Wild Wild West

WILD WILD WEST
Homesteaders, small towns, outlaws, and lawmen
The Western Migration



We have already discussed the movement of
people to the western parts of the United States for
many reasons.
Once these people got there they had to make a
living and have a place to get supplies and such, so
small towns began to spring up.
These towns would usually have a store or two, a
saloon, a bank, and some kind of post office or
telegraph office.
Who went west

Ranchers

Homesteaders

Gold Seekers

Miners
Ranchers


A rancher is someone
who raises cattle for a
living
These cattle were
raised for meat, and
leather
What is a ranch




A ranch is simply a
place for cattle to live.
The more cows the
more room you need
Little ranches need
extra grain and such,
but most ranches had
free range cattle.
These free range
ranches were huge.
Free Range

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On a free range ranch cattle
are simply turned loose.
There is a network of barbed
wire fences, but the cattle are
simply allowed to roam
anywhere they want.
This still goes on in many
areas of central and southern
Utah.
Cattle are branded to keep
track of which cow belongs to
who.
Homesteaders



A homestead is a plot
of land where people
would move in. They
would build a house
and a barn.
They would raise a few
animals and raise crops
on a small farm.
These guys were called
Subsistence Farmers.
Subsistence Farmer




Subsistence means enough
to keep you alive.
A subsistence farmer
raises just enough crops
and animals to support his
family.
There might be a little left
over that would be sold.
There are still many places
in the world where people
are subsistence farmers.
Hard Work


Until tractors and
machinery were
invented in the early
1900s farming was a
ton of work.
Farming was limited to
the amount of land a
farmer could work,
and that usually wasn’t
very much.
Clashing with the Ranchers



Sure, homesteads were
rather small, but get 10 or
15 in an area and they
would take up a lot of
room.
The land was needed for
the free range cattle, so
all of this land being
taken up was troubling to
the ranchers.
It wasn’t easy for
homesteaders to just up an
leave, so something had to
be done.
The clash


The ranchers would try to
buy their land, buy all the
land around them and
force them off, make a
deal, or hire gunmen to
scare them away or even
attack them.
There are a number of
stories of ranchers hiring
outlaws to scare the
farmers away. These
have been made in to
many “Western Movies”
Gold Seekers


We have already
talked about the Gold
Rush in California, and
that is one of the most
famous, but there were
others.
Right around 1900
many went off to
Alaska in search of
gold, and thousands
froze to death.
Gold Rushes



There were many other
gold rushes.
The area around Reno
Nevada was also
loaded with Silver.
Silver is not worth as
much as gold. But there
was so much of it that
more money was made
in Nevada Silver than in
California gold.
Black Gold



As cars and machinery
started to be invented
men started to turn to oil
for fuel.
When oil was discovered
and people started to
realize its potential many
tried to find it too.
A lot of oil was discovered
in Texas and Central
California, and people
got rich that way too.
Miners



As people started to
explore the west they
realized that there was
gold, silver, oil, and such
all over the place.
They also realized that
gold and silver were not
the only things that
could make them rich.
There were other things
like copper, magnesium,
topaz, and many other
things.
Mines

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
It seemed like just about
every hill or mountain
had something in it
worth digging out.
In fact there are so
many mines in the west
that if you know where
to look you can easily
find them.
There are upwards of
10,000 mines in Utah
alone
So where are these mines



One mine in Utah is world
famous as one of the
biggest man-dug holes in
the world.
If you spend much time
looking around the
mountain ranges in Utah
(especially the west
desert) you will find
hundreds of mines all over
the place.
The vast majority were
deserted once the money
making was all gone.
What it was like to be a miner

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Often times the mine owner
was the only one who ever
got rich (and a lot of the time,
even he didn’t).
The workers often moved from
mine to mine following the
money
They were a wild bunch and
mining towns were often very
dangerous places.
Corrine, Utah was one town
that had a really bad
reputation back then.
A few words of warning.



Most of the mines in this
area were closed off or
deliberately destroyed.
If you go up camping in a
campsite near here you
probably won’t find any.
The places where lots of
people like to go have
been made safe from
mines.
But if you go out into the
more remote areas of
Utah you can find them all
over.
So why were they sealed? Warning?




