Wild West Podcast
Welcome to the Wild West podcast, where fact and legend merge. We present the true accounts of individuals who settled in towns built out of hunger for money, regulated by fast guns, who walked on both sides of the law, patrolling, investing in, and regulating the brothels, saloons, and gambling houses. These are stories of the men who made the history of the Old West come alive - bringing with them the birth of legends, brought to order by a six-gun and laid to rest with their boots on. Join us as we take you back in history to the legends of the Wild West.
Wild West Podcast
Desperate Paths and Dangerous Choices in the Old West
What if the thin line between law and chaos was a daily path you had to walk? We take you back to the wild streets of 1873 Ellsworth, Kansas, where every choice could make or break a gambler's fortune. This is the poignant tale of Chauncey "Cap" Belden Whitney, a respected lawman and skilled scout known for his steadfast commitment to justice in the turbulent American frontier. Whitney, a prominent figure in his community, notably participated in the intense and storied Battle of Beecher Island in 1868. This event solidified his reputation as a courageous defender of settlers. In 1871, he was appointed sheriff of Ellsworth County, where he earned accolades for his unwavering dedication to law enforcement and ability to maintain order in a lawless region.
The tragic turn occurred one fateful evening when Billy Thompson, a brash and impulsive frontiersman, sought to stir trouble over a heated card game. Thompson, known as the brother of the notorious Ben Thompson, was determined to escalate tensions. As voices rose and the atmosphere charged, Whitney stepped in to quell the brewing confrontation, prioritizing peace and the safety of those around him. Tragically, in a sudden act of violence, Thompson drew a double-barreled shotgun and fatally shot Whitney, cutting short the life of a man who had devoted himself to protecting others in a perilous time. Whitney's death sent shockwaves through the community, highlighting the ever-present dangers faced by law enforcement officers in the Wild West.
We arrived in Ellsworth, kansas, on the first day of April 1873 and checked into the Grand Central Hotel. The Grand Central Hotel comforted Libby to have our first child. We named him Rance. We were then married and found ourselves in the need of money. Ellsworth at this time was a cow town and violence was common. We knew in the spring the cattle drives would start to come up from Texas To make a living. Libby would take up what she understood best and court the cowboys. I, on the other hand, would do my share of gambling. My brother, ben, joined Livvy and me two months later. Shortly after Ben's arrival, we set ourselves up as the house gamblers in Joe Brennan's saloon on Snake Row. Joe was married to a dance hall girl by the name of Molly.
Speaker 1:The first time I saw Molly Brennan I was attracted to her. She had an air of innocence. The beauty of her face, gleamed with brown of cheek, and the smile from her red lips could put any man into a trance. Her eyes moved softly about, gentle and as deep as those of an antelope could stir a man's heart. Libby worked at Lizzie Palmer's place.
Speaker 1:We all became good friends with Chauncey Whitney, the county sheriff. Sheriff Whitney and I spent a lot of time together. I found him to be a good man, effective as an officer of the law and well-liked among the citizens of the county. My brother, ben, liked the sheriff and told me once that Whitney had a personality that made him an easy man to respect. He was strong but fair. Personality that made him an easy man to respect. He was strong but fair. Whitney's popularity had given to him as a noted hero while serving as a scout during the Indian Wars. He was celebrated for his bravery in the Battle of Beecher's Island. To have a good relationship with a lawman was a good thing to have, but I fell short with Deputy Sheriff Morco.
Speaker 1:Morco was hired by the local police force along with Ed Hogue and Ed Crawford to reduce the amount of violence during the cattle drives, and Ed Crawford to reduce the amount of violence during the cattle drives. I found Morco to be a belligerent individual and a bragger who boasted about how many men he had killed. He was known about town as John Happy Jack Morco, mainly because he was happy to boast in public about how he shot 12 men dead. The three of them together formed a pack of corruption. The lawmen got a fee for every arrest, so they frequently trumped up charges against visiting cowboys. Jovers from Texas didn't take too kindly to that. It only took a few weeks for three of them to find me. Morco did not like me and I did not like him.
Speaker 1:Morco's hatred of me was nothing more but a transformation of his own shame and insecurities. Everyone in town knew him as an egotist and the lack of courage to face his real truth. He was a persecutor and all he wanted to do was beat down a person who already had more than their soul could take several times over. He would come into the saloon where I worked and started to use his authority to push me around. Morco found me in possession of a gun and arrested me on June 30th for carrying a weapon in town limits. This made me angry, but both Ben and Libby persuaded me to pay the fine and leave the matter alone. Ben was so irritated with the takedown and during the hearing warned Morco to cool it on the arrest. Morco, ed Hoag and Ed Crawford pay no mind to Ben's request. They returned his suggestion with a laugh, saying there was more to come our way.
