SEASON'S GREETINGS

"BAH! HUMBUG!!", exclaimed Scrooge. "GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE!!" replied the gunfighter as he blasted away. "NO SCROOGE, NO MORE!!" Apologies to Les Moore. Larry Elkins - elkinsphotos.com

DAMAGED GOODS

HISTORY'S TIDBIT - In the mid 1870's, the French government sent plaster casts of several statues housed in the Louvre as a gift to the San Francisco School of Design. Wells Fargo was the shipping company. When the shipment arrived, one of the statues was significantly damaged. The school sued Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo was forced to pay damages. The statue was the Venus de Milo. Neither the School of Design nor Wells Fargo realized that the statue's arms had been broken off the original sculpture prior to its acquisition by the Louvre and long before the plaster cast was entrusted to Wells Fargo. LARRY ELKINS - elkinsphotos.com

BISBEE HISTORICAL DIST. SHOPPING GUIDE

OF POSSIBLE INTEREST - If any of you are contemplating visiting Bisbee AZ, an historic town that was, in the early 1900's, one of the most important cities west of the Mississippi River, this note might be of interest. The new Bisbee Shopping Guide on my website elkinsphotos.com, provides historical info as well as shopping information on the Old Bisbee Historical District. If you're interested, check it out. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINS PHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

NINO COCHISE - AN INTRODUCTION

This post is more than a tidbit, but less than a feature. The feature article will be posted soon on a companion blog, Cochise County History Blog elkinsphotos. However, I believe Nino Cochise was an interesting enough character to merit at least an introduction here. When I was maybe seven or eight years old (around 1960), my family and some friends were camping in an area named Rustlers' Park. It was early morning when an old Indian in traditional dress wandered down into camp. Needless to say, we children were quite impressed seeing as Nino was reputed to be the grandson of Chief Cochise. I say reputed because there are those who question Nino's pedigree. All I can say is that if his story was not true then he was an amazing storyteller. I did not run into Nino again until I was an adult. By this time, the old man was well over a century old and had suffered amputations of both legs. I had the opportunity to interview Nino for a newsweekly I was involved with at the time. Again, if you're interested in knowing more about Nino, check out the Cochise County History Blog elkinsphotos. The feature article on Nino will be appearing sometime this month. LARRY ELKINS - ELKINS PHOTOS FINE ART PHOTOGRAPHY

Elkins Photos Fine Art Photography - www.elkinsphotos.com

This is Larry Elkins, and it's time for another shameless promotion of my website, Elkins Photos Fine Art Photography - Bisbee Arizona at www.elkinsphotos.com. Coming in February 2010 - Adventure in Chiang Mai - a photo gallery of images from my 2010 photo shoot in Chiang Mai, a 700 year old walled city in northern Thailand.

POTATO CREEK JOHNNY AND THE GIANT GOLD NUGGET

HISTORY'S TIDBIT - Potato Creek Johnny Perrett was one of the Old West's more colorful characters. Potato Creek Johnny immigrated from Wales to Deadwood, South Dakota in 1883 at the age of 17. The four foot prospector is best known for having found one of the world's largest gold nuggets. The question remains though as to whether Johnny's gold nugget was real or whether he fashioned it by melting smaller nuggets into one piece, then passed the fake off as a giant nugget of gold. in any event, this eccentric prospector was a fixture in the Deadwood, S. D. area right up until his death in February 1943.

BARBED WIRE - HOW IT CHANGED THE OLD WEST

HISTORY'S TIDBIT - I must have been about eight years old at the time. My brother, a couple of friends and I were hiking across the high desert just north of the border between Arizona and Sonora Mexico when we came to a barbed wire fence that blocked our way. While my brother and one of our friends held the barbed wire apart, thus creating an opening, my other friend managed to maneuver through. Then it was my turn. As I passed through, my shirt caught on one of the barbs, creating a three inch rip through the material. It wasn't the first or last time a hiker got snagged trying to make his way through a barbed wire fence. Sure, barbed wire can constitute a minor hazard for hikers. However, for the cattle barons of the Old West, the introduction of barbed wire held a much more serious threat. It heralded the very end of their way of life. The range wars that followed changed the American West forever. But more about that at a later time.

