The Most Infamous Outlaws of the Old West

The Old West is often romanticized in American history, with images of gunslingers and outlaws roaming the frontier in search of adventure and fortune. These individuals played a significant role in shaping the history of the American West, with their actions leaving a lasting impact on the development of the region. 
 
Gunslingers were skilled marksmen who were known for their quick draw and accuracy with a firearm. These individuals were often hired as lawmen or hired guns by towns and ranchers to protect their interests and maintain order in the often lawless frontier towns. Gunslingers were also known for their dueling skills, with many settling disputes through gunfights rather than through the legal system. 

Here, Richard Bluttal considers some of the many outlaws or gunslingers of the old west. 

Charles Boles, otherwise known as "Black Bart".

BILLY THE KID

Billy the Kid, whose real name was William H. Bonney, was a legendary American outlaw and gunfighter who lived during the American Old West era. He was born in New York City in 1859 and moved to New Mexico with his family as a young boy. Billy the Kid became involved in criminal activities at a young age, including cattle rustling and other outlaw behavior.

Billy the Kid gained notoriety for his involvement in the Lincoln County War, a violent conflict in New Mexico in the late 1870s. During the war, Billy the Kid was part of a group known as the Regulators, who clashed with rival factions in the area.

After the Lincoln County War, Billy the Kid continued his life as an outlaw, evading capture by law enforcement. He was eventually captured, tried, and sentenced to hang for his crimes. However, he managed to escape from jail and remained a fugitive until he was tracked down and shot dead by Sheriff Pat Garrett in 1881.

Billy the Kid's life and exploits have been the subject of numerous books, movies, and songs, and he has become a legendary figure in American folklore and the history of the American West. 

BLACK BART 

Black Bart, whose real name was Charles Earl Bowles, was a notorious American outlaw who operated in California and Oregon during the late 19th century. He earned the nickname "Black Bart" for his preference for wearing black clothing and his dark, bushy beard. Born in Norfolk, England in 1829, Bowles immigrated to the United States as a child with his family. He grew up in New York and eventually made his way to California during the Gold Rush of the 1850s. Bowles tried his hand at various jobs, including mining and ranching, but found little success. In the early 1870s, Bowles turned to a life of crime and began robbing stagecoaches in the remote areas of California and Oregon. He adopted the persona of "Black Bart," a mysterious and dashing outlaw who left poems at the scene of his robberies. These poems often mocked the authorities and taunted his pursuers, earning him a reputation as a gentleman bandit. Black Bart was known for his polite and non-violent approach to robbery. He never harmed his victims or used violence during his heists, preferring to rely on intimidation and his reputation as a skilled marksman. Despite his criminal activities, Black Bart was seen as a Robin Hood figure by some, as he targeted wealthy individuals and corporations rather than ordinary citizens. Over the course of his criminal career, Black Bart successfully robbed over 28 stagecoaches, amassing a considerable fortune in gold and cash. However, his luck eventually ran out when he was captured in 1883 after leaving behind a handkerchief with his laundry mark at the scene of a robbery. Black Bart was tried and convicted of robbery, but his polite demeanor and gentlemanly conduct during the trial earned him sympathy from the public and the press. He was sentenced to six years in San Quentin State Prison but was released after serving just four years due to good behavior. After his release from prison, Black Bart disappeared from the public eye and was never heard from again. The details of his later life and death remain shrouded in mystery, adding to the legend of one of the most infamous outlaws of the American West. Black Bart's story continues to captivate historians and enthusiasts of the Old West, cementing his place in American folklore as a daring and enigmatic figure. 

BELLE STARR 

Belle Starr, also known as the "Bandit Queen" or the "Queen of the Outlaws," was a notorious American outlaw who gained notoriety during the late 19th century. Born as Myra Maybelle Shirley in Carthage, Missouri in 1848, Belle Starr was raised in a respectable, middle-class family. However, she was drawn to a life of crime and adventure from a young age, influenced by her father, who was involved in various criminal activities. Belle Starr's criminal career began in her teenage years when she eloped with a man named Jim Reed, who was a known outlaw and Confederate guerrilla fighter. The couple embarked on a life of crime, robbing banks, stagecoaches, and trains across the American South. Belle Starr quickly gained a reputation for her sharpshooting skills, fearless demeanor, and flamboyant style, earning her the nickname "Bandit Queen." After Jim Reed was killed in a gunfight in 1864, Belle Starr married several more outlaws and continued her criminal activities, becoming a prominent figure in the criminal underworld of the Wild West. She was known to associate with notorious outlaws such as Jesse James and the Younger brothers, further solidifying her reputation as a dangerous and influential figure. Belle Starr's outlaw lifestyle was not without its challenges, as she faced numerous run-ins with the law and spent time in jail for her criminal activities. Despite her criminal record, Belle Starr was admired by many for her independent spirit, defiance of societal norms, and her willingness to challenge the status quo. In addition to her criminal exploits, Belle Starr was also known for her unconventional personal life. She had several husbands and lovers throughout her lifetime, including a Cherokee Indian named Sam Starr, with whom she had a son. Belle Starr's relationships were often tumultuous and marked by violence, adding to her enigmatic and mysterious persona. BelleStarr's criminal career came to an end in 1889 when she was shot and killed under mysterious circumstances near her home in Oklahoma. Her murder remains unsolved to this day, adding to the legend and mystique surrounding the "Bandit Queen." Despite her criminal activities and controversial reputation, Belle Starr remains a fascinating and complex figure in American history. She is remembered as a symbol of rebellion, independence, and defiance against societal norms, challenging traditional gender roles and expectations. Belle Starr's legacy continues to captivate historians, writers, and enthusiasts of the Old West.

