Paul Colt's Blog, page 49
April 17, 2016
Abilene: The Devil's Addition
The first of the Kansas cattle towns Abilene stood on the east bank of Mud Creek. Joseph McCoy bought property at the east end of town where he built his Great Western Stockyard and Drover’s Cottage south of the tracks. Some cottage, the rambling three story frame building had one hundred rooms, a dining room and a broad veranda across the front where cattle buyers and drovers could consummate deals in comfort over a drink.
McCoy built his Great Western Stockyard offices north of the tracks across from his Drover’s cottage next to a livery stable. Further east a few ramshackle clapboards accommodated the beginnings of a bordello district that would boom along with the cattle business, before moving to the southeast end of town where the so called Devils Addition could be separated from respectable society.
The town sprawled west to east along the tracks to the south. The main thoroughfare, Texas Street ran west to east a block south of the tracks. Five blocks east it intersected Cedar Street which ran south from the tracks for about four or five blocks. Texas Street became the commercial center of town with mercantile stores, barbershops and the usual assortment of nineteenth century businesses, including saloons, dance halls, pool-halls and did I mention saloons? Oh my, did Abilene have saloons.
The queen of them all was the Alamo Saloon. She stood on Cedar near Texas. A long bar with polished brass rail graced the south wall. A mirrored back bar showcased a colorful array of bottles offering any manner of libation a man might desire. Gaming tables filled the place offering a myriad of chances to part a trail weary cowboy from his pay. The walls were adorned with massive reproductions of ladies as painted by Renaissance Masters in the ‘altogether’. Good taste didn’t end with ‘Classic Art’ either. The Alamo orchestra to entertained patrons.
While the Alamo set the high-brow saloon standard, Abilene had plenty more to offer. Ben Thompson and Phil Coe’s Bull’s Head Saloon was a favored hangout for gunfighter John Wesley Hardin. The Bull’s Head is famously known for mounting a risqué sign featuring a standing bull sporting, among other things, a lascivious grin. The sign resulted in a confrontation between City Marshal James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickock and Thompson. Hickock demanded Thompson remove the sign or face consequences. The confrontation ended peaceably with Thompson had portions of the anatomically correct sign whitewashed. Hickock’s later confrontation with Phil Coe would not end so peaceably; but we’ll save that for a post series on gunfighters.
Abilene thrived as a trail’s end cow town for four uproarious years; but by 1871 The Atchison, Topeka and Santa, Fe having noticed how well Abilene worked out for the Kansas Pacific, built south to Newton, shortening the trail to rail-head. The following year they moved on to Wichita, accompanied by stockyard builder Joseph McCoy. The following year they built west toward what would become the King of the Cow Towns, Dodge City. The move west shifted the cattle trail with it. Texas longhorns would follow the Great Western Trail to Dodge.
Next Week: The Great Western Trail
Bounty of Vengeance: Ty's Story
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
McCoy built his Great Western Stockyard offices north of the tracks across from his Drover’s cottage next to a livery stable. Further east a few ramshackle clapboards accommodated the beginnings of a bordello district that would boom along with the cattle business, before moving to the southeast end of town where the so called Devils Addition could be separated from respectable society.
The town sprawled west to east along the tracks to the south. The main thoroughfare, Texas Street ran west to east a block south of the tracks. Five blocks east it intersected Cedar Street which ran south from the tracks for about four or five blocks. Texas Street became the commercial center of town with mercantile stores, barbershops and the usual assortment of nineteenth century businesses, including saloons, dance halls, pool-halls and did I mention saloons? Oh my, did Abilene have saloons.
The queen of them all was the Alamo Saloon. She stood on Cedar near Texas. A long bar with polished brass rail graced the south wall. A mirrored back bar showcased a colorful array of bottles offering any manner of libation a man might desire. Gaming tables filled the place offering a myriad of chances to part a trail weary cowboy from his pay. The walls were adorned with massive reproductions of ladies as painted by Renaissance Masters in the ‘altogether’. Good taste didn’t end with ‘Classic Art’ either. The Alamo orchestra to entertained patrons.
While the Alamo set the high-brow saloon standard, Abilene had plenty more to offer. Ben Thompson and Phil Coe’s Bull’s Head Saloon was a favored hangout for gunfighter John Wesley Hardin. The Bull’s Head is famously known for mounting a risqué sign featuring a standing bull sporting, among other things, a lascivious grin. The sign resulted in a confrontation between City Marshal James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickock and Thompson. Hickock demanded Thompson remove the sign or face consequences. The confrontation ended peaceably with Thompson had portions of the anatomically correct sign whitewashed. Hickock’s later confrontation with Phil Coe would not end so peaceably; but we’ll save that for a post series on gunfighters.
Abilene thrived as a trail’s end cow town for four uproarious years; but by 1871 The Atchison, Topeka and Santa, Fe having noticed how well Abilene worked out for the Kansas Pacific, built south to Newton, shortening the trail to rail-head. The following year they moved on to Wichita, accompanied by stockyard builder Joseph McCoy. The following year they built west toward what would become the King of the Cow Towns, Dodge City. The move west shifted the cattle trail with it. Texas longhorns would follow the Great Western Trail to Dodge.
