Tales Behind the Tombstones Read online

  Lola Montez d. 1861

  “Notorious I have always been and never famous.”

  — LOLA MONTEZ, 1854

  In the mid-1850s gold rush prospectors filled theaters across the Old West to watch the vivacious entertainer Lola Montez perform the risqué spider dance. The provocative jig featured the shapely Lola dressed in a colorful, above-the-knee skirt, a corsetstyle blouse, and flesh-colored tights. Thousands of black corks, which represented spiders, dangled above her in the center of the stage. When the music began Lola would twirl around and wind herself up in the low-hanging props. Her flouncy skirt drifted to her thigh as she danced about trying to free herself from the man-made insects. The spectacular display brought audiences to their feet, cheering and begging for more, and Montez never denied her fans.

  Although she presented herself to be of Latin decent, Lola was in fact from Ireland. She was born in 1818 and given the name Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert. She grew up to be a captivating beauty with dark, curly hair and black eyes. When she was still very young, Marie’s parents arranged a marriage between their daughter and a sixty-year-old judge. Rather than settle down with a man so many years older than she was, Lola ran away from home and vowed to see the world. Not long after leaving her parents, she met and married a lieutenant in the British army. When he left her for another woman, Lola traveled to Madrid and began studying dance.

  Her debut as a professional dancer was in London in 1847. She was billed as “The Premier Spanish Ballerina.” In order to make the act seem more authentic, she changed her name to Lola Montez, adopted a Spanish accent, and claimed to be a Spaniard. Audiences adored her. She toured Europe, performing at all its royal courts, and she collected many male admirers along the way. Composer Franz Liszt, author Alexander Dumas, and Ludwig I, the king of Bavaria, were among her most famous lovers. By the time Lola Montez arrived in America, her reputation as a dancer and philanderer had preceded her. Theaters in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco were packed with curious citizens hoping to get a glimpse of the tempestuous entertainer.

  Lured by the idea of becoming rich, Lola arrived in California in 1851. She had heard that miners readily tossed gold at the feet of performers and believed her singing and dancing act would separate the entertainment-starved men from a substantial portion of their wealth.

  While performing in California’s Gold Country, she met and married the owner of a newspaper, Patrick Hull. Her second marriage didn’t fair any better than the first however, and the two divorced. An editor of a Grass Valley, California, newspaper criticized Lola for her failed marriages and what he called “an over all lack of morals.” She was deeply offended by his comments and set out to confront the bold man. When she found him she threatened to beat him with her whip unless he apologized.

  Lola Montez left California and the United States in 1855. From America she took her spider dance to Australia. Authorities there however banned the routine, calling it “immoral.” With the costly failure of the Australian tour, Lola returned to America to possibly recoup her losses. It was not to be, however. Lola’s time had come and gone. She retired from the stage in 1858.

  In 1859 she once again returned to New York, changed her name to Mrs. Fanny Gibbons, and began earning her living giving how-to-keep-your-beauty lectures. A year later she suffered a stroke and was left unable to speak.

  News of her identity and pitiful condition hit the newspapers. The stories brought an old acquaintance to see her. Mrs. Isaac Buchanan promised to take care of her and moved her into the Buchanan home. Lola deeded all her possessions to the woman she saw as a benevolent friend. A few days after surrendering her worldly effects, the heartless rescuer installed her in a tenement bedroom in an area later known as Hell’s Kitchen. Lola Montez died there in January 1861 at age forty-two. She left this world unrecognized and alone.

  William Quantrill d. 1865

  “Kill! Kill! Lawrence must be cleansed and the only way to cleanse it is to kill! Kill!”

  — WILLIAM QUANTRILL’S ORDER TO HIS SOLDIERS DURING A

  GUERRILLA RAID ON LAWRENCE, KANSAS, 1863

  Dressed in his finest gray uniform and carrying four Colt revolvers tucked into a red sash tied around his waist, Captain William Clarke Quantrill paraded past a band of Rebel soldiers and grinned. The renegade bunch he led was 450 men strong. Among the brutal, ruthless fighters were such scoundrels as Frank and Jesse James and Cole and Jim Younger. Quantrill’s unit had a reputation for being the most savage fighters in the Civil War. The captain and his command were more interested in robbery and murder than states’ rights, however.

