Journal Notes

Enter now to win a copy of Principles of Posse Management: 

Lessons from the Old West for Today’s Leaders

A pair of tired, dust-covered detectives escorted outlaw Tom Bell to a noose dangling off a limb of a sycamore tree.  No one spoke a word as the rope was slipped around his thick neck.  More than fifteen lawmen from Sacramento, Marysville, and Nevada City, California, made up the posse that apprehended Bell at his hideout at Firebaugh’s Ferry near the San Joaquin River.  The ruthless highwayman and his gang had eluded the law for more than a year.  Bell’s reign of terror would end here – a mere four hours after he was captured on Saturday, October 4, 1856.

Bell held in his hand a pair of letters his executioners allowed him to write before they administered justice.  Outside of the firm grip he had on his correspondence he didn’t show the least bit of fear.  Judge Joseph Belt, the self-appointed hangman and head of the posse, sauntered over to Bell and looked him in the eye.  “Do you have anything to say for yourself?” he asked.

“I have no revelations to make,” Bell replied.  “I would be grateful, however,” he added, “to drink to the health of this party present and hope that no personal prejudice has induced them to execute me.”  Judge Belt nodded to one of his men who stepped forward with a bottle of whiskey and offered it to Bell.

Bell lifted the bottle to the men and thanked them for their thoughtfulness.  “I have no bitterness toward anyone of you,” he said.  He took a drink and handed the bottle back to the lawman.  “If you let me now…before I go.  I’d like to read aloud the letter I wrote to my mother.”  Judge Belt scanned the faces of his men; no one seemed to have any objections.  “Go on,” Belt told the bandit.  Tom unfolded one of the letters in his hand and began reading.

“Dear Mother, I am about to make my exit to another country.  I take this opportunity to write you a few lines.  Probably you may never hear from me again.  If not, I hope we may meet where parting is no prodigal career in the country.  I have always recollected your fond admonitions, and if I had lived up to them I would not have been in my present position; but dear mother, though my fate has been a cruel one, yet I have no one to blame but myself.

“Give my respects to all old and youthful friends.  Tell them to beware of bad associations, and never to enter into any gambling saloons, for that has been my ruin.  If my old grandmother is living, remember me to her.  With these remarks, I bid you farewell forever.  Your only boy, Tom.”

Bell refolded his letter and bowed his head in prayer.  Two lawmen stepped forward, took the letters from him, and tied his hands behind his back.  Tom lifted his head and nodded to Judge Belt.  His horse was whipped from under him, and he swung into space.  Judge Belt’s posse was one of three notable posses assembled between March 1856 and October 1856 to track down Tom Bell and his gang of highwaymen terrorizing settlers in the Gold Country.

To learn more about the posse after Tom Belle read the

Principles of Posse Management:  Lessons from the Old West for Today’s Leaders

Enter now to win a copy of Principles of Posse Management: 

Lessons from the Old West for Today’s Leaders.

Identify your objective and carefully consider how you want to hit your target.

Allan Pinkerton was able to track the bandits responsible for robbing the Adams Express Company only after he was given a full description of the Reno gang members.  That basic information led the posse to the outlaw’s hiding place where they could put together a plan to apprehend the bad guys and retrieve the stolen money.

Go the extra mile. 

When the Pinkerton posse kidnapped the leader of the Reno gang they were employing extreme measures to ensure the desperados faced justice.  That daring action proved to be positive for the detective agency because businesses could see the Pinkertons offered exceptional service.  Allan Pinkerton and his men were hired to solve several other robberies after brining in the Reno gang.

Never under estimate the powers of observation. 

If the posse wasn’t paying close attention to the coming and goings of various townspeople in Council Bluffs, Iowa, they would have missed the strange behavior of a citizen who eventually led them to the spot where the Reno gang was hiding.

Embrace the benefits of cross training.

Posse members took on a variety jobs in an effort to achieve their objective.  Some worked as bartenders, others as railroad employees.  They gained valuable knowledge about the offenders they were after that helped define the best way to apprehend the Renos.

Follow a job to the end.

