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.