Thank you, & Welcome Amanda and Niki!!
Julie
Thursday, August 21, 2025
Cowboy Kisses News ~ Julie Lence
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
Monday, August 18, 2025
The Legend of Rawhide. Nebraska or Wyoming???
The word Rawhide carries certain grit. It conjures up images of cattle drives, wagon trains, and the vast open prairie of the west. In both Wyoming and Nebraska, it is more than a name. It is a Legend.
The other day I fell in the YouTube rabbit hole learning about lore and legends in different states. While listening to the legends in Nebraska, the Rawhide legend caught my attention. "That happened in Wyoming," I told the television. So, I jumped on Google and looked it up and turns out there are two Legends of Rawhide.
The Legend of Rawhide Creek, Nebraska
Rawhide Creek meanders through, Dodge, Washington, Douglas, and Colfax counties. According to lore, the creek earned its title in 1849, at the height of the California Gold Rush. A young Wisconsin emigrant vowed to kill the first Native American he saw. His victim wasn't a warrior, but a Pawnee woman.
After her murder her tribe demanded justice. The man was captured, tied and flayed alive along the bends of the creek. His skin left as a warning to others passing through.
Reuben W. Hazen, a former Army captain and Dodge County Sheriff, published a book titled History of the Pawnee Indians in 1893. In the chapter "The Pawnees Flaying a Man Alive" Hazen tells the story. He gives a detailed account of the legend.
"After crossing the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, thence traveling 22 miles, they came to the Elkhorn River. After crossing the river, the young man saw a squaw sitting upon a log, to make his promise to kill an Indian good, he drew a bead upon his rifle and the squaw rolled off the log. The Wagon train continued to a small stream of water and camped for the night. They had not been in camp but a short time, before the Pawnees began to collect around them, their faces painted in warlike colors in streaks of red and black, to the number of hundreds, and demanded the culprit who killed the squaw... The party saw their situation and thought better that one of them be scarified than the whole party lose their lives... the young man was surrendered to them... stripped of his clothes, then laying upon his back, his hands and feet pinioned to the ground. Then they drew a knife lengthwise of the body, skinning him alive. At the same time, the Pawnee compelled the party to look upon the ghastly and horrid sight. They cut Esterbrook's body to pieces and immersed the man's skin in the little stream and since that event it derives its name, the Rawhide. The man's skin has been tanned and was in the Pawnee's possession when they went to their reservation."
Historians have tracked the location of the skinning three miles due west of Elk City, a tiny unincorporated village just south of Highway 36 about a mile and a half east of the Elkhorn River.
Many saw that the man still haunts that area. Reports of a skinless man screaming in the wind or a skin hanging from a tree have been reported.
The Legend of Rawhide, Wyoming
In Lusk, Wyoming, a wagon train is heading west from Iowa to California during the 1849 gold rush. Among a wagon train traveling west, Clyde Pickett, vows to kill the first Native American he sees. That person was a Sioux princess.
The wagon train is besieged, and the settles face harrowing choices. In the end, Clyde surrenders and meets a violent fate. His punishment, being skinned alive. The event took place near the buttes outside Lusk. They are called the Rawhide Buttes.
The Legend of Rawhide takes on a theatrical form. Every second weekend in July, the little town comes alive with the Legend of Rawhide reenactment. The town hosts parades and events with proceeds supporting local economy.
Over 200 volunteer actors are involved and the reenactment draws in a large crowd to watch.
Though Nebraska and Wyoming Rawhide legends are basically the same and have no proof it actually happened, they are both frontier morality tales. Rash actions, cultural clashes, and consequences.
So who really knows if these events actually took place, but the legends continue to spark interest.
Thursday, August 14, 2025
Judge Roy Bean
Judge Roy Bean, often dubbed the "Law West of the Pecos, was one of the Old West's most colorful and controversial figures. Born in Kentucky in 1825, Bean drifted westward, living a rough-and-tumble life that included gunfights, smuggling and gambling. By the late 1880s, he had set up shop in Langtry, Texas, running a combination saloon and makeshift courthouse. From behind the bar, Bean dispensed his unique brand of justice--often guided less by the letter of the law and more by his own notions of fairness, profit, and frontier practicality. His rulings were swift, unpredictable, and occasionally laced with humor, all while he sipped whiskey and kept an eye on the poker game.