JESSIE JAMES 

Jesse James was a notorious American outlaw, guerrilla, and folk hero who became a legendary figure in the history of the American West. Born on September 5, 1847, in Clay County, Missouri, Jesse James was raised in a tumultuous and violent environment that would shape his future as a criminal and outlaw. His life story is one of violence, betrayal, and rebellion against authority, making him a complex and controversial figure in American history.

Jesse James was born into a family that was deeply embroiled in the violent politics of the Civil War. His father, Robert James, was a Baptist minister who supported the Confederate cause and joined a pro-Confederate guerrilla band known as Quantrill's Raiders. This group of guerrillas carried out raids and attacks on Union soldiers and sympathizers, engaging in brutal acts of violence and retribution. Jesse James grew up in this environment of lawlessness and chaos, witnessing the horrors of war and the brutality of conflict at a young age.

After the end of the Civil War, Jesse James and his older brother Frank James continued their involvement in criminal activities, robbing banks, trains, and stagecoaches across the Midwest. They formed a gang of outlaws that included members such as Cole Younger, Jim Younger, and Clell Miller, who carried out a series of daring and audacious robberies that captured the imagination of the American public. The James-Younger gang became one of the most notorious criminal organizations of the post-Civil War era, striking fear into the hearts of law enforcement and civilians alike.

Jesse James quickly gained a reputation as a cunning and ruthless outlaw who was able to evade capture and outwit the authorities. He became a folk hero to many Americans, especially in the South, where he was seen as a symbol of resistance against the oppressive forces of Reconstruction and federal authority. Songs, ballads, and dime novels were written about Jesse James, portraying him as a Robin Hood-like figure who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. This image of Jesse James as a romantic and chivalrous outlaw only added to his mystique and appeal to the public.

However, the reality of Jesse James' life was far more complex and troubled than the myth that surrounded him. He was involved in numerous violent confrontations with law enforcement, leading to the deaths of many innocent bystanders and officers of the law. The Pinkerton Detective Agency, a private detective agency hired by the railroads and banks to capture the James-Younger gang. 

BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID 

They were two of the most infamous outlaws of the American West, known for their daring robberies and their ability to evade capture by law enforcement. Their story has become the stuff of legend, immortalized in books, movies, and television shows. But who were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and what is the truth behind the myths that have been perpetuated about them?

Butch Cassidy, whose real name was Robert Leroy Parker, was born in Utah in 1866. He got his nickname "Butch" from his time working as a butcher in his youth. Cassidy was a charismatic and intelligent leader, known for his charm and his ability to recruit and lead a gang of outlaws. He was also a skilled horseman and marksman, which made him a formidable opponent for law enforcement.

The Sundance Kid, whose real name was Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, was born in Pennsylvania in 1867. He earned his nickname from his time spent in the town of Sundance, Wyoming, where he got into trouble with the law. The Sundance Kid was known for his quick wit and his sharpshooting skills, which made him a valuable member of Butch Cassidy's gang.

Together, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid formed the Wild Bunch, a gang of outlaws that carried out a series of daring bank and train robberies across the American West. Their most famous robbery was the holdup of the Union Pacific Overland Flyer train in 1900, which netted them over $50,000 in cash and valuables. The Wild Bunch became notorious for their brazen crimes and their ability to elude capture by law enforcement.

Despite their criminal activities, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were also known for their code of honor and their loyalty to their gang members. They were known to treat civilians with respect during their robberies and were admired by many for their daring escapades. However, their criminal lifestyle eventually caught up with them, and they were forced to flee the United States to escape capture.

In 1901, Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, and their companion Etta Place fled to South America, where they continued their life of crime. They settled in Argentina and then Bolivia, where they carried out a series of bank robberies and other criminal activities. However, their luck eventually ran out, and in 1908, they were surrounded by Bolivian soldiers during a botched robbery and killed.

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Captured by the Comanche in the American West in the 1830s: The Story of Cynthia Ann Parker

In the year 1833 the Parker family moved to Texas, the beneficiaries of large acres of free land, given in the hope that they would establish a settlement in country that at the time was still in contestation between the Mexican government and the United States. They built a fort and homes in what was then one of the most sparsely occupied areas in the state, on the edge of Native American territory. At the time Texas was at the edge of America, and skirmishes were frequent, in particular raids from the feared warrior society of the Comanches. The Comanche were struggling not only with white settlers but many other bands of Native American who had been displaced and forced onto the Plains by rapid American expansion. Their way of life was under threat and they retaliated. Despite this the Parkers, unfortunately, overestimated their safety.

Erin Bienvenu explains the story of the capture of Cynthia Ann Parker.

Cynthia Ann Parker and daughter, Topsannah (Prairie Flower). Image taken around 1861.

Fort Parker Massacre

The morning of May 19, 1836 began normally enough for the extended Parker family. They were busy working on their farms and getting their families ready for another day. Cynthia Ann, nearly nine years old, the oldest child of Silas and Lucinda, was with her mother and three siblings. Inexplicably, despite the dangers of the Texas frontier, the large gate of the fort had been left open.

The morning was soon interrupted by a large group of Comanches who appeared bearing a white flag and professing peace. The Parker men suspected their motives but Benjamin Parker, Cynthia Ann’s Uncle, bravely went out to speak with them. He hoped he could give the women and children enough time to hide in the surrounding woods but he was quickly killed and the Comanches descended on the fort and surrounding farms.