Next Week: The Great Western Trail
Bounty of Vengeance: Ty's Story
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
April 10, 2016
Joseph G. McCoy
Times were tough in 1867. Cattle were scarce owing to Missouri and some Kansas stockmen refusing to allow trailing Texas longhorns over their lands. Not a good thing if you are a young Illinois cattle broker; unless you’re Joseph G. McCoy. If you are, you see opportunity.
Jesse Chisholm’s old trading post supply route was established in 1864. It traveled north from southern Texas to Chisholm’s furthest trading outpost in Wichita Kansas. Young McCoy saw opportunity in that. He persuaded the recently organized Kansas Pacific Railroad to lay track for a siding and a new cattle market west of Topeka at the sleepy little town of Abilene. From there, Chisholm’s trade road could be extended north to Abilene.
McCoy set about building ‘commodious corrals’, ‘extensive holding pens’ and loading chutes. He sent word to Texas. A new cattle market was opening in Abilene. With that, the legendary Chisholm Trail was born. It wasn’t called the Chisholm Trail at first. It was variously known as The Trail, Kansas Trail, Abilene Cattle Trail and even McCoy’s Trail. It wasn’t until 1870 that newspapers began referring to it as the Chisholm Trail. The great irony, Jesse Chisholm never drove a cow up his famous trail.
That first year 35,000 head of Texas longhorns reached Abilene. By 1871 the number soared to 600,000. Herd sizes varied with 2,500 head being about the norm. That could be handled by a crew, consisting of a trail boss, ten cowboys, a chuck wagon and cook along with a stockman to handle the remuda. On the trail, herds lined out behind the trail boss flanked by two point riders. Next came the swing riders followed by flank riders. The young and least experienced cowboys brought up the rear, eating dust, riding drag.
The two to three month drive crossed the Red, Canadian and Arkansas Rivers. Drives grazed along at ten to twelve miles a day. They never hurried for anything except occasionally for water. Fed and watered cattle were less likely to stampede. Still it was a cattle drive. Drovers contended with storms and harsh weather conditions. The trail crossed largely lawless Indian Territory in present day Oklahoma which produced raids by hostile Indian bands and rustlers.
The cattle business boomed in Abilene from 1867 to 1870 and Abilene boomed right along with it. Cowboys who hit town after three months on the trail with payday in their pockets were, shall we say, a spirited lot. Prosperity comes in various shapes and sizes and not everyone was happy about it as we shall see. But things worked out just fine for Joe McCoy, Kansas Pacific and all the cattle buyers and drovers who did a fine business in Texas longhorns, at least for a spell.
Next week: Abilene: The Devils Addition
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
Jesse Chisholm’s old trading post supply route was established in 1864. It traveled north from southern Texas to Chisholm’s furthest trading outpost in Wichita Kansas. Young McCoy saw opportunity in that. He persuaded the recently organized Kansas Pacific Railroad to lay track for a siding and a new cattle market west of Topeka at the sleepy little town of Abilene. From there, Chisholm’s trade road could be extended north to Abilene.
McCoy set about building ‘commodious corrals’, ‘extensive holding pens’ and loading chutes. He sent word to Texas. A new cattle market was opening in Abilene. With that, the legendary Chisholm Trail was born. It wasn’t called the Chisholm Trail at first. It was variously known as The Trail, Kansas Trail, Abilene Cattle Trail and even McCoy’s Trail. It wasn’t until 1870 that newspapers began referring to it as the Chisholm Trail. The great irony, Jesse Chisholm never drove a cow up his famous trail.
That first year 35,000 head of Texas longhorns reached Abilene. By 1871 the number soared to 600,000. Herd sizes varied with 2,500 head being about the norm. That could be handled by a crew, consisting of a trail boss, ten cowboys, a chuck wagon and cook along with a stockman to handle the remuda. On the trail, herds lined out behind the trail boss flanked by two point riders. Next came the swing riders followed by flank riders. The young and least experienced cowboys brought up the rear, eating dust, riding drag.
The two to three month drive crossed the Red, Canadian and Arkansas Rivers. Drives grazed along at ten to twelve miles a day. They never hurried for anything except occasionally for water. Fed and watered cattle were less likely to stampede. Still it was a cattle drive. Drovers contended with storms and harsh weather conditions. The trail crossed largely lawless Indian Territory in present day Oklahoma which produced raids by hostile Indian bands and rustlers.
The cattle business boomed in Abilene from 1867 to 1870 and Abilene boomed right along with it. Cowboys who hit town after three months on the trail with payday in their pockets were, shall we say, a spirited lot. Prosperity comes in various shapes and sizes and not everyone was happy about it as we shall see. But things worked out just fine for Joe McCoy, Kansas Pacific and all the cattle buyers and drovers who did a fine business in Texas longhorns, at least for a spell.