Bean's court was far from ordinary. He held trials in his saloon, the Jersey Lilly, named after the British actress Lillie Langtry, with whom he was infatuated despite never meeting her. The "courtroom" was decorated with posters of Langtry, and Bean would happily tell travelers tall tales about her. His sentences could be unconventional--fining the dead man in a shooting case for "carrying a concealed weapon" or letting offenders go if they agreed to buy a round of drinks for the crowd. Though his methods skirted official law, Bean maintained order in a rough border region where formal justice was scarce, earning him both admiration and scorn.
Despite his eccentricities, Roy Bean became a living legend before his death in 1903. Stories of his rulings spread far and wide, mixing fact and folklore until the man and the myth were nearly inseparable. For many Western readers, Bean represents the wild spirit of frontier law--where survival often depended on wit, courage, and a willingness to bend the rules. Whether viewed as a shrewd showman, a corrupt opportunist, or a folk hero who brought a kind of order to lawless lands, Judge Roy Bean's place in Western lore is secure, his life a reminder that in the Old West, justice could be as unpredictable as the desert wind.
Books available at Amazon
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Creatures of Habit
When I read about J.K. Rowling writing in longhand on a legal pad while sitting in a coffee shop, I shudder. To each his own, but this sounds like torture to me.
Every writer has his/her own way of creating. I used to write on a manual typewriter at my dining room table. Then I wrote on an electric typewriter and then a desk computer in an office in my home. Then I moved to a different house and made the whole upstairs an office and library and wrote on a new desktop computer. Then the Internet, routers, and laptops took over and I now write on a laptop in a downstairs office. I keep thinking that I'll start writing in the upstairs office again, but then I think it's dumb to heat and cool that whole floor.
The point is, I like to write in basically the same place and on the same instrument, day after day. Sometimes, if my back his aching or I'm crushing a deadline, I'll take the laptop into the living room and sit on the couch to write during the evening after writing all day in my office.
My library upstairs is hardly ever used now and I've donated more than half of my books that used to be shelved up there to charities. The Internet has become my main source of information, along with a few books about the west and cowboys that are out of print.
I haven't written in longhand anything fictional since I was a kid and didn't know how to type yet. I know of several writers who do write in notebooks, but it seems odd to me. They will have to commit their work to type for it to be saved and/or emailed, so why not start off keying in the computer and skip a step? Or they have to hire someone to key the whole thing into a computer. Waste of money. The longhanders say this way of writing makes them more creative and allows them more time to think.
For me, I think faster than I can type -- and I type fast. When I think back to the days of the typewriter and correction fluid/tape, I break out in hives.
I also use my computer to read back what I've written. The computer guy (I like to use the male voice) reads it to me and that helps me catch mistakes, misspellings, omitted words, etc. It also makes me laugh when he reads my sex scenes in his monotone, unemotional voice.
Back when I was part of a critique group, the reading of our work aloud was a godsend. We could hear it, catch the odd phrasing, wince at the wrong wording, tsk at the poor punctuation, and question how believable a plot point was and if someone really would talk like that. After years and years of being critiqued, I still have one or two other people I respect (as in, they are astute writers and/or readers) read my final drafts and tell me where I've succeeded and where I've failed. It's part of my writing "habit."
That's the thing, you see. Writers are creatures of habit. That's the only way you can actually become a writer. You have to make sitting down in front of a computer screen (or notebook) a habit. Every damned day until it is ingrained. Until it's almost an addiction. If I miss a day or two, I have withdrawal symptoms. I feel that something is amiss. I'm antsy. I feel guilty. That's why most writers write while they're on vacation. They need their "fix."
That's also why some writers continue to write in longhand on lined paper. It's habit. It's their daily drug of choice. The "fix" is in.