Speaker 1:After my arrest I became unsettled and became a heavy drinker. It was a month later when I became extremely intoxicated and vocal about Morco, sheriff Whitney found me at the Brennan Saloon in a bad state of mind and told me to settle down or I might get myself in trouble. The sheriff left me to sober up and said he was going across the street to have dinner with a friend. I did just as the sheriff requested. I asked for another bottle of whiskey and went over and watched my brother, ben, teach a man by the name of John Sterling how to play Monty.
Speaker 1:A large number of Texas Cowboys crowded around Ben's gambling table to make a bet on the turn of a card. Ben shuffled the 40 card Spanish deck of cards, dealt two cards from the bottom of the deck, laying them face up on the table. Ben dealt the next two cards from the top of the deck and laid them face down on the table. Ben stepped back in full view of the four cards two cards faced up and two faced down and said place your bets, gentlemen, on either layout. The players around the table quickly placed their bets and anxiously awaited Ben to turn the deck over. So the bottom gate card was face up this time. The gate card matched the same suit for John Sterling. The bets played out on Sterling's layout. Ben collected losing cards on the table. When John Sterling walked away from the table and made for the front door, ben yelled out at him hey, sterling, you need to pay up your percentage. Sterling stepped out in the street. Ben handed me the deck of cards, told me to watch over the game and departed the saloon in pursuit to the vanishing Sterling.
Speaker 1:It wasn't but about ten minutes after my brother left the saloon when I heard a shot fired. The gunshots cracked into the air as thunder, but without the raw power of a storm. To where I stood, back in the room. The bolted noise reverberated in the streets and rang out into the saloon. I stood, like everyone else, in the room in silence, frozen to the anticipated sound of a second burst. When Ben ran through the front door of the saloon, it was at the time in careful attendance to a deck of money cards on the table with a whiskey bottle to keep me company.
Speaker 1:As Ben's chaotic motions descended on the room, it seemed like a chaos of. Ben's entry accelerated a fear and wonderment of an unknown occurrence with a speculation of violence. Does anyone have a gun? Shouted Ben. I dropped the deck on the table and started over the front door of the saloon when voice called out from the street Get your guns, you Texas sons of bitches, and fight. I looked out the window of Brennan's saloon and observed Happy Jack Morko with two drawn pistols pointed in the air, one barrel smoked and Deputy Sterling armed with a shotgun. I looked back to see if I could find Ben and took a glance at the tail of his black overcoat disappear through the back door of Brennan's saloon. I ran to the back door and followed Ben into Jake New's place where we checked our guns. Door and followed Ben into Jake New's place where we checked our guns.
Speaker 1:Ben had time, before I arrived, to stuff his revolver and his belt, loaded his Winchester and stepped out on South Main Street. I asked Jake for Ben's shotgun and he refused to hand it over. You're not sober enough to go out in the street with a loaded gun, responded Jake. I grabbed Jake by his shirt collar. That's my brother out there. I said I will be damned if you or anyone else is big enough to stop me. Now give me that shotgun or I'm going through you to get it.
Speaker 1:My anger, mixed with the overconsumption of whiskey, all rushed to my head at once. I felt my heart pounding with excitement. I loaded the shotgun, cocked both barrels and staggered out in the street. My hands gripped the front barrels of the shotgun. My eyes swiveled towards the back of my head and distressed sense of a headache. I tilted my head downwards toward my boots and sighed as the street closed in around me. I looked forward as Ben's figure changed in the blink of an eye. I looked forward as Ben's figure changed in the blink of an eye. Ben glanced over at me seeing how out of balance I was. Be careful, billy Ben shouts. Ben's caution started me and I pulled back on one of the triggers.
Speaker 1:The shotgun discharges and a flare of fire poured out from one barrel of the gun. A blast of lead scattered across the boardwalk in front of New's saloon. The blast pierced through the boardwalk and opened up wood splinters at the feet of two Texas drovers, seth Mabry and Eugene Millett. What the hell, yelled Seth as he ducked behind a wood frame entryway. Ben, get that damn shotgun from your brother before he kills us all, screamed Eugene as he took two hops back, fell off the boardwalk and into the street.