Next week: Abilene: The Devils Addition
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
April 3, 2016
Shawnee Trail
The earliest cattle trail north dates back to the 1840’s. Herds were driven north on the Shawnee Trail from as far south as San Antonio, through Fort Worth to Indian Territory, crossing into southern Missouri and on to Kansas City, Sedalia, St Louis and as far north as Quincy Illinois. It was a long trail, fraught with all the usual perils associated with storms, stampedes, hostile Indians and river crossings. The real trouble on the Shawnee Trail however took root as early as the 1850’s when southern Missouri became hostile to Texas Longhorns, carrying a disease deadly to local livestock. The Civil War staunched the flow of cattle north during the war years quieting the controversy.
With the end of the war, cattle drives resumed in response to market pressures created by the glut of cattle in Texas. Cattle worth $5 a head on the hoof in Texas might fetch $50 a head at the railheads in Missouri. By the spring of 1866, Texas cattlemen were prepared to drive as many as 250,000 head north.
Missouri once again turned against the Texas herds.
The problem arose due to Texas fever. The fever is a tick born disease carried by Texas Longhorns. Longhorns are infected as calves and develop an immunity to the disease they carry. When driven north, Texas cattle left infected ticks in bed grounds that in turn infected cattle lacking immunity in the area. Infected cattle died or became unfit for market.
Missouri stockmen wanted no part of Texas Longhorns crossing grazing lands their cattle depended on.
Missouri stockmen banded together to form armed vigilance committees to deny Texas drovers passage across their lands. Cattle drives were confronted and turned back or diverted. Despite the best efforts of the vigilance committees, some herds got through, spreading disease and increasing tensions. The problem spread into eastern Kansas when diverted Texans sought to skirt Missouri opposition by driving their herd north through eastern Kansas.
Frustrated by the number of trail herds and their inability to stop the spread of the deadly disease, stockmen turned to their various legislatures to prohibit diseased cattle from being driven into their states. The laws were only marginally effective, since the Texas Longhorns themselves were healthy. Still by 1867 six states had enacted or were considering anti-trailing legislation. Something had to be done. That year a young Illinois cattle broker by the name of Joseph G. McCoy devised a plan that would forever leave its imprint on western history.
Next Week: Joseph G. McCoy
Need more Billy? A Question of Bounty: The Shadow of Doubt
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
With the end of the war, cattle drives resumed in response to market pressures created by the glut of cattle in Texas. Cattle worth $5 a head on the hoof in Texas might fetch $50 a head at the railheads in Missouri. By the spring of 1866, Texas cattlemen were prepared to drive as many as 250,000 head north.
Missouri once again turned against the Texas herds.
The problem arose due to Texas fever. The fever is a tick born disease carried by Texas Longhorns. Longhorns are infected as calves and develop an immunity to the disease they carry. When driven north, Texas cattle left infected ticks in bed grounds that in turn infected cattle lacking immunity in the area. Infected cattle died or became unfit for market.
Missouri stockmen wanted no part of Texas Longhorns crossing grazing lands their cattle depended on.
Missouri stockmen banded together to form armed vigilance committees to deny Texas drovers passage across their lands. Cattle drives were confronted and turned back or diverted. Despite the best efforts of the vigilance committees, some herds got through, spreading disease and increasing tensions. The problem spread into eastern Kansas when diverted Texans sought to skirt Missouri opposition by driving their herd north through eastern Kansas.
Frustrated by the number of trail herds and their inability to stop the spread of the deadly disease, stockmen turned to their various legislatures to prohibit diseased cattle from being driven into their states. The laws were only marginally effective, since the Texas Longhorns themselves were healthy. Still by 1867 six states had enacted or were considering anti-trailing legislation. Something had to be done. That year a young Illinois cattle broker by the name of Joseph G. McCoy devised a plan that would forever leave its imprint on western history.
Next Week: Joseph G. McCoy
Need more Billy? A Question of Bounty: The Shadow of Doubt
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
March 27, 2016
Cattle Trails and Cow Towns
The coming of the railroads in Kansas inspired a chapter of nineteenth century history that, perhaps more than any other, defines the west. The cattle business flourished on herds of Texas longhorns driven up legendary cattle trails to notorious cow towns and the railheads that spawned them. It makes a great premise for this post series. Over the next several weeks, we’ll follow those storied trails and visit the cow towns that grew up along the Kansas’ rail lines.
The story actually begins with the beginning of the business of driving Texas cattle to distant markets in the north, a business that pre-dated the coming of the railroad. It started with two cattle trails. The more famous established when Oliver Loving drove a herd from Texas through Indian Territory to market in Denver in 1860. Loving turned a handsome profit on the sale of his herd and the seeds of a new business enterprise were sown.
The following year, outbreak of the Civil War shifted demand for Texas beef east to feed Confederate forces. With Texas ranchers and cowmen pressed into military service, free range Texas cattle multiplied unchecked over the war years. By wars end, an oversupply of beef in Texas depressed local market prices, while mining, railroad building, military outposts and the need to feed reservation Indians impoverished by depletion of the buffalo herds all contributed to robust beef demand in the north.
