"Rocky Mountain Jim"

Post (C) Doris McCraw

aka Angela Raines

Image (C) Doris McCraw

"‘Rocky Mountain Jim,’ the frontiersman made famous by Isabella Bird in her 1879 travel classic A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, remains one of Colorado’s most mysterious historical figures. Often remembered as a tragic figure, his true identity and life story have puzzled historians and readers alike for over a century. This article attempts to explore the facts that have been shared about Rocky Mountain Jim since the book’s publication.

Ancestry records indicate that James Author Nugent was born on July 4, 1836, in Pakenham, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada. An 1861 Canadian census lists a James Nugent in the same county of his birth, working as a laborer and identifying as a Roman Catholic. Additional records show James Nugent, son of Arthur Nugent and Ann McDermet Nugent, was baptized on January 6, 1837, in Perth, Ontario, Canada.

Image (C) Doris McCraw

So far, the date of his arrival in the United States is tenuous. It may have been the late 1860s, as some records show he'd built a cabin near Estes Park around 1868.

It was here that Isabella Bird met Jim. He'd been guiding people through the Estes Park and what is now known as the Rocky Mountain National Park area. He also guided climbers to the summit of Long's Peak, of which Miss Bird was one.

It is through Isabella's writings that we have an idea of what Jim looked like. He was " a broad, thickset man, about the middle height, with an old cap on his head, and wearing a grey hunting-suit much the worse for weare...a revolver sticking our of the breaest-pocket fo his coat...Tawny hair in thin, uncared-for curls. fell from under his hunter's cap and over his collar. One eye was entirely gone, and the loss made one side of the face repulsive, while the other might have been modeled in marble,..Of his genius and chivalry to women, there does not appear to be any doubt; but he is a desperate character, and subject to 'ugly fits', when people think it best to avoid him."

The scarred face was the result of a grizzly attack that may have occurred sometime between 1869 and 1871. 

He died on September 7, 1874, after being shot in the head with a shotgun. He survived long enough to name Griffith Evans, an old rival, as his attacker. He was taken to Fort Collins, where he died and is supposed to be buried in an unmarked grave in the cemetery there. Of Griff Evans, without a living witness, he was acquitted of murder. (Griff Evans is a story for another post.)

The Old West is full of stories and mysteries like "Rocky Mountain Jim's", and the joy of digging for the facts vs fiction is a major part of the reason I love history.

Below is a haiku I wrote when thinking of Jim:

Rain falls in the night

Wind, clouds vie for dominance's 

A lone star shines bright

And yes, I have a book coming out in October where the characters of Isabella Bird and Mountain Jim play a part.

Until Next Time,

Doris

Angela Raines - Amazon

Doris A. McCraw - Amazon

On This Day in the Old West September 12

The SS South America, also known as “The Ship of Gold,” was a 280-foot (85 meter) sidewheel steamer that operated between Central America and the East Coast of the United States during the 1850s. She was originally called the SS George Law (after George Law of New York), and she met her end on September 12, 1857 off the coast of South Carolina.

On September 3, 1857, 477 passengers and 101 crewmembers left the city of Aspinwall (now the Panamanian city of Colón) bound for New York City, with Captain William Lewis Herndon commanding. The ship was laden with 10 short tons (9.1 tons) of gold prospected during the California Gold Rush.

On September 9, the ship was caught up in a Category 2 hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas. By September 11, 105 mph (170 kmph) winds and heavy seas had shredded her sails. She was taking on water, and her boiler was nearing failure. When a leak developed in a seal between a paddle wheel shaft and the ship’s side, her fate was sealed.

At noon that day, her boiler could no longer maintain fire. Steam pressure plummeted, shutting down both bilge pumps. The paddle wheels that had kept the ship pointed into the wind failed as the ship settled by the stern. Passengers and crew hoisted an inverted ship’s flag (a signal of distress in the United States), hoping to signal a passing ship, but there were no ships within sight.

A bucket brigade was formed, and everyone spent the night fighting a losing battle against rising water. During the calm eye of the hurricane, attempts were made to get the boiler running again, but these failed. Then, the second half of the storm struck. The ship was on the verge of foundering and the hurricane drove the powerless ship hither and yon. The strong winds would not abate.

The next morning, September 12, two other ships were spotted, including the brig Marine. Only 100 passengers, mostly women and children, were transferred off the Central America in lifeboats. The ship remained in an area of intense winds and heavy seas that pulled her and most of her company away from possible rescue. Central America sank at 8:00 that evening, with a loss of 425 lives. A Norwegian bark, Ellen, rescued an additional 50 souls from the water and another three were picked up over a week later in a lifeboat.

The loss of life in this disaster was described later as “appalling” and having “no parallel” among American navigation disasters. When she sank, the Central America carried approximately $8 million in gold, based on a gold price of $1,738.70 per troy ounce ($56.087 per kilogram). Commander William Lewis Herndon went down with the ship. He was a distinguished officer, serving during the Mexican-American War, and had explored the Amazon Valley.  Two US Navy ships were later named USS Herndon in his honor, as was the town of Herndon, Virginia. Two years after the sinking of Central America, Herndon’s daughter Ellen married Chester Alan Arthur, later the 21^st president of the United States.

