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Extended Work
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| Dakota Diary - Chapter 6 | |
| By jean.day | ||||||||||
| 05 October 2008 | ||||||||||
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I'm a bit confused about the punctuation on this one. What do you do when you are quoting somebody who's quoting somebody who is quoting somebody else? Chapter 6. More on Wild West Cora Sue gave me a rundown of how her evening had gone. She said that as soon as she had sat down, Buffalo Bill had ordered his favourite drink which he said was called “a stone fence” and asked if she would like one too. “What’s in it?” I asked. “A shot of vodka, a twist of lemon and a glass of cider,” was the answer. “I’d like to try one,” I said, "and boy, did it have a bite. “What was that song that the band kept playing over and over?” “It was 'Tenting Tonight on the Old Campground,' he said, “And it is my favorite. Do you know the words?” When I shook my head, he said he would give me a copy of it. “What’s the name of your horse?” I asked him. “I have several - but Brigham, Powder Face, Buckskin Joe and Fall Bull are my favorites that I take with me when I am doing demonstration riding like today.” “Did you fight in the War?” “Yes, Ma’am, I did. And I got the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1872 for bravery during my service as a scout during the Indian Wars.” “Why isn’t Sitting Bull with you in this show? Mr, Barnum said he thought that you had hired him.” “Well, if you girls had come to see us in Omaha, you might have seen him. He came for one show and then he didn’t like it so he went back to Ft. Yates again. I offered to pay him $50 a week plus a £125 traveling bonus, and maybe when he thinks it over he will come back to me again. That’s a lot of money for an Indian. And I also said he could sell his photograph with his signature on it for a buck fifty each. And I said nobody but him could sell them.” “I sure wish we could have met him. I read an interview he did, and I thought he sounded like a very wise man,” I said. “Well, you could always go and visit him at the Fort. I think he’s got Calamity Jane there with him at the moment. I think she will try to convince him to come back to the show, and I have asked her to come into it too. And Annie Oakley. Jane has spent time in Dakota Territory you know, although she owns a ranch in Montana at the moment. Do you know about her?” “I never heard of either one of them,” I said, “But it is nice to know you are going to use some women in your show if you can.” “Well, let me tell you a bit about both of those really special ladies. Annie is only about the same age as you girls - 23 or so - and she comes from Ohio. She is frequently known as Little Miss Sure Shot. Annie Oakley made money for her family with her sharp shooter skills bagging game and selling it to the local general store. When Jack Frost, a Cincinnati hotelkeeper who bought some of Annie's game, discovered she was visiting with her sister in town, he decided to match her with a professional sharpshooter. That was my friend and partner, Frank Butler and we were at a local theater at the time. So they decided to set it up for Thanksgiving. Butler agreed to the contest but was dumbfounded when he found out his opponent was a diminutive country girl of 15. That was in 1875. “Kentucky Frank who ran the shooting gallery witnessed the match. Butler killed the first bird. Annie got her first too and they kept on like that, tied, until Butler missed. "Annie was ahead then, until she too, had a miss. The last bird was a hard one and Butler missed, but Annie killed her 25th one and won the match. She had never shot trap birds before. “So what did Frank do but decide to court the girl. He was divorced and in dept – hardly likely to be Annie's mother's first choice for her daughter. But her ma liked Frank, who was a sentimental Irishman who had emigrated to the States when he was just a boy, so she gave her approval and they were married in 1876. "And they went into the Sells Brothers Circus then, doing shooting tricks. You should see her in a show. She is a consumate actress. She never walks. She trips in, bowing, waving and wafting kisses. When the shooting starts, there are usually some women who scream in the audience, but she puts them at ease and before long, there is a continual crack of firearms, and the audience gives round after round of applause.” “And you mentioned a lady called Jane too?” “Calamity Jane we call her but her real name is Martha Cannary. She told me this story about her life herself. She was born in Princeton, Missouri, and she’s about thirty now. Her father and mother were natives of Ohio and she was the oldest of six children. She liked being out of doors and began to ride at an early age and continued to do so until she became an expert rider being able to ride the most vicious and stubborn of horses. “In 1865 they emigrated from Missouri by the overland route to Virginia City, Montana, taking five months to make the journey. While on the way the greater portion of her time was spent in hunting along with the men and hunters of the party, in fact, she was at all times with the men when there was excitement and adventures to be had. By the time they reached Virginia City she was considered a remarkable good shot and a fearless rider. “Many times in crossing the mountains the conditions of the trail were so bad that they frequently had to lower the wagons over ledges by hand with ropes for they were so rough and rugged that horses were of no use. They also had many exciting times fording streams for many of the streams in the way were noted for quicksands and boggy places, where, unless we were very careful, they would have lost horses and all. Then they had many dangers to encounter in the way of streams swelling on account of heavy rains. On occasions of that kind the men would usually select the best places to cross the streams. She often swam her pony across the stream several times merely to amuse herself and has had many narrow escapes from nearly being washed away.” “Gosh.” “Her mother died at Black Foot, Montana, in 1866, and Jane left Montana in Spring of 1866, for Utah, arriving at Salt Lake City during the summer and remained in Utah until 1867, where her father died. "She joined General Custer as a scout at Fort Russell, Wyoming, in 1870, and started for Arizona for the Indian Campaign. Up to this time she had always worn a dress but when she joined Custer she donned the uniform of a soldier.” “I wonder if she knew our Pa.” “Probably not. He came in at the end. She was in Arizona up to the winter of 1871 and during that time, as a scout, she had a great many dangerous missions to perform and while she was in many close places always succeeded in getting away safely for by this time she was considered the most reckless and daring rider and one of