The Battle for Land Continues

Several states in the East held land claims in the West following the Revolutionary War.  States that held no western land claims refused to ratify the Articles of Confederation until all claims were ceded to the Continental Congress.

Early in 1780 New York was the first state to cede her claims to the central government.  There was little New York could to enforce these claims anyway.  Virginia came next offering her territories north of the Ohio River - but only if Congress agreed not to recognize purchases from Indians by private land companies, a provision that held up the whole process for 3 years. Maryland was the last "claim-less state" to ratify the Articles of Confederation because of the claims dispute.  Georgia was the last "claim state" to cede her claims in 1802.

There were states that put off ceding their western lands, and a wild speculation developed as their legislatures expected to get wealthy from the sale of the wilderness land.  North Carolina, for example, put Tennessee on the block in 1783 for 5 cents an acre.  By the end of the summer, 4 million acres had been purchased.  With her nest egg, North Carolina grandly ceded the Tennessee providence in 1784, chiefly because she had grown weary of the settler's demands for military protection and internal improvements.

Some states established military reserves which they retained title to after they had ceded their other claims.  These military reserves were even given as awards to surveyors for their services.  Lax survey descriptions, using trees as boundary markers added to the confusion.  In Kentucky, for example, lawsuits lasted for some 30 years after the war ended.

Next time...Discontent Rumbles
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On this Day in Pioneer History:  On November 5, 1775, Continental Army commander in chief General George Washington condemns his troops’ planned celebration of the British anti-Catholic holiday, Guy Fawkes Night, as he was simultaneously struggling to win French-Canadian Catholics to the Patriot cause.

Who Owns What?

Even after the defeat of the British in the Revolutionary War, the frontier warfare between the pioneers and the Indians continued.  Besides the Indians, Spain held claims in the Mississippi country and the British still held Detroit and other forts in the Old Northwest.

France at this time was America's ally, but wanted to keep America from becoming a sovereign nation who might one day take over the whole continent.  France wanted to divide the United States up between Spain in the south, and England in the northwest - even reserving most of the middle southeast for strictly Indian country.

The colonists on the other hand negotiated with England who agreed to yield its territories in exchange for goodwill - at least on paper.  Eventually America claimed Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, and the land north of the Ohio River.

On January 14, 1784, the Continental Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris and the United States
officially became a sovereign nation at peace with the world.

There were problems with the newly acquired territories.  By 1780 Kentucky had 45,000 settlers, Tennessee about 10,000.  Neither region was up for statehood, in fact Kentucky was part of Virginia and Tennessee was part of North Carolina.

Rule by the "eastern elite" who were far less interested in protecting settlements from Indians and more interested in securing vast wilderness land grants, was resented by the settlers.  The easterners complained that frontier people were mostly paupers who contributed little to tax revenues.

The truth was far more complex...as we will see next time.
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On This Day in Pioneer History: On November 2,1902, engineer Andrew Riker delivers the first four-cylinder, gas-powered Locomobile—a $4,000, 12-horsepower Model C—to a buyer in New York City.

Pontiac and the Great Spirit Rally the Indians

Now that the British and her colonies were in control. The trans-Appalachian country Indians saw the future as one of being overrun by settlers.  General Jeffrey Amherst, British commander of the New World, actually recommended smallpox be spread among the Indians to destroy them!

The Indians' only hope was to attack the lightly defended forts of the west.  Enter one "Abnaki Prophet" who claimed to be the Great Spirit and who was charged with rousing the Indians against the British.

The chief of the Ottawas, Pontiac, believed him and roused his tribe in 1763 to strike the British
outpost at Detroit.  News traveled fast, within a month most of the tribes of the region followed Pontiac's example, surrounding Fort Pitts and leaving a trail of death while sending the British fur traders and farmers who were heading west, running for cover.  British reaction was swift and the rebellion was quelled within a few months, but not without opening the British eyes to the power of the Indian in the west.  (Remember the "west" at this time was the Ohio Valley)  Pontiac was later killed by an Indian, probably bribed by a white man.

On October 7, 1763, the British issued a proclamation limiting white settlement to the region east of the Appalachian crest.  The settlers, however, defied it, coming into Kentucky by the Ohio River, through the Cumberland Gap by wagon, or by the Wilderness Road.

Many easterners, such as George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were land speculators who stood to lose fortunes if the proclamation stayed in effect. The British had no way to enforce the edict.  Pioneers moved into Kentucky, Tennessee, through the Alleghenies and established settlements around Pittsburgh.  The line became regarded as a temporary imposition, as the British kept moving the line westward to accommodate land speculators.

Next time...a familiar friend from the west
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Today in Pioneer Pieces History:  Early in the morning on September 17, 1868,  a large band of Cheyenne and Sioux stage a surprise attack on Major George A. Forsyth and a volunteer force of 50 frontiersmen in Colorado.