At the end of what became known as the Fort Parker Massacre, five men were dead, including Silas, and the Comanche had taken five hostages: Cynthia Ann, her younger brother John, their cousin Rachel Plummer, her son James, and their Aunt Elizabeth Kellogg. For the captives the days and nights that followed were horrific, they were repeatedly beaten, starved, and the older women raped.

Eventually, after several days of hard riding, the captives were separated and sent to different bands. As fertility rates were low amongst the Comanche, due to their nomadic life style which required almost daily riding, captive children were often adopted by families who had lost a child. This is what happened to Cynthia Ann.

Her childhood then began anew as she was immersed in Comanche culture, taught such practicalities as how to sew buckskin and gather firewood, and how to speak the language. She would also have learnt about the tribe’s customs, religious beliefs, and been raised in preparation for marriage and motherhood.

Life with the Comanche

In 1842 John and James were ransomed back to their families and a few years later Cynthia Ann was discovered by Leonard Williams, a Native American agent. She was said to have ‘wept incessantly’ and tried to hide from Williams, though he offered a substantial ransom for her return. However, the Comanche refused to give her up.

In the years that followed more ransoms were offered but all were refused, often by Cynthia Ann herself. She was now married to a warrior who had participated in her capture, Peta Nocona, and they had three children. She also had a new name, Naduah, which meant ‘someone found.’ She was completely integrated into Comanche life and even her brother John could not persuade her to return. She had already been separated from one family, and she would not be taken from another.

Cynthia Ann and her family were constantly on the move, it was a hard life and she was in charge of most of the work. One of her main tasks was to prepare the buffalo hunted by her husband. Not one part of the huge animal was wasted and Cynthia Ann became a skilled tanner. It was dirty, time-consuming work, but she also found joy in the lives of her children - two boys, Quanah and Peanuts (so named because of her fond memories of eating the nuts during her childhood at the Fort) and daughter, Topsannah (Prairie Flower). Her husband was also a skilled warrior and the family was considered to be quite wealthy in Comanche society.

Return to the Parker Family

In 1860 in retaliation for Peta Nocona’s constant raids on white settlements, his tribe were attacked by a group of Texas Rangers led by Captain Lawrence Sullivan Ross.

Cynthia Ann attempted to flee on horseback but was stopped by Ross who, to his great surprise, realised she was a white woman. He declared that Peta Nocona had been killed during the battle and Cynthia Ann had wept over his body, though their son Quanah was to claim his father had died at a later date.

The rangers took Cynthia Ann and her young daughter to Fort Cooper, though she made repeated attempts to escape. Once again, she found herself violently taken from all she knew, her family and her home, forced to assimilate to a culture and language she had largely forgotten. Despite speaking in a mixture of Comanche and Spanish she did recall the massacre at Fort Parker, and her birth name, responding when called ‘Cynthia Ann.’

She was treated as a curiosity by all who saw her and at one stage, under the ‘care’ of her Uncle Isaac was even put on display so that the citizens of Texas could come and stare at her. She tried repeatedly to run away from Isaac’s home. He, and her wider family, could not understand her longing to return to her Comanche life. They expected her to immediately accept the way of life she had left aged nine, to re-adopt their language, dress and religion, but Cynthia Ann would not comply. Consequently, she was treated by her family, and the wider community, as a woman who did not know her right mind.

Eventually she was sent to live with her brother Silas Jr, but her situation did not improve. Around this time a photograph was taken of Cynthia Ann, in which she is nursing Topsannah with her hair cut short, a symbol of Comanche mourning. She was grieving not only her husband, but her two sons, who she believed were lost on the prairie. When Silas joined the Confederate army Cynthia Ann was sent to live with a different set of relatives, this time her sister, Orlena. Here, life was a little better. There were more sympathetic people to speak with and she earned a reputation as a hard worker and expert tanner. She remained, however, largely unhappy and would frequently lament the loss of her sons, often cutting herself in the traditional Comanche way of expressing grief. The Parker’s promised her that when the Civil War ended, they would take her to find her sons, but as time wore on, she began to realise their promises were empty.

Then in about 1864 Topsannah died from pneumonia and a grief-stricken Cynthia Ann lost all hope. It is believed she died of complications probably bought on by self-starvation around 1870.

Conclusion

Cynthia Ann left no written account of her life, or her feelings about her experiences, what little we do know about her was told through the eyes of those that briefly encountered her, but who often had their own agendas when it came to telling her story. Her son Quanah, regarded as the last of the great Comanche Chiefs, remembered her as “a good woman” who he “always cherished.” Hers was a life between two worlds and, as it was for many people in the early history of the American West, one marked by frontier violence and tragic misunderstanding.

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References

https://archive.org/details/rachelplummernar00park/page/16/mode/2up?q=cyntha

https://ir.library.louisville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4492&context=etd

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth85556/m1/2/zoom/?q=cynthia%20ann%20parker&resolution=2.565054159331353&lat=3373.065552681177&lon=3245.6007365528353

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth583180/m1/14/zoom/?q=%22cynthia%20ann%20parker%22~1&resolution=2.1904496702355107&lat=3009.330046382758&lon=3003.1985262518583

Exley, Jo Ella Powell (2001), Frontier Blood: The Saga of the Parker Family. Texas A&M University Press

Frankel, Glenn (2013), The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend. New York: Bloomsbury

Gwynne, S.C. (2011), Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanche Tribe. London: Constable

Michno, Gregory & Susan (2007), A Fate Worse Than Death: Indian Captives in the West, 1830-1835. Idaho: Caxton Press

One of the Greatest Tragedies in the History of American Expansion – The Donner Party

The Hastings Cutoff - why would this area in the western part of our country, near Salt Lake City, be so important in the history of westward expansion? All the wagon train had to do was make a simple decision, make the turn, thereby cutting off three hundred miles or about two weeks on their journey to California.

