This Day…

Outraged Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux warriors launched a series of attacks all along the valley of the South Platte River in Colorado. The Indians strike at wagon trains, stage stations, and military outposts. The town of Julesburg, in northeast Colorado, is burned, and its white residents scalped in retaliation for the massacre at Sand Creek. Denver is threatened. Communications and supplies throughout the area are halted.

France and Spain declare war in Europe, with the immediate result that hostilities break out all along the border between French and Spanish spheres of interest in the New World.

1890-Sitting Bull has been arrested and killed by army troops at his lodge just south of the border between North and South Dakota. Alarmed federal officals had ordered the arrest of the Sioux cheif for encouraging what they call the ‘Ghost Dance Craze.’ Many Indians across the West, particular the Sioux, have been obsessed with this religious dance, which they believe will rid them of the white man, bring back the buffalo, and restore their old way of life. In response to the killing of Sitting Bull, and fearing for their own lives, hundreds of Sioux flee their reservations and Indian agencies in South Dakota.

2004-I spent the holiday with my brothers. It would be the last holiday would be all be together. My oldest brother was taken from me by a woman who was having an affair and looking for a way to get out of the marriage and her equally duplicitous daughter. I won’t be over this hurt until I know they’re barking in hell.

1811-The largest earthquake in American history occurs, with its center at New Madrid, Missouri. Tremors are felt over 300,000 square miles. The ground sinks or rises by as much as 5-25 feet within a 30,000 square-mile area. For several hours, the Mississippi River actually flows northwards, and Reelfoot Lake in Tennessee is created by the overflow. The greatest loss of life is on boats navigating the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, but, miraculously, the steamboat New Orleans survives.

1799-George Washington dies at Mount Vernon at age 67 after an illustrious career which began when, as a young surveyor, he explored and surveyed the Ohio Territory in 1752.

1901-Harvey Logan got into a fight in a poolhall in Knoxville, TN. He pistol whipped his opponent and shot three policemen and was wounded himself before leaving town. He got thirty miles before being captured by more cops and some hounds.

1857-President Buchanan, in his annual message to Congress, requests money for soldiers and supplies to suppress the revolution in the Utah Territory.

1870-The opening round of the El Paso Salt War erupted in Ben Dowell’s saloon when a local lawyer named B.F. Williams killed Judge Gaylord Clarke and wounded politician Albert Jennings Fountain. Fountain brought Williams down with a rifle shot, then state police Captain A. H. French dashed in and finished Williams off with a shot to the head.

1873-Four miners strike the “Big Bonanza” while digging through the rock of Davidson Mountain near Virginia City, Nevada. At a depth of 1167 feet, the miners discover a vein 54 feet wide filled with silver and gold. The richest strike in history of mining produces a fortune estimated between $150 million and $200 million.