After the war, Charles Goodnight returned to his ranch in Texas. In 1866 he formed a partnership with Loving in a venture to drive a herd to Fort Sumner and the Navajo reservation at Bosque Redondo in New Mexico Territory. With hostile Indians attacking in Indian Territory, the Goodnight Loving outfit drove their herd west to the Pecos River and into New Mexico.
The Army post at Ft. Sumner and the reservation agent at Bosque Redondo bought most of the herd at a tidy profit. Satisfied, Goodnight and a few of the crew returned to Texas. Loving along with the rest of the crew drove the remaining herd to Denver where it was sold to a rancher supplying beef to the Union Pacific rail crews. The commercial trade route for Texas beef that became known as the Goodnight Loving Trail was established.
On their drive the following year Loving died of wounds suffered during a Comanche raid. Goodnight completed the drive, exhuming Loving’s remains on his return trip to fulfill his partner’s wish to be buried in Texas. If that has a familiar ring to it, it should. Many believe the story inspired Larry McMurtry’s western classic, Lonesome Dove.
Next week: The Shawnee Trail
Critical acclaim for Boots and Saddles: A Call to Glory
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
The story actually begins with the beginning of the business of driving Texas cattle to distant markets in the north, a business that pre-dated the coming of the railroad. It started with two cattle trails. The more famous established when Oliver Loving drove a herd from Texas through Indian Territory to market in Denver in 1860. Loving turned a handsome profit on the sale of his herd and the seeds of a new business enterprise were sown.
The following year, outbreak of the Civil War shifted demand for Texas beef east to feed Confederate forces. With Texas ranchers and cowmen pressed into military service, free range Texas cattle multiplied unchecked over the war years. By wars end, an oversupply of beef in Texas depressed local market prices, while mining, railroad building, military outposts and the need to feed reservation Indians impoverished by depletion of the buffalo herds all contributed to robust beef demand in the north.
After the war, Charles Goodnight returned to his ranch in Texas. In 1866 he formed a partnership with Loving in a venture to drive a herd to Fort Sumner and the Navajo reservation at Bosque Redondo in New Mexico Territory. With hostile Indians attacking in Indian Territory, the Goodnight Loving outfit drove their herd west to the Pecos River and into New Mexico.
The Army post at Ft. Sumner and the reservation agent at Bosque Redondo bought most of the herd at a tidy profit. Satisfied, Goodnight and a few of the crew returned to Texas. Loving along with the rest of the crew drove the remaining herd to Denver where it was sold to a rancher supplying beef to the Union Pacific rail crews. The commercial trade route for Texas beef that became known as the Goodnight Loving Trail was established.
On their drive the following year Loving died of wounds suffered during a Comanche raid. Goodnight completed the drive, exhuming Loving’s remains on his return trip to fulfill his partner’s wish to be buried in Texas. If that has a familiar ring to it, it should. Many believe the story inspired Larry McMurtry’s western classic, Lonesome Dove.
Next week: The Shawnee Trail
Critical acclaim for Boots and Saddles: A Call to Glory
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
March 20, 2016
Lincoln County War: Round 3
No discussion of Billy the Kid seems immune to controversy. There are so many disputes about the Kid, living and dead, established experts probably become skeptics as a second nature. That is certainly the case with the Croquet Kid tintype. True West assembled a distinguished panel of experts to assess the tintype, including True West Publisher, Bob Boze Bell, noted authors Robert Utley and Frederick Nolan and Paul Andrew Hutton, Distinguished Professor of History at the University of New Mexico. If you watch old west documentaries on the History Channel or AMC you are likely to recognize those names and faces. Personally, I have great respect for all of these folks, in spite of the fact I am sure all of them are skeptics when it comes to the questions raised in my book A Question of Bounty: The Shadow of Doubt.
So what do the experts say about the Croquet Kid? They come at it from a variety of perspectives. You can get all the detail if you follow the link below to the full article. Top-line analysis follows three primary lines of reason. First is the setting for the picture. Proponents claim the picture was taken at a schoolhouse located on John Tunstall’s Flying H ranch. The experts make documented arguments the schoolhouse had yet to be built at the time the photo is alleged to have been taken. They also raise discrepancies in regard to building materials and time of year. Proponents offer scientific and expert defense of the claimed location. For me location by itself doesn’t dismiss the identities of those in the picture.
The second argument questions the provenance of the tintype; that is the chain of custody that led to a Flea Market in Fresno California where it was discovered. Is there a verifiable, plausible connection to the Kid? It turns out the tintype was found in a storage locker among the possessions of Charlie Bowdre’s deceased 2x great nephew. Plausible provenance.
Lastly the experts question the reliability of the facial recognition analysis. They argue an 80% match is not a match by evidentiary standards as applied in a court of law. I’m sure that is true. Don Kagan, President of the firm that authenticated the tintype for the proponents sent me an overview of the complete analysis. Matches on the subjects range from 72%-82% with the Kid at 80%. So the question is, what is the probability five known associates actually appear in a photo based on these matches to all five subjects? I went back to my graduate statistics text on conditional probability, got a headache remembering why I disliked the course and did enough to convince myself the probability of a false positive at these matches is miniscule.