BELLE STARR

HISTORY'S TIDBIT - Famed bandit queen Belle Starr was descended on her mother's side from the Hatfields as in the feuding Hatfields and McCoys.

TOMBSTONE EPITAPH

HISTORY'S TIDBIT - The Tombstone Epitaph, one of two news dailies published in early day Tombstone Arizona, was founded by publisher John Clum, is perhaps, best known for iits coverage of the famed gunfight (near) the O.K. Corral. The Epitaph is still published in Tombstone and isw the second oldest newspaper in the state of Arizona.

THE STETSON REIGNS AS KING

HISTORY'S TIDBIT -Renowned hatter John Stetson founded the John B. Stetson Hat Company in 1865. Today, the iconic Stetson still reigns as king of the American West.

THE TEXAS LONGHORN

HISTORY'S TIDBIT - Texas longhorn cattle are descended from Spanish cattle brought by Columbus to the New World in 1493. These cattle thrived in their new home. However, by the turn of the Twentieth Century, Texas longhorns had been driven almost to extinction. Over the last few decades, longhorns have begun to stage a comeback.

COMING SOON - BLACK COWBOYS OF THE OLD WEST

COMING SOON - BLACK COWBOYS OF THE OLD WEST: This is LARRY ELKINS (elkinsphotos,com), your guide through the history of the Old West. I'll be posting the first feature article - Black Cowboys Of The Old West - on Old West History by mid September. In the meantime, I'll be posting HISTORY"S TIDBITS.

THAR'S GOLD IN THAT THAR MILL - THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH

HISTORY'S TIDBIT - on January 24, 1848, foreman John Marshall and a group of workmen at Sutter's Mill in California found a gold nugget. John Sutter, the mill's owner, attempted to keep the discovery secret. However, word of the discovery leaked out, setting in motion the great California Gold Rush.

BILLY THE KID - THE RIGHT HANDED GUN

Today's History's Tidbit - It is a well known fact that Billy the Kid was left handed. Or should I say a well known myth? The mistaken supposition that the Kid was left handed is based solely on the fact that a famous tintype of the Kid appears to portray him as left handed. However, because the image in a tintype is reversed, the photo actually proves that Billy the Kid was right handed.

WILD BILL HICKOK AND THE DEAD MAN'S HAND

HISTORY'S TIDBIT - The dead man's hand, aces and eights, was allegedly the poker hand held by Wild Bill Hickok at the time of his murder in a Deadwood saloon.

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

It's time for another of History's Tidbits. Annie Oakley, all of 5 feet tall was nicknamed Little Sure Shot by the Souix medicine chief Sitting Bull, a fellow performer with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show.

WOMENS' SUFFRAGE IN COLORADO

Here' another tidbit. Colorado extended the right of suffrage to women in 1894. It was only the second state in the Union to do so.

DEATH OF A GUNMAN

Here's another interesting History's Tidbit.On November 10th, 1887, the DENVER REPUBLICAN ran Dr. John H. (Doc) Holliday's obituary. The newspaper stated that the infamous gunfighter was, "...a very mild mannered man, was genial and companionable, and had many excellent qualities." Doc, unlike most notorious gunfighters, had managed to die with his boots off.

WYATT EARP WICHITA MARSHAL

TODAYS OLD WEST HISTORY'S TIDBIT -- Wyatt Earp, contrary to popular opinion, was never town marshal of Tombstone Arizona. He did, however, serve as marshal of Wichita Kansas.

HISTORY'S COMIN' DOWN THE PIKE

Hi. I'm Larry Elkins. This blog will feature feature articles and History's tidbits concerning the history of the Old West.