1910 Columbia Street in Goldfield, Nevada. Amidst the dust of mining fortunes, this town thrived as a hub of gold mining activity.
Goldfield, Nevada, was founded in 1902 after gold was discovered in the area. The town quickly grew into one of the largest in Nevada, with a population peaking at around 20,000 during its heyday. Goldfield was established to support the booming mining industry in the region, particularly the gold mines.
The town boasted numerous businesses, including saloons, hotels, banks, and brothels, catering to the needs of miners and prospectors. It became known as the “Queen of the Tonopah Mining District” due to its wealth and prominence in the area.
However, like many mining towns, Goldfield’s fortunes declined after the initial boom. By the 1920s, the population had dwindled, and the town fell into decline. Today, Goldfield is a ghost of it’s former self, with remnants of its past glory still visible today, including historic buildings, mines, and artifacts.
Image courtesy of the University of Nevada, Reno, Special Collections. Nevada Ghost Towns and Historic Sites is in Goldfield, NV.
The recent death of Wyatt Earp (Wyatt died January 13, 1929) recalls to mind the part he played in the claim jumping expedition to Searles Lake in October 1910. At the time I was Acting Receiver for the California Trona Company and was in charge of a group of placer mining claims covering some 40,000 acres. The party had been organized at Los Angeles by Henry E. Lee, an Oakland attorney and probably was the best equipped gang of claim jumpers ever assembled in the west. It consisted of three complete crews of surveyors, the necessary helpers and laborers and about 20 armed guards or gunmen under the command of Wyatt Berry Stapp.
The party of 44 in number, arrived at Searles Lake in seven touring cars and established a camp at the abandoned town of “Slate Range City” about eight miles southeast of the company’s headquarters. On the morning following their arrival we saw some of the surveyors across the lake and our foreman road over and ordered them off the property but they paid no attention to his protest an proceeded to do a very thorough job or surveying and staking.
Searles Lake
As I considered it necessary to make some show of force in protecting our claims, I visited the enemy’s camp at sunrise the next day with our whole force of five men who were armed with all the weapons they could collect. It was a very critical moment when we jumped from our wagon and walked up in front of the mess house where the raiders were assembled for breakfast. I stood in the center with my boys on either side of me. There was a shout and men came running from all directions and fearing there might be trouble.
I started right off to explain to the surveyors present that I had only come over to give notice that I was officially and legally in possession of the claims and that they were trespassers.
S. Wallace Austin & Mary Hunter Austin – 1891
Before I got very far a tall man with iron grey hair and a mustache pushed his way to the front and in a loud voice demanded why I had come into their camp with armed men. At the same time he grabbed hold of my shotgun held by the boy on my left and attempted to take it away from him. At this attack upon us I drew an automatic and ordered him to let go. He did so and then ran to a building nearby saying “I’ll fix you.” Before he could secure a rifle, however, the cooler headed members of the party surrounded him and calmed him down. Also, you may be sure every effort was made to prevent a fight, as, in spite of our bold being, we were pretty badly scared.
Just as things seemed to have quieted down, one of the excited jumpers accidentally discharged a gun. No one was hurt but, it was a very tense moment for all of us. Having failed to dislodge the enemy the following day I called for a US Marshall and when he arrive the claim jumpers were all arrested and sent home including “Wyatt Berry Stapp”, none other than the famous Marshall Wyatt Stapp Earp.
San Francisco Call, Volume 108, Number 151, 29 October 1910
SODA CLAIMS SEIZED BY BAND 0F ARMED MEN
United States Marshal, Elliott received a telegram yesterday from Deputy Marshal Fred Burling, in Los Angeles, stating that 24 armed-men had seized the properties of the California Trona Company near Johannesberg. A receiver has been placed in charge of the 40,000 acres of soda claims pending the decision of a suit by the Foreign Mines development company against the Trona Company for $200,000.
Deputy Marshal Burling was sent out to serve papers on certain persons alleged to be interfering with the receiver.
Los Angeles Herald, Volume 33, Number 28, 29 October 1910
GUNMEN PROTECT BORAX LAKE PROPERTY
Methods Used in Oil Fields Are Applied to Country Held by Borax Outfit
SEARLES, Cal., Oct. 28. — Borax Lake, located in the northwest corner of San Bernardino County, is again the scene of a claim jumping struggle. A party of armed men, thirty-five in number, with automobiles, led by a man named Splat, of Los Angeles, have entered the property of California Trona company and are surveying and locating over the locations of the Trona company which has just finished assessment work costing $25000.