  Quantrill was born in Canal Dover, Ohio, in 1837. Outside of the fact that he was an educated man who later became a school-teacher, little is known about his youth. In 1858 he headed west to Utah and for a time made his living there as a gambler. An altercation with the law drove him back to the Midwest.

  He began his military career in 1860 fighting for the North. He learned brutal guerrilla tactics from James H. Lane, commander of the Jayhawkers. The Jayhawkers was a nickname given to the antislavery men with the 7th Kansas Cavalry. Lane led a faction of extreme soldiers who burned and plundered towns sympathetic to the southern course. Quantrill was a Jayhawker at one time.

  Quantrill eventually switched sides and became a Bushwacker, the equivalent of a Jayhawker for the South. After helping to capture Independence, Missouri, for the South in 1861, he quickly rose to the rank of captain and employed the same barbaric methods of battle Lane possessed. He assembled a fierce group of recruits willing to ransack property and gun down Northern supporters. The men, known as “Quantrill’s Irregulars,” staged numerous bloody raids. Their reputation grew and soon the Union army declared Quantrill and his raiders to be outlaws.

  The highlight of Quantrill’s merciless career happened on August 21, 1863, with a promise to cleanse entire towns of any and all “Yankee lovers.” Captain Quantrill led the men into Lawrence, Kansas, and proceeded to toss men and women out of their homes into the street. The raiders then set fire to most of the buildings. While Lawrence burned, Quantrill had breakfast and ordered 150 men and boys to be rounded up and killed.

  Union troops retaliated against Quantrill and chased the Irregulars out of the Midwest and into Texas. From there his men divided into two groups. Quantrill headed up one of those groups and gave command of the second to a vicious lieutenant named “Bloody” Bill Anderson.

  Quantrill’s time in Texas was short. He was quickly captured and arrested for murder by Union general McCulloch. Not long after being apprehended, he managed to escape and regroup with some of his troops. He then devised a plot to lead a small party of men to Washington, D.C., to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. The plan was thwarted in Lafayette County, Missouri, when Quantrill recognized the superior Union force they were up against. He then fled to Kentucky, where he was shot in an ambush by Federal troops. The bullet, which lodged in his spine, was a fatal wound. Quantrill died at a military prison on June 6, 1865.

  Some historians maintain that Quantrill was the most notorious and dangerous man in America’s history. Many of the highly trained soldiers that served under Quantrill, such as Cole and Jim Younger and the James Brothers, employed his hit-and-run tactics when killing and looting. His criminal methods were also adopted by renegades in the Wild West, and desperados such as Frank Wolcott and Bob Rogers helped perpetuate his legacy of bloodshed on a new frontier.

  Quantrill was buried in the Confederate Cemetery in Higginsville, Missouri. The small stone over his grave contains his name, the year he was born, and the year he died.

  Julia Bulette d. 1867

  “She may be scarlet, but her heart is pure white.”

  — A VIRGINIA CITY MINER’S COMMENTS ABOUT

  SOILED DOVE JULIA BULETTE, JULY 1861

  Red, white, and blue bunting hung from the windows and awnings lining the main street of Virginia City, Nevada, on July 4, 1861. The entire mining community had turned out to
celebrate the country’s independence and share in the holiday festivities. The firemen of Fire Engine Company Number 1 led a grand parade through town. Riding on top of the vehicle and adorned in a fireman’s hat and carrying a brass fire trumpet filled with roses was Julia Bulette.

  The crowd cheered for the woman who had been named Queen of the Independence Day parade, and Julia proudly waved to them as she passed by. In that moment residents looked past the fact that she was a known prostitute who operated a busy parlor house. For that moment they focused solely on the charitable works she had done for the community and, in particular, the monetary contributions she had made to the fire department.

