2010 February | Life in the Old West

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Wages of sin paid well for early-1880s Seattle

Preachers and philosophers may debate the wages of sin, but sin paid well for early-1880s Seattle.

According to a paragraph in a fascinating article I was reading recently about Seattle’s famous “Underground,” gambling and prostitution was prevalent in the fledgling Queen City of the Northwest and prompted a sort of “sin tax.” The article mentioned in passing that this tax on the fleshly vices furnished 87 percent of the municipal Seattle budget in 1881-82.

Westward rush of railroads advanced ‘hell on wheels’

The westward rush of the railroads across the Plains and westward led to an onward march of an interesting social characteristic that gained a special name: “hell on wheels.” More than just a curse or profane expression, “hell on wheels” was a Westernism for a very specific advancement of a very unusual type of a sort of “portable town.”

Brown’s steam wagon sought to conquer 1860s Plains freight routes

Looking back into the past, we can see how a steam-powered, iron-wheeled freight wagon to haul goods across several hundred miles of the Great Plains in the 1860s appears to be a real folly. But in 1862, Major Joseph R. Brown, an agent to the Sioux Indians in New Ulm, Minnesota not only thought it was a good idea, he shelled out $9,000 to have the behemoth built. Adding a great deal of other expense, time, and effort, he accompanied his “prairie motor” wagon to the Nebraska City, Nebraska, starting point of what he thought was a prosperous future!

Facts you probably didn’t know about Wyatt Earp

Here are a few fascinating facts you probably didn’t know about Wyatt Earp:

He was never a town marshal or sheriff. Nope, you never could technically have called the infamous Old West lawman/gunfighter/gambler Marshal Earp or Sheriff Earp. In point of fact, he served as the assistant marshal in Dodge City, Kansas, and was for awhile a deputy U.S. marshal in Arizona. (Sure, it’s “nitpicking,” but it’s interesting anyhow, I thought.)

Toughest Idaho lawman may have been ‘Rube’ Robbins

Arguably, the toughest lawman in Idaho in the latter days of the Old West may have been “Rube” Robbins.

Robbins, actual name Orlando Robbins, came to the Boise Basin gold fields about a year after the rush started there. He was in his mid-20s and looking for adventure. Adventure found Rube — or he found it? — in 1864 when he became deputy sheriff in Boise. The small town of Boise and the surrounding region was polarized between the North and South as the Civil War ragged to a close, mostly to the East.

Women prospectors were few in the gold fields, but they were there

Women prospectors in the gold fields of the Old West were few, but they were there. Modern portrayals in Western fiction of the 49ers and other well-known gold rushes work pretty hard at getting the gold prospecting supplies and other period details correct — but they leave out the women who worked at the backbreaking labor along side men, all of them caught up in the gold rush, all suffering from gold fever!

Which term to use — Indians or Native Americans?

My experience has been that all, and I mean ALL, everyone of the Native American people I have known personally are quite comfortable with being called “Indians” or “American Indians,” rather than “Native Americans.” In fact, of the hundreds of folks I’ve personally known among the Lakota, absolutely none would have referred to himself/herself as “Native American” outside of a university or other classroom setting. They would feel awkward with the term, and some of them would be downright offended. I have had some Lakota people speak the term “Native American” as though they were offended by it.

Passion for the Old West — here are some sites

Understanding and appreciating life in the Old West requires passion, not just a knowledge of the facts. I was reminded of that today by one of our site visitors. I got the message through this site’s feedback form. I wasn’t quite sure whether he was being serious or sarcastic (I’ll get into that further along.) Here’s what the person who left the comment had to say:

A cowboy shirt topped list of things I wanted as a kid

A cowboy shirt topped the list for awhile of all the things I wanted as a kid. Of course the childhood passion I had for a cowboy shirt was closely followed by cowboy boots (with a jangling pair of spurs, of course!) and a great six-gun cap gun and holster set.

Did Buffalo Bill Cody and Wyatt Earp ever meet?

For all you Old West “history buffs,” students, and Western writers out there who have been at this longer than I, can anyone answer the question I’ve posed in the title of this article? Did Buffalo Bill Cody and Wyatt Earp ever meet? If so, can you point me toward information about any meeting(s) or relationship between the two? If not, how or why do you think such a meeting would NOT take place?

Cowboy’s bedroll was much more than a sleeping bag

The cowboy’s bedroll, unlike bedrolls or sleeping bags used by modern-day campers, was much, much more than a sleeping bag. The bedroll served as his “mini-home” on the range.

In its most elaborate form, a bedroll contained a whole host of personal possessions wrapped in canvas (when canvas could be found) or sometimes just in make-shift heavy grain sack cloth. Tied up or strapped within such a bedroll might be a “sugan” (also spelled “sougan” or “suggan” and several other very creative ways) or two and the cowboy’s “war bag” or “possibles sack.” In fact, a well-planned and well-stocked bedroll carefully wrapped and tied might be slung across a horse’s back behind the saddle, or if it was too large and burdensome and the cowboy was a working cowboy, his bedroll might be slung off the side of a chuck wagon or tucked down in the bed of the chuck wagon along with all the crew’s cooking utensils.

Harsh winter brings memories of Grandma’s kerosene lamp

Winter’s snows and ice storms around here always bring back memories of my Grandma’s kerosene lamp, or I should say kerosene lamps, because she had several in her small apartment that were left over from her and grandpa’s decades on their old farm.

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