Is the Croquet Kid tintype authentic? Follow the link below to the full article and you decide. For me the hard evidence, provenance and facial recognition math outweigh expert opinion.
http://www.truewestmagazine.com/the-c...
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
So what do the experts say about the Croquet Kid? They come at it from a variety of perspectives. You can get all the detail if you follow the link below to the full article. Top-line analysis follows three primary lines of reason. First is the setting for the picture. Proponents claim the picture was taken at a schoolhouse located on John Tunstall’s Flying H ranch. The experts make documented arguments the schoolhouse had yet to be built at the time the photo is alleged to have been taken. They also raise discrepancies in regard to building materials and time of year. Proponents offer scientific and expert defense of the claimed location. For me location by itself doesn’t dismiss the identities of those in the picture.
The second argument questions the provenance of the tintype; that is the chain of custody that led to a Flea Market in Fresno California where it was discovered. Is there a verifiable, plausible connection to the Kid? It turns out the tintype was found in a storage locker among the possessions of Charlie Bowdre’s deceased 2x great nephew. Plausible provenance.
Lastly the experts question the reliability of the facial recognition analysis. They argue an 80% match is not a match by evidentiary standards as applied in a court of law. I’m sure that is true. Don Kagan, President of the firm that authenticated the tintype for the proponents sent me an overview of the complete analysis. Matches on the subjects range from 72%-82% with the Kid at 80%. So the question is, what is the probability five known associates actually appear in a photo based on these matches to all five subjects? I went back to my graduate statistics text on conditional probability, got a headache remembering why I disliked the course and did enough to convince myself the probability of a false positive at these matches is miniscule.
Is the Croquet Kid tintype authentic? Follow the link below to the full article and you decide. For me the hard evidence, provenance and facial recognition math outweigh expert opinion.
http://www.truewestmagazine.com/the-c...
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
March 13, 2016
Croquet Anyone?
Those of you who have been with us awhile on these pages know we’re not bashful when it comes to the controversies surrounding Billy the Kid. Last fall National Geographic aired a special focused on a c.1880 tintype showing a group of folks playing croquet. One of those pictured is claimed to be a second authentic picture of Billy. A number of you asked my opinion on the authenticity of the picture. My response at the time was I didn’t have enough information to have an opinion. Then along came the February 2016 issue of True West Magazine with a feature article on the ‘Croquet Kid’. I’m a True West subscriber and regular reader. The magazine does a great job of keeping the west alive; and doing it with accurate information. True west articles have inspired more than one of my books. So the Croquet Kid story looked like a good way to answer your questions.
We know the Kid attracts controversy like a cell tower in an electrical storm. Guess what. The tintype is no exception. Is it authentic? It depends on who you ask. Producers of the National Geographic special base the owner’s claim of authenticity on a variety of arguments the most compelling of which are based on facial recognition.
Facial recognition software was used to compare the facial features of figures in the tintype to the Kid and known associates including Lincoln County War partisans known as Regulators; and young women with whom they were known to associate. Proponents of the Croquet Kid claim to match facial features of the Kid and five of those pictured in the tintype, Charlie and Manuela Bowdre, Tom Folliard, Paulita Maxwell and Sallie Chisum.
Facial recognition is probabilistic science- it’s a statistical guess. Given the low resolution nature of tintype imagery back in the day, best guess matches based on the Croquet Kid images tipped the scales at something like 80% probability of a match. Not a match for evidentiary purposes in a court of law. The proponents argue that even a low resolution match to six subjects in the same image make for a near certain match. ‘Near’ certain becomes significant when the owner thinks the tintype is worth five million dollars.
As you might expect other experts come forward to dispute the claim. True West assembled a blue-ribbon panel of Billy the Kid experts to consult their opinions. They question the claim from a variety of perspectives, the most significant of which are the claimed location of the photo, the provenance of the print- how do you explain where it was found and the validity of the facial recognition analysis.
Next week: Lincoln County War: Round 3
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
We know the Kid attracts controversy like a cell tower in an electrical storm. Guess what. The tintype is no exception. Is it authentic? It depends on who you ask. Producers of the National Geographic special base the owner’s claim of authenticity on a variety of arguments the most compelling of which are based on facial recognition.
Facial recognition software was used to compare the facial features of figures in the tintype to the Kid and known associates including Lincoln County War partisans known as Regulators; and young women with whom they were known to associate. Proponents of the Croquet Kid claim to match facial features of the Kid and five of those pictured in the tintype, Charlie and Manuela Bowdre, Tom Folliard, Paulita Maxwell and Sallie Chisum.
Facial recognition is probabilistic science- it’s a statistical guess. Given the low resolution nature of tintype imagery back in the day, best guess matches based on the Croquet Kid images tipped the scales at something like 80% probability of a match. Not a match for evidentiary purposes in a court of law. The proponents argue that even a low resolution match to six subjects in the same image make for a near certain match. ‘Near’ certain becomes significant when the owner thinks the tintype is worth five million dollars.