The Nancy Welch Story

In 1843, Nancy and James Welch along with their 3 year old son, went west from Iowa.  In the winter Nancy's 2nd son was born while they wintered in Independence, Missouri.  They started out again in the spring, following only notices posted on trees by previous travelers.  The season was rainy with the rain drenching the wagon tops, and the roads were muddy.  When they reached the Deschutes River in Oregon, they loaded everything they had onto rafts and let the Indians guide them across.  It was a cold, wet December.

When James and Nancy arrived in Oregon, they bought 300 acres of land.  They built the first wooden house and a lumber mill.  In 1849, James Welch went off after gold, leaving Nancy alone with the eventual 11 children to stave off the Indians.

Nancy's journals illustrate that child-bearing did not delay or deter travel west.  19th century men did not excuse women from daily responsibilities to prepare for children.  There was no maternity leave, few if any baby doctors and women were on their own in childbirth. 

I have shared these two women's stories because it amazed me that most settlers started out west with no maps, no plans of how to get there - and without even a compass to guide them!  By the Grace of God they arrived for the most part unharmed to build a new life in the unknown wilderness.  That would be comparable to us going to Antarctica or even Outer Space without  a compass or any idea of how to get there!  Simply amazing...

Next time...The Journey from a 13 year old's Eyes

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Today in Pioneer History:  On July 10, 1889, hotel owner, "Buckskin" Frank Leslie murders his lover, the Tombstone prostitute Blonde Mollie Williams in a drunken rage. 

The Nancy Kelsey Story

Nancy Kelsey was 15 years old, married with a baby when she wrote, "I can better endure the hardship of the journey than the anxieties for an absent husband." 

Kelsey was part of a small grouop of wagons that left in May 1841 with 35 men, 5 women, (3 married, 1 widowed, 1 of marriage age), and 10 children from Sapling Grove, 28 miles west  of Independence, Missouri.  It seems the group was totally ignorant of what lay ahead, as many early settlers were, following incorrect maps and untested ideas.  No one had a compass - they just went west along the Platte River. 

By July 23rd seven of the men had had enough "westering" and turned around to head back east.  On July 30th, they had traveled 1200  miles, and the widow had married one of the men in the party.  This was not uncommon as women traveling alone with children were in a dangerous position.

Nancy's  party followed the safest route to Oregon, but her party had no guide and so little information that one said they "smelled" their way west.  They knew there was a river they were to find, but they didn't know the name or exact location.  August 22nd found the food low, the animals tired, and all the party completely lost.  They abandoned some of their wagons, slaughtered their cattle and kept moving west.

By mid-September, they left all their wagons, and tied their possessions to the oxen.  They found St. Mary's River, but no road nearby.  They were actually traveling south now, not west, but they didn't realize that since they didn't have a compass.

In late October, they killed the last ox and were trapped in the treacherous canyons of the Sierra Nevada.  Mule meat was a delicacy along with rabbit and coyote.  Nancy Kelsey walked, carrying her year old baby on her hip.  On the last day of October 1841, they reached the San Joaquin Valley.

Nancy Kelsey gave one interview in later years about her journey west.  If she would have shared her experiences to other women in her time, she might have forewarned them of what lay ahead.  Instead she settled down, had more children and made a life in the new western country.

Next time...Nancy Welch's Story
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Today in Pioneer History:   On July 7, 1900,  Warren Earp, the youngest of the famous clan of gun fighting brothers, is murdered in an Arizona saloon.

Bullies of the Southwest

The Apache occupied most of south central New Mexico and Arizona and were the most dangerous in the SW as far as whites were concerned.  Their economy depended on robbery and they preyed on agricultural tribes like the Hopi, Pima, and Pagago.  They took supplies, women and children for slave markets, weapons, ammunition and particularly horses.  Unlike the plains Indians, they didn't keep large horse herds, nor did they value them as Indians in the north or east did - to the Apache a horse was disposable.  Even the Spanish and Mexicans couldn't deal with the Apache. 

In the first half of the 19th century (1850s), the American ranchers and settlers began arriving and the Apache turned on the settlers for profit - with the goal of ridding the area of all white men which they came very close to doing.  I
n 1861-1862, travel through the area was actually stopped and settlers fled to Tucson and Mesilla. 

Next Time...After the Gold Rush

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On This Day in History:  On January 8, 1877,  Crazy Horse and his warriors--outnumbered, low on ammunition and forced to use outdated weapons to defend themselves--fight their final losing battle against the U.S. Cavalry in Montana.

Kit Carson

Kit Carson was probably the best known of the mountain men.  In the 1830s it was said that not even Daniel Boone was "so much on the move throughout a long and restless life" as Kit Carson.  