You haven’t failed until you quit trying.  The Pinkerton posse never abandoned their quest to arrest the Reno gang even when the outlaws fled to Canada.  The bandits thought they were safe in another country, but Pinkerton acquired the necessary legal documents to have them extradited.

To learn more about the business practices behind the forming of some of the most legendary posses read The Principles of Posse Management

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Principles of Posse Management:

Lessons from the Old West for Today’s Leaders.

Newspaper readers from Hartford, Connecticut, to Portland, Oregon, were shocked to read about the bold and daring robbery of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad on October 6, 1866.  It was the first robbery of its kind.  Banks and stage lines had been robbed before, but no one had perpetrated such a crime on a railroad.  According to the October 20, 1866, edition of the Altoona Tribune, three masked bandits entered the car stopped at a station near Seymour, Indiana, with the idea of taking money from the Adams Express safe.  They entered the car from the front platform, leveled their revolvers at the head of the guard on duty, and demanded he hand over the keys to the safe.  He did so with no argument.

While one of the bandits stood guard, the others opened and removed the contents of one of the three safes which included more than $20,000 in cash.  When the job was done, the desperadoes moved one of the safes to the door of the car, opened it, and tossed the box out.  The heavy safe hit the ground hard, rolled, and came to a stop.  One of the masked men pulled on the bell cord, and, as the engineer replied with the signal to apply the brakes, the robbers jumped out the train and made their escape.

The engineer saw the bandits leap off the train and speculated they were headed in the direction of Seymour.  The train slowed to a stop and one of the agents for the Adams Express Company who was on the train hopped off and ran back to the station with the news of the robbery.  He commandeered a handcar and recruited a few men to help him collect any evidence left behind by the thieves.  On the agent’s way back to the train, he found the safe tossed from the car.  The $15,000 inside had not been touched.

The Adams Express Company offered a $5,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the robbers.  A witness aboard the train the evening it was robbed told authorities he recognized the desperadoes who stole the money as the Reno brothers, John and Simeon, and one of their friends, Frank Sparks.  Citizens and detectives alike began a vigorous search, but the brothers proved impossible to locate.

Unbeknownst to the Reno boys and the gang of outlaws with whom they associated, the Pinkerton Detective Agency had been hired to protect all Adams and Express Company shipments.  Armed with the descriptions provided by the witness, Allan Pinkerton, head of the investigation firm, set out to find the culprits.  Pinkerton traced the Renos to Seymour, a lawless community where rustlers, bandits, and cutthroats from all over the area gathered.

To learn more about the posse after the Reno gang read

Principles of Posse Management:

Lessons from the Old West for Today’s Leaders

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Three dozen fresh-faced young men jockeyed for position behind a row of windows on a train leaving Poughkeepsie, New York, bound for Camp Mills on Long Island.  The new Army recruits waved goodbye to those on the railroad platform; they wore happy expressions and cheered as the car lurched forward.  The men were excited and blissfully naïve about the journey ahead of them.  Family and friends on the platform offered last-minute farewells as the train slowly began to move ahead.  Some people cried as the vehicle left the station, and they blew kisses to the courageous souls who had answered the call to serve their country when America announced it would join Britain, France, and Russia to fight in World War I.

The United States entered the war on April 6, 1917, and by the end of that same month thousands of men had eagerly flooded recruited stations, enlisted in the Army and Navy, and promised to defend the nation in time of peril.

On July 6, 1917, newspapers and unofficial dispatches from Canadian army headquarters in Europe documented when America went into battle for the first time during the World War.  A young Texan who had traveled to Ontario to enlist had the honor of being the first to carry the American flag in the European war.  He was carrying the official Stars and Stripes on his bayonet when he was wounded and subsequently transported to a medical unit.

According to the July 20, 1917, edition of the Democrat and Chronicle News the Texan’s brave action prompted even more patriotic men to join a branch of the service.  Men did not have a moratorium on devotion to country.  Women also wanted to do their part.  Annie Oakley was among them.  From the time the Spanish-America War began in 1898, Annie had desired to recruit and train women to be expert shots and fight for the United States.  She offered her unique services to President William McKinley in a letter dated April 5, 1898.

