Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Telegrams, Manners, and Roller Skating by @JacquieRogers #western

January in the Old West
by Jacquie Rogers

I'll be writing a column about various goings-on each month in the Old West--might be about the most popular dentist office in Boulder, Colorado, or maybe about base ball wagering in Clackamas, Oregon. Might even be about cattle rustling or a round-up of the sporting girls.

To introduce myself, I'm originally from Owyhee County, Idaho, and many of my stories are set there. I grew up on a dairy farm and don't even remember learning to ride a horse any more than I remember learning to walk. By the time I was in first grade, my neighbor and I earned bounty money by shooting starlings off the ensilage pit, or trapping gophers. This was nothing unusual--all the kids out there did such things.

My fondest desire was to be a television baseball announcer. That didn't work out so I ended up designing and programming software, which wasn't a whole lot less frustrating than milking cows. Computers and cows both are the cause of considerable bad language. I'm actually not sure whatever possessed me to write a book. Must have been one of those blindly insane moments when it seemed like the thing to do. So, I'm a writer now.

Everything about the Old West fascinates me, but I admit that my interests are extremely varied--the daily life, the cost of things, how they did stuff, how they made do, what they ate for dinner, what clothes they wore and why.

Any topic is fair game. I'm especially interested in what we call vice (they didn't, necessarily), their marriage customs (differs from area to area), and what they did for entertainment. And of course the weapons. You can learn a lot about a person's attitude by the weapons he or she carried. So this column will be a mélange of whatever I happen to find that intrigues me at the moment. I hope it you find these things interesting, too.

I have permission (verbal, but in Owyhee County that still means something) to reprint sections of The Owyhee Avalanche on the Western Fictioneers blog. This newspaper was started in 1865 (Ruby City, Idaho Territory, then moved to Silver City, I.T., a year later) and is still in business, now in Homedale, Idaho. No, I don't expect any of you have ever heard of those places, but this area was a lively mining and cattle district. Now, down to business.

Personal Behavior in the Old West
Who said boomtowns were uncouth places in the height of silver and gold fever? At least they remembered that there was such a thing as manners. Silver City was (still is) snowbound from December to April, so I imagine that by January, the residents, including the newspaper editor, suffered a bit from cabin fever. From The Owyhee Avalanche, January 4, 1873:
MANNERS. If men could purchase manners as they do their clothing, it would be a great benefit to the human race. We are sadly deficient in that respect. We are gruff and morose, and act for the most part as if the world was made for our special benefit, and we were the only one in it. We crowd and jostle along the walk, occupy the largest possible space in the cars, tread on our neighbor's corns, and generally pay no attention to either the person or the needs of others. And we born of being a people of good manners heaven save the mark! A company of trained monkeys have as much. We act very much like the "mildest man that ever scuttled a ship or cut a throat," and yet flatter ourselves that we are gentlemen! A man of truly polite manners and all other things will follow in due time, and society run far more smoothly in its grooves than it does now.
I'm not real sure the editor's predictions (probably written by W.J. Hill) about society becoming better mannered has ever come true, but at least they were thinking about it. I hope we are, too.

Buried Alive?
Death and rebirth are recurring themes in the dark of winter, which is more than likely what brought this next article to print. The editor must have taken it from an Indiana paper. He had to store up news items from papers he received in the good weather because no outside newspapers could be delivered during the winter months. This is also from the January 4, 1873 issue.
ARE PERSONS OFTEN BURIED ALIVE? A little girl at Fort Wayne, Ind., whose funeral services were lately being conducted, woke up very much surprised at the crowd assembled in her honor, and soon recovered. A young lady in Quebec, who was supposed to have died, regained consciousness while the undertaker was measuring her for a coffin. She called for something to eat, ate a hearty supper and got well. A young lady named Parks seemly died, to all appearances, it is said at Pine Creek, Ind., and was dressed for the grave, but in answer to the passionate manifestations of her relatives, she sat up and conversed with them, and then was taken home. At Sandsom, Ind., a young lady was taken sick and from all appearances was perfectly dead, the family physician pronounced her dead, and sure enough, she was dead. 
Artifacts from the Silver City, I.T., telegraph office