A mine is not a good place to
go exploring.
Even if you have good
equipment it is not a good
idea.
Mines have vertical shafts that
may drop hundreds or even
thousands of feet.
Mines have caved in tunnels,
or tunnels that could cave in
at any moment.

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Mines may have unused
explosives or dangerous and
rotting equipment.
Many mines have flooded
tunnels or tunnels that could
flood if it rains on the surface.
Low hanging rocks, maze-like
passageways, trapped
pockets of explosive methane
gas, low oxygen levels.
It has been said that there are
a thousand ways to die in a
mine.
The Warning

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There are so many mines,
that many were forgotten
about.
Utah and other states
don’t even know where
they all were, so they
came up with a slogan for
“would be explorers” to
remember when they find
an abandoned mine.
Stay out, stay alive.
This calls for a story
Josh Dennis

On Friday September 22nd 1989 a group of boy scouts from West
Valley City were camping in the mountains near Tooele Utah.
They had brought flashlights, ropes, and other equipment along with
a map to go exploring in the Hidden Treasure Mine.
Josh (who had a hard time seeing clearly) felt a little claustrophobic
after being in the mine for a few minutes. His Dad asked him if he
would like to go out. After a few minutes catching his breath Josh
decided to go on. He told his dad that he was going to go with a
few of his friends.
Josh’s dad then said ok, and continued on with the group he was
leading. Josh turned to follow his friends down another tunnel.
Josh Gets lost

Josh could not see well, so when he realized his friends
were too far away to catch up to, he tried to go back
to his dad, but couldn’t find him. He followed the light
from his friends, but his calls for them to wait were not
heard. Eventually they turned a corner, and the light
disappeared. Josh found himself alone.
He estimated later that he walked for a few hours in
the pitch blackness trying to find his way out on his own.
Eventually he remembered to stay put and wait for help
to come to him.
Outside

After everyone came out of the mine, they realized that Josh was
nowhere to be found.
The adults told the kids to stay out of the mine, then they went in to
search it as best they could.
They searched all night, but by morning, had not found him.
They put in a call for help. Soon the mine was crawling with people.
A man by the name of John Skinner heard the news and wanted to
help. His dad had been the superintendent of the mine, and John
had grown up roaming the mine.
He went up to offer his help, but was told that no one was allowed
up except for family members and the search and rescue personnel.
John drove up another canyon to another mine he knew connected
into the Hidden Treasure Mine, but the passageway that connected
the two had caved in, so he had to turn back.
By Tuesday

The entire mine had been searched top and bottom. Each
expedition had taken a different color ribbon to help the searchers
know where they had searched.
They were sure that they had searched every square inch, and no
Josh. They turned their attention to searching the rest of the area
around the mine thinking he might have made it out of the mine at
another entrance and had simply gotten lost in the mountains.
They also worried that maybe he had met with some kind of foul
play or maybe been kidnapped.
John Skinner tried again on Tuesday to offer his help. He was again
turned away, but he had been so adamant about helping that the
police threatened to escort him off of the mountain.
Wednesday (5 days later)

It was announced that Wednesday would be the last day of the
search and the mine was going to be sealed up. John Skinner
decided that no one was going to keep him out of that mine. He
drove to the road that led to the mine. He found a search and
rescue worker and began asking specific questions about very
detailed places in the mine.
The search and rescue crew realized that John was no ordinary
civilian. They recognized that he must know the mine like the back
of his hand so they took him up to the mine for the last day of
searching.
John had a few ideas where he thought the boy might have gotten
lost, and sure enough at the last spot they heard a very faint cry for
help. Josh had not heard the searchers who actually passed very
close to him, but just happened to see this group’s light.
Found after 5 days



Josh was very weak and near death. When they
found him he was clutching two rocks that he insisted
were hamburgers.
He was severely dehydrated. His feet had gotten
wet and he was suffering from hypothermia and
frostbite because the mine was near freezing inside.
Josh learned an important lesson, one that you
might do well to remember one day if you ever
encounter an open mine shaft…
Stay out, stay alive
The Native Americans