This is the same property on which Charles Davidson of Oakland perished last June while leading a claim jumping expedition for the same property. The property is now in charge of a receiver of the United States court who notified the jumpers to desist. They replied by show of arms and refused. The United States marshal is now on his way to the scene of trouble.
The automobiles are in charge of Chauffeur M, C. Vorney and are numbered 24145, 32783, 36991, 37404 and 29487.
Names of locators are: H. C. Fursman, W. Hull, R. Wagmire, P. Perkins, H. A. Baker, E. Thompson, D. Smith, T. W. Pack. Witness, E. A. Rasor.
The Foreign Mines and Development company has a mortgage of $250,000 on this property. A sale is pending in |the east, said to be on a $1,000,000 basis.
The region’s earlier history includes the town of Carrara, established to support marble quarrying, which began in 1904. Despite initial optimism, the marble’s quality and economic factors led to the quarry and the town’s decline.
The “Elizalde Cement Plant” in Nevada has historical significance. It was established in the early 20th century to supply cement for Hoover Dam construction. The Elizalde Company built the plant and operated when the American Southwest underwent significant industrial and infrastructure development.
After the completion of the Hoover Dam, the demand for cement decreased, leading to the plant’s closure. The remnants of the Elizalde Cement Plant now stand as a testament to the region’s industrial history, attracting historians and enthusiasts interested in the area’s development and the broader story of American industrialization.
The Elizalde Cement Plant, located in Nevada, has a history tied to industrial ambitions and unforeseen setbacks. Incorporated in November 1940 as the Carrara Portland Cement Company, it aimed to produce standard gray and special white cement, utilizing crushed marble from the nearby Carrara quarry.
Incorporated in November 1940 as the Carrara Portland Cement Company, it aimed to produce standard gray and special white cement, utilizing crushed marble from the nearby Carrara quarry. By April 1941, construction was in full swing, with an estimated daily output planned for 80 tons of cement. However, a devastating fire in July 1941 destroyed significant parts of the plant, halting progress. Despite efforts to rebuild and expand, World War II’s fuel rationing ultimately doomed the plant, which never became operational.
By April 1941, construction was in full swing, with an estimated daily output planned for 80 tons of cement. However, a devastating fire in July 1941 destroyed significant parts of the plant, halting progress. Despite efforts to rebuild and expand, World War II’s fuel rationing ultimately doomed the plant, which never became operational.
The Elizalde Cement Plant was supposed to mark a new industrial phase, but it became a relic of unfulfilled industrial aspirations, now an intriguing ruin in the desert landscape.
OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (4) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.comhttps://www.nvexpeditions.com/nye/elizalde.php https://nvtami.com/2023/05/09/ghost-towns-of-beatty/
The 1785 Land Ordinance provided that all federal land would be surveyed into townships six miles square. Townships are subdivided into 36 one-mile-square sections. Sections can be further subdivided into quarter sections, quarter-quarter sections, or irregular government lots. Each township is identified with a township and range designation. Township designations indicate the location north or south of the baseline, and range designations indicate east or west of the Principal Meridian. A meridian is an imaginary line running north to south.
1861 Central Pacific Railroad is incorporated.
1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act, a law that authorizes the federal government to give land grants and loans to aid construction of the Central Pacific Railroad as the Western part of the Transcontinental Railroad and the Union Pacific as the Eastern part.
1863 Central Pacific begins construction at Sacramento.
1864 The United States Congress passes the Pacific Railway Act of 1864, which doubles the land grant to 20 alternate sections per mile, with a 20 mile checkerboard corridor on each side of the right-of-way.
1865 Central Pacific Railroad establishes a Land Department in Sacramento. Benjamin B. Redding, former mayor of Sacramento, was chosen to lead to design and manage the new organization.
1866 The Pacific Railway Act is amended to allow a railroad to select lands outside of the land grant area in exchange for unavailable land grant land.
1866 The federal government gives Southern Pacific Railroad a land grant to complete the western section of the Atlantic & Pacific line through California via Mojave to Needles.