The Western Perspective - a Woman's View
Post by Doris McCraw
aka Angela Raines
 |
| Mount of the Holy Cross -Helen Chain From Colorado Springs Pioneer Museum Collection in 50% of the Story |
When you think of the West, it's usually cowboys, fur traders, wagon trains. Yet, what did women see, especially the creative ones? This post will look at a few.
Isabella Bird, Grace Greenwood, and Helen (Hunt) Jackson wrote of what they saw. Bird, "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains", Jackson, "Nelly's Silver Mine", and Greenwood's "New Life in New Lands".
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| Helen Maxwell from Wikipedia |
Martha Maxwell and her dioramas of animals in their natural habitats brought the world a new way of seeing the West and its nature. Martha Maxwell - Colorado Women's Hall of Fame
Ana (Anna) Dickenson, who in 1873 summited four 14,000-foot peaks, including Pikes Peak and Long's Peak. Ana Dickenson
And there was artist Helen Henderson Chain, who painted "The Mount of the Holy Cross" in 1879, and also climbed. She also traveled with her husband and photographer William H. Jackson.Helen Chain
Gutenberg Project - A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains
Internet Archive- New Life in New Lands
Project Gutenberg - Nelly's Silver Mine
Until Next Time,
Doris
Friday, August 8, 2025
Outlaw Henry Newton Brown ~ D. K. Deters
I was rummaging through some western historical books recently and came across an interesting story about the infamous outlaw Henry Newton Brown. This part of his history begins in Caldwell, Kansas. Growing up in Kansas, the story immediately drew my attention.
Geographically, the town of Caldwell was known as the
“Border Queen” because its southern boundary is on the Kansas-Oklahoma border. Located
fifty miles south of Wichita, Caldwell was also a stop on the famous Chisholm
Trail.
Caldwell, Kansas 1889 (Public Domain)
In 1880, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroad reached Caldwell, sparking a boom for commercial establishments. Saloons lined Caldwell’s main streets with hosts of businesses as the town continued to expand. Unfortunately, Caldwell had earned a reputation as a disorderly town.
Gunfights plagued Caldwell:
1880 - A city marshal and an assistant marshal were
murdered.
1881 - The mayor and a former marshal were killed in a
street fight.
1882 - Another city marshal was gunned down.
As the town fell rife with lawlessness, enter notorious outlaw
Henry Newton Brown, who was involved in the Lincoln County War in New Mexico.
He had joined up with Billy the Kid and the “Lincoln County Regulators.” On April 1, 1878, Brown,
Billy the Kid, and other desperados murdered Lincoln County Sheriff William
Brady. Brown left New Mexico to avoid murder charges. After leaving the gang, he
found legitimate work as a cowboy and even became a deputy sheriff, but those
jobs didn’t last because he had a temper and was quickly dismissed.
Henry Newton Brown - 1857-1884 (Public Domain)
However, by 1882, Brown had made his way to Kansas, and Caldwell
officials welcomed him as an assistant city marshal. He was later promoted to
marshal. The gunfighter quickly cleaned up the bustling border town. Afterward,
the grateful citizens raised his pay to $125 per month and awarded him with an
engraved Winchester for restoring law and order. The inscription read: "Presented to
City Marshal H. N. Brown For valuable services rendered in behalf of the
Citizens of Caldwell Kas A. N. Colson Mayor Dec 1882.” Area papers wrote
glowing articles about his deeds. Of course, they didn’t know about Brown’s
outlaw past.
(Public Domain)
Brown seemed to have abandoned his life of crime and married Alice Maude
Levagood, the daughter of a well-to-do Caldwell brick maker, in March 1884. A
woman of good standing, Alice had graduated from Park College, Parkville,
Missouri, with the class of 1882.
Alice Maude Levagood - 1861-1935 (Public Domain)
On April 30th, 1884, the marshal, in debt and living beyond his means, returned to his outlaw roots. Joined by his deputy and two outlaw friends, they robbed a bank in Medicine Lodge using the rifle the citizens of Caldwell had given to him. Two people were killed, and his gang was captured. Brown was shot the same day, trying to escape. His gang members were lynched.