Unfortunately for all
of the people moving
west there were
already people there.
The Native Americans
had no problem with a
few people passing
through, but they had
issues with the
thousands who wanted
to stay.
Alien Invasion

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Most of you have seen an
alien invasion movie, there
are a lot of them.
Well Native Americans lived a
true alien invasion.
The aliens were not little
green men from another
planet arriving in flying
saucers. Instead they were
big white men from the other
side of this planet arriving in
ships and wagons.
Every other plot point from a
good alien invasion flick
really happened.
Defending their land, family, and way
of life



The Indians had never
considered the idea of
land ownership.
The notion of making
land private was crazy
to them.
The white men came in,
built homes, then built
fences to lay claim to
their little chunk of land,
and the Indians were
slowly cut off from their
homelands.
Fighting Back




The Native Americans began to
fight back by attacking the white
men.
At first they would only attack
forts and military groups, but
they started to target migrant
Americans.
Many small groups were
attacked, and sure some scalps
were taken, but the white men
had better weapons and they
also had the numbers.
Just like if humans were ever
attacked by aliens, our only real
hope would be if they wanted to
be peaceful and not kill us.
Manifest Destiny


If you remember the
idea of Manifest Destiny
it said that Americans
were destined to spread
all the way across the
continent to the Pacific
Ocean.
No one knew what to do
with the Natives. After
a while an idea was
presented to relocate
the Indians onto
reservations.
The Reservation Question



Whether or not it was right
the Indians were forced to
move from their homelands
onto lands set aside by the
government.
Of course we were not going
to give them the nice lands
where farming was easy and
white people wanted to live.
They were given the remote
and waterless deserts. The
rugged mountains. The stinky
swamps.
The Cavalry



Of course most of the
Indians did not want to
be forced onto new
lands.
They also continued to
attack white settlers and
military forts.
The government created
a group of soldiers to
travel on horse, back
and forth across the
country.
The Fight
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

The cavalry would find
and fight the Indians.
They would drive them
to the reservations and
attempt to force them to
stay there.
They would also try to
protect the wagon trains
and the settlers, but
neither side was perfect
all the time.
The bottom line

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
Indians had spears,
bows, arrows, knives,
and horses.
White Americans had
guns, cannons,
machines, and war
experience.
Who was going to win
this one?
Clashes with the natives

The Cherokee
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Geronimo
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The Nez Perce

Sand Creek

Wounded Knee

Crazy Horse and
Custer
Cherokee
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The Cherokee lived in South
Carolina and Georgia.
Many of the other tribes
along the East Coast had
been pushed off of their
lands, and many had suffered
from sickness, disease and
wars.
The Cherokee were forced to
move by the government.
President Jackson said that
they were being moved for
their own good
The Trail of Tears
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
The Cherokee tried to
fight, but had a hard
time.
They were forced to
move all the way to
eastern Oklahoma
(about 1,000 miles)
Many died along the
way, and many more
died when they arrived
in Oklahoma.
Nez Perce
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

We first met the Nez Perce
when the saved Lewis and
Clark’s expedition. Now the
grandchildren of those same
natives are going to get their
“reward.”
They were to be relocated to
a place in Idaho off of their
home lands on the snake river
plain.
One group of Nez Perce
Indians, led by chief Joseph,
led a very successful tactical
fight against the cavalry as
the group attempted to fight
their way into Canada
Nez Perce


The Nez Perce fought
bravely but retreated
back 1,200 miles into
Northeastern
Montana.
Eventually so many
had been killed that
Chief Joseph decided
that he needed to stop
fighting and seek to
negotiate.
The Surrender

