelve little trout. Elevation, 8,100 feet.

[Otto Franc] Sunday July 28 - We make a long march; cross the great Divide at a point called Pine Grove [altitude 8,200] pass a great many snowfields while the sun is blistering on our hands and faces; descend into the plains and camp in a little piece of timber on the bank of Muddy Creek; although the altitude is almost 8,000 feet the mosquitoes are devouring us; In the afternoon I miss an antelope so does Tip. Tonight we are eating the last of our meat, but we expect to get trout tomorrow. The night grows extremely cold.

[Dr. Ferber] 29th, —Without moving camp we took our horses and rode some miles to another brook, where the fishing was so good that I filled my basket in a few hours. Frank and Jack tried to shoot antelope ; fired several shots but did not kill any. The trout in this water are long and slim, large head, body silvery, with bluish-black spots; belly is nearly red; very little game in them. There is another fish here which takes the fly like a trout, The form and color is like a salt water minnow; ventral and anal fins red, dorsal fin and tail yellowish, scales small and silvery; has a good flavor, but is full of bones; a kind of chub. "During the eclipse I caught my largest trout that day, and when the darkness was over we turned home to our camp, where we heard bad news. Jack was cooking dinner, and during the eclipse, which both of them were watching, the tent and some of our blankets and quilts caught fire, which, after some efforts, they extinguished. This accident was a good experience for us—not to make the fire too close to the tent again.

[Otto Franc] Monday July 29 - Ice in our water pot. The cold must have killed all the mosquitoes, not a single one is to be seen; Dr. & Tip rode a few miles from camp and brought home some beautiful trout, Jack & I try to kill some antelope but do not succeed. All our shooting is at long range. Finally, we caught some trout and went back to camp; while cooking the fish the Eclipse sets in and we have a very good view of it, Jack calls it a damned humbug and put up job, because our tent and blankets caught fire while we were looking at the sun, we lost a blanket, burned holes in the tent and some blankets and besides burned our hands in trying to extinguish it; During today's ride we crossed a valley 1/2 mile wide, 1 1/2 miles long in which were hundreds of sage hens, they would let us approach to about 5 feet before they would fly, we did not kill any as it seemed like murder. The trout would not bite at artificial flies, only at grasshoppers. The latter are so very scarce and shy that it takes sometimes 1/2 hour to catch one and we come to the conclusion that it is greater sport to catch grasshoppers than trout. Ice again during the night & at 10 a.m. 90 degrees a similar contrast in the temperature is of daily occurrence. The sun burns the skin more than in New York, but the heat does not prostrate at all, we ride runabout & do camp work without perspiring much

[Dr. Ferber] 30th.—Left camp at 10 o'clock. After we had been riding about eight miles we saw at a distance two men on horseback, who took us first for Indians, but when they found out the mistake came up to us. Coming from Colorado, they were going north. Six miles more we stopped, being a little tired of the hot sun; thermometer showed 85 deg., and the night before we had ice. We found here a splendid clear and cold brook, and expected good fishing, but no fish was caught, not even a minnow or chub. 1 think the water contained too much lime and alkali. In the evening five of our horses ran away about two miles, and it took all the skill of the guides to bring them back again. Elevation, 7,200 feet.[Otto Franc] Tuesday July 30 - We travel about 15 miles. Pass through some beautiful country and camp on a little stream in which we fish for trout without success; in the evening 5 of our horses stampede. Tip catches them after a 2-mile race and has his left hand badly lacerated by a picket line of one of the horses.[This story will continue, following the summer trek of Texas Jack, Otto Franc, and Dr. Ferber in Part 3.]

A Trek Out West - Part 1

In the summer of 1878, a hunting party traveled west from New York to explore the wilds of Wyoming and Colorado. The hunting party consisted of two wealthy New York immigrants from Germany, Count Otto Franc von Lichtenstein and Doctor Amandus Ferber. The party was put together at the offices of Forest & Stream, the outdoor hunting and adventure magazine edited by George Bird Grinnell. Franc kept a journal of his trek, as he did when he returned to Wyoming some years later to found the famous Pitchfork Ranch near Meeteetse, Wyoming. These journals were kindly donated to the Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, by Otto's great-grandnephew. Ferber supplied Forest & Stream with an account of the trip, making this the most documented of Texas Jack's western expeditions, other than the Yellowstone Expedition of 1874 with the Earl of Dunraven.

One-hundred-and-forty-three years after their western adventure, we will follow along with their trek week by week, trekking along vicariously with Otto Franc, Amandus Ferber, Texas Jack, Tip Vincent, and Gus Lancken.

