Tales Behind the Tombstones Read online

  Tales Behind

  the Tombstones

  Tales Behind the Tombstones

  The Deaths and Burials of the Old West’s Most

  Nefarious Outlaws, Notorious Women,

  and Celebrated Lawmen

  Chris Enss

  GUILFORD, CONNECTICUT

  HELENA, MONTANA

  AN IMPRINT OF THE GLOBE PEQUOT PRESS

  A ∙ TWODOT® ∙ BOOK

  Copyright © 2007 Morris Book Publishing, LLC

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or by the publisher. Requests for permission should be made in writing to The Globe Pequot Press, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, Connecticut 06437.

  TwoDot is a registered trademark of The Globe Pequot Press.

  Text design: Lisa Reneson

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

  ISBN 978-0-7627-3773-4

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  First Edition/First Printing

  For my friend Chris Navo

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Introduction

  Juanita, d. 1851

  The Brennan Family, d. 1858

  The Lone Grave, 1858

  Bodie’s Odd Fellows Cemetery, Founded 1859

  Rattlesnake Dick, d. 1859

  Children of the Trail, ca. 1850s

  Lola Montez, d. 1861

  William Quantrill, d. 1865

  Julia Bulette, d. 1867

  Kit Carson, d. 1868

  Wild Bill Hickok, d. 1876

  Little Bighorn Cemetery, 1876

  Tombstone’s Boot Hill, Founded 1878

  Charley Parkhurst, d. 1879

  John Sutter, d. 1880

  Billy the Kid, d. 1881

  The Clantons and McLaurys, d. 1881

  Jesse James, d. 1882

  John Ringo, d. 1882

  James Marshall, d. 1885

  Aaron Augustus Sargent, d. 1887

  Doc Holliday, d. 1887

  Sarah Winnemucca, d. 1891

  Bob Ford, d. 1892

  Sheriff David Douglass, d. 1896

  Nancy Kelsey, d. 1896

  The Lone Angel, 1897

  John Bidwell, d. 1900

  Old Joe, d. 1901

  Calamity Jane, d. 1902

  Nellie Pooler Chapman, d. 1906

  Charles Shibell, d. 1908

  Pat Garrett, d. 1908

  Red Cloud, d. 1909

  Carrie Nation, d. 1911

  Rosa May, d. 1911

  Stagecoach Mary, d. 1914

  Thomas Jonathan Jeffords, d. 1914

  Buffalo Bill Cody, d. 1917

  Bat Masterson, d. 1921

  Lillian Russell, d. 1922

  Lotta Crabtree, d. 1924

  Nellie Cashman, d. 1925 or 1955

  Pearl Hart, d. 1925

  Lillie Langtry, d. 1929

  Elizabeth Custer, d. 1933

  Bibliography

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Without the assistance from numerous historical societies, museums, and the staff at cemeteries from Oregon to Kansas, this publication would not have been possible.

  I would like to thank the eager personnel at the Denver Library, the Library of Congress, and the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Chrystal Carpenter Burke at the Arizona Historical Society was a delight to work with, as was Doug Miller at the Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria, British Columbia. Michael Sinnwell with Rocky Mountain Profiles, Shelley Howe at the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave, and Peggy Wood at the Masonic Cemetery in Las Cruces, New Mexico, went out of their way to provide photographs to use in this publication.

  I appreciate the contributions made by the El Dorado County Museum in Placerville, California, the South Dakota Historical Society in Deadwood, South Dakota, and the Nevada Historical Society in Reno, Nevada. Ed Tyson at the Searls Library in Nevada City, California, offered invaluable insight and was always willing to dig for more information and pictures on the requested subjects. Thank you to Sister Kathleen Padden at the Ursuline Convent of the Sacred Heart in Toledo, Ohio, for your prompt response on Mary Fields. Thanks to the researchers at the California State Library, John Doerner at the Little Bighorn Battlefield Museum, and the rangers at the Bodie State Park in Bodie, California.

  And finally, thanks to Erin Turner and the art department at Globe Pequot Press. I never cease to be amazed at the quality of work you do or the talent you possess. As a lover of Old West history, I was pleased to be given the chance to write about how trail-blazers such as Carrie Nation, Mary Fields, and James Marshall left this world.

  Introduction

  “A cemetery is a history of people—a perpetual record of yesterday and sanctuary of peace and quiet today. A cemetery exists because every life is worth loving and remembering—always.”

  — WILLIAM GLADSTONE

  PRIME MINISTER OF ENGLAND, 1890

  In the mid-1800s courageous pioneers ventured across the rugged plains to start a new life. The weathered tombstones and worn-out crosses that dot the trails from Independence, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, represent the brave souls who passed away traveling across the wild frontier. Many who made the arduous journey died from disease, starvation, or the inhospitable elements in an unfamiliar land. Some died violent deaths from gunfights and lawlessness often associated with the untamed West.

  Emigrants were often too busy with day-to-day survival to spend the time and effort to create cemeteries. Family members and friends were buried where they fell. Most of the headboards of Indian scouts, wagon masters, business owners, soldiers, women, prospectors, and children have since toppled over, and in some cases all that remains is a sun-scorched piece of wood teetering on the edge of a grave.

