The Wichita daily eagle., 1904-04-10


to contradict the statements made about
her. which were printed in book from
which she derived royalty, but now that
she is gone and the truth deprives her of
nothing but her artificial glory. it had
best be told.
The story of Calamity Jane causing tie
lynching of wild Bilrs'' murderer or Of
having him arrested is another bit of
fiction Jack Mccall, the murderer Of
Wild Bill" was tried by jury OF tin
horn gamblers, like himself. and acquit-
ted He Was later arrested on one Of
! four te.egrarcs (sent by me to different
| places at Laramie City. by the United
States marshal, sent TO Yanktoa. OAK,
tried by decent jury. sentenced and
/ hung-legally.
/ Calamity Jane was good-hearted
woman and under different environments
would have made good wife and mother.
but she was born in the wilds OF min
/ ing camp with not hand raised to pro-
! tect her, until too late. Her father was
dissipated soldier and her mother care
! less. allowing Martha 10 grow UP in
| wild, unnatural manner, which we wonder
! did not quench out every sp2rk OF woman
| hood in her. and IL is 70 her credit that
| she did retain kind and generous heart
even while following in the footsteps of
her dissolute father and careless mother.
| Another certainty is that she never saw
/ the original Buffalo Bill, nor would she
have known him if she had met him, and
thereby hangs another tale, which when
told will seem more strange than that of
| Calamity Jane.
| r
rect are the following from New York
paper: AT Goose Camp, S. D., small
| detachment under Captain Egan was sur
rounded by a large band of redskins.
| They had the soldiers at their mercy,
with the relieving troops too far in the
| rear.
Martha Canary rode like the spirit of
death into the group on Indians. who
| were about to kill the wounded captain.
| Before the Indians could realize what
had happened she had swung the cap
| tain to her saddle and dashed away, amid
| the patter of bullets TO place of safety"
| Now I was with Captain Egan and his
White Horse Troop and helped patrol the
roads between FIT. Laramie and Red
Canon, and no such tight ever took place,
| nor was Captain Egan wounded.
Again this New York paper says: she
| crossed wild country in a frightfully
| cold winter to take important messages
to General Custer. The sickness that fol-
lowed the trying experience was all that
saved her from being killed with Clusters
army. for she had planned 10 campaign
with him.
When Indian fighting was not TO be
had. Calamity Jane found employment in
carrying government mail and driving
stage coaches. She was one OF the first
of the 1900 arrivals that caused Deal
wood to spring into life in a night. She
rayer failed to attend a lynching bee
If she could be present, and she didn't
take hold at the far end of the rope,
either
This seems incredible, and Yet. l myself.
believed such stuff and worshipped the
worst kind of a fraud and fake hero until
1 went through the mill and found out
what was genuine and what exaggerated.
l doubt If Calamity ever saw q lynchag
and if she did she would be the last 10
assist in it. She would rather save the
toughest outlaw than help hang him. but
all these stories were printed about Cal
afnltS aleN S4le was on just
as they are printed continually about
supposed Indian killers some of whom
never did one-tenth that it credited to
them. Yet there is not a man or woman
writer in America who dares to write
the truth about them, nor publisher
who would print it-why?
Is it not because as Barnum said:
People like to he humbugged" and the
more you humbug them the better they
like il?
There is another quotation: "The body
of Calamity Jane was placed in the
Mount >Moriah Cemetery. in Deadwood.
beside the bones Of Wild BIZ Hickock
her friend OF long ago, whose murderer
she caused TO be iynched twenty-four
years age. Though she had had twelve
husbands the last still living it was one
of her dying requests that she be al
lowed 70 sleep by the side of the man she
first loved" :"
wild Blls' name should in no way be
associated with Calamity James He told
me in June, 76, in Cheyenne. that up TO
that date he had never met her,.and II he
ever did meet her it could not have been
over six weeks before he was assassinated.
wild Bill" FTickock was the king Of
~N~-~~o-~O-~-~~~~oO~----O~Oo ~o->~~o0~o