One night Chief Joseph got what was left of his tribe together and
told them… “Tell General Howard I know his heart. What he told me
before, I have it in my heart. I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are
killed; Looking Glass is dead, Too-hul-hul-sote is dead. The old men
are all dead. It is the young men who say yes or no. He who led on
the young men is dead. It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little
children are freezing to death. My people, some of them, have run
away to the hills, and have no blankets, no food. No one knows
where they are—perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to
look for my children, and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I
shall find them among the dead. Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired; my
heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no
more forever."[3]
Going Home?
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
Even when the fight
was over Chief Joseph
negotiated to take his
tribe back home to the
Wallowa Valley where
they were from.
His group was
assigned to a
reservation in Idaho,
but not on their
homeland
The Red Napolean
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
Chief Joseph became a
humanitarian and an
activist for rights of the
oppressed.
He sought to visit his
homeland before he died,
but was never allowed
before he died in 1904.
General William Tecumseh
Sherman (March to the
sea guy) called him the
Red Napolean.
The Indians did not always lose.
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There were plenty of times
when the Indians would
get lucky enough to
outnumber the white
people and win the battle.
One famous battle was
the Battle of Little Bighorn.
The Indians were led by a
guy named Crazy Horse,
and the Cavalry was led
by George Custer
Custer


Custer really wanted
to win the battle
against the Indians he
wanted to get a big
win and become a
famous general.
Even though he was
outnumbered he
followed the Indians
into unknown lands in
the Black Hills.
Crazy Horse
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Crazy Horse had spent
quite a bit of time around
White Men
He had also been involved
in many battles.
He knew how to plan, and
he knew how to fight.
He was very careful to not
reveal his numbers to the
Cavalry, and he used to
parallel hills to surround
them without them knowing
it.
Cut in two

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
The Indians charged into
Cavalry and separated
them into two groups.
The Indians then poured
over the mountains and
made their attack.
The Cavalry was
decimated and Custer
was killed.
Geronimo
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You might have yelled his name
when making a big jump, but
Geronimo was a chief in the
Apache nation.
His fight was first with the
Mexicans when they massacred a
large number of his fellow
Apaches.
Much of his fights were against
Mexican troops who wanted to
wipe out the Apaches.
As leader of the Apache nation
his attacks shifted towards
America as the became the more
powerful force in his area.
Geronimo



Geronimo became
legendary for his daring
(some would say suicidal)
attacks when outnumbered
and outgunned.
He also had a gift for up
and “disappearing” when
being pursued.
Legends said that he was
invincible, but in 1886 he
surrendered to American
Troops after being
relentlessly pursued.
Geronimo’s later life



Geronimo was sent to a
reservation. His desire until
his dying day was to go back
to his homeland. He never
got his wish.
He at first embraced the
white man’s way, but
eventually found that he
missed the old life and said
that he regretted his
surrender and wished to have
died as a warrior.
He did tour around for a
while with some “Wild West”
shows.
When the cavalry left

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
Sometimes the cavalry
was a blessing in disguise
for the Native Americans.
The official troops often
times enforced unfair laws,
but they also kept the
peace.
One Indian battle in the
year 1864 showed what
the white men were really
capable of. The actual
cavalry troops were all
off fighting in the civil war.
The Sand Creek Massacre – lead up



Originally the Cheyenne and
Arapaho nation were given
the lands between the Platte
River and Arkansas River from
the rocky mountains out to
Kansas.
Then they found gold in
Colorado and a few years
later the Indians signed a
treaty that limited them to a
tiny chunk of Southeastern
Colorado.
Many of the Indians did not
like this treaty and refused to
live by it, so there was some
violence.
Colorado Militia


With the most of the
government soldiers gone
fighting the civil war,
Colorado was left with mostly
militia to fights its battles.
They were led by a US Army
Colonel named John
Chivington. He was a godfearing, slavery hating guy.
Unfortunately he also had a
“the only good indian, is a
dead indian” attitude. He
was dedicated to the
eradication of Indians by
whatever means necessary.
The massacre
With the Cheyenne and Arapaho
Indians causing a few problems
Chivington decided it was time to
teach them a lesson.
 He received a report of a camp
of indians with about 100
people in it.
 He decided to move against it
with his full might.
 When they arrived at the camp
this is what they found.
------------------------------------------- The camp was led by a chief
named Black Kettle. He was
very peaceful.