  The gravesites of the men and women who conquered the western frontier more than 150 years ago offer important reminders of that famous era. Even those headboards containing only a name and date spark a curiosity in visitors strolling quietly through the cemeteries of old. Many of the markers that still stand and are still legible often don’t tell the story of the remarkable, dedicated, outrageous, and sometimes notorious people who made a lasting impression conquering the new frontier.

  In many cases the manner of their deaths and odd details of their impromptu funerals are as interesting as the lives they led. For example, many people have seen Buffalo Bill Cody’s grave on Lookout Mountain in Golden, Colorado, but many do not know that shortly after Cody’s death the governor of the state dispatched a World War I tank to the site to protect his remains.

  Whether or not they were famous, how pioneers were treated after they passed is worthy of note. Settlers who died on the trek west were generally wrapped in material or blankets and then buried. The wooden flanks that lined the bottom of wagons were occasionally used to make crude caskets. Rocks were piled high over the grave to prevent wild animals from getting to the remains. Surviving settlers rolled wagons over the top of the graves to conceal the plots from vengeful Indians. Family members drove away from the burial site with particularly heavy hearts. Not only had they lost a loved one, but the chance that they would ever be able to find and visit the burial site again was slim.

  When western towns such as Sacramento, Tucson, and Denver were established, graveyards and proper burials became standard. Coffins were made with rough boards and lined with white cloths. In small mining burgs, friends and family carried the coffin to the cemetery. In larger towns the casket was placed in a black, h
orse-drawn vehicle complete with glass sides and decorated with elaborate carvings and brass ornaments. The deceased was driven to his final resting place by a team of six horses. A member of the clergy would offer a few words about the departed and lead those gathered in prayer.

  The undertaker usually made the wooden markers placed at the graves. Granite or marble tombstones had to be ordered from such major cities as Kansas City, San Francisco, or Denver, and the inscriptions were scrawled across the front before they were sent back to the families. The process took three to six months to complete. From time to time the stone would be returned with the name misspelled or key information omitted. Given the cost and time spent, the stone was used regardless of the mistake.

  In absence of centralized death records in the Old West, tomb-stones are the lingering evidence that a person once was. Included in this volume are locations of these markers and little-known particulars of the deaths and burials. The tales included here are meant to encourage history buffs to visit these final resting places and consider them as frontier landmarks. In the case of Sheriff David Douglass, they will not only be standing at the grave of a gold rush hero but also standing on the spot of his last gunfight.

  Included in this volume are a few of the interesting tomb-stone inscriptions, unusual burial places, and strange circumstances surrounding some well-known western heroes and frontier characters. While there are many compelling tales behind the tomb-stones, the headboards included in this guide were chosen as the most fascinating and least told.

  Many visitors standing over the burial plots of such legends as Lotta Crabtree, Doc Holliday, and Lola Montez, or lesser known pioneers such as Old Joe or Sheriff David Douglass wonder where the occupants of the graves were when they met their maker, their course of death, or who witnessed their last words. Tales Behind the Tombstones answers those queries and serves as a guide through the hallowed grounds where today one can visit the markers of pioneers, bad guys, missionaries, teamsters, entertainers, and lawmen of the Old West.

  Juanita d. 1851

  “About 10 o’clock in the morning of July 5, 1851, the cry of ‘murder!’ came up the river. Everybody was running toward town. At the scene of the action we found a vast throng surrounding a clapboard shanty, and within, a miner was lying dead.”

  — A WITNESS ON THE SCENE IMMEDIATELY

  AFTER THE KILLING OF FRED CANNON, 1851

  The Fourth of July celebration held in Downieville, California, in 1851 was a festive event that included a parade, a picnic, and patriotic speeches from numerous politicians. Proud members of the Democratic County Convention spoke to the cheering crowd of more than five thousand people, primarily gold miners, about freedom and the idea that all are considered equal.

  The celebration was accentuated with gambling at all the local saloons and the consumption of alcohol, available in large barrels lining the streets. When residents weren’t listening to orators wax nostalgic, many happy and drunk souls gathered at Jack Craycroft’s Saloon to watch a dark-eyed beauty named Juanita deal cards.

  Juanita was from Sonora, Mexico, and engaged to the saloon’s bartender, but that did not stop amorous miners from attempting to get close to her. Fred Cannon, a well-liked Scotsman who lived in town, frequently propositioned Juanita. On the Fourth of July in 1851, he took her usual rejection particularly hard and threatened to have his way with her regardless.

  When Juanita finished work that evening, she went straight home. The streets were still busy with rowdy patriots who weren’t willing to stop celebrating. Fred Cannon was among the men on the thoroughfare who were drinking and firing their guns in the air. After more than a few beers, Fred decided to take the celebration to Juanita’s house.

