1859 – The Rocky Mountain News begins publication at the Cherry Creek digging sites of Denver. Its publisher is William N. Byers. The Weekly Arizonian begins publication in Tubac, south of Tucson.
2003 – Twelve years ago my brother was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t do. The mother-daughter team who put him there are still on the loose. Rick won’t live to see the new year.
1877 – Dodge City Deputy Marshall Ed Masterson tried to put an end to a quarrel between Ed Shaw and Texas Dick Moore, co-owners of the Lone Star Dance Hall. All of them got shot up in the melee including an innocent bystander, but happily all recovered fully.
1892 – A sixteen man posse attacked Ned Christie’s fort near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, with a small cannon after firing 30 rounds to no effect the breech failed.