Black Kettle had reported to the
nearby fort, and gotten
permission to let his people camp
at this place along the creek. He
even had an American flag
flying over his lodge.
None of the “bad indians” were
in this camp. The had already
been checked out by another
group of soldiers. They had
been promised that they would
be left in peace, so most of the
warriors were off hunting
buffalo.
Only about 60 people were in
the camp and most of them were
women and children.
Chivington attacks anyway


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Chivington undoubtedly knew
that he was looking at a
peaceful Indian village that was
not responsible for any of the
recent violence, he should have
taken his men and gone home.
Instead he decided to attack
anyway.
As the attacked started the
Indians banded together into a
little group. They sent out a 6
year old girl with a white flag.
The soldiers shot the girl at least
four times, and continued their
attack.
What the men had to say
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I saw the bodies of those lying there cut all to pieces, worse mutilated than any
I ever saw before; the women cut all to pieces ... With knives; scalped; their
brains knocked out; children two or three months old; all ages lying there,
from… infants up to warriors ... By whom were they mutilated? By the United
States troops ...
—- John S. Smith, Congressional Testimony of Mr. John S. Smith, 1865
Fingers and ears were cut off the bodies for the jewelry they carried. The body
of White Antelope, lying solitarily in the creek bed, was a prime target.
Besides scalping him the soldiers cut off his nose, and ears. -- Stan Hoig
Jis to think of that dog Chivington and his dirty hounds, up thar at Sand Creek.
His men shot down squaws, and blew the brains out of little innocent children.
You call sich soldiers Christians, do ye? And Indians savages? What der yer
'spose our Heavenly Father, who made both them and us, thinks of these things?
I tell you what, I don't like a hostile red skin any more than you do. And when
they are hostile, I've fought 'em, hard as any man. But I never yet drew a bead
on a squaw or papoose, and I despise the man who would.
—- Kit Carson
Wounded Knee



One Indian leader named
Sitting Bull led a number of
fights against the American
Army.
For a while he was forced to
run to Canada to stay out of
trouble. He eventually
surrendered to troops and
moved to the reservation. He
even toured around in wild
west shows.
On the reservation a new
religion that blended ancient
Indian beliefs with newer
Christian beliefs had started
up called Ghost Dance.
Ghost Dance



The new Ghost Dance religion
had as a belief that White
Expansion would be stopped
by a divine being as long as
the Indians led clean lives.
This new belief among a
potential enemy was not
really tolerated by the
American Government
because it meant that the
Indians would one day win.
The problem was
exacerbated by some Indians
who were a little impatient
with waiting for the “Great
Spirit” to get rid of the whites.
Sitting Bull is killed




Sitting Bull was in camp at a
place called Wounded Knee
Creek. The army was worried
that he was going to lead the
Ghost Dancers off of the
reservation to get into some
mischief.
An order was issued to arrest
Sitting Bull.
The men went to his house early
in the morning and many other
Indians in camp rushed to help
the chief.
A close quarters shoot-out
erupted and many Indians and
soldiers were killed, but the worst
was yet to come.
On lock-down


Fear spread amongst the
military that the Indians might
try to get revenge for the
death of Sitting Bull.
More troops were called in
and they brought cannons.


The camp was surrounded and
everything stayed peaceful for a
few days.
About two weeks after Sitting Bull
was killed the Indians were getting
restless and the Army was worried so
the soldiers were sent in to disarm
the Sioux Indians.
Massacre



Exactly how it happened,
nobody knows, but gunfire
erupted in the camp.
One story cites an old
Indian warrior who was
nearly blind and deaf
who did not want to give
up his rifle because “it had
cost a lot.”
The soldiers were called
back, but their
commanding officers did
not wait. The cannons
began shooting.
When the smoke cleared



Cannons blazed and
rifles fired. The LakotaSioux who were
surrounded had nowhere
to go and many died.
When it was over 150+
men, women, and
children were dead in
the Lakota-Sioux camp.
In addition 31 soldiers
were killed mostly by
friendly fire.
Eye-Witness accounts