As you might expect other experts come forward to dispute the claim. True West assembled a blue-ribbon panel of Billy the Kid experts to consult their opinions. They question the claim from a variety of perspectives, the most significant of which are the claimed location of the photo, the provenance of the print- how do you explain where it was found and the validity of the facial recognition analysis.
Next week: Lincoln County War: Round 3
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
March 6, 2016
And Then Tere Were Five
Historic completion of the Transcontinental Railroad capped the beginning of the beginning of the Railroad age. In the span of little more than two decades track mileage west of the Mississippi would leap from the 1,907 miles joined by the golden spike to some 72,000 miles by 1890. The original line was joined by four more lines to the Pacific, financed by more than $60 million in railroad construction bonds and land grants totaling nearly 120 million acres.
The Kansas Pacific Railroad built west from Kansas City to Denver, serving the booming demand for Texas beef with railheads in cow towns like Abilene and Dodge City. From Denver a spur connected the Kansas line to the original Pacific rail route. Kansas railroading didn’t stop there. The storied Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe built rail service down the Santa Fe Trail trade route and settlement road to the Southwest.
Developers of the Central Pacific end of original transcontinental line continued building. The line that would become the Southern Pacific, built south from San Francisco to Los Angeles and from there east to Yuma Arizona. At Yuma the line turned east again to El Paso, crossing Texas along the Rio Grande to the Gulf coast and on into New Orleans. The Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe would eventually join the Southern Pacific at Deming New Mexico.
The Northern Pacific pushed west from Minneapolis St. Paul across the northern plains, reaching Portland Oregon by 1883. With that all three of the primary routes originally surveyed in 1855 were eventually built.
Railroads cemented our western expansion with settlement. Railroad companies used their generous land grants to entice eastern and foreign immigration to the west. In so doing they capitalized on their lucrative land holdings while creating customers and markets to be served by their lines. The golden age of the railroad would dominate passenger service and overland freight throughout the remainder of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The automobile and commercial aviation would eventually erode railroad dominance by the latter decades of the twentieth century; but our railroad system remains a backbone of commercial freight service to the present day. Truly and achievement of epic proportions.
Next Week: Croquet Anyone?
Just Released: Bounty of Vengeance: Ty’s Story (Book II in the Bounty trilogy)
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
The Kansas Pacific Railroad built west from Kansas City to Denver, serving the booming demand for Texas beef with railheads in cow towns like Abilene and Dodge City. From Denver a spur connected the Kansas line to the original Pacific rail route. Kansas railroading didn’t stop there. The storied Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe built rail service down the Santa Fe Trail trade route and settlement road to the Southwest.
Developers of the Central Pacific end of original transcontinental line continued building. The line that would become the Southern Pacific, built south from San Francisco to Los Angeles and from there east to Yuma Arizona. At Yuma the line turned east again to El Paso, crossing Texas along the Rio Grande to the Gulf coast and on into New Orleans. The Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe would eventually join the Southern Pacific at Deming New Mexico.
The Northern Pacific pushed west from Minneapolis St. Paul across the northern plains, reaching Portland Oregon by 1883. With that all three of the primary routes originally surveyed in 1855 were eventually built.
Railroads cemented our western expansion with settlement. Railroad companies used their generous land grants to entice eastern and foreign immigration to the west. In so doing they capitalized on their lucrative land holdings while creating customers and markets to be served by their lines. The golden age of the railroad would dominate passenger service and overland freight throughout the remainder of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The automobile and commercial aviation would eventually erode railroad dominance by the latter decades of the twentieth century; but our railroad system remains a backbone of commercial freight service to the present day. Truly and achievement of epic proportions.
Next Week: Croquet Anyone?
Just Released: Bounty of Vengeance: Ty’s Story (Book II in the Bounty trilogy)
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
February 21, 2016
Hurculean Assembly
Grenville Dodge oversaw construction of the Union Pacific. An experienced surveyor and railroad builder, Dodge’s methods mimic a modern day assembly line. Government surveys of the planned route considered general topography of the land. Dodge needed precision to lay down a roadbed. Survey parties operated hundreds of miles ahead of the construction crews.
Next came heavy construction crews to grade and prepare the roadbed. Where needed, these crews also designed, engineered and built bridges, dozens of bridges. The crossed timber designs engineered to support these crossings made for stunning achievements back in that day. Search Transcontinental Railroad Bridges and check out the images. Imagine designing those structures from calculations done with paper and pencil. Imagine building them without power construction tools and techniques.
The Sierra Nevada Mountains presented a host of challenges to this phase of the Central Pacific’s operation. They not only built bridges, they designed and engineered trestles to cross chasms or hug the sides of mountains. But most significant of all, the CP built tunnels, eleven of them with names like Grizzly Hill, Emigrant Gap and others simply numbered. Seven of them populate a two mile run. The Donner Summit Tunnel No. 6 is the grand-daddy of them all.
