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 Samuel Brannan (1819-1889) -
California's first
millionaire started life in Maine in 1819 before moving with his family to
Ohio when he was 14 years-old. He became a printer's apprentice and in
1836 began to move around as a journeyman printer. Converting to Mormonism
in 1842, he moved to New York City to help publish several Mormon
newspapers. Three years later, Brannan led a group of over 200 New York
Mormons to
California to find a better life. Briefly, he published a San
Francisco newspaper before moving on to John Sutter's settlement, where he
opened a general store. Soon; however, the Mormons accused him of
diverting Mormon funds into his own business and expelled him from the
church. When James Marshall discovered gold in 1848, Brannan capitalized by
widely publicizing the discovery and outfitting the flood of prospectors.
Before long, he became the Golden State's first millionaire. The next year
he returned to san Francisco, were he was elected to the City Council and
played a leading role in organizing the controversial Committee of
Vigilance. Continuing in various business ventures, including land
investments, banking, and railroad and telegraph companies, his wealth
continued to grow. However, Brannan was a serious drinker, which
ultimately led to his loss of fortune and his death in 1889.
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) (1835-1910) - The best known author
during the days of the Old West.
James Joshua
Dolan (1848-1898) -
One of the primary instigators of
New Mexico's Lincoln County War,
James Dolan attempted to control the
economy of Lincoln County in the 1870s. More
...
George Donner (1786?-1847) - One of the leaders of
the infamous Donner Party, George born of German descent in North Carolina
around 1786. Later he moved to Kentucky before settling with his family
just outside Springfield, Illinois. There, he worked as a farmer before
deciding to join up with James Reed, who was leading a party to
California. On April 14, 1846, George, his third wife, Tamsen, and their
five daughters, began the journey westward. Also joining him was his
brother Jacob,
his
wife, Elizabeth, and their seven children, as well as several hired hands.
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The group followed the
Oregon Trail until they reached Fort Bridger, Wyoming on July 28, 1846.
There, they met a man named Lansford Hastings who told them about a
quicker way to
California via the Hastings Cutoff. Hastings claimed that
his route would reduce some 300 miles from the distance to Sutter's Fort.
His short-cut left the California Trail at Fort
Bridger in Wyoming, passed through the Wasatch Mountains, across the Great
Salt Lake Desert, looped around the Ruby Mountains, and rejoined the
California Trail about seven miles west of modern Elko, Nevada.
Hastings also promised them that the desert was only 40 miles across
and that they would find water after 24 hours. However, the desert was
actually 82 miles wide and water was only to be found after 48 hours of
traveling. He also said that three wagon trains had already successfully
traveled the route. This was untrue.
The
Donner Party
endured a grueling drive through the Wasatch Mountains that delayed them,
arrive into
California just as an early winter storm
closed it. After becoming snowbound in the Sierra Nevada, many died and
some of the emigrants resorted to cannibalism. George died at his camp in
the Alder Creek Valley in Nevada County,
California in March 1847.
Camillus Sydney “Buck” Fly (18??-1901) – Best known for his
photography of the
Geronimo's
surrender in 1886, Fly was known to his friends as “Buck.” Fly had a
thriving portrait studio in San Francisco before he up and moved to the
lawless town of
Tombstone,
Arizona.
Even though Fly was present during the famous
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
on October 26, 1881, he took no pictures during the event. Though he
probably didn’t have time to set up his equipment while the
gunfight
was taking place, historians wonder why he took no photographs of the
aftermath. The shootout took place right next to his studio and he was
actively involved when Fly disarmed
Billy Clanton
after the
gunfight.
Though he was clearly a quality professional, no photos of the removal of
the corpses, onlookers, or
gunfight
participants were taken.
In March of 1886, Fly traveled with
General George Crook
and his troops when they were pursuing the renegade
Geronimo
and his band of
Chiricahua Apaches. On March 25th,
Crook
caught up with
Geronimo
and convinced him to surrender. Fly was there to capture the event, which
produced some of the most famous photographs in
U.S. history.
Fly was known to have been a heavy drinker and somewhere along the line
separated from his wife. He spent his remaining years in Bisbee,
Arizona
where he drank himself to death in 1901.
Joseph F. Glidden (1813-1906) - The inventor of the barbed wire
widely used in the west.
 Jack
Langrishe (18??-1895) -
A native of
New York,
Jack (John) S. Langrishe, an actor, impresario, and production
manager, had been operating different theatres for some 17 years before
his arrival in
Deadwood,
South Dakota
in 1876. Married to a wife named Jenette, and preferring working in the
Old West
to the stages of New York's Broadway, the pair opened several theatres
during their careers, including one in Denver,
Colorado
and another in Helena,
Montana,
before opening their
Deadwood operation. Over the years,
the pair worked with several well-known names of the time including Fanny
Price, Charlotte Cushman, Jim and Belle Gilbert, Augusta Chambers, Viola
Porter, and more. Later,
Langrishe
would would be elected justice in Coeur d’Alene,
Idaho
1886, and managed the Wardner News in 1891. He died in Wardner,
Idaho
on December 12, 1895
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