Bank robbers John Wesley, Henry Brown, William Smith and Ben Wheeler.
(Public Domain)
He did write a letter to his wife
which read in part: "Darling Wife: I am in jail here. Four of us tried
to rob the bank here and one man shot one of the men in the bank. I want you to
come and see me as soon as you can. I will send you all of my things and you
can sell them. But keep the Winchester. It is hard for me to write this letter,
but it was all for you, my sweet wife, and for the love I have for you.
"Do not go back on me. If you do it will kill me. Be true to me as long as
you live, and come to see me if you think enough of me. My love is just the
same as it always was. Oh, how I did hate to leave you last Sunday evening. But
I did not think this would happen. I thought we could take in the money and not
have any trouble with it, but a man's fondest hopes are sometimes broken with
trouble. We would not have been arrested but one of our horses gave out and we
could not leave him [the rider] alone. I do not know what to write. Do the best
you can with everything. I want you to send me some clothes. Sell all the
things you don't need. Have your picture taken and send it to me. Now, my dear
wife, go and see Mr. Witzleben and Mr. Nyce and get the money. If a mob does
not kill us we will come out all right after while. Maude, I did not shoot anyone
and didn't want the others to kill anyone. But they did and that is all there
is about it. Now, my darling wife, goodbye. H. N. Brown."
Did Maude still love him? That is unclear, but
she never remarried. Maude didn’t keep the rifle, and it became the property of
the Robert R. Foster family. The Fosters later sold the gun to Dr. M. B.
Aynesworth around October 1976. A short time later, in 1977, Dr. Aynesworth donated the rifle to the Kansas Historical Museum in Topeka,
Kansas. (The museum is on my bucket list.)
I
found several articles about Henry Newton Brown. All of them are fascinating. Although
nefarious acts marked Brown’s life, he was the essence of the Old West figures who
changed from outlaw to peacekeeper and back again.
Resources:
Truewest Magazine, Lawdogs Go South Henry Newton Brown’s Gang
vs Medicine Lodge Cowboys by Bob Boze Bell
The Wild West, Lawmen, Outlaws, Ghost Towns & More by Bill
O’Neal, James A. Crutchfield, and Dale L. Walker
Legends of America, Henry Newton Brown – Outlaw Marshal of
Kansas
Wikipedia, Henry Newton Brown
Thursday, August 7, 2025
New Release ~ Julie Lence
Pop star Barbie Bennett is certain her future is with Zach, until a photograph suggests their relationship might be nothing more than a lie.
Pop-music
superstar and CEO of Bella Cosmetics Barbie Bennett is ditching her tour bus
for her hometown of Reno, Nevada. Her sweetheart works the family ranch and
long summers of separation from him are finally over. When photographs of Zach
cozying up to another woman find their way to her desk, Barbie is almost
certain he’s the victim of tabloid fodder. But what if she’s wrong and he’s
just another man who broke her heart?
After a knee injury forced him to retire from the rodeo circuit, ranch hand Zach Maldonado is finally in a position to propose to Barbie. He’s gained her father’s approval and has put in motion a romantic evening to pop the question, only Barbie accuses him of stepping out on her. Zach vows to find the culprit behind the comprising photographs and expose the lie. But will that be before or after her anxiety convinces her to cut ties with him?
The Pop Star Loves Her Cowboy is available in both E-book and print on Amazon and can be found here: www.amazon.com/dp/B0FG48TFYH
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
Roller Skating ~ Julie Lence
Roller skating dates back to the 1700’s and London, England. While it’s not known who invented the 1st roller skate used in a stage performance, it has been documented the 1st roller skate in use took place in 1743. Two decades later, John Merlin is credited with inventing the 1st inline skate; a skate boasting two metal wheels but not easily maneuverable. Merlin wore them to a party and crashed into a mirror.
