Monday, April 24, 2023

On to a million


Colorado Restless Native reaches important milestone

This morning, Colorado Restless Native reached the important milestone of three quarters of a million page views. On to a million. 
 
“As for myself: I had come to the conclusion that there was nothing sacred about myself or any human being, that we were all machines, doomed to collide and collide and collide. For want of anything better to do, we became fans of collisions. Sometimes I wrote well about collisions, which meant I was a writing machine in good repair. Sometimes I wrote badly, which meant I was a writing machine in bad repair. I no more harbored sacredness than did a Pontiac, a mousetrap, or a South Bend Lathe.”
 
― Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions 
 
Thing of the past ...
Engine room, Colo. State School of Mines
Creator: McClure, Louis Charles, 1867-1957
Date: [1915-1920?]
Machinery room at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden (Jefferson County), Colorado. Shows a brick room with steel beams, and round, arched and oblong windows. Machinery powered by steam motors, pulleys, wheels, belts, gauges, control boards with levers and dials, and steam valves and pipes are in the room. Men sit and stand near the control boards.
Format of Original Material: 1 photographic print ; 20 x 25 cm (8 x 9 1/2 in.)
Original Material Found in Collection: Louis Charles McClure papers. Denver Public Library Special Collections.

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Local Buffalo Bill most famous man in the world


Friends,  foes, kings, queens and presidents salute showman

By Rob Carrigan, robcarrigan1@gmail.com

 William F. Cody acted globally, and operated locally with a worldly view. Colorado, especially Denver, Golden and Larimer County were regular haunts for the most famous and recognizable man in the world, at the time.

"Western history without Buffalo Bill would have astonished 20-Century Americans," notes Thomas J. Noel, (Dr. Colorado) in "Mile High City,  An Illustrated History of Denver."

Despite fame as an Indian fighter, "He later befriended many of his former foes," says Noel. "Ironically, the Indians he helped put on the reservations found some of their better-paying and more gratifying jobs with Cody, traveling the U.S. and Europe as performers with the Wild West Show."


 "Kings, queens and presidents attended Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and it is estimated that more than 25 million words were written about the famous scout during his lifetime, making his silver goatee, buckskin jacket and wide Stetson hat more recognizable and famous than anyone in the world at the time. When he died in 1917, while visiting his sister in Denver, his body was put on view in the state capitol," says the City of Golden's site. 

And here in Larimer County, at his boyhood friend A.H. 'Billy' Paterson's house in Fort Collins:

"Buffalo Bill Cody was in town in April where he was entertained by his boyhood friend, A. H. Patterson, Fort Collins pioneer implement dealer. Buffalo Bill and Patterson had come west together. Buffalo Bill was enroute to Boulder to Cheyenne. He had made quite a deal of money in these years by his novel show "The Wild West." In the winter, he played in a show known as the "Prairie Waif." As one person remarked, "Buffalo Bill is thriving and need not long for the good old days." Buffalo Bill at this time ordered a special buggy which was made in Fort Collins by E. C. Roth. Roth supplied the buggy with a patented Roth Spring and shipped it to Cody's Nebraska ranch (Scouts Rest). Millions of words and probably as much nonsense has been penned about Bill Cody. Probably the world's worst businessman, he was on the other hand generous to a fault, an excellent showman, handsome (with legions of feminine admirers), a good rifle shot and better than average rider. 


"The attractive house at 121 North Grant (Fort Collins), where Patterson entertained Buffalo Bill is now owned by the owners and publishers of this paper. I have one of the rifles Buffalo Bill used when he performed for the Queen of England. My father was a friend of Patterson's son. The son inherited the rifle upon his father's early death. He sold it to my father so he could continue his studies of law at the University of Wyoming. George W. Patterson became a well-known California attorney and died there a years later," Dick Baker, Triangle Review, in 1974. The article was part of a series by historian Dick Baker, a retired city official whose grandfather was mayor of Fort Collins. 

Patterson owned the Old Grout Livery Barn, which stood where the old Union Pacific Depot now stands on the east side of Jefferson Street in Fort Collins. "His lumbering and wagon business was one of the finest in the country," writes historian Wayne Sundberg. "He sold his business and he and his wife, the former Alice Waterous, left the city for a few years. Shortly after returning, the family purchased the home at 121 North Grant."

"Bill Cody and his family were visitors at the Paterson home on several occasions. Their early friendship lasted many years. "Buffalo Bill" asked some of the town's people why there was no marker on the grounds of the Agricultural College to honor his friend and other men who had donated land for the college. A short time later, such a monument was erected near Main Hall. The Codys and Pattersons spent many pleasant camping and fishing trips up Poudre Canyon. Shortly before he died in December of 1892, Patterson had his last visit from his old friend, who had just brought his Wild West Show back from a successful European tour."

"In spring of 1859 Buffalo Bill made his first trip to Colorado as part of the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. He passed through the new town of Denver on his way to the gold fields near Black Hawk where he searched for gold for two months, meeting with little success. On his return to Kansas he stopped in Julesburg, Colorado, where he was recruited to ride in an early version of the Pony Express. Most of his time as a messenger was spent in Kansas, although occasionally he traveled across northeast Colorado. The Pony Express route did not go to Denver but cut north into Nebraska and Wyoming," according to information from the Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum.


