This Day…

1877-Frank Freeman and Charlie Bowdre were whooping it up in Lincoln, N.M.  Freeman got himself arrested for shooting a cavalryman in the head, but he escaped custody on his way to Fort Stanton.  This colorful affray had nothing to do with the bloody Lincoln County War that erupted in 1878.

1963-Hollywood manager Dick Baxter enter show business.  He represented many famous cowboy and cowgirl actors and actresses, but no on as beloved as Dale Evans.

1748-In the Ohio territory, the agents sent out from Pennsylvania, Croghan and Weiser, win a treaty with the Ohio River Valley Indians-an important first step to establishing a free flow of trade.

1758-Cherokee Indians raid throughout the frontier of Virginia; settlers retaliate.

1879-The U.S. Geological Survey is established by an act of Congress.  Clarence King is appointed its first director.

1872-Bank Cashier R.A.C. Martin was killed by the James Gang during the robbery of a bank in Columbia, Kentucky.  The robbers made off with booty of $600.

1878-McSween Regulators Frank McNab, Ab Sanders, and Frank Coe were ambushed by a Seven Rivers posse outside of Lincoln, New Mexico.  McNab was killed, Sanders was left to die, and Coe was taken into custody.

1922-The last Broadway stage appearance of the Great Lillian Russell.

1874-Jesse James married Zee Mimms and they had a passel of kids down in Tennessee.  Jesse became a devout Christian, but he was still a thief and a ruthless killer and had no intention of ever supporting his family in an honest fashion.

1915-President Wilson announced the selcetion of a route for the projected Alaska Railroad.  Government funds will pay for the railroad from Seward to Fairbanks via the Kenai Peninsula.  Construction is begun in 1915, using the well-worn equipment and rolling stock that has recently built the Panama Canal.  In the summer of 1923, President Harding will tour the completed railroad.