The 1800’s brought
significant changes to the roller skate. Petitbled patented the 1st
roller skate design in 1819. Although the design was deemed impressive, it again
lacked maneuverability. In 1823, Robert
Tyers patented a skate resembling the roller blades we know today; 5 wheels in
single file on the bottom of a skate boot. 1857 saw the opening of the 1st
roller rink in London. James Plimption designed the quad skate in 1863 (2
wheels in the front and 2 wheels in the back), and in 1876, the toe stop was
patented. It wasn’t until the 1880’s that the United States devoted time and
money to mass producing skates, thus becoming known as the 1st boom decade
for roller skating. Before the 1880’s, public rinks had been open in New York
since the 1860’s, but the craze spread west during the boom decade, with
McCarty’s Rink opening in Dodge City, KS in 1885 among the other 50,000 rinks
in existence. .jpg)
wooden skates courtesy Science Museum
Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yesterday was National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, so I thought I'd share my mama's recipe for chocolate chip cookies (see below).
For years, I struggled to make chocolate chip cookies. They were too dry, too cakey, too flat, too ... something.
After my mom passed away, I found a handwritten copy of her cookie recipe. I followed it to the letter and baked a batch of cookies that tasted like my childhood.
In new new release, Sunrise Surf, the hero, Logan, loves anything with chocolate chips in them. In fact, he's quite taken with the cookies the heroine makes for a party for her nephew.
You're probably wondering what a beach book has to do with cowboys.
Logan grew up on a ranch in Central Oregon, and despite his work undercover for the Oregon State Police, he goes back to the ranch to see his family whenever he has a chance.
So how does a cowboy end up posing as a surfer for the summer?
I'll let Logan explain ...
~*~
From the time he was seven until his grandfather passed away
during Logan’s sophomore year of college, he’d spent two weeks every summer
with his grandparents on the Oregon coast. After that, his grandmother couldn’t
bear to visit the familiar places and walk through the memories the coast
stirred in her thoughts.
However, it didn’t keep Logan away. He continued surfing
every chance he got, even with his demanding and busy career as an Oregon State
Police officer. Logan had known the first time he’d seen a state police car
cruising down the lonely stretch of highway by his family’s ranch in the middle
of nowhere that he wanted to work for them.
With that goal in mind, he’d pursued it until he’d become a
respected member of the force.
Which is how he’d ended up undercover in Seaside.
~*~
When a police officer posing as a surfer and a doctor wading
through the uncharted waters of parenting a teen join forces to dismantle a
drug operation, anything is possible.
Oregon State Police Officer Logan Wright swaps his badge for a board, posing undercover as a homeless surfer to infiltrate a deadly drug ring. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of Seaside's rugged coastline, he struggles with his dual life, especially after meeting a beautiful doctor who turns his head and touches his heart. Troubled by the fine line between duty and authenticity, Logan fears sharing the truth of his identity will drive her away.
I hope you'll check out Logan and Laken's story, and have a beautiful August!
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup salted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream butter and sugars. Add egg and combine. Add vanilla. Stir baking soda and salt into flour then add a little at a time to dough. Stir in chocolate chips.
Use a cookie scoop, or a tablespoon to drop dough on parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes until cookie are just set and barely starting to brown. Remove from oven and cool for a minute before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Yield: 36 cookies
USA Today Bestselling Author Shanna Hatfield is a farm girl who loves to write character-driven romances with relatable heroes and heroines. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances are filled with sarcasm, humor, hope, and hunky heroes.
When Shanna isn’t dreaming up unforgettable characters, twisting plots, or covertly seeking dark, decadent chocolate, she hangs out with her beloved husband, Captain Cavedweller.
Monday, August 4, 2025
Land Allotments in the Twin Territories and THE SWAN is out!!
By Kristy McCaffrey
The Dawes Act (the General Allotment Act) was passed in 1887
and authorized the U.S. President to break up Indian reservation land into
small allotments. The purpose of the Dawes Act, and subsequent extensions, was
to protect American Indian property rights, particularly during the land rushes
of the 1890s that occurred in the Twin Territories, which encompassed Oklahoma
and Indian Territories.
In 1896, the Dawes Commission received congressional approval to compile rolls of tribal members in the Five Nations (the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles) who would be eligible to receive allotments, allowing it to add individuals who maintained they had not been included on the various tribal census rolls.