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Black Elk (1863–1950); medicine man, Oglala Lakota: "I did not know then how much was ended. When I
look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped
and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes young. And I can see that
something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It
was a beautiful dream . . . . the nation's hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the
sacred tree is dead." (Source: Black Elk Speaks, c. 1932)
American Horse (1840–1908); Chief, Oglala Lakota: "There was a woman with an infant in her arms who was
killed as she almost touched the flag of truce... The women as they were fleeing with their babies were killed
together, shot right through...and after most all of them had been killed a cry was made that all those who were
not killed or wounded should come forth and they would be safe. Little boys...came out of their places of
refuge, and as soon as they came in sight a number of soldiers surrounded them and butchered them there.“
Edward S. Godfrey; Captain; commanded Co. D of the Seventh Cavalry: "I know the men did not aim
deliberately and they were greatly excited. I don't believe they saw their sights. They fired rapidly but it seemed
to me only a few seconds till there was not a living thing before us; warriors, squaws, children, ponies, and
dogs...went down before that unaimed fire."
Hugh McGinnis; First Battalion, Co. K, Seventh Cavalry: General Nelson A. Miles who visited the scene of
carnage, following a three day blizzard, estimated that around 300 snow shrouded forms were strewn over the
countryside. He also discovered to his horror that helpless children and women with babes in their arms had
been chased as far as two miles from the original scene of encounter and cut down without mercy by the
troopers. ... Judging by the slaughter on the battlefield it was suggested that the soldiers simply went berserk.
For who could explain such a merciless disregard for life?... As I see it the battle was more or less a matter of
spontaneous combustion, sparked by mutual distrust....
Growing Pains
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
All in all, the Americans
moving west had a
tough time. There was a
lot of work to be done.
People fought
continually, and life was
anything but easy.
Nowhere is this easier to
see than with the
American Outlaws.
Outlaws
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
We’ve already talked a
little bit about outlaws
that came from the civil
war like Jesse James,
but there are many
more outlaws that
existed in the old west.
Names like Billy the Kid,
Wyatt Earp, Butch
Cassidy, and many
others still hold a place
in our memory 100
years later.
Billy the Kid (Henry McCarty)
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Said to have killed 21
men.
Was great with a gun
Could be “right friendly
sometimes”
He fought in the Lincoln
County war in Lincoln
County New Mexico.
A fight between a
corrupt shop owner and
some ranchers.
Billy
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Billy claimed to kill 21 men in
the war, and was sought by
the law as a murderer.
If he had not bragged about
his exploits he probably
would have been forgiven
instead many people wanted
to capture him and he had
many gun fights with bounty
hunters and law-men.
To make a living he was
forced to turn to robbery.
He was ambushed by Lawman
Pat Garret and was killed at
the age of 21.
Wyatt Earp
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Had a rough life as a law-man.
Rumors abound that he was
rather corrupt, but liked to be on
the “right side of the law.”
He had been employed in Wild
Dodge City Kansas, but became
famous for his work in Tombstone
Arizona.
While in Tombstone there were a
number of Cowboys who were
causing trouble in town.
A few people had been
harrassed and there had even
been a shooting or two.
Get out of town
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
Lawman Wyatt Earp
commanded the group of
cowboys (called the Clanton
Gang) to leave town or else.
They refused to leave town,
and when the deadline
passed they were found
hanging around a horse pen
called the OK corral.
Wyatt Earp called on two of
his Brothers and a friend
known as Doc Holliday to join
as deputies and go down to
drive the Clanton gang out of
town.
Gunfight at the OK Corral