1867 First land patent is issued to the Central Pacific Railroad by the federal government.
1868 September 25: The Central Pacific Railway owners acquire control of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
1869 The California & Oregon Railroad receives a federal land grant to build a line northward from Davis to connect to the Oregon & California Railroad at the California and Oregon border.
1869 The Central Pacific Railroad begins operating the California & Oregon Railroad.
1869 The Golden Spike ceremony held at Promontory, Utah, marks the completion of the transcontinental railroad between Sacramento, California and Omaha, Nebraska.
1870 California & Oregon Railroad is consolidated with the Central Pacific Railroad, and becomes a branch line of the Central Pacific Railroad.
1871 The federal government gives the Southern Pacific Railroad land grants and loans, allowing it to build to meet the Texas & Pacific at Yuma, California and build from Los Angeles to Colton, California.
1875 The Southern Pacific Railroad opens a land agency in San Francisco. 1876 Jerome Madden, Benjamin Redding’s assistant, became the land agent for Southern Pacific.
1886 Southern Pacific Company assumes control of the Oregon & California Railroad.
1899 The Central Pacific Railroad is reorganized as the Central Pacific Railway in order to pay off its federal debt.
1912 The Southern Pacific Company transfers some of its remaining land assets to Southern Pacific Land Company.
1916 Oregon & California grant lands are returned to the Federal Government.
1927 Southern Pacific purchases the Oregon & California Railroad.
1984 The Southern Pacific Company merges with Santa Fe Industries, parent company of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, to form Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corporation (SPSF).
1985 The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) denies permission for the railroad operations to merge.
1986 Appeal of the ICC ruling fails.
1986 The renamed holding company, the Santa Fe Pacific Corporation, retains all of the non-rail interests of both companies except one. All of the Southern Pacific Railroad California real estate holdings are transferred to a new holding company, Catellus Development Corporation.
1996 The Southern Pacific Railroad is acquired by Union Pacific Railroad and its operations cease.
2005 Catellus Development Corporation is merged into ProLogis, another land development company based in San Francisco. ProLogis remains one of the largest real estate holders in California.
California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives https://oac.cdlib.org/institutions/California+State+Railroad+Museum+Library+and+Archives
The Mormon Battalion was a unique military unit in American history, formed during the Mexican-American War in 1846. It consisted of about 500 Latter-day Saints (Mormons) volunteers. This battalion was the only religiously based unit in United States military history and was recruited to help the U.S. secure new territories in the American West.
The battalion was mustered in at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and marched nearly 2,000 miles to San Diego, California, one of the longest military marches in history. The journey helped to open new wagon routes in the West and was instrumental in the settlement and development of the region. The battalion never engaged in battle but faced hardships like disease, lack of provisions, and challenging terrain.
The Mormon Battalion is significant for its military contribution and impact on the westward expansion and settlement of the United States, particularly in Utah and California. Its members helped to establish communities and build infrastructure in the West after their military service ended.
After their discharge in 1847, members of the Mormon Battalion played a significant role in the history of the Mojave Desert and the broader American West. Their journey and subsequent activities helped to establish and improve trails across the desert, facilitating the movement of people and goods.
Some of the discharged members of the Mormon Battalion, along with other Mormons, were instrumental in developing the Southern Route, also known as the Mormon Road, through the Mojave Desert. This route later became critical for settlers moving to California, especially during the Gold Rush. They improved the trail, making it more passable for wagons, and established supply stations along the way, vital for the survival of travelers crossing the harsh desert environment.
Additionally, these battalion members engaged in early exploratory and settlement activities. They were among the first U.S. citizens to extensively travel through and document the Mojave Desert region. Their efforts contributed to the mapping of the area and provided valuable information about resources and potential settlement sites.
Their work in the Mojave Desert facilitated westward expansion and laid the groundwork for future economic development in the region, including mining, agriculture, and transportation. Through their endeavors, the discharged members of the Mormon Battalion left a lasting legacy in the development of the American Southwest.
THE JOURNAL OF THE American Medical Association VOLUME 105, No. 11, CHICAGO, ILL. SEPTEMBER 14, 1935
Curtis Howe Springer first came to the attention of the Bureau of Investigation through a display advertisement published in the Davenport (Iowa) Times on Oct. 2, 1929. This carried a picture of Springer, who was described as “Dean of Greer College.” The advertisement read in part as follows:
Photographic reproduction (greatly reduced) of the cover of an alleged magazine put out by Springer as an advertising asset. At that time Springer affected long hair; since then he has had it cut. In this “magazine” Springer had an “explanation” of why he had to cease broadcasting over WBRE.