Cody visited Denver in the 1870s to perform in a local opera house with the Buffalo Bill Combination. He continued to tour through Colorado, performing at the Central City Opera (still in operation) and at another opera house in Georgetown. After Buffalo Bill organized his Wild West show, he visited Denver and Colorado many times. Altogether, Buffalo Bill performed 35 times in Colorado between 1886 and 1916.

The record says that "In 1913 Buffalo Bill borrowed money from Denver businessman Harry Tammen, not realizing the loan would be used to force him to appear in Tammen’s Sells Floto Circus. Cody fell behind in payment of the loan and, when the Wild West stopped in Denver to do a show that July, Tammen had the show seized. The Wild West was sold off at auction in Denver’s Overland Park and Cody was forced to join the Sells Floto Circus. Eventually he got out of that contract but was never able to re-build his Wild West."

In 1917 Buffalo Bill died while visiting his sister’s home in Denver. According to his wife Louisa, it was his choice that he be buried on Lookout Mountain overlooking Denver and the plains. 

"Despite the claims of the citizens of Cody, Wyoming, that he really wanted to be buried near Cody, close friends like Goldie Griffith and Johnny Baker, as well as the priest who administered last rites, affirmed that Lookout Mountain was indeed his choice. On June 3, 1917, Buffalo Bill was buried on Lookout Mountain, a site with spectacular views of both the mountains and plains, places where he had spent the happiest times of his life," says the museum's site.

"Louisa, who married Cody before he became famous, was buried next to her husband in 1921, four years after his death. That same year Johnny Baker, a close friend and unofficial foster son to Cody, opened the Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum. The museum collection moved into the current building next to Pahaska Tepee in 1977. Just as millions of people saw Buffalo Bill in his Wild West shows during his life, millions have visited his grave in the years since 1917. Today the museum and grave is one of the top visitor attractions in Denver and Colorado."

 


Top photo: William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody poses on his horse "Duke" in a camp for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, possibly at Ambrose Park in Brooklyn, New York. He wears a buckskin coat with tassles adorning it and also wears a hat, possibly a Stetson, and thigh boots. The bridle on Duke is adorned with shells.

Photo 2:  The attractive house at 121 N Grant (Fort Collins) where Patterson entertained Buffalo Bill.

Photo 3: Wild Bill Hickok... (seated left),  Texas Jack and  Buffalo Bill Cody (seated right).

Photo 4: Ten Native American chiefs who met with General Nelson Miles to stop the Indian War pose for a group portrait in front of a teepee. Among the chiefs are Standing Bull, Bear Who Looks Back Running, Has the Big White Horse, White Tail, Liver Bear, Little Thunder, Bull Dog, High Hawk, Lame and Eagle Pipe. The men have blankets wrapped around their shoulders. The man in the center of the front row wears a feather headdress. The man on the far left in the front row holds a war club across his lap.

 Photo 5: Cowgirls Della Ferrell and Georgia Duffy stand at the back of a covered wagon in a camp for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show near Earl's Court in England. Ferrell, a native of Colorado, joined the cast in 1887 as one of the show's "Western Girls." She wears a hat with tassles hanging from its rim. Similar tassles hang around the edges of her short coat. Duffy, a native of Wyoming who also joined the show in 1887, wears a ruffled shirt under her fitted coat. Her long skirt has beads and tassles near the hem. Each of the women holds a riding crop. A small, wood building is in the left background with the words "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" faintly printed on its side.

Photo 6: May Manning Lillie, a shooter in Buffalo Bill's Wild West, poses for a half-length portrait. She wears a wide-brimmed hat and has long hair that covers her shoulders. A necklace with three strands, possibly made from beads or shells, hangs around her neck. Two medals are pinned on her shirt. May Manning, originally of Philadelphia, married Gordon "Pawnee Bill" Lillie, also a performer in the wild west show, in 1886. He reportedly taught her to shoot and she became an outstanding performer in the show.

Photo 7: Violette Verity, a performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West, poses for a three-quarter length portrait while touring with the show. She wears a long dress with two large flowers on her waist. She also wears a large, floppy hat. She rests her right hand on a tall table in the left foreground. More flowers are on the table. She holds her left hand on her hip.

 



Friday, April 14, 2023

Things of the past ... April 14, 2023

Thing of the past ...
 

Third Street
 
Credit: Denver Public Library Special Collections
Date: [1896-1900]
Third Street from Myers Avenue towards "The Hill," Cripple Creek, Colorado; rows of one, two and three-story brick commercial buildings with flat roofs line the street; scene also includes boardwalk, horse-drawn wagons and carriages parked on sides of street, and electrical poles; Saint Patrick's Catholic Church is in center background; "Shilling's Dr..." is painted on side of brick building and signs attached to buildings include: "Meat and Groceries" and "Star Tobacco."
 
Thing of the past ...
 