Carson was physically a small man, but inexhaustible which attests to the fact that he made the 3,000 miles journey from California territory to Washington through hostile Apache lands with the news of the Bear Flag Republic victory.

Before his death at Fort Lyon, Carson lay on his buffalo robe and demanded his pipe and a big dinner.  He was warned that both would probably kill him, to which he is said to have replied, "No matter.  Bring me some fust rate doin's, a buffalo steak, my pipe and a bowl of coffee".  After eating 2 pounds of meat and smoking his pipe, Carson died.  He received a funeral with general's honors and as he wished was buried at Taos.

Next time we start our journey with the greatest mountain man of them all, Joseph Walker.

Jedediah Smith

Jedediah Smith ventured west as a business man working for the fur trading companies.  His goal was to trap beaver and otter, and make trading contacts with the Native Americans.

His first expedition in 1822 provided information of Western geography and potential trails available to future homesteaders.  In 1824 he rediscovered the South Pass - an easy route across the Rockies in modern day Wyoming (fur traders actually discovered it, but never publicized the fact).

In 1831 Smith left St. Louis bound for Santa Fe, NM without adequate supplies, the why we will probably never know since he was well-acquainted with the arid territory and the need to carry water.  Eventually his party had to split up in search of adequate water or perish, and Smith was attacked alone and killed by Comanche Indians, thus ending the life of an important trader and trail blazer in our Western history.

People have debated what happened to Jedediah to make him so careless to venture out alone in such hostile territory and to come so ill prepared.  Popular historic opinion is that he became too confident in his abilities and his experience and thought he could survive just about anything...that day he was wrong.

We will meet Jedediah again on our journey with Joseph Walker...

Before the Pioneers Came...

Let's go back in time now to long before the Homesteaders, the Cattlemen or the Gold Rushers came west - and meet the mountain men and the trail blazers of the West, the "real pioneers" as some have called them, the rugged men like Jedediah Smith, Kit Carson, Jim Bridger and Joseph Walker.  They were the hunters, fur trappers and traders in a west dominated by Native Americans and the raw, untouched and uncivilized territory of the early 1800s.

Before we set off with Joe Walker who is probably the greatest and least known of these mountain men, a bit of background would be helpful...

One historian has divided those operating in the continental stage into four groups:

1.  The American Fur Company (John Jacob Astor)

2.  The Rocky Mountain Fur Company

3.  The Hudson Bay Company (British) which later merged with the Northwest Company

The independent men also worked with or against any of the above, shifting their allegiance as long as the fur trade lasted.  These men lived off the land, trapping and hunting, without a permanent shelter, ready food, or civilization nearby.  In the true sense of the word, they opened the West to those who followed.  Next time we will take a look at a couple of popular mountain men and their lives.

Summer Reading

Before we move on to the Black Hills - I wanted to share a series of books I have finished this spring.  Author Sara Donati, The Wilderness Series.  Beginning with Into the Wilderness, the 5 historical fiction books chronicle the lives of the Bonner family in Upper NY State in the early 1800s.  The author is quite a storyteller and keeps you turning pages long into the wee hours of the morning! Each book includes a map, a character list, and a family tree in the later books.  Small town pioneers, wars, Indians, and attitudes help bring the pioneer life to reality - at least for the length of the stories.  Grab a copy of each at your local library and have a great summer with the Bonners :)

I am working on the next segment of our trek through the West! Until then...

Pioneer Pieces: Paramint

Nowhere else is the phrase "Greater than the Comstock" more often associated than with Paramint (but not for the reason you would think!)  Paramint was high up in the Paramint Mountains on the edge of Death Valley, with only the minimum background of mining resources.

In the mid-1870's the impact of the Comstock on the West was one of mass hysteria and it was into this that Paramint was born. 

The Silver Senators, Stewart and Jones along with Tenor Park, a San Francisco aristocrat, skillfully and manipulated Paramint shares.  Paramint soared in mining exchanges around the world and with nothing to prove their claim, they were great salesmen, however illegal they were.

Obviously Paramint was never greater than anything and after it folded people forgot about Paramint  and the entire idea of "Greater than the Comstock".  Like those imaginary bonanzas, the phrase never really found validation in recovered gold and silver.  It became, in later years near the turn of the century, more of a joke, a prediction of doom and failure.

A half century after those forgotten diggers thought the camp and city dead, Virginia City had been in business longer than all of them together!

Next time we go searching the West for more history...

Pioneer Pieces: Greater than the Comstock Really?

Most of those referred to as "Greater than the Comstock" never recovered much of any ore, or even came close to the Comstock.  There were exceptions, however, such as South Dakota's Homestake whose single largest shareholder was George Hearst.  Hearst began in Virginia City.  Homestake out produced and outlived the Comstock.

