Post by Doris McCraw writing as Angela Raines
Colorado Lawmen - Part 1: Colorado Lawmen. Colorado Lawmen - Part 2, Colorado Lawmen - Part 2. Now Part 3 and last part of this series of Colorado Lawmen.
Adolph E Cook was the marshal in the town of Como, Colorado. If records are correct he was born around 1855 in Poland. In 1882 he married a Mary Finn. The 1880 census shows his occupation as wheelwright. In the news report of his death in 1894, they say he'd been elected City Marshal two years prior. The man who shot him claimed the marshal had come to his home and demanded he put his hands up. The man shot and killed Cook. This is the joy of research. Other news reports from 1888 have Marshal Cook arriving in Buena Vista, Colorado as a witness in the Dago Trial, which is another post) for having arrested one of the six men accused of murder. As more information about his death became known, the marshal had gone to the home of J.E. Streeter on a complaint of noise. Mr. Streeter shot the marshal and was sent to Canon City to be hanged, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison.
Salida, Colorado had Benjamen 'Baxter' Stingley as their City Marshal.The above image is from the Salida Archives. He was shot and killed while attempting to serve a warrant on men wanted for stealing cattle. Stingley had gone to the Arbors Variety and Dance Hall to serve the warrant. The ensuing gun battle left the Marshal bleeding and he died shortly after the incident. There are a number of articles about Marshal Stingley. One such was that Stingley had been in an altercation where he was also shot, but the badge he was wearing deflected the bullet.
I will end with Jasper ' Jack' Ward, who had been marshal of Tin Cup, Colorado. According to one news report, Ward was an athletic man, standing 6'2" and weighing around 210 pounds. After the previous marshal had been shot and killed, Ward stepped in and pinned on the badge. In the recollection article, the writer said " Upon the invitation of the town authorities, Jack pinned on the star, and it is needless to say his powerful presence, magnificent courage, and ready use of the revolver made him master of the situation and the exodus of the aforementioned "bad" men from the particular locality soon became a stampede."
For more information on these men,
Jack Ward: News article remembering Jack Ward
Baxter Stingley: Death of Baxter Stingley
Adolph E. Cook: Park County Tails
Doris Gardner-McCraw -
Colorado and Women's History
Doris,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed reading, and learning from, your articles about Colorado lawmen. This quote about Jack Ward made me chortle (chortle is a word we don't use nearly enough these days haha). "...the exodus of the aforementioned "bad" men from the particular locality soon became a stampede."
They did write and tell stories differently, didn't they? I also grinned when I read it in the newspaper article. I don't remember if I mentioned it here, but Ward was also a preacher. Doris
DeleteThanks, Doris. I, too, enjoy the vivid language of the past.
ReplyDeleteIt is such a joy to read. You can also almost hear them talking. Doris
DeleteI love hearing about the small town lesser known lawman
ReplyDeleteTo those towns, these men were heroes and role models. We may not know much about them because of where they served, but their stories are important. Doris
DeleteDoris, I am loving this blog series of yours--learning about some lawmen I never knew anything about is really wonderful! Lots of good stories, and the best part is that they are TRUE!
ReplyDeleteThat's what I think also. I may do another series later after some additional research. LOL. Doris
DeleteDang, Doris, these were some fascinatin' stories about lawmen. I especially liked the last one about Jack who scared people just from his big presence. I also liked the name of the town--Tin Cup.
ReplyDeleteThese certainly were exciting research finds. Research sure can be fun.
That's true Sarah, it has been a joy finding these stories. Believe it or not Tin Cup was originally Virginia City, but since there was one in Montana and one in Nevada, so they changed the name. Doris
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