This first entry is from Forest & Stream. Dr. Ferber details the party's trip to Rawlins, where they would begin their Wyoming adventure.

SOME five weeks ago a hunting party was made up in our office, and through the intermedium of the Forest and Stream, the services of Mr. John Omohondro were obtained. We take great pleasure in reproducing the itinerary of this party—true hunters, every one of them. We beg to call attention to the terse, clear manner in which information is imparted. This is the way to tell a story. Fine writing is all good enough in its way, but mostly it is vox et praeterea nihil! (Latin: a voice and nothing more)Notes on Western Travel.— Our readers will be glad to learn that the party conveyed by Texas Jack are now well underway. The following letter is from Rawlins, Wyoming, under date of July 26:

Mr. Editor : The 16th of this month we left New York via N. Y. Central for Chicago, where we had for two days a jolly time with our friends. After Jack had joined us there, we started for Omaha, to stop there twenty-four hours. I think this is a very good place to purchase saddles; we bought two handsome and comfortable ones for $85 apiece, having all kinds to choose from. Here we made the mistake of sending two boxes by freight to Rawlins, our destination, intending to save money, as we had about 200 pounds over-weight.

After many introductions to reporters and Jack's numerous friends at almost every station, we found ourselves at the Railroad Hotel, which was so crowded on account of the eclipse that, although we telegraphed for rooms, we three were put up in one little room like herrings. A good night's rest made us rise early; we were anxious to get ready for our trip as soon as possible. This was not so easy as we thought, as suitable horses or ponies were very scarce. After two days' search, we bought seven ponies, four for pack and three for saddle, at the rate of $45 apiece.

Our second guide, whom we hired for $2 a day, had his own pony and outfit. The usual price for ponies such as we got is $35 to $40, but they say that this season the price is higher than it used to be. Our other outfit, consisting of pack-saddles, tent, blankets, provisions, ammunition, etc., we purchased at moderate prices. Hunting parties can get at Rawlins the whole outfit they want for a trip, even rifle cartridges for any kind of rifle and any caliber. Our first trip will be south of U.P.R.R. (Union Pacific Railroad) near the border of North Park of Colorado, to Battle Creek and Battle Lake, about 65 miles from here.

The auspices for fishing and hunting both seem to be first-rate. Everybody here speaks with great enthusiasm of the abundance of trout in the above-mentioned stream and lake. They say that they bite at a bare hook, but that they never saw anyone fishing with a fly. Game, such as antelope, deer, and elk, are said to be just as plentiful as trout in the waters. What is true of this we will soon find out ourselves. This first trip will not extend longer than about three weeks, as we made an appointment with Mr. Story, from Chicago, a gentleman whom I got acquainted with at A. P. Jones' hospitable retreat at Homosassa, Fla., and another gentleman from New London, whose name I forget, to meet at Rawlins the 16th of August. The second trip very likely will be north to the Wind River Mountains. The last three days we had a thunderstorm, which cleared the weather so that we may have it fair for the first week or so. My friend Frank is in very good spirits and humor, and cannot await the time to kill his first deer; so is Jack, who is now engaged in packing, assisted by Tip, our second guide. If nothing happens, tomorrow morning. You will shortly hear from us in the field.

From the journal of Otto Franc:July 24, 1878

Arrived at Rawlins a town of 2-300 inhabitants situated in a rocky sterile plain, which produces absolutely nothing but sagebrush; it is a very lively place being the outfitting point for numerous hunting & mining parties and the supply market for the many large cattle ranches on the Sweetwater Creek ' 50 miles north of here. Suitable horses we found quite scarce just now we inspected 2 herds out of which we only selected 2 animals for packing purposes at the price of $45.00 a head.

July 25th

Purchase provisions & all necessities for our outfit drove to a ranch 2 1/2 miles & bought 3 horses at $45.00 each, in town bought a very nice little 3-year-old bay horse for $60.00, he is going to be my charger.

Friday, July 26th

Bought a horse for Jack for $50.00 our guns & cases arrive from Chicago. Are busy packing up for tomorrow's start, towards evening I took a ride on my new horse and am highly pleased with him.

[This story will continue, following the summer trek of Texas Jack, Otto Franc, and Dr. Ferber in Part 2.]

Wild Bill's Rifle

After a single season acting on eastern stages with Texas Jack and Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hickok headed west, eventually finding himself in Deadwood, in the Dakota Territory. Now, the only weapon belonging to James Butler Hickok to be authenticated by biographer and historian Joseph G. Rosa, Wild Bill's Springfield Trapdoor rifle, which was buried with him after his assassination by Jack McCall in Deadwood, is coming up for auction. It is expected to fetch between $150,000 and $250,000.