the best shots in the western country. “After that campaign she returned to Fort Sanders, Wyoming, rand emained there until spring of 1872, when they were ordered out to the Muscle Shell or Nursey Pursey Indian outbreak. In that war, Generals Custer, Miles, Terry and Crook were all engaged. This campaign lasted until fall of 1873. It was during this campaign that she was christened Calamity Jane. "It was on Goose Creek, Wyoming, where the town of Sheridan is now located. Captain Egan was in command of the Post. They were ordered out to quell an uprising of the Indians, and were out for several days, had numerous skirmishes during which six of the soldiers were killed and several severely wounded. On returning to the Post they were ambushed about a mile and a half from their destination and Captain Egan was shot. She was riding in advance and on hearing the firing turned in her saddle and saw the Captain reeling in his saddle as though about to fall. She turned her horse and galloped back with all haste to his side and got there in time to catch him as he was falling. She lifted him onto her horse in front of her and succeeded in getting him safely to the Fort. Captain Egan on recovering, laughingly said: 'I name you Calamity Jane, the heroine of the plains.' So she has borne that name up to the present time.” “I sure hope we can meet her. She sounds like such fun.” “They were afterwards ordered to Fort Custer, where Custer city now stands, where they arrived in the spring of 1874; remained around Fort Custer all summer and were ordered to Fort Russell in fall of 1874, where they remained until spring of 1875; were then ordered to the Black Hills to protect miners, as that country was controlled by the Sioux Indians and the government had to send the soldiers to protect the lives of the miners and settlers in that section. “She remained there until fall of 1875 and wintered at Fort Laramie. In spring of 1876, they were ordered north with General Crook to join Gen'ls Miles, Terry and Custer at Big Horn River. During this march she swam the Platte River at Fort Fetterman as she was the bearer of important dispatches. She had a ninety mile ride to make, and being wet and cold, she contracted a severe illness and was sent back in General Crook's ambulance to Fort Fetterman where she laid in the hospital for fourteen days. "When able to ride she started for Fort Laramie where she met William Hickock, better known as Wild Bill, and they started for Deadwood, where they arrived about June.” “I've heard about him, but don't know much, really.” “During the month of June she acted as a pony express rider carrying the US mail between Deadwood and Custer, a distance of fifty miles, over one of the roughest trails in the Black Hills country. As many of the riders before her had been held up and robbed of their packages, mail and money that they carried, for that was the only means of getting mail and money between these points. It was considered the most dangerous route in the Hills, but as her reputation as a rider and quick shot was well known, she was molested very little, for the toll gatherers looked on her as being a good fellow, and they knew that she never missed her mark. She made the round trip every two days which was considered pretty good riding in that country. “Her friend, Wild Bill, remained in Deadwood during the summer with the exception of occasional visits to the camps. On the 2nd of August, while setting at a gambling table in the Bell Union saloon, in Deadwood, he was shot in the back of the head by the notorious Jack McCall, a desperado. She was in Deadwood at the time and on hearing of the killing made her way at once to the scene of the shooting. She at once started to look for the assassin and found him at Shurdy's butcher shop and grabbed a meat cleaver and made him throw up his hands; through the excitement on hearing of Bill's death, having left her weapons on the post of her bed. "McCall was then taken to a log cabin and locked up, well secured as every one thought, but he got away and was afterwards caught at Fagan's ranch on Horse Creek, on the old Cheyenne road and was then taken to Yankton, Dakota, where he was tried, sentenced and hung. “She remained around Deadwood locating claims, going from camp to camp until the spring of 1877, where one morning, she saddled a horse and rode towards Crook city. She had gone about twelve miles from Deadwood, at the mouth of Whitewood creek, when she met the overland mail running from Cheyenne to Deadwood. The horses on a run, about two hundred yards from the station; upon looking closely she saw they were pursued by Indians. The horses ran to the barn as was their custom. As the horses stopped she rode along side of the coach and found the driver John Slaughter, lying face downwards in the boot of the stage, he having been shot by the Indians. "When the stage got to the station the Indians hid in the bushes. Jane immediately removed all baggage from the coach except the mail. She then took the driver's seat and with all haste drove to Deadwood, carrying the six passengers and the dead driver.” “Now that stage coach bit in your production makes more sense to me.” “She left Deadwood in the fall of 1877, and went to Bear Butte Creek with the 7th Cavalry. During the fall and winter they built Fort Meade and the town of Sturgis. In 1878 she left the command and went to Rapid City and put in the year prospecting. “In 1879 she went to Fort Pierre and drove trains from Rapid City to Fort Pierre. This teaming was done with oxen as they were better fitted for the work than horses, owing to the rough nature of the country. "In 1881 she went to Wyoming and returned in 1882 to Miles City and took up a ranch on the Yellow Stone, raising stock and cattle, also keeps a way side inn, where the weary traveler can be accommodated with food, drink, or trouble if he looks for it. She plans to leave the ranch and go to California this year. "I tried to get her to join my show, and she said she would think about it, and get back to me in a year or so.” Buffalo Bill asked me if we had considered going up the Missouri on a riverboat to get to Bismarck, but when he told me that it would take a long time, as they can only make 10 miles an hour up stream, and they don’t travel at night, I said we probably wouldn't. I told Buffalo Bill that there is a special train exhibition that we wanted to see on this weekend. All about a special train that runs by electricity rather than steam. He said, “Well it is up to you girls, but if it was me, I know which direction I would go.” “So you had a good night?” I asked. “It was absolutely wonderful, and I know I can write up a lot about Bill and Jane and the others. I could fill five articles.” “Well, let's just concentrate on getting the two done tomorrow,” and we said good night and tried to sleep, but it was hard work.
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