Dear Sir,

I for one feel confident that your good judgement will carry America safely through without war.  But in case of such an event I am ready to place a company of fifty lady sharp shooters at your disposal.  Every one of them will be an American and as they will furnish their own arms and ammunition there will be little if any expense to the government.

Very Truly,

Annie Oakley

To learn more about Annie at War read The Trials of Annie Oakley

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It was three o’clock in the morning when Southern Railway Engine 75 collided with Western legends and showman Buffalo Bill Cody’s train outside Lexington, North Carolina, on October 29, 1901.  The rumble of the trains hurrying toward one another sounded like the gathering of a cyclone.  Whistles blew and brakes scraped hard against the rails in a desperate attempt to prevent the crash, but the impact was unavoidable.

The force of the engines smacking into one another caused the derailment of the cars in tow, and all at once the air was filled with flying missiles of iron and wood.  Smoke poured in great black streaks from the steam funnels, and the popping of steam rose high in the air.  A veritable hell of fire erupted.  Members of the cast and crew of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show fought madly in their attempt to crawl out the doors and windows of the overturned cars.  Horses trapped in the twisted, mangled debris whinnied and brayed frantically.

People rushed to the scene from nearby farmhouses and stood helplessly around the wreckage, holding their hands to their ears in order to shut out the frightful screams of the injured passengers and animals.  Gathering their composure, they fought to rescue the hurt from the coaches scattered about the landscape.  Slowly the suffering were lifted from the destruction and carried to a grassy field.  Many cried and groaned in pain, their heads and hands cut and blood streaming from their wounds.

Annie Oakley, world famous exhibition sharpshooter, was one of the unfortunate victims of the train wreck.  She was lying unconscious somewhere among the rubble.  The car where Annie and her husband Frank had been sleeping was turned upside down.  When the engines slammed into one another and their car tumbled over, the petite entertainer was thrown from her berth onto a trunk.  Before hitting the trunk with her back, she tried to break the fall by putting her hand out.  Both her hand and back were injured.  Frank suffered only minor cuts and bruises.  He carried his wife out of the wreckage to the spot where the other hurt passengers had been taken.  Annie’s eyes fluttered open long enough to see the severely damaged vehicle.  What once had been a speeding marvel was now a broken scrap heap.

To learn more about the accident that changed Annie Oakley’s life read The Trials of Annie Oakley

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Annie Oakley was born Annie Moses on August 13, 1860, in Darke County, Ohio.  Her father’s untimely death when she was still a child forced Annie to find work to help support her seven brothers and sisters and their mother.

Annie first learned to hunt with a rifle when she was eight.  She used her natural markswoman ability to provide food for the evening meals.  She became such a good shot she was hired on by a merchant to supply his store with fresh game.  By the time Annie turned nine, she was a major provider for her family.

A shooting match between Annie and Western showman Frank Butler in 1875 changed her life forever.  The challenge was for each marksman to shoot twenty-five clay pigeons.  Frank hit twenty-four of the twenty-five targets.  Annie hit all of them.

Frank was so taken by the young woman’s expertise and femininity that he invited her to come and see him perform in one of his Western programs.  She was impressed with his kindness and proficiency with a weapon.  After a short time, their mutual fondness and admiration blossomed into love.  They were married on June 22, 1876.

Frank and Annie pooled their talents and took their shooting know-how on the road.  The two gave exhibitions at theaters across the country.  By this time Annie had changed her name to Oakley.  She decided on that name because she’d liked the sound of it ever since her sister told her of the Ohio district with the same handle.

Butler and Oakley were well received wherever they performed.  People were not only amazed at the teenager’s shooting but admired the pluck of a girl who could hold a coin steady until it was shot from her fingers.  By December of 1884 Frank and Anne had become the top shooting act in the country.

To learn more about Annie and Frank read The Trials of Annie Oakley. 