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/27262/lot/3/?category=list&length=12&page=1WILD BILL HICKOK'S SPRINGFIELD TRAPDOOR RIFLE, BURIED BY HIS SIDE AT DEADWOOD SOUTH DAKOTA ON AUGUST 3, 1876.

No visible serial number, circa 1870, .45-70 caliber 29 5/8 inch barrel, 1863 on tail of lock. Eaglehead and US arsenal marks. Cleaning rod. J.B. Hickock crudely carved on left side of walnut stock. JB monogram on the right. Condition: Fair to Good. Contemporary modifications for sporting use. Stock shortened. Pewter fore-end cap. Large chunks missing from fore-end and above action. Stock re-carved with cheekpieces. Buttplate with long scheutzen style tail.Provenance: "Wild Bill" Hickok, buried with him at Deadwood, South Dakota, 1876; removed when the grave was moved to Mount Moriah Cemetery, September 3, 1879 (McClintock, Pioneer Days in the Black Hills," 1939, and Rosa, Wild Bill Hickok: Gunfighter, 2001); John Bradley, Spearfish, SD; sold to Allen Toomey, Spearfish, SD; by descent to Isabel Toomey Duffy; EXHIBITED, Adams Museum, Deadwood, South Dakota, 1940-1953 (letters from Adams Museum, and Deadwood Chamber of Commerce); sold to Jim and Theresa Earle (signed letter of documentation and transfer of ownership from Isabel Toomey Duffy and her son William Duffy, May 24, 1993).THE MOST DOCUMENTED WILD BILL HICKOK GUN KNOWN: HIS PRIZED SPRINGFIELD SPORTER WHICH WAS BURIED WITH HIM AT DEADWOOD IN 1876.

Even if tales of James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok having killed "over one-hundred men" are overstated, Hickok remains in many ways the archetypal gunfighter of the Wild West: cool, calm, deadly when necessary, but acting with attention to law and justice. Called "Bill" or "William" since the mid-1850s, Hickok served the Union during the Civil War as a wagonmaster, courier, and a scout, earning the nickname "Wild Bill" in the process. An 1867 Harper's New Monthly Magazine article brought his exploits to the general public, and Hickok again went to work as a scout, meeting Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer for the first time.By 1876, he made his way to Deadwood, South Dakota, where he prospected with Colorado Charlie Utter and gambled. On August 2, 1876, he was shot in the back of the head by Jack McCall, holding a poker hand of aces and eights (now popularly known as the "dead man's hand"). At the time of his death, he was revered and feared in the west for his quickness and skill, both as a lawman and as a gunfighter.Journalist Leander Richardson, who had met Hickok just days earlier, recalled the scene at the funeral: "The body was clothed in a full suit of broad-cloth, the hair brushed back from the broad forehead, and the blood washed from the pallid cheek. Beside the dead hero lay his rifle, which was buried with him. The funeral ceremony was brief and touching, hundreds of rough miners standing around the bier with bowed heads and tear-dimmed eyes,—for with the better class 'Wild Bill' had been a great favorite" (Richardson, "A Trip to the Black Hills," Scribners Monthly 13, April 1877).In 1879, with the growth of the town of the town of Deadwood, the original site of "boot hill" (the Ingleside Cemetery) had to be moved, and on September 3 of that year, Colorado Charlie Utter, William Austin, Lewis Schoenfeld and John S. McClintock moved him to the current resting place in Mount Moriah Cemetery. John S. McClintock describes the move in vivid terms in his 1939 memoir Pioneer Days in the Black Hills p (114). In the description, and according to the foremost authority on Hickok, Joseph Rosa, McClintock notes that this Springfield rifle "with the name of J.B. Hickok engraved [carved] in the wood" was removed and came into the hands of John Bradley of Spearfish, SD, "who used the gun for many years afterwards." Rosa gives a detailed description of the provenance, descending from Bradley to Allen Toomey, its exhibition for many years at the Adams Museum in Deadwood, to Isabel Toomey, and then sold to Jim Earle in 1993. Rosa's description encompasses the entirety of Chapter 13 ("Wild Bill Hickok's Rifle") in his book Wild Bill Hickok: Gunfighter.In an article for Wild West Magazine in 2014, Rosa wrote that the "only authenticated Hickok weapon is the rife removed from his coffin in 1879 and now owned by Jim Earle in Texas." While we have seen other Hickok weapons that are likely authentic, it is extremely rare to find such an excellent provenance on one of the West's most important icons.