Richard Bluttal explains the tragedy of the Donner Party, a group who took the Hastings Cutoff route.

James and Margaret Reed.

During their first week in the Cutoff, the Donner party made good progress. Hastings, who had promised to lead migrants along the trail, left Fort Bridger with a different company of wagons, and it fell to James F. Reed to act as the company’s guide. As they broke a new trail through the nearly impassable terrain of the Wasatch Mountains, they lost the two weeks’ time.

In May 1846, the last wagon train of the season left Independence, Missouri for the Mexican territory of Alta California. Led by two men from Springfield, Illinois—farmer George Donner and furniture manufacturer James F. Reed—the Donner Party followed the well-established California Trail as far as the Little Sandy River in Wyoming. It is there that they made the fateful decision to take a new, more direct route over the Wasatch Mountains and across the Great Salt Lake Desert. The determination was made despite the warnings from accomplished mountain man James Clyman.

On August 30, after gathering as much water and grass as they could carry, they entered the Great Salt Lake Desert. A note left by Hastings had assured the party that they would be able to cross the desert in just two days, but the journey took five. The party lost dozens of cattle in the desert, and several wagons had to be abandoned. The pioneers lost valuable days conducting a fruitless search for the missing oxen before beginning a circuitous navigation of the Ruby Mountains in modern north-eastern Nevada. By the time the Donner party reached the Humboldt River, where Hastings Cutoff re-joined the main California Trail, it was late September. All the other migrants of 1846 had completed their journey to California, and the Donner party was racing the weather to clear the passes in the Sierra Nevada.

Tension

Tensions were running high among the exhausted migrants, and on October 5 an altercation between Reed and a teamster employed by another family ended with Reed fatally stabbing the man. Some members of the party suggested that Reed be hanged, but he was instead banished from the company. Reed would continue west on horseback while the rest of his family remained with the Donner party.

The migrants began the ascent of the Sierra foothills low on food, and Paiute warriors killed several of the remaining oxen. By this point, the members of the company had cached, or buried, virtually all their personal possessions—except for food, clothing, and the barest essentials necessary for survival—in an effort to minimize the load on their exhausted animals. On October 31 the weary migrants approached what is now Donner Pass across the Sierra Nevada and found their progress blocked by deepening snow.

177 years ago, the Donner Party was unable to cross the Pass in a storm. They returned to the Lake and built cabins. They slaughtered their cattle for food and used the hides as roofs on the cabins. The Breens inhabited the cabin that had been built two years earlier by the Stephens Party. This is the site of the Pioneer Monument at Donner Memorial State Park. The Murphys built a cabin a few hundred yards to the south, against a large rock. This rock is today marked by a plaque in the park. The Graves and Reeds built a cabin about a half-mile down the Creek.

From November 20, 1846 to March 1, 1847, Irish immigrant Patrick Breen, a Donner party member, kept a diary of his ordeal in the mountains. Clinging to survival with his wife Margaret and their seven children, Breen described the harsh winter weather, the leather hides they resorted to eating, and the deaths of their traveling companions.

Diary Entries

“Came to this place on the 31st of last month that it snowed we went on to the pass the snow so deep we were unable to find the road, when within 3 miles of the summit then turned back to this shanty on the Lake, Stanton came one day after we arrived here we again took our teams & waggons & made another unsuccessful attempt to cross in company with Stanton we returned to the shanty it continuing to snow all the time we were here we now have killed most part of our cattle having to stay here until next spring & live on poor beef without bread or salt” - November 20, 1846

“still snowing now about 3 feet deep…killed my last oxen today will skin them tomorrow gave another yoke to Fosters hard to get wood” - November 29, 1846 “... snow about 5 ½ feet or 6 deep difficult to get wood no gong from the house completely housed up looks as likely for snow as when it commenced, our cattle all killed but three or four them, the horses & Stantons mules gone & cattle suppose lost in the Snow no hopes of finding them alive” - December 1, 1846 “... Milt. & Noah went to Donnos 8 days since not returned yet, thinks they got lost in the snow…”

December 17, 1846 “... May we with Gods help spend the comeing year better than the past which we purpose to do if Almighty God will deliver us from our present dreadful situation…” - December 31, 1846

Ordeal

Breen’s account of the winter of 1846–47 would provide the only contemporary written record of the Donner party’s ordeal. On December 15 Baylis Williams, an employee of the Reed family, died of malnutrition at the lake camp; his was the first recorded death. On December 16 a party of 10 men and 5 women set out to cross the mountains on improvised snowshoes. During a month’s harrowing, often overwhelming hardships from cold, storms, deep snow, and inadequate food, they struggled on. Eight of the men died, and the bodies of some of these were eaten by the others. Two men and all the women got through to the Sacramento Valley. The settlers of California organized a relief party which left Fort Sutter (Sacramento) on January 31, 1847. Heroically struggling through the deep snow, seven men reached the lake camp on February 18. They then took twenty-three of the starving emigrants, including seventeen children, back to the settlements; several deaths occurred on the way. Other relief parties followed, but, because of illness and injuries, it was impossible to remove everyone.