At an elevation seven thousand feet above sea level, work on the tunnel began in August 1866. Crews dug an eight by twelve foot shaft, tunneling from opposite ends of the mountain. A third shaft was drilled above the center of the planned passage to allow two additional crews into the mountain to tunnel out in opposite directions. Black powder and later nitroglycerin were used to displace solid rock. The center tunneling operation stalled when removing debris became too difficult. Answer to the dilemma was provided by The Sacramento, a retired locomotive.
The engine was driven to end of track and loaded on a logging wagon drawn by ten yoke of oxen. It was pulled to the summit of Donner Pass where it was installed above the central shaft. Tunneling operations resumed with the Sacramento powering the removal of rubble. The Donner Summit Tunnel was completed in 1867. The one thousand six-hundred fifty nine feet of opposing shafts were off by two inches at breakthrough. Amazing.
Meanwhile Grenville Dodge and his crews proceeded a-pace. Track laying crews followed the heavy construction crews, laying three to five miles of track a day. Every sixty or seventy miles sprouted an end of track town. These dens of iniquity catered to the crews’ appetites for whiskey, women and gambling.
Next Week: ‘End-of-Track-Towns’ on Wheels
Just Released: Bounty of Vengeance: Ty’s Story
Book II in the Bounty trilogy
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
Next came heavy construction crews to grade and prepare the roadbed. Where needed, these crews also designed, engineered and built bridges, dozens of bridges. The crossed timber designs engineered to support these crossings made for stunning achievements back in that day. Search Transcontinental Railroad Bridges and check out the images. Imagine designing those structures from calculations done with paper and pencil. Imagine building them without power construction tools and techniques.
The Sierra Nevada Mountains presented a host of challenges to this phase of the Central Pacific’s operation. They not only built bridges, they designed and engineered trestles to cross chasms or hug the sides of mountains. But most significant of all, the CP built tunnels, eleven of them with names like Grizzly Hill, Emigrant Gap and others simply numbered. Seven of them populate a two mile run. The Donner Summit Tunnel No. 6 is the grand-daddy of them all.
At an elevation seven thousand feet above sea level, work on the tunnel began in August 1866. Crews dug an eight by twelve foot shaft, tunneling from opposite ends of the mountain. A third shaft was drilled above the center of the planned passage to allow two additional crews into the mountain to tunnel out in opposite directions. Black powder and later nitroglycerin were used to displace solid rock. The center tunneling operation stalled when removing debris became too difficult. Answer to the dilemma was provided by The Sacramento, a retired locomotive.
The engine was driven to end of track and loaded on a logging wagon drawn by ten yoke of oxen. It was pulled to the summit of Donner Pass where it was installed above the central shaft. Tunneling operations resumed with the Sacramento powering the removal of rubble. The Donner Summit Tunnel was completed in 1867. The one thousand six-hundred fifty nine feet of opposing shafts were off by two inches at breakthrough. Amazing.
Meanwhile Grenville Dodge and his crews proceeded a-pace. Track laying crews followed the heavy construction crews, laying three to five miles of track a day. Every sixty or seventy miles sprouted an end of track town. These dens of iniquity catered to the crews’ appetites for whiskey, women and gambling.
Next Week: ‘End-of-Track-Towns’ on Wheels
Just Released: Bounty of Vengeance: Ty’s Story
Book II in the Bounty trilogy
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
February 14, 2016
Bill Collectors & Bilk Collectors
As if building a railroad through rough, hostile country under harsh conditions weren’t enough, both companies quickly encountered financial difficulties, though for very different reasons. California had plenty of wood for railroad ties, but that’s as far as the good news went. Every other item of material and equipment from spikes, to rails to locomotives had to be brought in by ship around Cape Horn. With the war having bid up the price of everything, the Central Pacific soon ran out of cash. They couldn’t build fast enough to pay for what they used to build.
The Pacific Railway Act established the land grant and loan subsidies the Central Pacific was to receive for every mile of track laid. Two rates were established, one for flat land and a second higher rate for mountainous terrain. The rate for flatland track amounted to less than the cost of materials to build it. Slow progress ground to a halt over cash. In 1863 Collis Huntington persuaded President Lincoln that the Sierra Nevada Mountains extended all the way to Sacramento. With the stroke of a pen, the Central Pacific was paid mountain track rates for flatland performance.
With the cash crunch behind them, work proceeded but at a slow pace do to a second problem, a shortage of labor. California had plenty of able-bodied men; but most preferred serving self-interests in gold fields, silver mines and commercial enterprises serving a thriving mining economy. In 1865 Charles Crocker took that bull by the horns and ordered the hiring of Chinese laborers. He encountered opposition from his Superintendent James Strobridge and the Irish immigrants who made up the labor force. Crocker prevailed. Sacramento and San Francisco both had sizeable China Town communities. The Central Pacific found a ready supply of labor there. When that was ultimately exhausted, Crocker began importing laborers from China. The Chinese proved willing workers. Their familiarity with fireworks lent itself to the use of explosives in crossing passes and building tunnels.