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What happened at the
Corral has become
American Legend.
The Clantons decidedly
lost the shootout.
The Earps and Doc
Holliday were considered
heroes, but many questions
began to crop up about
whether the fight had
been fair, and whether it
had even been necessary.
Earp Vendetta
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Over the next few weeks the
Earps were investigated for their
part in the fight.
They were judged to be justified
in the killing of the 3 cowboys
who died.
Some of the old gang decided to
get even. Wyatt’s two brothers
were killed.
Wyatt Earp and his friend Doc
Holliday then went on a
“whirlwind adventure” to track
down and kill all of the people
they thought had been involved
in the killing of the Earp brothers
Butch Cassidy AKA LeRoy Parker
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He is everybody’s favorite
around here because he was
born in Utah.
He started as an outlaw when
he went to the store to buy
some pants.
The store was closed, so he
broke in, took what he
needed, and left a note
saying he would pay the next
time he came to the store.
The store owner pressed
charges, but Cassidy was
acquitted.
Colorado and Wyoming
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Butch bought some
land in Wyoming and
began to settle down
with a girl-friend.
While in Wyoming he
was doing some illegal
racketeering and
stealing horses.
He was arrested and
went to prison.
After Prison
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After he got out of prison
Cassidy formed a group of
outlaws to commit crimes with.
They robbed stagecoaches,
banks, trains, and many other
places where they knew they
could get money.
They were very good at
stalking their prey, realizing
where huge amounts of cash
would be and then stealing
the money.
Robber’s Roost
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Every time Cassidy and his Wild
Bunch robbed a bank or a
stagecoach or whatever, they
would return to the Robber’s
Roost.
The Robber’s Roost is in a canyon
near Hanksville Utah.
The Canyon is about 50-100 feet
deep carved into flat desert.
The canyon he hid in was off of
another canyon which was off of
another canyon.
In other words it was a maze and
only his gang knew where the
hideout was.
Lets “google earth” it
Robber’s Roost
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This was a great place to
hide because it was a
maze of canyons.
It was easy to defend
because there were hiding
places all over and an
army could walk right past
you while you hid behind
a rock.
If you were discovered
you could easily fight off
anyone who didn’t know
their way around the
canyon.
So What Happened to him
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Cassidy pulled down too much
heat. Some of his gang
turned against him and he left
the country to enjoy the rest
of his life where the law
couldn’t touch him.
Unfortunately he couldn’t
resist the urge to rob banks
and anything else he could.
There are many stories all
over South America of white
bandits robbing banks and
the descriptions fit Cassidy
Cassidy’s End
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No one knows exactly what
happened to Butch Cassidy.
There are a number of bankers,
police forces, and armies who
take credit for having killed him
in 6 different countries in S.
America.
He is confirmed to have pulled
one huge heist in Argentina
where he got away with
$600,000.
He was most likely killed in one
of the robberies, but he might
also have found a way to retire
and stop killing and stealing
money.
Forget Pirates, landlubbers buried gold
too!
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

In 1863 an outlaw
named Ed Long robbed
a stagecoach in Portneuf
Canyon in Idaho.
The man got away with
$100,000, but a posse
went after him.
Desperate to hide he
ran to a well known, but
easy to hide in
landmark called the
“Silent City of Rocks”
Hiding the loot, keeping the secret
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
Long hid his loot, and to
his dying day, never told
anyone where exactly he
had buried his treasure.
A year later another
stagecoach was robbed in
exactly the same place,
and again the robbers
were pursued to the city.
They were captured, but
never told where in the
rocks the money was
hidden.
Other hold-ups
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The entire area became
known as hell’s half acre.
Many robbers held up
stage coaches in the area,
and then claimed to have
hidden their loot in the
city.
Many have gone to search
for these, perhaps half
dozen, treasures. None of
the treasures have ever
been found.
Why was it such a good hiding place?
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
City of Rocks is spread out
over about 10 square
miles. It is a huge field on
a mountainside.
All along the field and
mountainside are huge
boulders. Some are as
much as 500 hundred feet
tall. In some places
hundreds of boulders are
scattered about on top of
each other. The rocks are
full of cracks and holes.
How they knew about it.

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The City of Rocks was
along the old California
trail.
One rock called Register
Rock has names of
people who wrote on it
as they passed through
about 150 years ago.
In other places the
wagon wheels carved
ruts into the rocks that
are still there today.
City of Rocks
City or Rocks
City of Rocks
Why are you telling us this Mr. Ericksen
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The City of Rocks is one
of my favorite places.
The City can be reached
with only about 2 hours
travel time from here.
Whether you want to
search for gold or just
enjoy a VERY quiet
camping trip, it is an
awesome place.