After dogs and cowhides had been devoured, many deaths occurred, and the survivors were forced to resort to cannibalism of the dead bodies. The last survivor, Lewis Keseber who had supported himself during the last weeks by cannibalism, did not leave camp until April 21. Five of the emigrants died before reaching the mountain camps, thirty-four at the camps or on the mountains while attempting to cross, and one just after reaching the settlements. Two men who had joined the party at the lake also died. The total number of deaths was thus forty-two, with forty-seven survivors, although many others would soon follow.

The ordeal of the Donner party highlighted the incredible risks that were inherent in the great overland trek, but it did little to slow the pace of migration. Indeed, even the survivors of the party encouraged others to undertake the journey. In a letter to her cousin in Illinois, Virginia Reed recounted that “I have not wrote you half of the truble, but I hav Wrote you anuf to let you now what truble is,” before concluding, “Dont let this letter dishaten anybody. Never take no cutofs and hury along as fast as you can.” The discovery of gold in California in 1848 would turn the flow of migrants into a virtual flood, and the legacy of the Donner party would become less a cautionary tale and more a grim historical footnote in the story of the great westward movement.

After examining remains from the Alder Creek campsite, researchers in 2010 announced that they had been unable to find any human bones or other physical evidence of cannibalism. The researchers themselves clarified, however, that the absence of archaeological evidence did not rule out the possibility that cannibalism had occurred, especially given the extensive contemporary accounts by members of the rescue parties.

Key problems

There has been a lot written about the Donner party’s own problems, below were a number of them.

1. The Donner Party started its trip dangerously late in the pioneer season. The core of what became the Donner Party did not leave their jumping-off point at Independence, Missouri until May 12. They were the y fell behind schedule after taking an untested shortcut.

2. After reaching Wyoming, most California-bound pioneers followed a route that swooped north through Idaho before turning south and moving across Nevada. In 1846, however, a dishonest guidebook author named Lansford Hastings was promoting a straighter and supposedly quicker path that cut through the Wasatch Mountains and across the Salt Lake Desert. There was just one problem: no one had ever traveled this “Hastings Cutoff” with wagons, not even Hastings himself. Despite the obvious risks—and against the warnings of James Clyman, an experienced mountain man—the 20 Donner Party wagons elected to break off from the usual route and gamble on Hastings’ back road. The decision proved disastrous. The emigrants were forced to blaze much of the trail themselves by cutting down trees, and they nearly died of thirst during a five-day crossing of the salt desert. Rather than saving them time, Hasting’s “shortcut” ended up adding nearly a month to the Donner Party’s journey.

3. The emigrants lost a race against the weather by just a few days. Despite the Hastings Cutoff debacle, most of the Donner Party still managed to reach the slopes of the Sierra Nevada by early November 1846. Only a scant hundred miles remained in their trek, but before the pioneers had a chance to drive their wagons through the mountains, an early blizzard blanketed the Sierras in several feet of snow. Mountain passes that were navigable just a day earlier soon transformed into icy roadblocks, forcing the Donner Party to retreat to nearby Truckee Lake and wait out the winter in ramshackle tents and cabins. Much of the group’s supplies and livestock had already been lost on the trail, and it was not long before the first settlers began to perish from starvation.

4. During the “Forlorn Hope” expedition, the hiking party included a pair of Indians named Salvador and Luis, both of whom had joined up with the Donner emigrants shortly before they became snowbound. The natives refused to engage in cannibalism, and Salvador and Luis later ran off out of fear that they might be murdered once the others ran out of meat. Indeed, when the duo was found days later, exhausted and lying in the snow, a hiking party member named William Foster shot both of them in the head. The Indians were then butchered and eaten by the hikers. It was the only time during the entire winter that people were murdered for use as food.

Conclusion

Of the eighty-one pioneers who began the Donner Party’s horrific winter in the Sierra Nevada, only forty-five managed to walk out alive. The ordeal proved particularly costly for the group’s fifteen solo travelers, all but two of whom died, but it also took a tragic toll on the families. George and Jacob Donner, both of their wives and four of their children all perished. Pioneer William Eddy, meanwhile, lost his wife and his two kids. Nearly a dozen families had made up Donner wagon train, but only two—the Reeds and the Breens—managed to arrive in California without suffering a single death.

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The Building of America’s Trans-Continental Railroad

The Trans-Continental Railroad was built in the 19th century and helped to transform the American West. Here, Richard Bluttal looks at its history and how it was built.

The painting depicts the ceremony for the driving of the Last Spike at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869. This joined the rails of the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad. The painting in partly fictional as not all of those depicted were there.

The Anglo-American Convention of 1818 stipulated that the citizens of both the United States and Britain would have equal access to the Oregon Country—the lands north of Spanish California well into present-day Canada—until its final status was resolved.  But to claim the lush lands across the Rockies and the lucrative trade with China and East Asia the United States had to make good on that claim, whether through diplomacy or war. Some intrepid Americans had already made the trek, but the common view in the East was that the intervening lands were a “howling wilderness” populated by hostile Indians. The experts said that respectable women and families would never make it to, or live in, Oregon. Narcissa Prentiss Whitman (1808–1847) proved them wrong, traveling by wagon train. She sent letters and her journal entries to relatives that described the beauties of the West and offered reassurance that rivers were affordable, travel by wagon was practical, and the so-called hostiles were generally friendly. These letters were circulated among friends and widely published in eastern newspapers. A flood of American, men, women, and children soon headed west following the Oregon Trail, the superhighway of the early American West. By the mid-1850s some 400,000 had made the journey, with perhaps 30,000 perishing en route, primarily from disease.