“Money For You. Develop Your Powers. Be Healthy, Happy, Successful. A series of Free Lectures Is offered to the public under the auspices of the Extension Department of Greer College.
“Thousands have paid to hear these lectures, but you can hear them free, through the courtesy of the Davenport Psychology Class.
“President Hoover said the complete abolition of poverty is now a possibility for us. ;
“Analyze Yourself. Know Your Hidden Powers.
In August 1930, the Scranton (Pa.) Better Business Bureau wrote that Springer had been giving a course of “lectures” at the local Y. M. C. A., which he is said to have claimed were presented through the courtesy of the “Extension Department of the National Academy.” What this Academy is or was, if, which seems doubtful, it ever has been, we have been unable to learn. Neither have we been able to learn anything about the “Springer School of Humanism” that was also mentioned. The Better Business Bureau reported further that Springer’s “lectures” were entitled “How to Banish Disease and Know the Joy of Living.” Springer was said not to have charged any admission but to have taken up a collection and also to have sold so-called private courses in psychoanalysis at $25 a course.
Bureau stated further that a local woman who had contracted and paid for a “course” charged Springer with obtaining money under pretenses. When the case came up for a trial, the woman is said to have testified that for the money paid, Springer had agreed to give her twelve “readings” or “sittings,” two a week for six weeks, but that at the end of two weeks, Springer left the city and she received no further notice from him. The Scranton Better Business Bureau reported that prosecution was dropped when Springer refunded the woman’s money.
In December 1930 Springer put out what purported to be the first issue of a magazine entitled “Symposium Creative Psychologic,” a name that is as meaningless as some of the titles that Springer has annexed. This sheet was devoted mainly to advertising Springer and his activities, especially his “Doc. Springer Temple of Health.” In it Springer published an “explanation” of why he had had to cease broadcasting over WBRE.
At this point it may be interpolated that investigation seems to show that: Springer came originally from Birmingham, Ala., where his record, not being of a medical or quasi-medical character, need not be gone into at this time; he left there to come to Chicago; he organized the “Temple of Health” in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; he sold “Springer’s Health Bread” at Johnstown, Pa.; he exploited a similar scheme in Cumberland, Md.; he made payments on some land at Mount Davis, near Salisbury, Pa. with the idea of starting a “health resort”; he incorporated Basic Foods, Inc., with an authorized capital of fifty shares, of which Springer and another man were said to held one share each and Springer’s wife to hold the other fortyeight shares; he published in not-too-particular papers alleged health columns with his picture accompanying the reading matter.
During the past few years Curtis Howe Springer, in advertising himself, has placed after his name the letters “M.D., N.D., D.O., Ph.D.,” sometimes with the statement beneath the “degrees” that they were “Honorarily conferred.” A most thorough search fails to show that Springer was ever graduated by any reputable college or university, medical or otherwise. In May 1933 a physician in Cumberland, Md., wrote to the Bureau of Investigation, stating that when Springer had appeared in his locality the local state’s attorney demanded that Springer produce a certificate showing that he had the right to use the title M.D. This, of course, Springer was unable to do. Then, according to our correspondent, Springer was charged with practicing medicine without a license, but, being at liberty without bail, he left Cumberland and could not be apprehended for trial. Later it was reported that he was broadcasting at Philadelphia and still later at Pittsburgh,
SPRINGER COMES TO CHICAGO In the latter part of December 1933 the broadcasting station WGN, operated by the Chicago Tribune, called up the Bureay of Investigation of the American Medical Association and asked for, and received, such information as was then available on Curtis Howe Springer. It appeared that Springer wanted to buy time on the air over WGN, but the contract he offered was rejected. A few days later (Jan. 4, 1934) Springer himself, with the effrontery of his kind, came to the headquarters of the American Medical Association and asked to see the Director of the Bureau of Investigation. He told the Director that he had called to correct what he described as certain misconceptions that the Bureau of Investigation was said to have regarding him.