On September 11, 1988, a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) was sent down to the last known location of the Central America by the Columbus-America Discovery Group of Ohio, led by Tommy Gregory Thomson. They used Bayesian search theory, which has been used several times to find lost ships and locate flight recorders of downed airplanes. The ROV found significant amounts of gold and artifacts, which were recovered and brought to the surface by another ROV built specifically for this recovery.

The total value of the recovered gold was estimated at that time at $100 to $150 million. One gold ingot weighing 80 pounds sold for a record $8 million, and was the most valuable piece of currency in the world for a time.

Your characters, if they read the news at that time, would have certainly heard of the terrible disaster and the loss of all that money. They might even have been among the prospectors who’d originally located the gold itself.

 

J.E.S. Hays
www.jeshays.com
www.facebook.com/JESHaysBooks

A Western Perspective: The Greatest Genre Of All Time 🤠

The Western genre is as beautiful as it is complex. The vastness of the wilderness, the courage of its people, the sunset that blankets the horizon. People have tried to define it in a simple sentence, don't get me wrong, but the statement "Takes place West of the Mississippi" is not even scratching the surface of the dusty trail.

Westerns draw people of all ages in and it captivates their emotions and imaginations. It makes us want to watch more western movies and TV shows, read western stories and poems, hell we even want to get cowboy hats and boots to look the part. And this is not just an American fascination. The Western has taken over the world. From spaghetti westerns to reenactors in Germany, the old west takes its place in everyone's mind in some form or fashion. I think my favorite memory was when I saw someone walk into a Sheplers Western clothes store wearing baggy, droopy pants, hat backwards and a insane clown posse shirt on. Now this is not a judgment of what this guy was wearing but it didn't necessarily line up with the store itself. Now he walked around the store looking at cowboy hats, jeans, boots and button up shirts. What he ended up buying was the full outfit and he would surely fit in at a rodeo. I don't know what his reasons were to buying those clothes but I definitely came up with a few in my head. Had he seen a Western recently and something about that culture and what they wore struck a chord? Did he meet some lady who wanted to go line dancing with him? Whatever the story was he easily spent two hundred dollars on western clothes. 

But why? Why do we want to immerse ourselves in this genre? A lot of answers I have seen over the years is because it is a sense of freedom. To some extent I agree with that but what makes a great story according to Elmer Kelton was when characters have to deal with change. Whether they are open to it or dead set against it, a story can really take charge with those types of tropes. So in a lot of stories the freedom that is associated with the west is being challenged in some form or fashion. I think the idea of a simpler time is appealing for all, especially in a world that is dominated by technology. We all want to be riding out on God's open prairie, watching the sun dip down over the mountains. The atmosphere of an old west town is a big one for me with the false front buildings and dusty saloons. 

I think we can all have our things that we love about the western but I think the reason why the genre is able to bring us all in is due to the fact that it cannot be defined. You can have as many subgenres within the Western that literally anything could take place. Drama, comedy, horror, sci fi, coming of age, action, you name it and it has been done in the Western. 

I believe with all of those subgenres another important thing in westerns is that we are able to see ourselves in the characters. We all strive to make the best of our lives but run up against hard challenges that make us have to dig deep into ourselves to keep going. We all have bullies in our lives that we want to stand up to and nothing shows that better than a Western. For that I am not talking about shooting it out with a bully but instead finding the courage to stand your ground and fight for what is right. Westerns can also tackle social issues that we face today and deliver stories that are entertaining but thought provoking as well regarding change and standing up for your fellow neighbor. Another theme that westerns do so well is dealing with loss. This might be losing land, a business or someone. I think especially when it comes to losing someone, westerns can really speak to that. The biggest theme that probably covers the most for westerns is the human experience. Showing triumphs, tragedies and the cost of both. 

A statement that has been done to death is that the Western is dead. As long as people crave stories that reflect the human experience, the Western will never be dead. When there is a resurgence for the genre, young and old are always trying to get their hands on more. When the video games Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 came out, I heard from many people that they wanted to read stories in the west and watch more western movies. Then another resurgence came with TV westerns such as Hell on Wheels, Longmire, Justified and Yellowstone. These are not really bending the genre to fit a lot of different likes for people but are more closer to straight up westerns with deep, profound stories. The interest in westerns with these shows has been off the charts and has really shown how hungry people are for more. 

When ever I have heard that the Western is dead, I always imagined it in the lens of a story. The Western genre was shot, ran off a cliff and thought it be dead by the villain. Only to reappear later in the story not only alive but thriving. An epic return that is filled with a classic western music score. 

I hope this is a little encouraging for all who write westerns. We have an important role to keep the west alive by writing new stories but to also not forget those who came before us. I think reading stories from long ago not only helps keep our minds enriched with the west but to keep stories from authors who are long gone, alive. I think when we come across anyone looking for a new to them author, recommending the famous and not so well known authors is a must. For that I would recommend reading "The Gallows At Graneros" by Lewis B. Patten. 

Well that is the September's"A Western Perspective." Thank you all for what you do to keep the Western thriving and I hope you all have a great week. Until next time, I will see you all down the trail 🤠