Stories Of The West

Hey Everyone,

I have been reading a book about the Wild West: it's pretty neat so far. Here are two interesting stories (I'm not sure how accurate they are. I just grabbed the book from the library. They are interesting, though!):

Jack Slade, 1861
Jack Slade was known as a hard worker and a devout husband. His biggest problem was getting drunk and disturbing people's peace. Well, one day while he was drunk, he tipped over a milk wagon as he went yelling through the streets. He already had enemies: they hanged many people without cause, so they were really every body's enemies. Since his wife wasn't with him that day, they decided to hang him. His wife, Virginia, was thirty minutes away when she heard what was happening, so she jumped on a horse and galloped into town, hoping to save her husband. She arrived too late. The mob knew she was coming, so they hurried with what they were doing so that she would not see her husband die. After this, Mrs. Slade deserted her home and headed North to bury Jack Slade and never returned. He had never killed anyone, so the townspeople considered him a man "murdered for disturbing peace." The story was so gripping it turned into a legend, and many people said that if you entered the Slade's abandoned home you could hear Mrs. Slade's wails and her black horse's galloping hooves. (Of course, that part isn't true...but it makes the story interesting).

The Deck Hand, 1861

In the middle of night, the night before the St. Louis Steamboat Chippewa was to arrive at its destination with supplies, a deck hand lit a candle and headed out to sneak some whiskey. Unfortunately, the candle ignited the whiskey which then lit off 25 kegs of gunpowder and blew up the ship! The deck hand was one of the only survivors. (Doesn't that make you mad?)

Stephanie