  Julia Bulette had been born in London, England, in 1833. She and her family moved to New Orleans in 1848 and then on to California with the gold rush. Julia arrived in Virginia City in 1859 after having survived a failed marriage and working as prostitute in Louisiana. In a western territory where the male inhabitants far outnumbered the female, doe-eyed Julia learned how to make that work to her advantage. She opened a house of ill repute and hired a handful of girls to work for her.

  Julia’s Palace, as it came to be known, was a high-class establishment complete with lace curtains, imported carpets, and velvet, high-back chairs. She served her guests the finest wines and French cooking and insisted that her gentlemen callers conduct themselves in a civilized fashion. She was noted for being a kind woman with a generous heart who never failed to help the sick and poor. In recognition of her support to the needy, the local firefighters made her an honorary member. It was a tribute she cherished and did her best to prove herself worthy of.

  On January 21, 1867, Virginia City’s beloved Julia was found brutally murdered in the bedroom of her home. The jewelry and furs she owned had been stolen. The heinous crime shocked the town, and citizens vowed to track the killer down.

  The funeral provided for Julia was one of the largest ever held in the area. Businesses closed, and black wreaths were hung on the doors of the saloons. Members of the Fire Engine Company Number 1 pooled their money and purchased a silver-handled casket for her burial. She was laid to rest at the Flowery Cemetery outside Virginia City. The large wooden marker over her grave read simply JULIA.

  Fifteen months after Julia’s death, law enforcement apprehended the man who robbed and killed her. Jean Millian had been one of her clients and had Julia’s belongings on him when he was apprehended. Millian was tried, declared guilty, and hanged for the murder on April 27, 1868.

  Flowery Cemetery is located east of Virginia City, Nevada, along Nevada Highway 341.

  Kit Carson d. 1868

  “It’s the prettiest country you’ve ever laid your eyes on. All we got to do is get over these mountains. Put your snowshoes on now and let’s keep going.”

  — KIT CARSON’S WORDS TO A PARTY OF SETTLERS

  HE LED THROUGH THE SIERRA NEVADAS, 1842

  Stories about the acts of bravery the Indian agent, scout, and soldier Christopher “Kit” Carson performed were highly publicized in eastern newspapers in the 1850s and 1860s. Carson was recognized by the U.S. government as the best trailer in the West. His exploration of the Rocky Mountains gave way to clearer and safer paths to the new frontier.

  He had been born in Kentucky on Christmas Eve in 1809. When he was one year old, his father moved the family to Howard County, Missouri, and purchased a homestead. Eight years later his father died fighting a fire that threatened to destroy the house and property. Kit Carson went to work to help support himself, his mother, and his siblings. He was an apprentice to a saddle maker, but the job he really longed for was that of trapper.

  In 1824 he received an invitation from a seasoned frontiersman to travel to California. Carson eagerly accepted and earned his keep on the trek west by caring for the mules, horses, and oxen. Along the way the frontiersman took him under his wing and taught him all he needed to know to be a fur trapper.

  For sixteen years Carson honed his skills as a trapper and led several fur expeditions through the Rockies along the Yellowstone, Bighorn, and Snake Rivers. During that time he became acquainted with many of the Native Americans living in the untamed territories. His first two wives were Apache Indians. His knowledge of the area and the relationship he had with the people who lived there made him a highly sought-after guide.

  In 1842 army explorer John C. Fremont hired Carson to lead a patrol to Oregon and the Sacramento Valley in California. The trip was organized so that accurate maps of the terrain could be made. In their efforts to help settle the West, Carson and his team of explorers battled the elements and hostile Indians. Carson’s heroism on the journey and as a soldier in the Mexican-American war earned him the rank of lieutenant in the United States Army.

  When the war ended, Carson headed to Sante Fe and took up ranching with his third wife and four children. In 1853 the government appointed him the federal Indian agent for northern New Mexico. In 1862 he participated in the Civil War, organizing a volunteer infantry troop that saw action at Valverde. Carson retired from the army in 1866 and returned to work at his ranch. A year later he began suffering ill health and sought care from prominent physician H. R. Tilton. Tilton determined that his patient had an aneurysm and prescribed complete bed rest until it passed.