Springer was asked where he had obtained and by what right he used the degree M.D. He stated that the degree had been bestowed by one Frederick W. Collins, a chiropractor of New Jersey, who runs the egregious “First National University of Naturopathy” and apparently several other high-sounding institutions of dubious educational character. Needless to say, the Collins outfit is not a recognized medical college. It has no scientific standing and, of course, has no legal authority whatever to grant the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Springer further admitted during the interview that his alleged degrees were granted without attendance and upon the payment of either $200 or $300 (he said he could not remember which) and the answering of certain questions !
Springer was told that interviews were unsatisfactory, as they left the problems discussed a matter of recollection on the part of two individuals. For that reason he was requested to send the Bureau of Investigation a letter setting forth the various facts regarding himself and correcting any alleged inaccuracies of which the Bureau of Investigation had been accused. At the time, Springer stated that he would go right hack to his hotel (one of the most expensive in Chicago) and write such a letter.
Within five minutes of the termination of the interview the Director of the Bureau of Investigation wrote a letter to Springer at his address in the hotel in Chicago, setting forth exactly the claims that he had just made. He was asked to confirm by letter his verbal claim that he had paid $200 or $300 for his M.D. “degree” granted by chiropractor Collins, who had no right to grant such a degree; he was asked from what institutions and on what dates he had received his “degrees” of N.D., D.O. and Ph.D.; he was asked whether the Greer College, of which he had been advertised as Dean, was the same concern that had been the subject of a cease and desist order from the Federal Trade Commission; he was asked, also, to furnish, as he had promised verbally, written evidence to indicate that he had some knowledge of nutrition and dietetics, and he was also asked to send any information he cared to regarding “Doc. Springer’s Temple of Health” at Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Needless to say, Springer was much too shrewd to fulfil his verbal promise to write a letter or to put in black and white answers to any of the questions that were put to him.
Although unsuccessful in buying time on the air over WGN, it was not long before Springer was broadcasting twice daily over WCFL, another radio station operating in the Chicago area. In this connection, we cannot do better than quote from the Chicago Better Business Bureau’s report on Springer’s Chicago radio activities :
“These talks were along sensational lines, tending to vilify those who disagreed with the New Deal and President Roosevelt’s program. Appeals for money for his activities were made and, according to information received, many sent him funds. In the early summer of 1934 Springer brought out a newspaper called the New Deal, which was labeled ‘Official Organ of Legion of Honor.’ The style ‘Legion of Honor’ was another creation of Springer’s, the stated purpose of which was to federate honest, patriotic and loyal merchants into an organization known as ‘Federation of New Dealers’ that will afford the opportunity to enlighten the working man, the forgotten man, and others seeking truth. Springer likewise carried on attacks against business establishments in Chicago, charging them with exploiting the public. Soon complaints started to come to the Better Business Bureau and a number of warrants were taken out for Springer in Chicago, charging him with slander, etc.”
About the middle of July 1934 Springer is said to have come to the office of the Chicago Better Business Bureau for the purpose of giving information regarding certain complaints which existed against him. While he was there, he was asked some questions by the officials of the Better Business Bureau Quoting again from that Bureau’s report:
“When asked about his qualifications as a medical doctor, Springer said that he took his degree of M.D. from the American College of Doctors and Surgeons in Washington, D. C. [There is no such institution—Ed.] He took his degree of osteopathy at Meyersdale, Pa. where he maintained a residence. [There never has been an osteopathic college there—Ed.] He states that he attended the Westlake West Virginia College for one year. [There is no such college and never has been.—Ed.], and -further, that he took his degree of Ph.D. from a New Jersey school of osteopathy. When it was called to his attention that a school of osteopathy did not confer such a degree as Ph.D., Springer did not answer the question.
Re-Hib, an anti-acid product, and the so-called Basic Food. Springer met the various complaints against him with counter-charges designed to discredit the complaints. About the middle of July he ceased broadcasting on radio station WCEL, following which complaints were received from business establishments alleging unsatisfied obligations left by Springer.”
One incidental point, as showing Springer’s character, is worth bringing out. While Springer was broadcasting in Chicago over radio station WCFL, he was defaming certain Chicago stores which were picketed because of strikes. At the same time Springer was staying at one of the most expensive hotels in Chicago which was also, both at that time and later, the subject of picketing!