Meanwhile the Union Pacific encountered its own financial challenges though for far different reasons. Thomas C. Durant, managing director of the Union Pacific realized that the near term profits to be made in railroad construction would be made from the material and equipment used in construction. Durant formed a company Credit Mobilier to supply equipment and material to the Union Pacific. Durant used stock in the company to curry political favor, assuring the company preferential treatment in the awarding of contracts to supply Union Pacific materials. Credit Mobilier then systematically inflated prices charged to the railroad, ultimately defrauding the federal government of twenty million dollars in construction contracts. That’s right- $20 million in nineteenth century dollars.
Next Week: Herculean Assembly
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
The Pacific Railway Act established the land grant and loan subsidies the Central Pacific was to receive for every mile of track laid. Two rates were established, one for flat land and a second higher rate for mountainous terrain. The rate for flatland track amounted to less than the cost of materials to build it. Slow progress ground to a halt over cash. In 1863 Collis Huntington persuaded President Lincoln that the Sierra Nevada Mountains extended all the way to Sacramento. With the stroke of a pen, the Central Pacific was paid mountain track rates for flatland performance.
With the cash crunch behind them, work proceeded but at a slow pace do to a second problem, a shortage of labor. California had plenty of able-bodied men; but most preferred serving self-interests in gold fields, silver mines and commercial enterprises serving a thriving mining economy. In 1865 Charles Crocker took that bull by the horns and ordered the hiring of Chinese laborers. He encountered opposition from his Superintendent James Strobridge and the Irish immigrants who made up the labor force. Crocker prevailed. Sacramento and San Francisco both had sizeable China Town communities. The Central Pacific found a ready supply of labor there. When that was ultimately exhausted, Crocker began importing laborers from China. The Chinese proved willing workers. Their familiarity with fireworks lent itself to the use of explosives in crossing passes and building tunnels.
Meanwhile the Union Pacific encountered its own financial challenges though for far different reasons. Thomas C. Durant, managing director of the Union Pacific realized that the near term profits to be made in railroad construction would be made from the material and equipment used in construction. Durant formed a company Credit Mobilier to supply equipment and material to the Union Pacific. Durant used stock in the company to curry political favor, assuring the company preferential treatment in the awarding of contracts to supply Union Pacific materials. Credit Mobilier then systematically inflated prices charged to the railroad, ultimately defrauding the federal government of twenty million dollars in construction contracts. That’s right- $20 million in nineteenth century dollars.
Next Week: Herculean Assembly
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
February 7, 2016
Building The Transcontinental Railroad
Regular readers of these pages know I’ve long had an interest in the transcontinental railroad. It played a significant part in two of my books. It was perhaps the most significant engineering achievement of the nineteenth century, with social, cultural and economic implications that echo down to this very day.
Last year we did a post series on the route selection controversy. Recently I ran across information on the challenges of building the rail route to the Pacific. It provided some interesting insights. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems more has been said and written about the Union Pacific than its western counterpart the Central Pacific. For purposes of this post series, let’s give the Central Pacific its due. The movers and shakers on that end of the line had more to do with getting the project started than just laying track.
Theodore Judah was an easterner who went west in 1854 as a railroad surveyor. He became one of the early visionaries advocating for building a rail route to the Pacific. That same year the federal government completed surveys of three alternative routes. Sectional differences over the spread of slavery effectively prevented selecting a route until the south seceded with the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1860 Judah undertook a survey for a route to cross the Sierras through Donner Pass.
With a viable route in hand, big money Sacramento investors were drawn to the project. Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker and Leland Stanford brought money and power to the venture, etching their names in California history to this day. The timing was perfect. Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act July 1, 1861. The Central Pacific would build east along Judah’s route while the federally chartered Union Pacific would build west along a central great-plains routing. Both lines would receive federal loan subsidies as well as generous land grants along the right-of-way for every mile of track laid.
Next Week: Bill Collectors & Bilk Collectors
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
Last year we did a post series on the route selection controversy. Recently I ran across information on the challenges of building the rail route to the Pacific. It provided some interesting insights. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems more has been said and written about the Union Pacific than its western counterpart the Central Pacific. For purposes of this post series, let’s give the Central Pacific its due. The movers and shakers on that end of the line had more to do with getting the project started than just laying track.
Theodore Judah was an easterner who went west in 1854 as a railroad surveyor. He became one of the early visionaries advocating for building a rail route to the Pacific. That same year the federal government completed surveys of three alternative routes. Sectional differences over the spread of slavery effectively prevented selecting a route until the south seceded with the outbreak of the Civil War. In 1860 Judah undertook a survey for a route to cross the Sierras through Donner Pass.
With a viable route in hand, big money Sacramento investors were drawn to the project. Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker and Leland Stanford brought money and power to the venture, etching their names in California history to this day. The timing was perfect. Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act July 1, 1861. The Central Pacific would build east along Judah’s route while the federally chartered Union Pacific would build west along a central great-plains routing. Both lines would receive federal loan subsidies as well as generous land grants along the right-of-way for every mile of track laid.
Next Week: Bill Collectors & Bilk Collectors
https://www.amazon.com/author/paulcolt
Ride easy,
Paul
