Other Colorful Characters of the Old Wild West

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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.

Wayne Brazel (1876-1915?) - A stockman in New Mexico, Brazel allegedly killed Pat Garrett in 1908. Brazel was born in Greenwood City, Kansas in 1876 but the family soon moved to Brown County, Texas before making their way to Lincoln County, New Mexico in the early 1880s. At the age of 15, Brazel went to work as a cowboy on W.W. Cox's 100,000 acre ranch in San Augustine. Later, Brazel was running his own goat ranch on land owned by Pat Garrett, and the two got into a dispute when Garrett wanted to break the lease. Though the deal was not friendly, terms were finally agreed to and the pair were planning to close the deal in Las Cruces, New Mexico on February 29, 1908. However, as Garrett was traveling, Brazel caught up with him and words grew heated. In the end, Garrett was shot to death and Brazel confessed to the slaying, though many believed that the shooting was a conspiracy, involving two more people. Allegedly, Brazel took the "fall" for the murder because he was single. Brazel was later tried; however, he was acquitted of the crime. Later, Brazel moved to Lordsburg, New Mexico, where he married and fathered a son. However, when his wife died he sold out in 1913 and moved to Arizona. He later disappeared but was thought to have been killed by an outlaw in Bolivia about 1915.

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. 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.

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  More ...

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From the Rocky Mountain General Store

Old West Calendars - Utilizing our great vintage photos along with Old West phrases and Native American proverbs, we now have a great line of nostalgic calendars. These come in two designs - one with 12 different pages of designs and phrases for each and other budget priced wall calendars with a one page design. Don't miss an important date ever again!