Well past midnight, everyone in the wagon train was snoring. First night on guard duty, teenager Dick Wootton spotted a stealthily approaching shadow in the chest-high grass. Convinced Indians were about to attack, he propped the large-bore rifle against his shoulder, sighted down the barrel and pulled the trigger. The shadow dropped. Heart pounding, he knew tonight would be memorable since he single-handedly had saved the entire Bent/St. Vrain wagon train from certain death. Except it wasn’t a sneaking Indian. The lead mule, Jake, had wandered off and was simply returning to cam mp. Wootton never did live that down.
In 1836, he began a lifetime as a frontiersman, adventurer, trapper, guide and businessman. Always seeking adventure, “Uncle Dick” Wootton is best known as the tamer of Raton Pass. Wootton fought and traded with Indians, trapped and scouted the Western half of the country. He led wagon trains, herded buffalo, cattle and sheep, farmed and ranched and ran a stage stop in Trinidad, Colorado. He also constructed and operated a toll road across the mountains from Trinidad to Willow Springs (now Raton), New Mexico.
Denne historien er fra February - March 2022-utgaven av True West.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra February - March 2022-utgaven av True West.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Where Did the Loot Go? - This is one of those find the money stories. And it's one that has attracted treasure hunters for more than 150 years.
Whatever happened to the $97,000 from the Reno Gang's last heist? Up to a dozen members of the Reno Gang stopped a Jeffersonville, Madison and Indianapolis train at a watering station in southern Indiana. The outlaws had prior intelligence about its main load: express car safes held about $97,000 in government bonds and notes. In the process of the job, one of the crew was killed and two others hurt. The gang made a clean getaway with the loot.
Hero of Horsepower - Los Angeles lawman William Hammel tamed one of the West's wildest towns with hard work and horseless carriages.
Los Angeles lawman William Hammel tamed one of the West's wildest towns with hard work and horseless carriages.
From the Basin to the Plains
Discover Wyoming on a road trip to Cody, Casper and Cheyenne.
COLLECTING AMERICAN OUTLAWS
Wilbur Zink has preserved the Younger Gang's history in more ways than one.
Spencer's West
After the Civil War, savvy frontiersmen chose the Spencer repeating carbine.
Firearms With a Storied Past
Rock Island gavels off high profits from historic firearms.
She Means Business!
An energetic and ambitious woman has come to Lincoln, New Mexico, to restore the town's legendary Ellis Store.
Ride that Train!
HERITAGE RAILROADS KEEP THE OLD WEST ALIVE ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.
Saddle Up with a Western
Old West fiction and nonfiction are the perfect genres to fill your summer reading list.
RENEGADES OF THE RAILS
RAILROADS WERE OPEN SEASON FOR OKLAHOMA AND INDIAN TERRITORY OUTLAW GANGS.
