Legends Letter

November, 2007

In this Edition: 

New Additions

Featured Travel Destination - Fort Griffin, Texas

The Old West - Railroad Tales

Featured Book - Great American Saloons

Native American Wisdom

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New Additions to Legends of America

Bumper Sticker Wisdom 

My mind is like a steel trap: rusty, dangerous, and banned in 37 states.

Cowboys kick ass!

Order bumper stickers HERE!

Featured Travel Destination 

Fort Griffin - Lawlessness on the Brazos - Though there is little left of old Fort Griffin and even less of the settlement that formed below the bluff,  Fort Griffin was one of the wildest places in all of the Old West. Built on the rolling hills between the West Fork of the Trinity River and Clear Fork of the Brazos River, the area was a dangerous place as settlers made their way into Texas, conflicting with the Plains Indians who had long called the area their exclusive hunting grounds. Though Forts Belknap, Phantom Hill and Camp Cooper had already been built in the 1840’s, they were not enough to protect new settlers. However, the Civil War interrupted any additional fort building until it was over. Then, after the Civil War was finally over, the government began to build forts once again, including Fort Griffin and Richardson. 

When more and more people continued to arrive, Indian attacks increased across northern Texas, keeping the soldiers busy in what was called the Red River Campaign, the battles of which continued until 1874, when the Texas Army defeated the Kiowas and Comanches at Palo Duro Canyon.

In the meantime, the settlement below the hill was bustling with buffalo hunters, business men, cowboys, outlaws, gamblers, gunfighters, and "painted ladies,” quickly gaining a reputation for lawlessness. Some of these many people would later become well-known in the annals of history, including Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp, who first met in Fort Griffin. Also there were Big Nose Kate; famous lady gambler, Lottie Deno; lawman, Pat Garrett, and gunfighter, John Wesley Hardin. "Marshaling” the lawless town was outlaw/lawman John M. Larn as sheriff, and his deputy, John Selman who, in the mid 1870’s, were working both sides of the law by controlling the vigilantes and rustling cattle. John Larn; however, would be killed by those same vigilantes inside his own jail in Fort Griffin. Selman, on the other hand, quickly disappeared and almost two decades later would kill John Wesley Hardin. During these lawless times, the settlement was so decadent that it was labeled "Babylon on the Brazos.”

More ...

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"You'all can go to hell. I am going to Texas."  -- Davy Crockett after serving three terms as a Tennessee congressman.

The Old West

Railroad Tales - Figuring prominently into every aspect of America’s Old West history is the railroad. Involving ingenious entrepreneurs, armies of workers, and the ultimate conflicts with Native Americans and outlaws, railroad history and tales are yet another fascinating aspect of westward expansion.

Beginning in the 1830’s, the nation realized the need to connect the east with the Pacific coast, shortly after the railroads began large scale operations. The first survey for a transcontinental railroad system was made in 1849-50 by Howard Stansbury, who surveyed a route through the Black Hills and south of Salt Lake City.

Further measures where taken in March of 1853, when Congress approved a survey by the War Department. Seeing the future, George Pullman began building sleeping cars as early as 1858. 

But Congress would dally for another four years, debating the route the transcontinental railroad should be built, until finally it approved the passage of the Pacific Railway Act in 1862, authorizing the building of the transcontinental railroad westward from Omaha, Nebraska by the Union Pacific Railroad and eastward from Sacramento, California, by the Central Pacific Railroad. The act further provided loans for the building of the railroad, as well as sections of public land, ultimately resulting in the railroad companies acquiring 33 million acres of free land.

Because of the Civil War beginning, the building of the railroad was initially slow due to lack of investors; however, when the war was over, it began in earnest.

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Railroad Tales includes historical accounts of the building of the transcontinental railroad, as well as the legends and lore of the 19th century railroad.

Native American Wisdom

Native American Proverbs:

It is better to have less thunder in the mouth and more lightning in the hand. - Apache 

They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind. - Tuscarora

Before eating, always take time to thank the food. - Arapaho

A brave man dies but once, a coward many times. - Tribe Unknown.

A good chief gives, he does not take. - Mohawk

It is easy to be brave from a distance. - Omah

Cherish youth, but trust old age. - Pueblo

The frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives. - Sioux

Take only what you need and leave the land as you found it. - Arapaho

The way of the troublemaker is thorny. - Umpqua

Native American Proverbs Calendar HERE!

Come on!!! .... Give my book for Christmas!!

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Legends of America

A Travel Guide for the

Nostalgic & Historic Minded

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Kathy Weiser

Owner/Editor

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