Let's Communicate
Are you curious about how long it took to send and receive a telegram? December, 1872, brought an upgrade in lines and technology, to the awe of them all. Even so, Silver City didn't get the news for five weeks (probably also by wire). This article is taken from the issue of January 11, 1873.
A TELEGRAPHIC FEAT. The Troy Press of December 3d, mentions the fact which it considers remarkable, that the President's message was telegraphed from Washington to that city over four of the Western Union Telegraph Co.'s wires, in the short time of 5 hours and 25 minutes. The distance is about 300 miles. At this rate it would have required 21 hours and 40 minutes to send the same message on a single wire. On the route between Chicago and San Francisco, a far greater feat was performed. The same message, which counted up 11,335 words, was sent on a single wire from Corinne to San Francisco, a distance of 900 miles, in 5 hours and 35 minutes, and came through in first-rate shape.
A Night on the Town
If you lived in 1873 and wanted to have a little fun, what would you do? If you were adventuresome and progressive, you'd go rollerskating! Silver City proudly sported a new rink, and here's a snippet of the article that's part announcement but is also educating the public on this new sport. The Owyhee Avalanche has this to say about it (January 11, 1873):
ROLLER SKATING. Jones & Bonney's Skating Rink is now open and is a splendid place for exercise and amusement. Roller skating not only most consummately occupies the mind in its performance, but it brings the whole muscular system into active play in the most enticing and beautiful manner. A good skater sails over the floor as airily as a bird upon the wing, in a perfect revelry of enjoyment, and a carnival of fun.
And of course there's the small town gossip.
  • The new dress color with the golden tinge is called "Aurifero."
  • Frank Blackinger is confined to his room with a severe attack of erysipelas.
  • The present deep snow has caused Silver City girls to knit additions to the upper sections of their stockings.
  • A friend of ours who has tried it, says that from five to ten days' application of fir gum will effectually cure corns and bunions. Try it.

January Events
  • The Homestead Act of 1863 went into effect January 1.
  • The Carson City Mint opened January 8, 1870.
  • The Denver Horse Railway opened January 12, 1872. Fare would set you back a dime.
  • On January 16, 1878, the silver dollar became legal tender.
  • Bat Masterson took a slug in his leg January 24, 1876, while breaking up a fight over a woman named Molly Brennan. She was killed, and Masterson killed one of the fighters, Sergeant King.
  • The US government established the Crow Reservation in Montana on January 31, 1887.

May your saddle never slip.
Jacquie Rogers
Website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Romancing The West
Hearts of Owyhee series
#1: Much Ado About Marshals
#2: Much Ado About Madams
#3: Much Ado About Mavericks

38 comments:

  1. Cowboys on roller skates...now there's a plot waiting to be written.

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  2. Shay, I have to admit it was a little hard for me to wrap my head around the vision of a bunch of rowdy cowhands and miners whirling around a skating rink. But they did. There are subsequent reports of parties a few tiffs that happened there.

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  3. Remember the John Wayne movie--Big Jake?-- when his grandson (actually his son) was kidnapped by Paladin, er, Richard Boone, and the sheriff's posse was riding in a pre-Model T car? Pat Wayne used an automatic pistol in it, too. Owyhee, indeed. The old name for Hawaii. Wonder how many people know that lots of Kanakas (native Hawaiians) were in the northwest as fishermen?

    Thanks loads, Jacquie!!

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  4. Interesting facts. I love this. I had to look up Erysipelas, which was also known as St. Anthony's Fire, and is a bacterial infection with an intensely red rash if anyone else didn't know. Now I understand why Frank was confined to his room.

    I have to wonder, did the cowboys skate with or without hats. Since it's inside, and young ladies would be present, I have to assume without. But in my head, I'm seeing them with hats on.

    Thanks for the interesting blog Jacquie.

