This Day…

1896 – Rural free delivery is established throughout the country by the Federal Post Office; this will be especially appreciated by residents of the West, where distances between settlements are so great.

1890 – Yosemite National Park in California is dedicated.

1879-Frank and Jesse James commit their first robbery three years after the Northfield, Minnesota disaster.

1882 – Frank James surrenders in Missouri.

1879 – Fighting breaks out between the Ute Indians and 250 U. S. Army soldiers led by Major Thomas Thornburgh at Milk Creek, in northwestern Colorado Territory.

1867 – Wild Bill Hickok appears in a dime novel called “Wild Bill the Indian-Slayer.”

1873 – Calamity Jane claims to have given birth to Wild Bill Hickok’s daughter, Jeney.

1862 – Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) starts working for the Virginia City, Nevada Territory “Territorial Enterprise.”

1876-Gang member Charlie Pitts was killed in the gunfight near Madelia, MN in which the Youngers were captured after the Northfield Bank Robbery.  A derringer belonging to bank teller, A. E. Bunker was found in Charlie’s pocket.

1889 – Robert Younger, 35, dies of tuberculosis while serving a life sentence for his part in the Northfield, Minnesota bank robbery.