Transportation

So, what was the modes of transportation in the United States during the early-mid 1800’s? Before the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, people traveled across the American West mainly by stagecoach. While railroads were available in the East, travel through the West was a slow, laborious process. Of course, waterway travel could be accomplished on a flatboat or a canoe, and then came the Erie Canal in 1825 where travel was done by using mules or horses to pull the riverboats along the sides of the water.  Remember In the early 19th century, most roads were dreadful. They served local needs, allowing farmers to get produce to market. Americans who did travel long distances overland to settle the West rode on wagon trails, like the Oregon Trail, rather than well-defined roads. Still, a few major roads served as important transportation links. The first commercially successful steamboat was tested on the Hudson River in 1807. Steamboats were soon introduced on most navigable rivers, they allowed commerce and travel both upstream and down encouraging trade by lowering costs and saving time. By 1830, steamboats dominated American river transportation. Steam railroads began to appear in the United States around 1830 and dominated the continental transportation system by the 1850s.

The possibility of railroads connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts was discussed in Congress even before the treaty with England which settled the question of the Oregon boundary in 1846. Chief promoter of a transcontinental railroad was Asa Whitney, a New York merchant active in the China trade who was obsessed with the idea of a railroad to the Pacific. In January 1845 he petitioned Congress for a charter and grant of a sixty-mile strip through the public domain to help finance construction. Although Congress failed to sanction his plan, Whitney made the Pacific railroad one of the great public issues of the day. The acquisition of California following the Mexican War opened the way for other routes to the coast. The discovery of gold, the settlement of the frontier, and the success of the eastern railroads increased interest in building a railroad to the Pacific.

While sectional issues and disagreements were debated in the late 1850s, no decision was forthcoming from Congress on the Pacific railroad question. Theodore D. Judah, the engineer of the Sacramento Valley Railroad, became obsessed with the desire to build a transcontinental railroad. In 1860 he approached Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker, leading Sacramento merchants, and soon convinced them that building a transcontinental line would make them rich and famous. The prospect of tapping the wealth of the Nevada mining towns and forthcoming legislation for federal aid to railroads stimulated them to incorporate the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California. This line later merged with the Southern Pacific. It was through Judah's efforts and the support of Abraham Lincoln, who saw military benefits in the lines as well as the bonding of the Pacific Coast to the Union, that the Pacific Railroad finally became a reality.

The railroad

The Railroad Act of 1862 put government support behind the transcontinental railroad and helped create the Union Pacific Railroad, which subsequently joined with the Central Pacific Railroad Company. On May 10, 1869, Leland Stanford, president of the Central Pacific Railroad Company and Thomas Clark Durant, Union Pacific Railroad Company vice president, drove the last spike at Promontory, Utah, linking the eastern railroad system to California. In six years, more than 20,000 workers' Chinese, Irish, and others had laid down some 1,700 miles of track in the largest American civil-works project to that time.

The railroad opened for through traffic between Sacramento and Omaha on May 10, 1869, when CPRR President Stanford ceremonially tapped the gold "Last Spike" (later often referred to as the "Golden Spike") with a silver hammer at Promontory Summit. In the following six months, the last leg from Sacramento to San Francisco Bay was completed. The resulting coast-to-coast railroad connection revolutionized the settlement and economy of the American West. It brought the western states and territories into alignment with the northern Union states and made transporting passengers and goods coast-to-coast considerably quicker, safer and less expensive.

The first transcontinental rail passengers arrived at the Pacific Railroad's original western terminus at the Alameda Terminal on September 6, 1869, where they transferred to the steamer Alameda for transport across the Bay to San Francisco. The road's rail terminus was moved two months later to the Oakland Long Wharf, about a mile to the north, when its expansion was completed and opened for passengers on November 8, 1869. Service between San Francisco and Oakland Pier continued to be provided by ferry.

Native American impact

Although, by the 1860s, Native Americans had signed away the rights to much of their land in treaties with the federal government, they likely never imagined that a disruptive and massive system like the railroad would be constructed through their traditional hunting grounds. The construction of the Transcontinental Railroad had dire consequences for the native tribes of the Great Plains, forever altering the landscape and causing the disappearance of once-reliable wild game. The railroad was probably the single biggest contributor to the loss of the bison, which was particularly traumatic to the Plains tribes who depended on it for everything from meat for food to skins and fur for clothing, and more.

Tribes increasingly came into conflict with the railroad as they attempted to defend their diminishing resources. Additionally, the railroad brought white homesteaders who farmed the newly tamed land that had been the bison’s domain. Tribes of the Plains found themselves at cultural odds with the whites building the railroad and settlers claiming ownership over land that had previously never been owned. In response, Native Americans sabotaged the railroad and attacked white settlements supported by the line, in an attempt to reclaim the way of life that was being taken from them. Twice, Native Americans sabotaged the iron rails themselves. In August 1867 a Cheyenne raiding party decided they would attempt to derail a train. They tied a stick across the rails and succeeded in overturning a handcar, killing its crew of repairmen, with the exception of a man named William Thompson. If they were not taking aim at the railroad tracks and machinery, they would attack the workers and abscond with their livestock. Ultimately the tribes of the Plains were unsuccessful in preventing the loss of their territory and hunting resources. Their struggle serves as a poignant example of how the Transcontinental Railroad could simultaneously destroy one way of life as it ushered in another. 

