-
Stagecoach Mary Fields
Mary Fields was a badass. Pure and simple. She was the toughest woman in Montana Territory, and was said to be a match for any two men. At six foot two inches and two hundred pounds, she towered over most men at that time. She had a standing bet she could knock out a man with one punch, and never lost a dime on anyone stupid enough to take her up on that bet. After about the third or fourth time, no one took her up on her offer. In a time when African Americans and women of any race faced significant obstacles, Mary had the sand to live her…
-
Canada Bill Jones
Born in a Romnichal tent in Yorkshire, Jones learned classic scams young. At twenty, he migrated to Canada in search of fresh marks. He honed his three card monte travelling Canada as a thrower with Dick Cady. Three-card Monte sometimes known as find the lady and three-card trick is a confidence game in which the victim, or mark, is tricked into betting a sum of money, on theassumption that they can find the “money card” among three face-down playing cards. When Jones wanted bigger game, he left Cady and headed south to the Mississippi riverboats. There he joined up with George Devol, Holly Chappell and Tom Brown, working gambling boats.…
-
Pearl de Vere- The Soiled Dove of Cripple Creek
No one quite knows when or where Pearl de Vere was born. It is thought to have been around 1862 in Chicago, Illinois and raised around Evansville, Indiana. She was definitely not born “Pearl de Vere”. She arrived in Denver when she was 14 or 15 and was known as Mrs. Isabel Martin, although no one ever saw a Mr. Martin. Young Isabel began working in Denver as a prostitute or “soiled dove” as they were called in Western euphemism. Apparently, she did well in Denver, but in 1893 the Silver Panic hit and business began to dry up. It was time to move. Cripple Creek was the newest boomtown…
-
The Pig War
Oregon was contested territory. The United States and Britain laid claim to the land. In 1836, the US and Britain sign a treaty to settle the long running border dispute, which put the border at the 49th parallel. Things got a bit trickier as the 49th parallel divided islands southwest of Vancouver. The Treaty stated the border as “the middle of the channel separating the continent from Vancouver’s Island.” This left San Juan Island in dispute and citizens from both countries settled there. Things were peaceful until a pig wandered into the potato field of American farmer, Lynman Cutlar. The pig was feasting on Cutlar’s potato crop and in a…
-
The Johnson County Wars
In the late 19th century, westward expansion was on everyone’s mind. The western plains were the last unclaimed land in America, and people flocked there to make their fortune. Johnson county, Wyoming was a lush grassland with pristine streams and perfect for cattle herds. The country was paying top dollar for beef, and eastern conglomerates came in and grazed their herds on the open range and made a lot of money doing it. All through the 1870s, these men lived the good life and Frank Wollcott was chief among them. He has been described as “often wrong but seldom in doubt”. From his base at the Wyoming Stock Growers Association,…