In 1897, the Atoka Agreement called for an equitable
distribution of Choctaw and Chickasaw tribal land among the members, except for
lands set aside for schools and townsites and land reserved because of coal and
asphalt deposits. Homesteads of 160 acres would be inalienable for a period of
twenty-one years, and the surplus land could be sold, one-fourth in the first
year, one-half in the second year, and the remainder by the fifth year after
allotment.
In my new novel,
The Swan, a group of women must stand against those who would take
advantage of Chickasaw orphans and their allotments. The Swan is Book 11
in my Wings of the West series, but it can be read as a standalone.
Twin Territories
November 1899
Dr. Anna Ryan has been spurned by the Dallas medical community for the simple reason of being a woman. Wanting more than a rural practice alongside her mother, also a doctor, Anna accepts an invitation from a mentor to join a private hospital for disabled children in Oklahoma City. But when she falls in with a band of women attempting to protect the rights of Chickasaw orphans, she’ll need more than her medical training to survive.
Malcolm Hardy has skirted the line between lawlessness and justice since escaping the mean streak of his father and his no-good half-siblings a decade ago. In Oklahoma Territory he created enough distance from his family name to find a quiet purpose to his days. But then Anna Ryan walks back into his life, and his hard-won peace is in jeopardy.
The last time Malcolm saw Anna, she had been a determined girl he couldn’t help but admire. Now she was a compelling woman searching for answers that could lead straight to him. But one thing was clear—Anna’s life path was on a trajectory for the remarkable while Malcolm’s was not. Surrendering to temptation would only end in heartbreak.
The Swan is an emotional story of a woman finding her true calling and a hero moving forward after a difficult past. It has light steam and a heartfelt and poignant ending.
An excerpt from The Swan
(Malcolm Hardy is meeting with Cash Wright, an old friend and a Lighthorseman - the Chickasaw police force.)
“Who would’ve thought back when we worked for Kellogg that you’d end up a respectable lawman,” Malcolm said.
“And you’re respectable?” Cash’s tone was tinged with irony.
“I’m trying,” Malcolm answered honestly, proud of the fruits
of working hard. “Ever hear from Ambrose?”
“No. You?”
“Not in some time.”
“You gave him and Bessie a chance,” Cash said. “He wouldn’t
have squandered it.”
Malcolm couldn’t disagree. Ambrose was the son of a black
Chickasaw freedman—released from slavery after the Civil War—but had struggled
with citizenship since the Chickasaw refused recognition. It had sometimes lit
a tension between Ambrose and Cash, both men paying for the actions of their
forefathers. Guilt by association rather than true differences.
Then Ambrose had fallen in love with a Ponca woman, and
Kellogg’s true nature and ambitions had come to light in his machinations of
acquiring allotted Ponca land. It had been a testament to the friendship
between the three of them that they’d managed to thwart their boss and give
Ambrose and Bessie a life with the Ponca.
“I’ve seen Delmont,” Malcolm said, mentioning the final cog
that connected them all.
Cash’s face stilled, the surprise obvious. “Where?”
“Conleyville.”
“The hell you say.”
“Why?” Malcolm asked.
“I’m on my way there. I’ve got business, and also to see my
mother.”
That caught Malcolm off-guard. “Drusilla lives in
Conleyville?” He had met Cash’s mother once in Tishomingo shortly after he and
Cash had quit Kellogg’s outfit and come south.
“Outside of town,” Cash said, “in the Arbuckles. I don’t
like her living out there alone, but she prefers the wilderness.” He took a
gulp of coffee. “Is Delmont still with Kellogg?”
“I think so. He’s got something going on, and knowing him it
must be related to land.”
Cash raised his brows. “In Conleyville? It’s Chickasaw territory,
and he’s not Chickasaw.”
“That we know of.” But Malcolm’s response was etched in
sarcasm. Both he and Cash knew that if Webb could lie about his ancestry, he
wouldn’t hesitate.
