The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1906-07-26

owner OF the natural lltnlum spring |
nea Deadwood, is one of the oldest
Of the old timers, having com into
the hills from Fort Robinson as early
as 1874. He was one of the pail
bearers at Calamity James funeral in
the summer of 1908, and has just told
the true story of Calamity's life. Il is
very different from that which has
gone the rounds of the press for the
last two decades, being shorn of many
striking features, but at the same time
having added interest, because ii tells
accurately the story Of Il OF the
most famous women who ever lived in
the West.
1T was down in Cheyenne that |
first knew Calamity" said George
Hoshier, land that was in the fall of
rs. AT that time Bill Nye was a re-
porter on the Laramie Chronicle, and
p. p. Poulton occupied the same po-
| sition on the Cheyenne Sun. They
used to change pulpits, as they ex-
pressed 1t, frequently. Poulton was a
great humorist. If he'd lived he'd
have been a much more noted man
than Nye, but he died a long time
ago. Calamity, whose real name was
| Mary f. Canary (and she was a bird),
was never a scout. That story was all
wrong. She was born In Missouri In
1850. Her mother was a washerwoman
and the girl didn't have very many
advantages. They came to Montana
/ In the early days, and when Calamity
struck Cheyenne it was about as gay
a town as there was going. She was
a wild girl and considerable OF a
booze fighter.
THE way she got that name was
this: She was always getting into
trouble. II she hired a team from a
livery stable she was sure to have a
smash-up and have to pay the dam
ages when she got back. Why, II
she'd got up on a fence rail the burned
thing would go up and buck. Calam-
ity followed her everywhere, and so
Poulton n day dubbed her Calamity
Jane, and the name stuck.
Was Never a Scout.
"She did come into the Hills with
Con. Crook and wore mems clothes
at the time, but she was no more OF
a scout than I was. They came up in
the early spring of '76. She was with
the party just for a chance of get
ting into the Hills, and che wore
mems clothes because it was easier
for her to ride and also made the trip
a little safer for her. There was an
other girl with that party, too. She
was Franc Adair, and she had as much
title to be called a o as Calamity,
as she wore mems clothes too. They
didn't stay in the Hills long. though,
but came back to Cheyenne. l don't
know what became of Franc Adair,
Calamity came back to the hills in'77.
Two Of her special friends were a
couple Of women, n known az
Madam Mustache and the other as
Stem Winder. They were both deal
ers. Stem Winder vas a little girl
not more than twenty, a blonde and
very pretty. She was married to a
man named Bill Ford Che lives in
Denver now, and she dealt faro up
in a tent in Central, where he ran a
big gambling house. never heard
how she got her name. but she was
the best woman dealer I ever saw.
The trouble with her was she had
been taught how to deal a brace game,
which, you know, means crooked gam
bling. But she could deal a square
game all right when she wanted to.
Madam Mustache was a woma at
that time, in IT, nearly fifty years old
She was q French woman and came
by her name honestly. She was prob
ably the best known wOman then in
all the West. She usually dealt "21;"
you know that was a very popular
game. And she'd Deer In California
in the days OF the early gold excite
ment, in Nevada, Montana, Colorado
and all through the West. She was
better known then than Calamity was.
She went back to California after she
left here and committed suicide. That
must have been fifteen or twenty
year sage. l guess she'd gotten too
old to deal and didn't know what else
to co, and SO just cashed in.
Those were all go~od-hearted, kind
women. Oh. Of course, none OF them
would Jump out like Calamity. She
was always there first. 1t didn't make
any difference what vas the matter
with a person, II Calamity could help
them she would. She was the girl
who went down to Elizabeth Town,
here In Deadwood, and took care OF a
man. He was a stranger to her and
had the smallpox. Nobody else would
go near him, and she went and took
care of him and brought him through
all right. She was a fine nurse. There
wasn't anything she wouldn't do for
anybody, and whenever she had n
money 1t went just the same way.
easily and for tina first fellow hat
asked for 1t.