We must address the forgotten Chinese workers who built the western leg of the railroad across the Sierra Nevada mountains, connecting the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad in 1869.

From 1863 and 1869, roughly 15,000 Chinese workers helped build the transcontinental railroad. They were paid less than American workers and lived in tents, while white workers were given accommodation in train cars. Chinese workers found some economic opportunity but also experienced hostility, racism, violence, and legal exclusion. Many came as single men; others left families behind. Despite laws restricting Chinese immigration, a few workers were able to send for wives and establish families and lasting communities in the United States. The majority of Chinese railroad workers came from the province of Guangdong in southern China. They were recruited through a vast network of small firms and labor contractors that supplied workers to railroad companies. After arriving in America, many migrants relied on labor contractors and ethnic associations, like the Chinese Six Companies in San Francisco, to find employment and to broker labor contracts with prospective employers.  

Workforce

Chinese workers made up most of the workforce between roughly seven hundred miles of train tracks between Sacramento, California and Promontory, Utah. During the 19th century, more than 2.5 million Chinese citizens left their country and were hired in 1864 after a labor shortage threatened the railroad’s completion.

Workers toiled six days a week, from dawn to dusk, under extreme weather conditions. To speed progress, a second shift of workers often labored at night by the light of lamps and bonfires. Workers using mostly muscle power graded the road, bored the tunnels, and laid the track they pushed along  the Central Pacific Railroad over the granite wall of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and across the arid west. The work was tiresome, as the railroad was built entirely by manual laborers who used to shovel twenty pounds of rock over four hundred times a day. They had to face dangerous work conditions – accidental explosions, snow and rock avalanches, which killed hundreds of workers, not to mention frigid weather. “All workers on the railroad were ‘other’,” said curator Peter Liebhold. “On the west, there were Chinese workers, out east were Irish and Mormon workers were in the center. All these groups are outside the classical American mainstream.”

The railroad company provided room and board to white workers, but Chinese workers had to find their own meals, which were often brought to them from local merchants. The Chinese workers were educated and organized; 3,000 laborers went on strike in 1867 to demand equal wages, as the white workers were paid double. “They were unsuccessful because they were out in the middle of nowhere,” said Liebhold. “The railroad stopped them from getting food. That’s one way it failed.” By paying laborers a low wage, they were able to skim millions from the construction and get rich.

The Transcontinental Railroad fundamentally changed the American West. As the United States pushed across North America, railroads connected and populated the growing nation. Railroads also sparked social, economic, environmental, and political change. For many, completing the Transcontinental Railroad symbolized achievement and national unity—yet it was built with mostly immigrant labor. Ironically building the Transcontinental Railroad presented both physical and monetary challenges. Even with huge government subsidies, the railroad companies had to raise millions of dollars to cover construction costs. Directors skimmed millions off the construction and became rich. Operating the enterprise was often less profitable.

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The Legacy of 19th Century American Military Leader George Custer

Lieutenant Colonel George Custer played a role during the American Civil War on the Union’s side. However, he is most famous for his engagements with the Plains People in the American West. Here, Olivia Jacobs, in her debut article for the site, explores Custer’s legacy.

George Armstrong Custer in the mid-1860s.

Introduction

One of the United States' most notable military figures is Lieutenant Colonel George Custer. His legacy is gilded with themes of Manifest Destiny and the romanticization of the American West. In the past, Custer has been painted as a great hero who sacrificed his life to defend America, and Western media have idolized his story. He has been depicted in at least twenty films beginning in 1912 with the silent film Custer's Last Fight. Many of these depictions portray the lieutenant colonel as the gallant hero that the history books have described him. However, a shadow has been cast on him in a select few pieces of American media.

The musical legend and staple of American culture, Johnny Cash, performed a song called Custer. It details the unspoken dark parts of Custer's story. His likeness is also used in the Dreamworks film Spirit; Stallion of the Cimarron. Unlike most depictions of Custer, the character, only referred to as "The Colonel," is a significant antagonist of the children's film. However, as the character is not referred to by name, it is clear to older audiences who The Colonel should be.

Simply by analyzing the media of Colonel Custer, it is clear that his reputation is hyper-complex. By diving into his military career and reading first-hand experiences of both his friends and victims, historians have attempted to sort out Custer's morality. Despite these efforts, however, the water remains murky.

George Custer's legacy began in 1861 when Custer enlisted in the Union Cavalry. He was present for significant battles, including the most famous American Civil Conflict, Gettysburg. By 1865, Custer had distinguished himself as a successful military man, even finding himself at the surrender of the Confederate military. He earned the Brigadier General rank and supported the Union Army at the Appomattox Court House (Wert 225).

Custer and the Plains People

By mid-1866, Custer was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Seventh Cavalry Regiment. Up until 1868, he found himself on the frontier and scouting duty. Later that year, Custer raided the territory of the Cheyenne Chief Black Kettle. The conflict is commonly known as the Battle of Washita River; this 'victory' caused casualties to the Cheyenne peoples and forced a significant portion of their territory under American Control (Hardoff 30).

The Battle of Washita River was not uncommon, as during this age, the United States government was driving people away from their ancestral land in hopes of eradicating the traditions and cultures that differed from their narrative of white greatness. Despite the unfortunate commonality of Custer's actions, he was set on the Plains people like a rabid dog.