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  5. Whew! That was a lot of information, Jacquie. I particularly liked the part about manners. I think even the most ill mannered cowboy would be shocked and appauled by the the lack of manners in our modern world.
    Terrific blog, Jacquie.

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  6. Wow. For a "blank spot between Montana and Wyoming," Idaho Territory was a busy place. As for roller skating.... Now I've got a thoroughly undignified image of Stetsons and slouch hats on wheels stuck in my head. Roller rinks must have been pure pandemonium! :-D

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  7. Great post, Jacquie. I love these snippets of information.

    Manners and rollers maketh man.

    Keith

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  8. Jacquie, you always know something new. I had no idea roller skating was around in the 19th century. They needed an indoor sport in the winter.

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  9. WOW Jacquie, as usual, a wonderful post with tons of interesting tidbits that I didn't know. Roller skating cowboys...I would love to have seen that. LOL Great post--loved it! And that cracked me up about the dead girl actually BEING DEAD. I've heard of getting ready to bury someone and them "waking up"--it makes you wonder why that happened so often back then.
    Cheryl

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  10. Actually, pronouncing death is not as easy as you may think. Nowadays we have a set number of physical examination signs that we look for, including auscultation with a stethoscope for heart and breath sounds, examination of the eyes to check for absence of the corneal reflex and including an ophthalmoscopic examination to check for 'cattle-trucking' of the blood vessels on the retina, and examination for nervous system activity. And there are more tests that we do, but still cases occur when someone is pronounced dead only to revive later. Back in the nineteenth century not all doctors used the new-fangled stethoscope or had an ophthalmoscope, and the tests we now use had not been established. Just another reason to thank your stars that you weren't born back then.

    Keith

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  11. I looked up erysipelas too, Livia. Should have read your comment first. ;)

    Love the bit about manners. That editorial could have been written anytime in the last century and a half.

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  12. Loved it, Jacquie. Especially the bit about the dead coming back to life. I'm sure a lot of people back then were buried when they were simply in a coma on unconscious. Horrible thought. It was common enough though that some people insisted they be buried with an air tube they could breathe through and call for help. Great blog

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  13. Good stuff, but Cowboys on roller skates!Next thing someone will try to tell us Cowboys always enjoyed a good walk and a cold soda pop. I have to write five diffrent blogs to cover all my stuff. You do it very well in one. Good Stuff

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  14. And over in England in Victorian times undertakers put little bells in coffins for just such an eventuality!
    Keith

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  15. Keith, I've heard that's where the saying "saved by the bell" came from.
    Cheryl

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  16. Sounds like you've done a lot of research on dodgy funerals for this book!

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  17. Charlie, I wrote a blog that explains how Owyhee County got its name over at Cowboy Kisses: A Fun Tour of Idaho History. Owyhee is the original Anglo spelling (by Captain Cook) of Hawaii, and Owyhee County was named after some Owyheean furtrappers who went missing in the area and never found.

    Yes, I remember Big Jake. I thought it was kind of a mixed bag. Not one of my favorites, although I was sure smitten with Richard Boone. LOL

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  18. Livia, we just have to feel sorry for poor Frank. They had no antibiotics to treat him with so he just had to lie there and wait it out. The same with so many medical and dental difficulties--we take so much for granted today.

    As for the cowboys on rollerskates, I'd bet they were required to remove their hats in polite company. As in most boomtowns, there weren't very many women--10% to 30% depending on the year, and that percentage includes the soiled doves and saloon girls. So the ratio of "respectable" women to the men who wanted to take one home with him and make babies was pretty low. He'd gladly remove his hat to improve his chances.

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  19. Sarah, thanks for stopping by. And I agree that our manners haven't improved one bit. To the contrary, in fact.

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  20. Kathleen, as soon as I saw that article on roller skating, I penciled it into Much Ado About Miners, so we do have a pandemonium scene coming up. That's the fun thing about writing a column such as this one--ideas just keep coming. :) And yes, lots was happening in that blank space between Wyoming and the Oregon Coast (called Idaho).

