This Day…

1859 – Cadet George A. Custer receives two demerits at West Point for throwing food in the mess hall.

1849 – A fire in St. Louis consumes 400 buildings and 27 steamships.

1878 – Jesse Evans and Tom Hill were caught plundering a sheep camp at Alamo Springs, New Mexico.  After shooting the herder, the herder killed Hill with one shot and wounded Evans in the wrist.  Evans then spurred off on a stolen horse.

1878 – Frank Baker and Billy Morton were in the custody of a Regulator Posse led by Dick Brewer for their participation in the murder of John Tunstall.  In an attempt to escape at Steel Springs, New Mexico, posseman William McCloskey was killed by Morton, but Morton and Baker were both quickly shot by the remaining posse members.

1877 – John Larn resigned as Sheriff of Shackleford County, Texas because he and John Selman were found to be stock thieves.

1896 – Barney Riggs was a convicted murderer who was sentenced to life in Yuma Territorial Prison but won parole for saving the warden’s life during a breakout attempt in October 1887.

1898 – A posse led by Valentine Hoy cornered escaped convicts Harry Tracy, Dave Lant, and Swede Johnson in Browns Park, Colorado.  As he approached them Hoy was shot through the heart by Tracy.

1890 – Beatriz Michelena, American silent film era actress and operatic soprano, producer (d. 1942)

1843 – Adelina Patti, operatic soprano, born in Spain of Italian parents, she remains one of the most famous sopranos in history (d. 1919)

1821 – Lola Montez, Irish actress and dancer was born  (d. 1861)