Custer's most popularized military feat is the Battle of Little Bighorn. Many films, including the very first, Custer's Last Fight, depict the events of Little Bighorn. However, much of this conflict is shrouded in mystery. What is known is that with the help of the Crow People, the Seventh Cavalry identified a significant encampment. Said encampment consisted of recorded history's most considerable convergence of Plains Peoples. Members of the Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho peoples had gathered together to oppose the American government.

On June 25, 1876, Custer divided his forces into two groups. Five companies remained with Custer, while the others were entrusted to Marcus Reno. His tactics at Little Bighorn were similar to his actions at the Battle of Washita River. The strategy consisted of using non-combats as hostages to force the 'hostiles' into submission. These non-combats would typically consist of women, children, elders, and disabled members of the community.

The intention was for Reno's team to lure the active combatants away from the encampment, and Custer would flank the encampment to kidnap the unarmed innocents. Unfortunately for the Seventh Cavalry, they grossly underestimated the size of the indigenous forces. Their presence was also already known by the occupants of Little Bighorn. Due to this, Reno's companies were forced to form a skirmish line instead of luring the warriors away. Marcus Reno's forces could not hold the line and were forced to withdraw as at least five hundred furious Plains warriors counterattacked (Perrett 8).

After taking control of the non-combats, Custer was supposed to reinforce Reno's team, but they have yet to make it that far. At this point, it needs to be clarified on the precise details. What historians do know for sure is that Custer and all of his companies were successfully wiped out. The other details come from the oral accounts told by indigenous survivors.

An Apsáalooke Crow woman, Pretty Shield, recounted that Custer died while attempting to ford the river of Little Bighorn. She remarks seeing the multiple white men in blue attire attempting to cross the river. Pretty Shield's story is countered by the story of Chief Gall, a Lakota, who claimed that Custer did not attempt to ford the river. Chief Gall stated that Custer died near the famous Custer Hill. Other Lakota people corroborate Gall's story, also present at Little Bighorn (Michno 284-285).

The exact circumstances of Custer's idolized death are foggy; however, when his remains were found, Custer had two bullet wounds. There was a bullet in his skull and a bullet in his chest. To make the story more complex, some historians suspect that the wound on the left side of his skull indicates assisted suicide. Current speculation suggests that the right-handed Custer was fatally shot in the chest, and one of his men shot him in the head shortly after. However, that is only speculation, and the Lakota narrative claims that Custer was shot off his horse (Brininstool 60-62).

Frustratingly, events after Reno and Custer split ways are mostly speculation, as the survivor stories do not align. Even the exact location of the encampment and the subsequent is uncertain. Custer's death via gunfire and the length of the conflict (under an hour) is clear to modern-day historians (Graham 88)

The Legacy

In less than a week after George Custer's death, he was immortalized by the American newspapers. The New York Times ran an article titled Massacre of Our Troops, thrusting the hero narrative into Custer's lap (New York Times 1). He was romanticized as a gallant hero who sacrificed himself to protect United States territory.

His wife, Elizabeth Custer, was said to have insisted that her late husband was a war hero and heavily pushed the popular narrative. Her efforts were solidified when the painting Custer's Last Fight by Cassilly Adams circulated throughout the continental United States. Budweiser Beer reproduced the painting from 1888 as a branding effort, further popularizing the Custer story.

George Custer's legacy held firm until World War II, as distrust and skepticism in the government rose in the West. Historians began to dig beyond the gilded legacy, bringing light to the reality of Custer's actions. Undeniably, Custer and his men were active participants in eradicating the Indigenous populations. However, the toxic legacy is not the fault of Custer. Although those around him described Custer as glory-hungry, he did not spread his narrative. He can and should be faulted for the atrocities committed by his hand, but the heroic idolization can not be blamed on Custer.

Conclusion

Lieutenant Colonel George Custer was seared into the American history books regardless of if he was a hero or a hedonist. To readjust the scales, stories about Crow woman Pretty Shield or Cheyenne man Chief Black Kettle deserve to be immortalized. The fantasy of American greatness and the "sacrifice" of Custer comes at the cost of ancient cultures deeply rooted in the land. The stories of victims deserve to be known and reach far beyond Custer's untruthful blaze of glory.

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References

Brininstool, Earl A. Troopers with Custer : Historic Incidents of the Battle of the Little BigHorn. Stackpole Books, 1994. p. 60–62.

Graham, William A. The Custer Myth : A Source Book of Custeriana. Stackpole Books, 1986. p. 88.

Hardorff, Richard G. Washita Memories: Eyewitness Views of Custer's Attack on Black Kettle's Village. University of Oklahoma Press, 2006. p. 30.

Linderman, Frank B., et al. Pretty-Shield: Medicine Woman of the Crows. University of Nebraska Press, 1931. pp. 135-136.

Michno, Gregory F. Lakota Noon, the Indian Narrative of Custer's Defeat. Mountain Press, 1996. pp. 284-285.

Perrett, Bryan. Last Stand: Famous Battles Against the Odds. Arms & Armour, 1993. p. 8.

Taft, Robert. "The Pictorial Record of the Old West 4." Kansas Historical Society, www.kshs.org/p/the-pictorial-record-of-the-old-west-4/13042. Accessed 27 May 2023.

The New York Times. "MASSACRE OF OUR TROOPS.; FIVE COMPANIES KILLED BY INDIANS.GEN." The New York Times, 6 Jul. 1876, p. 1.

Wert, Jeffry D. Custer: The Controversial Life of George Armstrong Custer. Simon & Schuster, 1996. p. 225.