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  21. Keith, thanks! Now we just have to see if they were well-mannered while on rollerskates. My guess is yes, or they'd be summarily tossed out in a snow bank. :)

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  22. Caroline, I'd thought rollerskating was an 1890s fad and it never occurred to me they'd have skating rinks in the Old West. Well, they did! :) BTW, I have your new book on my Kindle but just haven't had two seconds to do pleasure reading lately.

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  23. Cheryl, I really did laugh out loud when I read, "...sure enough, she was dead." They did such a good job setting us up for that one. And I see Keith addressed the issue of how/why live people could be mistaken for being dead. Good, because I had no clue.

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  24. Keith, I think in many cases, if they didn't detect breathing, a heartbeat, or if the person just held really still, they were considered dead. But I've heard this is why there used to be such a long wake (several days)--to give the person time to regain consciousness. Is that so?

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  25. Alison, I agree about the manners. At least they didn't wear their britches around their knees, though. Thanks for dropping in!

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  26. Charlene, I think being buried alive is one of those primal fears right up there with the fear of being eaten. :shudder: And in the dark days of January, with no way out of a town that's 6,200' elevation and a hundred miles from any other civilization, those dark thoughts might be at the forefront.

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  27. Keith, I've heard of the bell in the casket. It doesn't seem at all as far-fetched now as it did when I first heard about it.

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  28. OGR, I have that soda pop scene in Much Ado About Mavericks. Haha. Thanks for stopping by.

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  29. Hi, Charmaine. Dodgy funerals--love the term! But no, I just seem to be interested in more things than I can use, so this column will be a catch basin for the spill-over. :)

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  30. Jacquie, I think it is quite plausible to have a long wake for that reason. After all the 'premature burial' is a deep-rooted fear, as Edgar Allan Poe demonstrated in his 'immortal' dark tale. And catalepsy is a very real condition, whereby someone goes into a death like state.

    Sailors of old feared being thought to be dead while they were still alive, and buried at sea. They would be sewn into their hammock with cannonballs at their feet to take them down to the deep. Thirteen stitches would be used in the sewing, twelve to sew the hammock and the thirteenth to go through the nose, to ensure that they did not drown - for a drowned sailor could return to haunt his ship!
    Keith

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  31. Thanks for the fun and informative post, Jacquie. I have a question: in the item about manners, one phrase, "occupy the largest possible space in the cars," caught my attention. Obviously, they weren't referring to the cars we know, but what kind of cars would they have been?

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  32. Jacquie, I wish you had a picture of the cowboys roller skating. I thought the article was interesting when it mentioned using the muscles. A town near where we live is now offering Roller Derby classes. There are 3 levels. If you get through the 3rd level you're ready for the real thing.

    Really enjoyed your post!

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  33. Judith, I don't know what "cars" refers to. They had cable cars in SF (1871) but not in Silver City. No trains, either. They did have taxis, though. Maybe the reference is to that. I never heard of them called cars, though. Anyone have an idea about this?

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  34. Linda, I'll keep an eye out for photos. They don't have many in The Owyhee Avalanche but they do have a few, plus some engravings. I wonder what the skates looked like? Dang, now I'll have to check that out. :)

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  35. Jacquie, could the "cars" have been omnibuses, also called horsecars? Would be nice to know. Such a great blog post!! Love the cowboy-skaters image. Can't wait to read that scene in MINERS!

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  36. The only cars in Silver City that I can find are ore cars, and miners did use them to get in and out of the long tunnels. But the passage quoted just doesn't fit with that, so maybe omnibus would work better. I'll have to ask someone from the historical society there.

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  37. There's a rolling skating sequence in Michael Cimino's HEAVEN'S GATE, which takes place during the early 1890s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiNlthlz1d8

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  38. That's a really fun scene, Ron. I'm really gonna have to get that movie and watch it. If I recall, it was panned for the most part, but my friends all liked it. So it goes.

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