Page 32 - Mark Boardman News Today

True West Magazine Dodge City   Frank Loving and Levi Richardson were friends, often gambling together in Dodge City’s Long Branch Saloon in 1879. But then a woman came between them and the relationship turned frosty. Violence threatened—and broke out on April 5. The two ran into each other that night at the Long Branch and both went for their guns. By the time the law interrupted the fight, Loving had emptied his pistol and Richardson had fired five times. Richardson dropped dead from a c...

True West Magazine Dallas Stoudenmire   George Campbell had built up a solid reputation as a lawman in Texas and New Mexico during the late 1870s and early 1880s.  For a couple of months, he was the El Paso city marshal (before quitting over the pay). Maybe he should have kept the badge. On April 14, 1881, Campbell and a drunken friend got into a debate with a town constable in a local saloon. The friend pulled a gun and shot the lawman. Marshal Dallas Stoudenmire ran in, guns blazing, killin...

True West Magazine The Sundance Kid—Harry Longabaugh—was a man who liked to stay in touch with people.  He frequently wrote to his family in Pennsylvania, sometimes sending photos, including some with Etta/Ethel Place in South America. He sent several copies of his New York DeYoung Studio photos to friends in the West, along with updates on his life.  Interestingly, all of those communications stopped after November 1908—when Sundance and Butch Cassidy reportedly died in a fight with Bo...

True West Magazine When they had the cash (like after a robbery), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid liked to live in style.  Records from New York’s Tiffany & Company show that a James Ryan—a known alias for Butch—purchased a watch for $40 in 1901.  There are no known photos of that timepiece. But there is one of the watch bought by Sundance.  He spent $15.35 on a pendant watch.  Etta/Ethyl Place wore it in a photo taken by the DeYoung Portrait Studio in January 1901—just before th...

True West Magazine   Tom Sherman’s Saloon was a hot spot in early Dodge City, Kansas—sometimes for the wrong reasons. The owner himself was not averse to picking up a gun. In March 1873, a fracas erupted at the establishment.  Sherman—firing as he went–chased a man named Burns out of the place.  Burns went down with at least one bullet in his back.  Sherman walked up to him and said, “I’d better shoot him again, hadn’t I, boys?”  He put a bullet in the man’s head at point...

True West Magazine   Dodge City, Kansas was pretty much lawless in 1873.  The vigilance committee had gone rogue.  On June 3, two members of the group killed the servant of Col. Richard Dodge, commander of nearby Fort Dodge.  He demanded action.  With approval of the governor, the colonel took troops into town and—over the next three days—arrested six vigilantes.  One of them was later convicted in the servant’s killing.  And on that last day, June 5, Charlie Bassett was appointed ...

True West Magazine Search for: An Important Man In New Mexico Henry Jaffa—little remembered today—made his mark in the 19th century. Henry Jaffa Henry Jaffa—little remembered today—made his mark in the 19 th century. That year, he started a business in Las Vegas, New Mexico which he soon spread to Albuquerque.  When that city was incorporated in 1885, Jaffa became its first mayor.  He started the first synagogue in 1897 and continued to be active in civic and business affairs unt...

True West Magazine Deputy U.S. Marshal Bill Tilghman’s capture of outlaw Bill Doolin in a Eureka Springs, Arkansas, bathhouse on January 15, 1896, made national headlines and brought personal fame to Tilghman. Almost a decade later, he maintained his notoriety as a top lawman at public showings of his movie, The Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaws, while his wife, Zoe, after his death, perpetuated the legend of her late husband through small booklets such as Outlaw Days. – Photo of Bill Tilghma...

True West Magazine Sealed With A Kiss Wyatt Earp engaged in a Jewish ritual while he was on the run. Wyatt Earp Wyatt Earp engaged in a Jewish ritual while he was on the run. When Wyatt Earp fled Arizona after the Vendetta Ride, he and his cohorts headed through New Mexico on the way to Colorado.  They stopped in Albuquerque, where Wyatt stayed with Jewish businessman Henry Jaffa.  There are reports that Wyatt—perhaps following the example of his host—kissed the mezuzah, a ritual often fo...

True West Magazine Drawing of Floyd County (Indiana) Jail – 1868   The strange tale of officials who feared their jail might get used… In 1867, local authorities tried to condemn the Floyd County (IN) Jail.  It was a curious move since the building was only a few years old and it was considered one of the strongest jails in the Midwest.  There was an ulterior motive.  The county fathers feared that members of the Reno Gang would be housed there.  If so, the town of New Albany could com...