  Juanita was preparing for bed when Fred pounded on the front of her home and suddenly burst in, knocking the door off the hinges. She yelled at the drunken man to get out. Before leaving, Fred cursed at her and threw some of her things on the floor. The following morning Juanita confronted Fred about his behavior and demanded he fix her door. He refused, insisting that the door was flimsy and was in danger of falling off the frame prior to his involvement. Juanita was enraged by his response, and the two argued bitterly. When Fred cursed at her this time, she pulled a knife on him and stabbed him in the chest.

  Fred’s friends surrounded the woman, calling her a harlot and a murderer. They demanded that she be hanged outright. Many of the townspeople insisted on trying her first, however. After a quick and biased hearing, Juanita was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged. The fearless woman held her head up as she was led to the spot where she would be put to death. She refused a blindfold, and when asked if she had any final words about the crime for which she was accused, she simply nodded her head. She boldly stated that she was not sorry and that she would “do it again if so provoked.”

  Juanita was the first woman to be hanged in the state of California. She was buried in the same grave as Fred Cannon. The pair was moved from the site six months later when gold was discovered where they laid. Their remains were relocated to the Downieville Cemetery. Time and the elements have erased the name of the infamous Juanita from the marker that stands over her grave.

  The Brennan Family d. 1858

  “It is the saddest tragedy that has ever sustained the pages of the county’s history.”

  — CALIFORNIA HISTORIAN WILLIAM LARDNER’S THOUGHTS

  ABOUT THE DEATH OF THE BRENNAN FAMILY, 1924

  In 1849 San Francisco newspapers were read so thoroughly by excited citizens in the East that only scraps remained. Front pages were filled with encouraging words about a significant find at Sutter’s Mill on the American River in California. “The streams are paved with gold,” the report read, “the mountains swell in their golden girdle. It sparkles in the sand of the valleys, it glitters in the coronets of the steep cliffs.” The news brought ambitious miners from all over the world to the area to get rich.

  Michael Brennan, an Irishman from New York, arrived in the Gold Country in late 1850 determined to find the mother lode. The well-educated man convinced the management at the Mount Hope Mining Company in Grass Valley, California, that he had a gift for locating major gold veins. He was quickly hired and made the company’s superintendent.

  After moving his wife and children into a modest home near the mine, Brennan went to work. For two years Brennan and his team of diggers searched for gold, but the rich strike eluded him. He was racked with guilt over the money the mine owners had invested in his efforts and believed he had disgraced his family in the process.

  On February 21, 1858, in a fit of melancholy and dejection, Brennan decided to end the pain he was feeling. The suicide note he wrote sadly stated “he could not bear to leave his family behind living in poverty.” Using prussic acid, he poisoned his wife and children and then himself. A pistol was found lying next to Brennan’s body along with the vile of poison. Authorities determined that he had intended to shoot himself if the acid was not effective.

  The entire family was laid to rest side by side at the Elm Ridge Cemetery in Grass Valley, California. A single marker listing the names and ages of all five Brennans covers the grave.

  The Lone Grave 1858

  It was the news of gold that let loose a flood of humanity upon the foothills of Northern California. Prior to 1849 most west-heading wagons were bound for Oregon. All at once settlers burst onto the scene searching for their fortune in gold. Some found what they hoped for, but others found nothing but tragedy. Such was the case for the Apperson family, pioneers who lost a young family member in a fiery accident in 1858.

  The wagon train the sojourners were a part of struggled to make its way over the treacherous Sierra Nevadas and down the other side into the valley below. The Appersons and their fellow travelers were exhausted from the four-month overland trip, which had started in Independence, Missouri. After reaching the outskirts of the mining community of Nevada City, California, they made camp as usual and rested for a few days before moving th
e train on into town.

  The forest settling was idyllic, and the Appersons decided to stay there instead of going on with the others. They built a home for themselves and their four children. For a while they were truly happy. But on May 6, 1858, an unfortunate accident occurred that left them devastated.

  At their father’s request the Apperson children were dutifully burning household debris when the youngest boy, barely two years old, wandered too close to the flames, and his pant leg caught fire. His sister and brothers tried desperately to extinguish the flames but were unsuccessful. The boy’s mother heard his frantic screams and hurried to her child. She smothered him with her dress and apron, and then quickly rushed him to a nearby watering trough and immersed his body.

  The child’s legs and sides were severely burned, but he survived. For a time it seemed as though his injuries might not be life threatening. The boy lingered for a month and then died. He was buried at the southwest corner of their property. The Apperson family stayed only a few months after his death and then moved on.

  At the time of his passing, the grave was marked only by two small seedlings. Since then concerned neighbors and community leaders have taken an interest in the burial site, surrounding the small spot with a fence and a marker.

  Motorists driving along U.S. Highway 20 from Nevada City frequently stop to visit the lone grave beside the road. It lies to one side of the interstate between two large cedars. A stone plaque now stands over the place where the child lies. Donated by the Native Sons of the Golden West, the plaque reads JULIUS ALBERT APPERSON, BORN JUNE 1855. DIED MAY 6, 1858. A PIONEER WHO CROSSED THE PLAIN TO CALIFORNIA WHO DIED AND WAS BURIED HERE.