CURTIS HOWE SPRINGER M. D., N. D., D. O., Ph. D. Honorarily Conferred
Formerly Dean of Greer College; Founder of the Springer Schools of Humanism; Honorary President of the National Academy
Photographic reproduction of the title page of a Springer booklet advertising his “patent medicine,”’ Antediluvian Tea, a mixture of chopped-up herbs. .
Since Springer wore out his welcome in Chicago, he has apparently been lying comparatively low—at least, the number of inquiries that have come in regarding him has been few. One did come in in April 1935 from the Philadelphia County Medical Society, which telegraphed the Bureau of Investigation of the American Medical Association, stating that a Philadelphia radio station was requesting advice on Springer’s Re-Hib and Antediluvian Tea. The Philadelphia County Medical Society was told that Springer was not a physician and that the Bureau of Investigation considered him a blatant faker, that his Re-Hib was apparently mainly baking soda, while the Antediluvian Tea was evidently nothing more than a crude mixture of laxative herbs. The Bureau was later advised by the Philadelphia County Medical Society that the radio station had refused Springer’s contract for broadcasting.
Summed up, it may be said that Springer is but one more example of what to the thoughtful citizen must appear as one of the most dangerous social phenomena of American city life: The person with an ignorance of the human body and its processes that is wide and deep, who by virtue of an unblushing effrontery combined with a flair for garrulity dupes an ignorant public. Loquacious fakers, faddists and quacks have for some years past made an easy living by their wits through the facility with which they could hire halls and announce so-called free lectures on subjects on which the ignorance of the audience was only exceeded by that of the speaker. The advent of the radio has multiplied the opportunities for dispensing misinformation at the public’s expense.
THE JOURNAL OF THE American Medical Association VOLUME 105, No. 11 535 North Dearborn Street, CHICAGO, ILL. SEPTEMBER 14, 1935
The conflict between Dr. Curtis Howe Springer and the American Medical Association (AMA) underscores a significant moment in the history of medical regulation and public awareness regarding health fraud. Springer, who was not a medically trained doctor, operated under the guise of one, promoting various health remedies, treatments, and establishments that had little to no scientific backing. His operations, most notably the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Resort in the Mojave Desert, attracted attention for their bold claims about the curative powers of natural remedies and treatments offered. The AMA’s denouncement of Springer as the “King of Quacks” in 1969 was a part of its broader mission to protect public health from fraudulent medical practices.
An experience of Michael White (Miguel Blanco) on the Old Spanish Trail to San Bernardino, California.
We stopped a day or two on a lake called the San José (now known as the Beggars’), and I told my partner to take care of the horses, as I wanted to ride around and take a look at the country. Riding round I heard firing a little ahead of me. Hurrying on, I discovered that our New Mexicans had surrounded a rancheria of Piutes. I saw one little Indian boy, about 12 years old, with his arm nearly shot off, just hanging by the skin a little below the shoulder. I began to scold the New Mexicans and called them a pack of damned brutes and cowards, and they were so.
There was one old Indian, standing with his bow and arrow. They wanted to take and kill him, but were afraid to approach near enough to come within reach of his arrow. I went up to the Indian and asked him for his bow and arrows—they had solemnly promised me not to hurt him if I succeeded in disarming him. The Indian handed them to me and I shall never forgive myself for having taken the word of those villains, for villains they were, of the blackest kind. As soon as they saw the Indian without arms they came near and riddled him with bullets.
I parted with them and went by myself. This was a considerable distance from our camp. I found another rancheria in a thicket of willows. An Indian came out and by sign asked me if I had come to fight. I said no; then he asked me if I was hungry, and answering in the affirmative, he invited me to alight, and partake of what he had, which was atole [a drink], made of the seed of hogweed, and barbecued trout of the most delicious—as you may suppose, considering I had had nothing to eat in nearly 24 hours. Whilst I was eating up came the confounded New Mexicans, and the Indians ran to conceal themselves in the brush. All but two succeeded in escaping—those two unfortunate Piutes were taken by the Mexicans, tied, and shot in cold blood. I begged, entreated, threatened, and did all I could to have their lives spared but all my efforts were unavailing. When they were about to shoot the Indians, I was so indignant that I raised my gun, aimed at one of the gang, and pulled the trigger, and it wouldn’t fall, though I pulled it with all my force. 10 or 12 guns were pointed at me, but they didn’t fire, as my gun had not gone off—they said this was what saved me. The rascal’s name was Tomás Salazar. I assured them that I would never again travel with such a set of brutes. They answered, “ Que! no es pecado matar esos indios gentiles.” [Oh, well. It’s no sin to kill those pagan Indians.]