Fort Collins Water Works
Creator: McClure, Louis Charles, 1867-1957
Date: [1900-1910]
Fort Collins Waterworks building, dam, canal and stream, Ft. Collins, Colorado; sign over door states "erected 1882" with names listed underneath (Stoner, Watrous, Bouchyon?, Alexander, Ames, Love, Handy).
Original Material Found in Collection, Louis Charles McClure papers, album VIII, 100
Denver Public Library Special Collections

 

Thing of the past ...

 Buckhorn Exchange Restaurant

Date: 1934, August

The Buckhorn Exchange restaurant at 1000 Osage Street in Denver, Colorado; decor includes a bar, tables, chairs, and taxidermic game heads. Proprietor H. H. Zietz poses with a cigar.

Title inked in photoprint margin; penciled on back of photoprint: "Elkhorn Beer Garden - Mr. H. H. Zietz 1000 Osage."; Library owns additional iterations of this image in various formats.
Denver Public Library Special Collections
 
Thing of the past ...
 

Hole in the Wall Gang
 
Creator: Rose, Noah H.
Date: 1880-1890
In Fort Worth, Texas, the Hole in the Wall Gang poses in suits, ties, gold chains, and bowler hats. Named for their Wyoming hideout, these outlaws are (l to r): Harry Longabaugh (The Sundance Kid), Will Carver, Ben Kilpatrick, Harvey Logan (Kid Curry), and Robert Leroy Parker (Butch Cassidy).
Denver Public Library Special Collections
Notes: "See RMN July 16, 1902 P.1 C.1." Stamp reads: "This is a print from the famous Rose Collection of old time photographs N. H. Rose photograper P.O. Box 463 - San Antonio, Texas." Identifications are inked in margin of print. Typed paper affixed to back of photoprint has identification.
 
 
Thing of the past ...
 

Antlers Hotel, Colorado Springs
 
Creator: Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942
Date: [1883-1884?]
South on Cascade Avenue of the Antlers Hotel, Colorado Springs, El Paso County, Colorado, shows the five-story stone and frame building with dormers, a stepped pediment, a bell-cast, domed tower, and porches, surrounded by fields and graded earth. Typed sticker on back of photoprint reads: "Antlers Hotel - Colo Spgs. looking south on Cascade, before street was graded to porch level. Wm. H. Jackson Photo Copy neg Dow Helmers."
Denver Public Library Special Collections
 
 
Thing of the past ...
 

Western History and Genealogy Digital Collections
 
Denver Public Library Special Collections,
Printer's Home, Colo. Springs
Creator:Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942
Date:[1882-1900?]
A horse and buggy stand outside the Printer's Home in Colorado Springs (El Paso County), Colorado. Shows a rusticated stone structure built by members of the International Typographical Union to use as a residence and a hospital for retired managers. The Victorian Gothic structure has arched windows, a tower with bell roof, decorative stone bands, and a gabled entry under a parapet. Each end of the building has a wraparound porch.
W. H. Jackson sample album. Colorado Book V, no. 14
 
Thing of the past ...
 

Hot Sulphur Spring bathhouse, Steamboat Springs, Moffat Road
 
Creator: McClure, Louis Charles, 1867-1957
Date [1913-1925]
Hot Sulphur Spring bathhouse, Steamboat Springs, Colorado reached via Moffat Road, Denver & Salt Lake Railroad (formerly Denver, Northwestern & Pacific); wooden frame building with sign on roof, "Hot Baths", hot springs; two men standing on small covered porch, boardwalks.
Original Material Found in Collection: Louis Charles McClure papers. Louis Charles McClure papers, album IV, 222
 
 
Thing of the past ...
 

On the Loveland-Estes Park Auto Road
Creator: McClure, Louis Charles, 1867-1957
Date: [1909?]
Early automobile, Stanley Steamer, on Loveland to Estes Park, Colorado dirt road. A man fishing in the Big Thompson River at side of road, another man in the car. A wooden shack behind boulder.
Louis Charles McClure papers, album VIII, 132
Denver Public Library Special Collections
 
Thing of the past ...
 

Twin Falls at Ophir Loop
 
Creator: Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942
Waterfalls, one natural and one from a wooden penstock at Ophir Loop, San Miguel County, Colorado.
Date: [between 1882 and 1890?]
Attribution to Jackson based on the photonegative's inclusion in the History Colorado William Henry Jackson Collection.; History Colorado.
 
 
Thing of the past ...
 

The Lake at Green Mountain Falls
 
Creator: Jackson, William Henry, 1843-1942
Date:[1882-1890]
Pavilion on an island with benches on the lake at Green Mountain Falls, Teller County and El Paso County, Colorado; shows dock, boats, depot buildings, large frame hotel and Colorado Midland Railroad train.
W. H. Jackson sample album. Colorado Book II ; no. 127
Denver Public Library Special Collections
 
 
Thing of the past ...
 

Rocky Mt. Nat. Park, [Colorado]; boulder on trail
Date Created/Published: [between 1916 and 1917]
Title from unverified data provided by the National Photo Company on the negative or negative sleeve.
Date from negatives in same range.
Gift; Herbert A. French; 1947.
The National Photo Company collection