Speaker 1:Ben reached over and grabbed the shotgun away from me, breached the smoking barrel and tried to extract the cartridges Damn. Ben responded to the heat of the barrel. I can't un-eject the shell. The brass was swollen tight inside the barrel. He handed the shotgun over to Eugene and stepped into the street. I stepped off the boardwalk and shouldered Eugene with a hard push Give me that gun, I said. I grabbed the shotgun back with one quick snatch out of Eugene's hands, picked up my staggered pace braced my fall forward and shadowed Ben down to Snake Row. I looked up and there they stood, sterling and Morco faced off with Ben, in the middle of the street. Ben cocked the lever of his Winchester, loaded one round into the chamber and positioned the rifle across his chest with his right index finger on the trigger. If you, sons of bitches, want to fight us, here we are.
Speaker 1:Across the plaza, on the opposite side of the tracks, I noticed Sheriff Chauncey B Whitney coming out of Veach's Hotel and Restaurant. Another man followed him, a man I knew to be John Long Jack DeLong. Sheriff Whitney stepped across the tracks and called out Boys, don't have any row, I will do all I can to protect you. Whitney pointed back to Long Jack. You know John and I are your friends. Come, let us go to Brennan's and take a drink.
Speaker 1:My mind was in a state of frenzy. The street spun out of control around me faster than normal and, with my legs about to give way, I responded Nope, I'm not going to do it this time, sheriff, I said I'm not going to let those damn sons of bitches get the best of Ben. It was at that moment when a small voice quietly nagged at the back of my mind. The voice reminded me that I would not feel this way tomorrow and that my actions may have repercussions, and perhaps today one of great severity. I will walk back with you, but my shotgun will be ready and pointed in their direction. They better not follow us or I'm going to let them have it.
Speaker 1:We walked across the plaza and back to Brennan's. The front doors of the saloon were crowded with spectators and hindered me. The front doors of the saloon were crowded with spectators and hindered me a clear path into the saloon. I started to push my way through the crowd when a Texas stockman by the name of WA Langford yelled out a warning Watch out, morco has a pistol. I stepped out of the saloon onto the boardwalk and looked over at Ben. Ben was in a full spin. He brought his Winchester up to his shoulder, took aim and fired down the boardwalk. Ben's shot sent fire from the barrel of the rifle in the direction of Morco. Morco, at a full run, with pistol pulled, had no time to return fire before he dove to the entrance of Beebe's General Store. The bullet from Ben's rifle hit and splintered the door sheath, just missing Morco's head.
Speaker 1:I pulled back the hammer of my shotgun and leveled it at the concealed Morco. I was enraged by Morco's approach to shooting my brother in the back. I managed the shotgun through the crowded door, aimed and heard Sheriff Whitney say what does this all mean? I fired. When I pulled the trigger. I did not hear the report or feel the kick, but I heard the devilish grumble of Sheriff Whitney outcry oh, I'm shot.
Speaker 1:In that instant a mysterious, terrible change had come over the crowd of witnesses. I looked out to see where my shot had landed and watched as Sheriff Whitney fell into the street. He looked suddenly stricken, pinched, as though the frightful impact of the scattered pellets had paralyzed him. His arms stretched out. His eyes marked me. An enormous senility seemed to have settled upon his face as he looked back into the street with his chest blustered open. Ben pushed me aside and screamed back at me my God, billy, you've shot our best friend. I was in shock Disbelief as I observed Sheriff Whitney gasp for air in the middle of the street. I looked down at the mortally wounded sheriff. His bystanders crowded around him. Sheriff Whitney motioned over for Long Jack to come closer. Long Jack kneeled next to him. He did not mean it, whispers, whitney, it was accidental. Send for my wife and baby.
Speaker 1:Despite the shooting being accidental, ben forced me on a horse and ordered me to flee town. He told me to go to the house, pack my belongings and say goodbye to Libby and Rance. Still in a drunken state, I decided not to do as I was told I was angry. Still in a drunken state, I decided not to do as I was told. I was angry, bitter and needed a better choice. I rode over to Joe Brennan's place and decided I would take his wife with me. Joe was out front and attended to the downed sheriff. While I entered the back door of Brennan's place, I caught Molly by surprise and she agreed to go with me. I was now an outlaw on the run with Molly Brennan, another man's wife. I found out later that Sheriff Whitney died on August 18, 1873. His death resulted in a $300 reward being placed on my head. Ben moved out of Ellsworth a few months later. Molly and I went back to Texas. For the next several years, molly and I lived on the run from lawmen and bounty hunters. We traveled from one town to another, we stayed wherever she could find work and I could find a gambling table.
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