Bodie, in California Mono County, was one of the earliest and long lasting of all mining camps, and its gold production actually dates back seven years before the Comstock discovery, but was only acknowledged in 1862 after Comstock was going strong.  Waterman Body, "the Dutchman from Poughkeepsie" found substantial deposits - and the rush was on to Bodie.

The wagon road over the Senora Pass was once again filled with miners who brought into Bodie all that made up a mining camp: whiskey, girls, firearms, mining supplies, gambling tables, and shack dwellings.

Was Bodie or Homestake really "Greater than the Comstock"? No.  Bodie kept operating with new discoveries that came along well into the turn of the century.  The "Bad Man of Bodie" is a part of the legend of the Old West.

The end of the phrase "greater than the Comstock" next time...

Pioneer Pieces: Greater than the Comstock

Comstock from the very start was the standard to which all others were compared.  "Greater than the Comstock" became THE phrase when overnight established towns emptied out, always in haste across the mountains and desert in search of the next big prospect of wealth.

First used in 1860's,"Greater than the Comstock" was heard in mining circles, and in speculator's circles - reportedly sending the market into a see saw. Long after the Comstock itself was no longer, new prospects at such places as Rawhide, Bullfrog, Rhyolite brought many with only the belief that this was the "big one".

Those who belonged to this group ranged from the top hats on Nob Hill in San Francisco with their millions in discovered gold and silver, to the poor pioneer who, after a lifetime of searching,  had only his mule and his pride left. Banks financed these bonanza fevers, even shady stock promoters like those that swindled millions out of British investors and brought relations between the US and Britain to an all time low in the 1800s.

Was anything "Greater than the Comstock"?  Next time...

Pioneer Pieces: The Shadows Fall

Many believe  the Comstock mines finally gave out as the 1800s came to a close, but the facts say that's just not true.  The vast ore deposits remained deep inside Mount Davidson, but the problem was the cost for mining this remaining ore was not economically justified - and it was extremely dangerous to do so.  So the mines didn't give out - they just became unworkable.

As the shadows descend over the Nevada desert, old-timers (aka "hot water plugs") moved to California to escape the severe winters of Nevada.  Businesses closed, railroads were torn up, houses were dismantled and moved to new towns in California.  New discoveries offered new wealth opportunities to die-hard miners, something known in history as "Greater than the Comstock"...next time.

Pioneer Pieces: The Wealth of the Comstock Reaches Far

The wealth produced in the Comstock mines had an enormous affect on the nation's economy.

Nevada's role in the Civil War was also huge - the Union wanted one more state with northern sympathies for Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.  Nevada's annual production, even in that time, was nearly 35 million in silver bullion! What a great aid to the Union troops!  At the time it became the 36th state in 1864, Nevada had less than 1/6th of the population required for statehood - but hey - Nevada had something the US needed.

The Comstock's wealth was also significant in San Francisco prior to and after the great fire of 1906.  Lavish financing for expansion was made possible by the Comstock wealth of Con-Virginia, Gould and Curry, Hale and Norcross and other celebrated mines of Virginia City.

After the 1906 fire, these wealthy businesses helped to rebuild San Francisco's Palace Hotel (see Luxury at Its Finest post), the Flood and Sharon Buildings, the Fairmont Hotel, the Pacific Union Club, and the San Francisco Examiner.

John MacKay, the richest and most farsighted of all the "silver kings", acquired a monopoly of the world's cable services (telegraph, not TV).  His wife reportedly spent huge sums entertaining in London and Paris.  MacKay, however, is remembered for his great generousity upon his death to many charitable institutions.

How long did this frenzy of Virginia City last?  Next time...

Pioneer Pieces: Virginia City Culture?

Virginia City, Nevada was like any other mining town with its hotels, saloons, fire stations, brothels and residents rising rapidly.  But Virgina City had something the rest of the mining towns didn't - culture.

The best road companies in theater played at Piper's Opera House and the Allambra of Virginia City.  It is recorded that at one time six Shakespearean plays were playing in the city, along with minstrel shows, tent shows, raree shows, and dog and pony shows.

Until 1875, Virginia City a mining town that had grown to 25,000 people, was THE place to be in the Old West.  Celebrities were frequent visitors and nothing was spared to celebrate the riches of Nevada's silver mines.

Next time...what happened in Virginia City in 1875?

The San Francisco Criminal Element

Every early mining town had a healthy criminal element and San Francisco was no different.  The most notorious and sensational murder in it's early history was that of James King, editor of the Bulletin newspaper by James Casey, a political and local bad guy.

The editor was gunned down at the corner of Montgomery and Washington and died 6 days later.  His funeral was attended by 20,000 people while the bells of San Francisco tolled for King.

Casey on the other hand, was hanged by the town's Vigilante Commitee.

Next time...Judge vs Judge