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Annie Oakley burst into the Wild West Show’s arena in Louisville, Kentucky, atop a brown and white pony.  She waved and blew kisses at the excited audience as she spurred her ride around a straw barrier at a high lope.  The cowboy just ahead of her paced her to a slower ride and began tossing balls into the air.  She raised her rifle to her shoulders.  The balls burst as fast as he could throw them.

Putting her gun away for the moment, she quickly dismounted and raced over to a table at the far end of the grounds.  Another cowboy juggling glass balls was waiting for her.  Annie jumped over the gun table, scooped up a weapon just as the cowboy tossed up four balls.  Two balls disappeared.  She picked up another gun.  The other two balls blew apart.  The timid women in the audience who screamed with fright at the initial sound of the noisy firearms broke into round and round of applause.

Annie bowed to the delighted crowd and searched the table for the prop she used in her most famous stunt, The Mirror Trick.  Using a knife blade for a mirror, Annie then pointed her gun over her shoulder.  Frank Butler, Annie’s husband, stood off in the distance behind her holding up an ace of spades.  After sighting the card in the knife blade, she squeezed the trigger.  The gun barked.  A hole appeared where the spade had been in the center of the card.

The crowd burst into cheers.  Annie smiled, swung aboard her horse, and hurried out of the arena.  As she rode past Buffalo Bill Cody, he shouted, “Sharp shooting, Missy!”

The Sioux Indian chief Sitting Bull greeted the 5-foot-tall performer backstage.  Impressed with her skill and aim, the warrior proudly called her Little Sure Shot.  Sitting Bull believed Annie Oakley to be possessed by the Good Spirit.  “No one can hurt her,” he told friends.  “Only one who was super naturally blessed could be such a dead shot.”

To learn more about Annie’s life and shooting ability read

The Trails of Annie Oakley.

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Fans of Annie Oakley sought the famous shooter out after ever performance.  In addition to granting requests for autographs, she took time to speak with her followers who wanted to know all about her.  As a courtesy to her devotees, she supplied them with a short list of facts about herself.

Answers to Ten Questions I Am Asked Every Day.

I was born in Woodland, Ohio.

I learned to shoot in the field.

I do not think I inherited my love of firearms from my parents, for they were Quakers, and were very much opposed to my using such weapons.

Having traveled in fourteen countries, and having hunted in almost all of them, I have shot nearly all kinds of game.

While I love to shoot in the field, I care very little for exhibition shooting, and only do it as a matter of business.

I never use the word “champion” in connection with my name and always request my friends not to address me as such.

My guns weigh about six pounds each and are of many different makes.  There is no such thing as the best gun maker.  The best gun is the gun that best fits the shooter.

I use pistols, rifles and shotguns.  I do not believe in using cheap guns.  To me, the use of a cheap gun is like driving Star Pointer with a clothes line – you never know when the line is going to give way.

I like pigeon shooting when the birds are first-class flyers, but I am very much opposed to shooting pigeons from the trap during the three summer months.

I use 39 grains of Schultz Smokeless Powder and one ounce of shot, loaded in the U.M.C. Smokeless shells.  I don’t say that this is the only load, but it is good enough for me.

To learn more about Annie Oakley and the shooting school she ran in Pinehurst, North Carolina, read The Trials of Annie Oakley.

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Long before the screen placed the face of Mary Pickford before the eyes of millions of Americans, this girl, born August 13, 1800 and who was christened Phoebe Anne Oakley Moses and was destined to make the shortened form her name, “Annie Oakley,” known throughout the world, had won the right to the title of the first “America’s Sweetheart.”

The life story of Annie Oakley is a combination Cinderella fairy story and frontier melodrama.

The Cinderella part of it begins with the pioneer home near a small cross-roads settlement to Darke County, Ohio, where in a little log cabin lived Jake Moses and his wife, whom, as a twelve-year-old child he had rescued from a brutal stepfather in Pennsylvania.  He had given her a home with her sister and, after marrying her, when she was fifteen, set out with her to make a new home in the Ohio country.  In this new home Moses and his wife fought a constant battle with privation and poverty.  Then Moses returning from the saw mill, was frozen to death in a blizzard and upon the mother fell the whole task of carrying for her seven children.