  Carson spent his last days lying on the floor of the doctor’s office on a buffalo robe. Despite the quality care he received, the aneurysm broke free and raced to his throat. His last words before he died on May 23, 1868, were, “Doctor, compadre . . . adios.” Carson was fifty-nine years old. He was buried in Taos, New Mexico, alongside his third wife, who died a month after giving birth to a daughter. The cemetery was renamed the Kit Carson Cemetery after the legendary figure’s death.

  Carson was given a general’s funeral, which was attended by hundreds of mourners, including H. R. Tilton; the assistant surgeon to the U.S. Army; and the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Colonel Edward W. Wynkoop. Carson willed his property, valued at $7,000, to his children. The headstone that currently stands over his grave was erected by the Masons organization in 1908.

  Wild Bill Hickok d. 1876

  “I’d be willing to take an oath on the Bible that I have killed over a hundred men.”

  — WILLIAM BUTLER HICKOK TO REPORTER

  H. M. STANLEY, FEBRUARY 1866

  James Butler Hickok was known throughout the West as the Prince of the Pistoleers. He had a serious disposition and fast gun to back up any fight rogue cowhands challenged him to. His exploits as a lawmen and talent with firearms made him a legend.

  He was born on May 27, 1837, in Homer, Illinois. He had five siblings, and his father was a farmer and owner-operator of a general store. Hickok, who would grow to be more than six feet tall, towered over the other boys in town and had a temper to match his size. While still in his teens, he was involved in a violent brawl with a freight-wagon driver. Fearing he might have killed the man, Hickok left the area and headed west. His height, the way he handled a gun, and the way he carried himself led to him being offered a job as peace officer in Johnson County, Kansas. Hickok took the position but only for a short time before hiring on with Russell Majors and Waddell Freight Line as a teamster.

  In the spring of 1860, Hickok was attacked by a bear while on a wagon run through the Raton Pass. He killed the bear using a knife and two guns. After recuperating from his injuries, he moved to Nebraska, and the freight company he was working for assigned him to tend to the cattle and horses at a stage stop.

  Hickok soon became embroiled in another scrape. He had been spending time with another man’s mistress, and the man threatened to kill him. Hickok shot the scorned husband dead before his opponent’s gun cleared his holster.

  Following the incident in Nebraska, Hickok was again on the move. His travels took him to Sedalia, Missouri. From there he was employed as a “special detective” for the government. His job was to locate missing property such as weapons, ammunition, and other supplies that had been hijacked. The Civil War broke out during
that time, and he signed onto help. Hickok used his skill as a sharpshooter to advance the cause of the Union army. He earned the handle “Wild Bill” fighting alongside General Samuel R. Curtis in the battleof Pea Ridge in Arkansas. For the bulk of the war, Hickok worked as a scout and wagon master for the North. He continued on in that role four years after the conflict between the states had ended, aiding cavalry troops in their quest to establish military posts in the West.

  In between doing his duty for the country, Hickok was engaged in several bloody confrontations, killing every ambitious gunslinger who dared to take him on. News of his exploits preceded him wherever he traveled.

  By the summer of 1869, Hickok had become the sheriff of Ellis County in Hays City, Kansas. He cleaned up the rowdy cow town, arresting drunken and disorderly military men, bank robbers, highwaymen, and horse thieves. Other rough settlements in the territory sent for Hickok to help them establish order as well. He became marshal of Abilene in March of 1871, and he crossed paths with such tough outlaws as John Wesley Hardin and Ben Thompson and gunman Phil Coe. Hickok was a respected lawman who went to great lengths to see that the rules of polite society were upheld.

  He departed from the high profile role of law enforcement in 1872 and joined Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West show. He traveled throughout the United States acting out stories from his rugged past and occasionally portraying George Armstrong Custer. After two years, he abandoned the stage and went west to Wyoming, stopping long enough to get married and then follow the gold strike to the Dakota Territory. Deadwood would be his last adventure.