My partner in the camp wanted me to keep quiet, because the New Mexicans were exasperated against me and would put me to death if I said more. From that time I had no rest at night. I was apprehensive of being murdered.
California all the way back to 1828. By Michael C. White. Written by Thomas Savage for the Bancroft Library, 1877
Hallie Morse Daggett, the daughter of John Daggett. John Daggett was a notable figure in his own right, having served as the Lieutenant Governor of California from 1883 to 1887 and later as the Superintendent of the San Francisco Mint.
Hallie’s connection to her father and upbringing influenced her independent spirit and determination.
Growing up in a family with such a public-service-oriented background may have instilled in her the confidence and resilience to pursue a career in the traditionally male-dominated forestry and fire lookout work. Her pioneering role as the first woman fire lookout in the United States Forest Service, where she dedicated 14 years of her life to protecting the forests of Northern California.
“Fred W. Loring, in his campaign costume, with his mule `Evil Merodach.’ Taken about 48 hours before he was brutally murdered by Apache–Mohaves while en route from Prescott, Arizona Territory to San Bernardino, Ca., by stage. Loring had been with the Wheeler expedition as general assistant and correspondent and was returning to the East with a mind stored with rare adventure and scenic wonders.”
By Timothy H. O’Sullivan, 1871.
FRED W. LORING AND HIS MULE “EVIL MERODACH” PRESCOTT, ARIZONA
The mule skinner was a skilled tradesman who specialized in working with mules. Their job was to maintain and care for the animals, as well as harness them for tasks such as pulling carts or carrying loads. Mule skinners had a unique set of skills that were essential for the successful operation of various agricultural and transportation industries.
Responsibilities
1. Caring for the Animals: Mule skinners were responsible for the daily care and maintenance of mules. This included grooming, feeding, and watering them, as well as providing any necessary medical attention. They also ensured that the mules were properly shod and fit for work.
2. Harnessing and Driving: One of the key duties of a mule skinner was to harness the animals for the task at hand. They needed to know the correct placement of harness and straps to ensure the safety and comfort of the mules. Mule skinners also drove the mules using a variety of methods, such as using a whip or voice commands.
3. Teamster: Mule skinners were often employed as teamsters, leading teams of mules in tasks such as pulling carts or carrying loads. They needed to know how to manage a team of mules, keeping them coordinated and working together efficiently.
4. Maintenance and Repair: Mule skinners were responsible for maintaining the mules’ equipment and keeping everything in good working order. This included repairing harnesses, mending cart wheels, and other tasks to ensure the mules’ safety and productivity.
5. Safety and Security: Mule skinners had to ensure the mules’ safety and security at all times. They needed to be aware of the potential dangers on the road and take precautions to prevent accidents or injury to the animals.
Skills and Qualifications
To become a mule skinner, individuals typically had to possess certain skills and qualifications. These may include:
– Technical Knowledge: Mule skinners needed to know the anatomy and behavior of mules, as well as the best methods for harnessing and driving them. They also needed to possess knowledge of mule breeding and veterinary care.
– Leadership and Communication: Mule skinners had to be good leaders, able to effectively communicate with a team of mules and other drivers. They needed to be able to calm animals when agitated and guide them safely through challenging situations.
– Physical Strength and Endurance: Mule skinners needed to possess physical strength and endurance to work long hours in physically demanding conditions. They needed to be able to handle the mules and harness them, as well as assist in loading and unloading carts or wagons.
– Problem-Solving Skills: Mule skinners often encountered unexpected situations and had to think on their feet. They needed problem-solving skills to quickly assess situations and make sound decisions to ensure the safety and well-being of the mules.
Conclusion
The mule skinner was a skilled tradesman who played a significant role in various industries that rely on mules. Their job was to care for and maintain the animals, harness them for work, and drive them effectively. Mule skinners had a unique set of skills that allowed them to successfully handle mules and contribute to the success of various agricultural and transportation operations.