Cash’s voice was quiet and contemplative as he said,
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Connect with Kristy
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Friday, July 25, 2025
The Far West Steamboat by Zina Abbott
In the days before railroads reached the Dakota and Missouri territories, the fastest form of transportation was by steamboat. One of the best known steamboats, or riverboats, was the Far West. Built in 1870 for the Coulson Packet Company, it was designed as a packet boat specifically for what was then known as the Upper Missouri River trade—or the part of the river between its headwaters high in the Rocky Mountain down to Sioux City, Iowa. (Packets are medium-sized boats designed mainly for domestic mail and freight transport.)
Representative of several of the steamboat packets that plied the upper Missouri River the Far West steamship had a shallow hull and three levels, but only two decks. It was a light vessel with powerful engines, a hull with limited water resistance, and a low profile that reduced wind resistance on the particularly windy rivers such as the upper Missouri and Yellowstone.
The Far West was able to steam at higher speeds than average, allowing her to set a number of speed records for both upstream and downstream travel on the Missouri and the Yellowstone.
By virtue of her shallow draft and her ability to "grasshopper" over sand bars (using spars and steam capstans (A capstan is a vertical-axled rotating machine developed for use on sailing ships to multiply the pulling force of sailors when hauling ropes, cables, and hawsers. The principle is similar to that of the windlass, which has a horizontal axle on the front of the boat to lift the boat and swing it forward a few feet at a time.) she was famous for being able to get through shallow channels and low water conditions on the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers that turned back other steamboats.
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| Captain Grant Marsh |
The Far West’s first Captain was Grant Marsh, a man who had worked on steamboats for thirty-two years, ever since the age of twelve. Prior to being assigned to the Far West, he had captained the Coulson packet, Josephine.
Generally, Far West and its sister boats sailed between Sioux City or Yankton, Dakota Territory up river to the head of navigation, which was Fort Benton, Montana Territory. During the period of the fur trade with the various upper Plains tribes, Fort Benton was known as the busiest trade center in the West.
The Coulson Packet Company also contracted with the Department of the Interior to deliver Indian annuities to various agents for distribution to the tribes required under various treaty obligations. Likewise, it contracted with the U. S. Army for transport of men and supplies to the various upriver forts and camps, as well as transporting supplies for various expeditions. One of the most notable Army expeditions in which the Far West played a key role was the three-prong Centennial Campaign, also known as the Bighorn-Yellowstone Campaign.
Part of the difficulty of conducting any military campaign in the Missouri Territory was getting animals, wagons, and freight across the rivers—those flowing south to north into the Missouri River. In addition to hauling food, fodder, ammunition, supplies, and personnel, steamboats such as the Far West were used to shuttle these across the rivers.
Upon learning he would captain the Far West on the Army’s 1876 expedition against the Northern Plains Indians, Capt. Marsh proudly displayed the Coulson Packet Company’s elk’s head symbol on the pilot house of the boat. Coulson Packet Company issued this symbol to the captain of the fastest vessel in the company.
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| Upper Missouri and related rivers flowing into Yellowstone and 1876 Centennial Campaign |
Brigadier General Terry’s last orders to Brig. Col. Custer advised him to meet the Far West at the “juncture of the Horn and Little Horn, if navigation permits” at the expiration of his carried fifteen-day supply of rations, which would have been July fourth. The qualifier “if navigation permits” always applied to the constant changes in the Missouri, Yellowstone, and surrounding rivers, since water levels and other hazards change from day to day.
Captain Marsh accepted the phrase, “if navigation permits,” as a challenge. He piloted the Far West to where those two rivers joined before tying his steamboat to a large tree. This would have been at the absolute upper reaches of navigation for any boat ascending the Bighorn River, and it was less than fifteen miles from the site of the famous June 25, 1876 “Last Stand” battle between the U.S. Army and the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne.
The exact date of the arrival of the Far West at this location is uncertain, but it was there on the evening of June twenty-sixth when a lookout cried “Indians!” and the crew jumped to their combat stations. What they saw were Sioux and Northern Cheyenne warriors chasing Curly, a Crow Army scout, who witnessed the destruction of all the men in Brig. Col. Custer’s command. He used sign language to express what happened.
