This Day…

1881 – Billy the Kid escapes from his cell in Lincoln, New Mexico.

1858 – Chinese are prohibited from landing at any port in California under the terms of a bill passed by Congress.

1851 – Morgan Earp is born in Pella, Iowa.

1875 – Wyatt Earp is hired as a policeman in Wichita, Kansas.

1849 – Captain G. W. Paul leads the first party of 49ers along the Oregon Trail to the California gold rush.

1860 – The first Pony Express rider arrives in San Francisco only 10 days after departing St. Joseph, Missouri.  The postage rate is $5 per half-ounce.

1861 – The Civil War officially began.

1881 – Billy the Kid is convicted of murdering Sheriff Brady.

1867 – General William Tecumseh Sherman starts a plan to drive Indians out of the path of the transcontinental railroad.

1860 – The Pony Express begins operating out of St. Joseph, Missouri.