BuckleBoy
Gold Member
Hello All,
Went out with diggergirl today to hunt an old schoolhouse. We pounded the place hard, and it was raining on us the whole time and temps in the 40s. Digger found only a tick
First tick of the year--so be careful folks, they are out. Here's a photo of our site:
At least digger didn't skunk me today like she has every time I have gone hunting with her this year. I half expected her to pull another Silver Dollar from a schoolhouse site today...but it wasn't meant to be.
At the end of our hunt, we had some brass sheet metal, bits and pieces of junk, cast iron schooldesk legs, etc...
I did get one really Fine signal (I was certain it was going to be a coin of some sort). It turned out to be this neat brass tag:
(So at that point, I was pleased that I'd gotten something Old and potentially Cool--more than I'd found since last Tuesday, due to my extended, Severe Finds Drought.)
Well...cleaning up the tag, it turns out that the tag is from a place Far away from here, and it is actually a darned cool find. 8)
Here's a photo of the tag cleaned up. It says "WIGGINS HOUSE 62 BAXTER SPRINGS," and I am assuming that it is a hotel keychain:
It turns out that the Wiggins House Hotel was in Cherokee County, Kansas--over 550 miles away from where the tag was found--and that's 550 Interstate miles.
Here's a bit of history:
On November 7th 1870, a “fallen woman” by the name of Nellie Starr, who is listed in the Cherokee County census as operating a brothel, became involved in an argument with two Texas cattle drovers at the Wiggins House Hotel. She fired a pistol at one of the men. Marshal Seaman attempted to arrest Starr, but several more shots were fired and one of the Texans shot the marshal. Before Seaman died, he seriously wounded one of the suspects. During the shooting, the owner of the Wiggins House was wounded and the hotel caught on fire. Marshal C. M. Taylor was appointed by Mayor J. R. Boyd to succeed Seaman. On June 29, 1872, Mayor Boyd shot and killed Marshal Taylor in a dispute.
(http://www.kslawenforcementmemorial.org/Letter List/S.htm)
Here's another account of the incident, from the Utica NY Daily Observer--dated Tuesday, Nov.29th 1870.
I am assuming that the hotel burned down--but I have no clue as to the dates of operation for the hotel. I'm hoping that one of you Kansas folks might have access to a business record somewhere that could give me an idea of a date range for the hotel.
Anyhow, I'm thrilled. First certified piece of the old west that I've managed to recover.
Best Wishes,
Buckleboy
Went out with diggergirl today to hunt an old schoolhouse. We pounded the place hard, and it was raining on us the whole time and temps in the 40s. Digger found only a tick
First tick of the year--so be careful folks, they are out. Here's a photo of our site:At least digger didn't skunk me today like she has every time I have gone hunting with her this year. I half expected her to pull another Silver Dollar from a schoolhouse site today...but it wasn't meant to be.
At the end of our hunt, we had some brass sheet metal, bits and pieces of junk, cast iron schooldesk legs, etc...
I did get one really Fine signal (I was certain it was going to be a coin of some sort). It turned out to be this neat brass tag:
(So at that point, I was pleased that I'd gotten something Old and potentially Cool--more than I'd found since last Tuesday, due to my extended, Severe Finds Drought.)
Well...cleaning up the tag, it turns out that the tag is from a place Far away from here, and it is actually a darned cool find. 8)
Here's a photo of the tag cleaned up. It says "WIGGINS HOUSE 62 BAXTER SPRINGS," and I am assuming that it is a hotel keychain:
It turns out that the Wiggins House Hotel was in Cherokee County, Kansas--over 550 miles away from where the tag was found--and that's 550 Interstate miles.
Here's a bit of history:
On November 7th 1870, a “fallen woman” by the name of Nellie Starr, who is listed in the Cherokee County census as operating a brothel, became involved in an argument with two Texas cattle drovers at the Wiggins House Hotel. She fired a pistol at one of the men. Marshal Seaman attempted to arrest Starr, but several more shots were fired and one of the Texans shot the marshal. Before Seaman died, he seriously wounded one of the suspects. During the shooting, the owner of the Wiggins House was wounded and the hotel caught on fire. Marshal C. M. Taylor was appointed by Mayor J. R. Boyd to succeed Seaman. On June 29, 1872, Mayor Boyd shot and killed Marshal Taylor in a dispute.
(http://www.kslawenforcementmemorial.org/Letter List/S.htm)
Here's another account of the incident, from the Utica NY Daily Observer--dated Tuesday, Nov.29th 1870.
I am assuming that the hotel burned down--but I have no clue as to the dates of operation for the hotel. I'm hoping that one of you Kansas folks might have access to a business record somewhere that could give me an idea of a date range for the hotel.
Anyhow, I'm thrilled. First certified piece of the old west that I've managed to recover.
Best Wishes,
Buckleboy
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And then, I wonder which teacher had it in his pocket when he left Baxter Springs! 
