Sunday, April 29, 1900. Robbing the Tipton train.

Harvey “Kid Curry” Logan, Ben “The Tall Texan” Kilpatrick and William Cruzan, all of The Wild Bunch, robbed the Union Pacific near Tipton, Wyoming.

This is not the more famous robbery that happened that same year in August.

Last edition:

Friday, April 27, 1900. Root: You've got to fight, for your right, to . . . .

Labels: 1900, 1900s, Elihu Root, Puerto Rico, the spoken word, U.S. Grant, William McKinley

Tuesday, April 17, 1900. Flat Nose Curry killed.

George "Flat Nose" Curry was killed by Sheriff Jessie M. Tyler while rustling cattle in Grand County, Utah.  Curry was a member of the Wild Bunch (Hole in the Wall Gang).

Born to John and Nancy Ann (Macdonald) Currie in Prince Edward Island, Curry took up rustling as a young man while living in Nebraska.  Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan avenged the death by killing Sheriff Tyler some time thereafter, after which he returned to the Hole in the Wall.

The chiefs of Tutuila approved cession of the island to the United States.

Sunday, April 15, 1900. The Siege of Catubig.

Labels: 1900, 1900s, Army, Philippine Army, Philippine Insurrection, Philippines, Siege of Catubig

Friday, June 2, 1899. The Wild Bunch Robs the Overland Flyer at Wilcox and the Philippine Republic declares war on the United States.

Today In Wyoming's History: June 2: 1899   The Wild Bunch robbed the Union Pacific Overland Flyer No. 1  near Wilcox, taking between $30,000 and $60,000.  This robbery is famous in part for the large amount taken, but also for the destruction of a rail car by explosives which were used to open a safe.  This is depicted in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Attribution:  On This Day.

 

The Overland Flyer in 1906.

Longtime Wyoming residents may wonder where on earth Wilcox is.  That's because, it isn't.  It's a named spot on the railroad just north of Rock River.  If this same crime occured today, people would report it as having occured north of Rock River.  It occured very near the junction with the Fetterman Road.

I've driven past this spot thousands of time and never realized where it was. This was a bold action, as Rock Rover was more substantial than it now is (the explosion clearly could have been heard from there) and Medicine Bow not all that far to the north. 

The First Philippine Republic officially declared war against the United States, although clearly the war, which the US termed an insurrection, had been going on for some time.

To recognize it as a war would have required a declaration of war, which in turn would have recognized the sovereignty of the Philippine Republic, which would have made a mockery of the US position on the islands.

Almost always, when people accuse the US of being involved in "colonial wars", they're full of it. This, however, was a colonial war.

Last prior edition:

Thursday, June 1, 1899. White Horse Pass.

Labels: 1890s, 1899, Alaska, Yukon Territory

Sunday, January 21, 1900. Frontier types and technology.

Frontier personality and later Montana lawman, John "Liver-Eating" Johnson, died at age 75.

Born with the last name Garrison, in Pattenburg, New Jersey, he was a sailor in the Mexican War before deserting after striking an officer.  He became a frontiersman following that.  In 1847 his wife, a Salish Native American, was killed by a young Crow man and his fellow hunters causing Johnson to launch on on a years long campaign of revenge which featured eating the livers of killed Crow warriors.  He served for a time with the 2nd Colorado Cavalry during the Civil War and was a lawman in Montana for a time thereafter.  He died in a veterans home in California, and was buried in a Los Angeles veteran's cemetery, before being reinterred in Cody, Wyoming in 1974, following the popularity of the film Jeremiah Johnson, which was based on his life.

Anne Ellsworth Smith, the original operator on the Baltimore–Washington telegraph line, who had sent the first telegraph message on May 24, 1844, at age 17 of "What hath God wrought?" died at age 73.

Former Wild Bunch member Willard Erastus Christianson, born Erastus Christiansen, and also known as Matt Warner, was released from prison in Utah after being pardoned.  He went on to later being elected as a justice of the peace and serving as a deputy sheriff in Carbon County, Utah.

In spite of having a violent temper and having lived a life of crime, he had a reputation for being extremely honest.

Last edition:

Saturday, January 20, 1900. A fire in Honolulu's Chinatown and "Die Erwerbung werthvoller Küstenstadte der Neuenglandstaaten wäre das wirksamste mittel, den frieden zu erzwingen"

Labels: 1900, 1900s, Disaster, Disease, German Kriegsmarine, German Navy, Germany, Hawaii, Honolulu Hawaii, United States