Within hours, several soldiers arrived with the same news as Curly, along with the message that fifty-two wounded soldiers from the battered battalions of Captain Frederick Benteen and Major Marcus Reno were on their way to the Far West. Brig. Gen. Terry ordered the transfer of the wounded to take place at night, in cooler conditions and at a time less vulnerable to Indian attack. The wounded were brought to the boat by horse-drawn litters to minimize the jarring of the suffering soldiers.
Capt. Marsh directed a main deck mattress to be made. The men prepared a 12-inch-thick bed by gathering lush green prairie grass and covering it with canvas. The sacks of food supplies were relocated along the outer edge of the first deck to serve as a shield against any attacks. As they arrived, the wounded men were placed on this mattress. Only one doctor was available to attend them.
On July third, when the last of the wounded were stabilized and Brig. Gen, Terry, who had use the Far West as his headquarters, moved his headquarters ashore. Capt. Marsh then ordered the Far West underway, bound for Fort Abraham Lincoln, 920 miles downstream. He returned the wounded men to the fort where the campaign had begun its westward march in May. At several riverside Army forts along the way, Marsh stopped long enough to share the news. From one of these stops a telegraph operator transmitted the details of the Custer defeat to Fort Lincoln. It was then forwarded to the War Department in Washington, D.C.
The passage of the Far West from the mouth of the Little Bighorn to Fort Lincoln, near Bismarck, was made in fifty-four hours, at an average speed of seventeen knots, with the boat traveling night and day. This trip set a record that was never broken. Only two of the wounded soldiers died. The compelling mission to return these soldiers to their home fort and proceed upriver again to support the campaign gave all onboard the Far West the motivation to push the boat and themselves to the limit.
Capt. Marsh expedited the loading of provisions and returned to the mouth of the Bighorn. Beginning in the month of July, three other Coulson Packet Company steamboats, the Josephine, Carroll, and Durfee, joined the Far West in supporting this military campaign. Before its end, the Josephine and the Far West would each make at least two round trips between Bismarck and Brig. Gen. Terry’s new base camp at the mouth of the Rosebud Creek. The 910-mile river route to Bismarck was run continuously until mid-August, when the Yellowstone River water level dropped to a point that made navigation hazardous. It was because of the dangerous river conditions on the Missouri and Yellowstone that Brig. Gen. Terry concluded the military campaign in late August.
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Following this campaign, Colonel Nelson A. Terry of the Fifth Infantry, who had been stationed in Kansas, was ordered to the area to help with subduing the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne. When he arrived, he was ordered to establish a military installation at the mouth of the Powder River where it emptied into the Yellowstone River. First known as Cantonment Powder River, it later became an established fort, Fort Keogh, named after Capt. Myles Keogh of the 7th Cavalry, who died during the same battle at Little Bighorn as did Brig. Col. Custer.
The Far West continued to fulfill the Coulson line contracts with the military until the steamboat was sold in 1880 to Durfee and Peck of the Northwest Transportation Company. The steamboat continued service on the Upper Missouri until 1882 when it was sold to H. N. Dodd and Victor Bonnett. With Capt. Dodd as ship’s master, the Far West entered the lower Missouri short trade route in November 1882. The Steamboat continued to transport household and agricultural goods up and down the lower Missouri River for eleven months until October 20, 1883 when it hit a snag just below St. Charles, Missouri, and sank in five feet of water.
The cargo, engines, boilers, and most of the superstructure down to the waterline were salvaged within a few days. All that remained to be swallowed up by the river the Far West had plied with such honor and distinction for thirteen years was the lower hull.
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Sources:
https://the-past.com/feature/the-battle-of-the-little-bighorn-custers-last-stand/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_West_(steamship)
https://armyhistory.org/steamboat-at-the-little-big-horn-the-agile-mountain-steamboats-role-in-the-1876-indian-wars-campaign/
https://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/FarWest-ACUA-2019-DougScottReport.pdf