RTW Chicken Dinner: Banking and Dead Letters

by Jacquie Rogers

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  Happy Easter, Happy Passover, and Happy Whatever-else!  We're having a busy Sunday at the Rogers household--Easter and birthdays.  Good family, good food, and good fun.

 

We dyed Easter eggs Saturday evening, then stood in line at Wal-mart for 30 minutes to get a few more things to assist the Easter Bunny.  Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea.  I can hardly wait for the newly-turned nine-year-old to unwrap his presents, because I really want to play with the remote control car.  :)

 

Here's what happened April 8 to April 14 in the Old West , taken from Old West Replicas:

• April 9, 1878: Marshal Ed Masterson (Bat's brother) is shot dead by drunken cowboy Jack Wagner at the Lady Gay Dance Hall in Dodge City, Kansas.
• April 10, 1878: Sam Bass' gang is surprised during the hold-up of of Texas and Pacific train near Mesquite, Texas, when passengers pull back a curtain and open fire. In 1881, William 'Billy the Kid' Bonney is convicted of murdering Sheriff Brady after a short jury deliberation.
• April 11, 1873: The Modoc War begins.
• April 12, 1883: Black Bart again robs the Lakeport-Cloverdale stage, five miles from Cloverdale, California. and in 1886: General George Crook is replaced as head of the Apache campaign by General Nelson Miles following Geronimo's escape.
• April 13, 1878: The Santa Fe Weekly New Mexican newspaper mentions 'The Kid' for the first time, describing William Antrim's killing of Sheriff Brady.
• April 14, 1860: The first Pony Express rider arrives in San Francisco, 11 days after departing St Joseph, MO. In 1865, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

 From The Owyhee Avalanche, April 6, 1872, reprinted April 4, 2012:

NEW BANK, &C. J.L. Gardener, Jr., has been appointed agent for Wells, Fargo & Co. here, and is also engaged in the banking business. Mr. Gardener is well and favorably known in this place [Silver City, Idaho Territory], having for several years past been chief book-keeper for the Owyhee Mining Company. We take great pleasure in introducing him to the businesss community, and wish him the utmost success in his new undertaking.

The editors don't seem to think much of folks who can't get their letters properly mailed:

DEAD LETTER OFFICE. This office is the great depository of the ignorance and carelessness of the people.

 

Here may be found thousands of letters sent hither from all the Post offices in the country, some wholly unpaid, some insufficiently paid, some with revenue stamps affixed, some misdirected, and others not directed at all.

 

When we consider the loss of money, jewelry, drafts, important papers, and other valuable articles contained in these letters, we are astonished at the carelessness of even intelligent men in the transaction of their business.

Um, not sure times have changed that much...

 

Winner of Heather Long's book, Brave Are the Lonely, is Julianne. I'm sure she's delighted!

 

Tomorrow, we're in for a special treat: Troy D. Smith, a talented author and a nice guy, too.