Colter Wall - I Ride an Old Paint / Leavin' Cheyenne (Audio)

Saturday, February 5, 1876. Doc Holliday arrives in Cheyenne.

John Henry "Doc" Holliday arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, following news of gold having been found in the territory.  He went to work there as a faro dealer in the Bella Union Saloon which was owned by Thomas Miller, a partner of John A. Babb for whom he'd been similarly employed in Denver.

Cheyenne Wyoming in 1876.

The Bella Union in Cheyenne was located in what is now the parking lot for the Hacienda restaurant in Cheyenne, so the building is no longer there.  The bar itself did not have a long presence in Cheyenne, as in the fall of 1876 the owner moved the institution to Deadwood, South Dakota, and Holliday went with it.  It was following the regional gold rush.

Holliday was a dentist by trade, but he practiced only a year  before heading West after being diagnosed with tuberculosis.  He briefly resumed dentistry after moving to Dallas, but only very briefly, having to give it up due to the disease, after which he turned to gambling for a livelihood.  The sometimes illegal occupation was one that required carrying a sidearm.

Wyatt Earp wrote of Holliday:

I found him a loyal friend and good company. He was a dentist whom necessity had made a gambler; a gentleman whom disease had made a vagabond; a philosopher whom life had made a caustic wit; a long, lean blonde fellow nearly dead with consumption and at the same time the most skillful gambler and nerviest, speediest, deadliest man with a six-gun I ever knew.

Bat Masterson, who did not like  him, wrote:

While he never did anything to entitle him to a Statue in the Hall of Fame, Doc Holliday was nevertheless a most picturesque character on the western border in those days when the pistol instead of law determined issues.... Holliday had a mean disposition and an ungovernable temper, and under the influence of liquor was a most dangerous man…. Physically, Doc Holliday was a weakling who could not have whipped a healthy fifteen-year-old boy in a go-as-you-please fistfight.

Holliday was a curious figure in various ways, and there have been various efforts to pin down his personality, probably not all successfully. A convert from Presbyterianism to Methodism, he converted to Catholicism on his deathbed and seems to have carried a torch for a cousin who became a nun, Sister Mary Melanie Holliday, with some accounts holding that in spite of his association with Big Nose Kate he pined for her his entire life.

He died in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, in 1887.

Last edition:

Thursday, February 3, 1876. Stage Line.

Labels: 1870s, 1876, Equine Transportation, Transportation

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Blog Mirror: Public land selloff proposal threatened Medicine Bow, continues to threaten other local parcels Laramie Rep. Karlee Provenza and Wyoming columnist Rod Miller are among the cross-partisan coalition planning to rally in Cheyenne on Thursday

 

Public land selloff proposal threatened Medicine Bow, continues to threaten other local parcels

Laramie Rep. Karlee Provenza and Wyoming columnist Rod Miller are among the cross-partisan coalition planning to rally in Cheyenne on Thursday

Saturday, January 9, 1875. Officers' Quarters Fire at D. A. Russell.

Today In Wyoming's History: January 9: 1875  The officer's quarters at Ft. D. A. Russell were destroyed by fire.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

D. A. Russell is now F. E. Warren AFB, and is located just outside of Cheyenne, which of course it also was at that time, Cheyenne dating back to the 1860s.

Last edition:

Tuesday, December 29, 1874. King Alfonso XII of Spain.

Labels: 1870s, 1874, Democracy, Monarchy, Spain

The Aerodrome: AT-6, Cheyenne Wyoming.

The Aerodrome: AT-6, Cheyenne Wyoming.

The Aerodrome: The B-29 "FiFi". Cheyenne Wyoming.

The Aerodrome: The B-29 "FiFi". Cheyenne Wyoming.: The B-29 "FiFi made an appearance in Cheyenne, Wyoming, recently.  These are some photos taken during its visit.

Painted Bricks: In Good Hands, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Painted Bricks: In Good Hands, Cheyenne Wyoming.:  

In Good Hands, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Painted Bricks: Family Ties, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Painted Bricks: Family Ties, Cheyenne Wyoming.:  

Family Ties, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Saturday, September 9, 1944. A coup in Bulgaria.

U.S. infantry advancing with Sherman, Spangle, Belgium, September 9, 1944.

A captured Japanese Mitsubishi A6M fighter, the Zero, was displayed in Cheyenne (Wyoming State History Calendar).

A coup in Bulgaria put the Communist Fatherland Front (Отечествен фронт) in control of the country, which it would control until the fall of Hungarian Communism in 1986.  It dissolved in 1990.

French race car driver Robert Benoist, a member of the French Resistance, was executed at Buchenwald.

The U-484 was sunk by the Royal Navy northwest of Ireland.

Ten mule team draws heavy Chinese howitzer over many mountains in the Burma Road on its way to the fighting at Tung Ling, Yunnan, China. 9 September, 1944.

Last edition:

Friday, September 8, 1944. Belgian government returns.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Dukla Pass, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canadian Army, France, German Wehrmacht, Hungarian Army, Red Army, technology, Weapons, World War Two

Painted Bricks: Cheyenne, Chief Yellow Calf.

Painted Bricks: Cheyenne, Chief Yellow Calf.:  

Cheyenne, Chief Yellow Calf.

Painted Bricks: Aviator statue. Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Painted Bricks: Aviator statue. Cheyenne, Wyoming.:  

Aviator statue. Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Painted Bricks: Alley mural, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Painted Bricks: Alley mural, Cheyenne Wyoming.:  

Alley mural, Cheyenne Wyoming.