At the age of six Annie began helping fill the family larder by trapping quail and a few years later she had made the first start on the rifle career that made her famous.  One of the few possessions that Jake Moses had brought with him from Pennsylvania was a 40 inch cap and ball Kentucky rifle which hung over the fireplace, but which had never been used because Moses was a Quaker with the Quaker prejudice against firearms.  The tomboy Annie, however, did not share that prejudice.  She saw in the weapon an instrument for getting more food for her brothers and sisters, and finally gained her mother’s reluctant consent.

But the beginning of her career as a markswoman was soon interrupted.  She went to the country infirmary to get the chance to attend school and while there a stranger appeared and offered to take one of the girls at the infirmary to work for her “board and keep.”  Annie was the girl selected and in the home of this man began her Cinderella existence.  The man was a brute and his wife a virago.  Annie was held as a virtual slave subjected to all sorts of cruel treatment.  Once when she fell asleep over a basket of mending the woman threw her out into a snowstorm half-naked.  After two years of this existence she finally escaped and returned home.

There she continued her former role of provider for the family with the rifle and thus laid the foundation for the marvelous skill which was to make her world famous.  News of her skill spread throughout Darke County and even to Cincinnati where hotel keepers had been buying the game which she killed.  When Annie was fifteen there came to Cincinnati the “far-famed team of Butler and Company, performing deeds of daring and dexterity with firearms, seldom exhibited before the eyes of an audience.  As a publicity stunt, Frank E. Butler was accustomed to issue a challenge to all comers to a shooting match.  The challenge was taken up by one of Annie’s hotel keeping patrons who prevailed upon her to shoot against the professional.

The girl not only won the match, but also won the heart of Frank Butler and a year or so later they were married.  Frank often wrote Annie poems that shared his plans for their future together.

Some find day I’ll settle down

And stop this roving life.

With a cottage in the country

I will claim my little wife.

Then we will be happy and contented,

No quarrels shall arise

And I’ll never leave my little girl

With the rain drops in her eyes.

Annie eventually began taking part in her husband’s act and for some time they were billed as “Butler and Oakley.”  Then Butler, who was a skillful showman, began giving his wife more and more of the limelight and pushing himself more and more into the background.  Within a short time, Annie was a noted figure in the Wild West theater.

“What fools we mortals be!  Annie once wrote of her beloved husband.  “My admiration for Frank Butler’s poodle led me into signing some sort of alliance papers with him that tied a knot so hard it lasted some fifty years.”

To learn more about the famous sharp shooter read

The Trials of Annie Oakley.

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Hearts West:  True Stories of Mail-Order Brides on the Frontier

The following are a few advertisements that appeared in the September 12, 1917 edition of the matrimonial magazine The New Plan.

Ad #214  Hello, all you widowers and bachelors, right this way if you are looking for a companion; here she is, age 60, weight 100, height 4 feet 11 inches; black eyes, dark hair, American; Golden Rule religion, jolly and good natured; have means of $3,000; wish a husband with some means, city or country, age from 50 to 75; will answer all letters.

Ad #215  Boys, I am a lonesome little girl, alone in the world and earning my own living and am tired of doing so; my age is 20 years, weight 145, height 5 feet 3 inches, blue eyes, dark hair, good housekeeper, am considered good looking, have some means, also piano; common school education; prefer country life; will marry if suited.

Ad #216  Dear old men, here is your chance to get a true loving companion.  I am a widow by death, age 69 years, but don’t look or feel or act over 40; always in good humor, very loving and kind; a good housekeeper, weight 104, height 5 feet 2 inches, blue eyes, brown hair, nationality German; would like to meet some congenial gentlemen near my own age, with means enough to make a good home.

Ad #217  A perfect blonde; trained nurse, wishes to make the acquaintance of a nice young gentlemen, view to matrimony; age 23, weight 124, height 5 feet 3 inches; German-American, college education, very neat dresser; will answer all letters.

Read Hearts West:  True Stories of Mail-Order Brides on the Frontier