Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 45, No. 4 (Autumn - Winter, 1995), pp. 20-35. Letter: Katherine H. McLeod to Katharine C. Griggs, 30 July 1945 :: Berea College Archives - Students and Alumni. South Dakota State Historical Society Press: View Book Information. Available in ebook formats Volume Two in the South Dakota Biography Series Myths surrounding two Wild West legends Although Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane spent only a few weeks in Deadwood at the same time, their fame and fate have become intertwined and their relationship legendary.
James D. McLaird examines the contemporary accounts that turned these two Wild West wanderers into dime-novel and motion-picture stars. Contemporary novelists and journalists created an astonishingly strong legacy for both Calamity Jane and Wild Bill, accounting for much of their notoriety. Gun fights, scouting missions, and daring escapes from enemies filled stories about the dashing pair; even their day-to-day existence seems to have been fraught with danger and excitement, teetering on the brink between lawful and unlawful. McLaird traces the role that writers and the city of Deadwood itself played in the creation of the legacies of the famous couple. Read a review of this book from BlogCritics.org. American Memory from the Library of Congress - Home Page. Collaboration & Conservation: Archivists Tackle Tri-Folded Documents and Iron Gall Ink (The Back Table)
This blog post will detail the experience of two graduate students in the NYU Archives and Public History program who worked on pre-processing the Sylvester Manor Papers in the Conservation Laboratory in the Barbara Goldsmith Preservation & Conservation Department. The Sylvester Manor Papers were processed by Project Archivist Colin Wells at Fales Library & Special Collections in 2009; an earlier blog post by Colin about this project can be found here.
As explained in Colin’s post, a large part of the Sylvester Manor papers were stored in the basement of the manor house in Shelter Island in eastern Long Island, New York. Being in such an unstable environment created numerous preservation issues, such as high levels of humidity and exposure to rodents and insects. Furthermore, these environmental conditions exacerbated the corrosion of the iron gall ink used on the documents. Chronology on Life of James Butler HICKOK, Wild Bill Hickok, Old West Kansas. The Kansas Heritage Server would like to thank John Richard for contributing the following article about James Butler Hickok. It should not be quoted or retransmitted without a full citation to the author and website address, and should not be put into print without the author's express permission. James Butler Hickok was born in Troy Grove, Illinois, on May 27, 1837. Troy Grove was then, and is now a small clean agricultural community. Mr. Hickok was assassinated in Deadwood, South Dakota on August 2, 1876.
When Hickok was born Troy Grove was known as "Homer". The adventures that so characterized Hickok's later life began early. Oliver Hickok had, by this time, gone to California for the Gold Rush. By 1854 Hickok's father had died and he was bored with both farming and life in Troy Grove. Apparently, the joining of the Kansas Free Staters was not a full time occupation for young James. During the years 1859-60 Hickok drove freight wagons, and coaches along the Santa Fe Trail. Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Vol. 45, No. 4 (Autumn - Winter, 1995), pp. 20-35.
Calamity Jane - Rowdy Woman of the West. Now heading the household, Jane took her siblings back to Wyoming, arriving at Fort Bridger on May 1, 1868. Taking whatever job that was available in order to provide for the family, she worked as a cook, a nurse, a dance-hall girl, a dishwasher, a waitress, an ox-team driver, and according to some tales, a prostitute. In 1870, she joined General George Armstrong Custer as a scout at Fort Russell, Wyoming, donning the uniform of a soldier. This was the beginning of Calamity Jane's habit of dressing like a man.
Heading south, the campaign traveled to Arizona in their zest to put Indians on reservations. In 1872, she returned to Fort Sanders, Wyoming, where she was ordered out to the Muscle Shell Indian outbreak. As Calamity told the story, it happened at Goose Creek, Wyoming, where the town of Sheridan is now located. Afterward, she was ordered to Fort Custer, where she arrived in the spring of 1874.