 

Painted Bricks: Sheepwagon statue, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Painted Bricks: Sheepwagon statue, Cheyenne Wyoming.:  

Sheepwagon statue, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Wednesday, August 16, 1944. Closing the Falaise Pocket.

American armor rolls into the town of Dreux, France, as the Americans continue their rapid advance for Paris. The smoke of battle hangs low and the road is strewn with wrecked German armor. 16 August, 1944.

US forces entered Chartres.  US forces also advanced towards Argentan and Alençon, in pursuit of the German forces fleeing the Falaise pocket.  Falaise itself was liberated by the Canadians.   Montgomery attempted to close the  Falaise pocket with an attack from Trun, which Bradley believes to be too late.  Polish troops in the British 1st Corps crossed over the Dives.

Pfc. Ciro B. Iadavaio, Brooklyn, N.Y., and T/4 Ira W. Myer, Louisville, Kentucky, of the crew of the hospital ship "Marigold" getting their first printed news of the invasion on the southern coast of France as nurses from the 93rd Evacuation Hospital load aboard to be taken to the new invasion front. 16 August, 1944. Naples, Italy.

The French 2nd Corps landed in southern France.

Walter Model replaced Günther von Kluge as Oberbefehlshaber West.

The Wehrmacht launched Operation Doppelkopf as a counteroffensive in the East.

The Red Army reached Ossow outside of Moscow, but had to withdraw under a German counterattack.

The Battle of Studzianki ended in a victory for Polish and Soviet forces.

The Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou ( 桂柳會戰) commenced between the Imperial Japanese Army and the Nationalist Chinese.

The US froze Argentine gold assets in the US due to failure to cooperate against the Axis.

Cheyenne experienced record railroad traffic due to war transportation of troops. (Wyoming State Historical Society calendar).

Last edition:

August 15, 1944. Operation Dragoon. The added invasion of France

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Battle of Port Cros, boats and ships, Canadian Army, Commandos, France, German Army, German Kriegsmarine, Operation Dragoon, Operation Overlord, U.S. Navy, Women, World War Two

Painted Bricks: Cheyenne, Wyoming. Chief Washakie.

Painted Bricks: Cheyenne, Wyoming. Chief Washakie.:  

Cheyenne, Wyoming. Chief Washakie.

Painted Bricks: Native Girl, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Painted Bricks: Native Girl, Cheyenne Wyoming.:  

Native Girl, Cheyenne Wyoming.

Tuesday, July 1, 1924. Airmail.

Regular U.S airmail commenced with a fully established Transcontinental Airway System at New York City; Bellefonte, Pennsylvania; Cleveland and Bryan, Ohio; Chicago; Iowa City; Omaha and North Platte, Nebraska; Cheyenne, Rawlins and Rock Springs, Wyoming; Salt Lake City; Elko and Reno; and San Francisco.

President Coolidge held a press conference:

Press Conference, July 1, 1924

Japan held a national day of protest over the new US immigration act.

Last edition:

Monday, June 30, 1924. Teapot Grand Jury comes in.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Álvaro Obregón, British League of Nations Mandates, Calvin Coolidge, Health, law, Mexico, Palestine, Zionism

Saturday, February 3, 1923. French Guns, Legislative Hijinks, Kamchatka Earthquake

The Saturday Evening Post was out, as it was of course a Saturday, with a Rockwell.  This one is apparently entitled "Grandpa's Little Ballerina".

The Country Gentleman went with a mid winter fox and its prey.

A magnitude 8.3+ earthquake struck Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula causing a twenty-five foot tsunami.  Twelve people were killed by seven resulting waves in Maui.

The Soviet Union approved plans to create a civil aviation authority for passenger airlines, leading to the world's most dangerous major airline, Aeroflot.

French guns and legislative shenanigans were in the news.

 

Monday, January 29, 1923. Colorado Rangers disbanded.

Governor William E. Sweet of Colorado defunded the Colorado Rangers.  

The move was made to thwart Prohibition enforcement, even though Colorado had adopted prohibition (like marijuana prohibition) before the Federal Government had, as well as to prevent its use in mine disputes.  They were officially disbanded in 1927, but thereafter became a reserve police force for Colorado.

Sweet was a Democrat from Chicago who came to Colorado with his parents as a small child.  He was a investment banker by profession, and good at it.  He retired from the occupation before entering politics in 1922 at age 54.  As governor, he was a strong opponent of the Klu Klux Klan, which was strong in Colorado, and which he attributed his subsequent defeat in a reelection bid in 1925.  He later moved to the second variant of the Progressive Party, the one that was formed by Robert LaFollette.

He died in 1942 at age 73.

Of note, my grandmother and grandfather, on my father's side, were married and living in Denver, Colorado at this time.  My grandmother, of Irish extraction, was a lifelong Democrat.

The Colorado Rangers originally formed in 1861, modeled on the Texas Rangers.

To the north of this story:

1923  Casper's legislative delegation proposed moving the capital to Casper from Cheyenne.  Wyoming State Historical Association.

This was still an idea that was threatened, from time to time, when I was a kid.

Edward Terry Sanford was confirmed as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Mustafa Kemal Pasha, Ataturk, married Latife Uşaki.  The marriage lasted only until 1925, although it did see her active in the emancipation of Turkish women.  She lived in Istanbul after their divorce, dying in 1975.

Senate Carpentry Shop, January 29, 1923.