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Published: September 21st 2014
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MOVING AHEAD
Always Moving Ahead? Naw, they don't know if they coming or going in Rawlins. SEPTEMBER 2, 2014 I spent Labor Day Weekend with my dear niece Glenda Schierwagen and them in Riverton, WY. It was jolly good visit. We went out for a steak dinner on Saturday evening. Folks in Wyoming are dang particular about their beefsteak and will not tolerate anything but the best. Jinny’s did not disappoint us. On Sunday me and Glenda went sightseeing, we had Taco John’s for lunch in Lander, and then burgers for supper. On Monday I helped her husband, Ernie, pick some plums for a batch of wine he is hoping to make. The granddaughter, Arika, washed my filthy Jeep and Ernie’s filthy pickup and we had pizza for supper. Ernie and I each gave her twenty dollars for her trouble. She worked hard and did a good job. Arika is twelve and needed money for a new phone case. This morning me and Ernie went to breakfast at Bailey’s Truck Stop. Glenda went to work. The “check engine” light blinked to the on position last Friday and has been bothersome ever since. This morning I stopped at the Jeep place in Lander to get it fixed, but the service manager told me that they could not
BIG NOSE GEORGE LYNCHED HERE
Big Nose George was strung up from a telegraph pole right where that car is parked. possibly work that job in to their busy schedule for at least a week even though there was not yet a single vehicle in their shop by 9am. I made my way to Rawlins and will try the Jeep dealer here tomorrow morning. The light has begun to blink on and off so it needs to be attended to soon. Maybe this Rawlins outfit has a better concept of customer service than that jackass in Lander had and probably still has. I had a pretty fair “Little Bill” for supper this evening at Crappy’s Restaurant on the west side of town. Waitress said she might try one herself.
BIG NOSE GEORGE PARROTT Big Nose George ran onto a serious piece of bad luck when he fell in with the good people of Rawlins. In 1878 Big Nose George was part of a gang who bungled a train robbery near the Medicine Bow River in Wyoming. A couple of officers tracked the gang to a hideout on Rattlesnake Creek near Elk Mountain and in the ensuing gunplay both officers were killed and robbed. Rewards of $20 thousand dollars were offered on the culprits. In 1879 Big Nose George and
BIG NOSE GEORGE DEATH MASK
If you look closely you will see that the ears are missing. Dr Osborne's shoes are also on display but pictures of them are not allowed. his pals robbed a Miles City merchant by the name Cahn of a hefty sum as he was on his way east to purchase supplies for his store. It was a bold piece of work as Cahn was being escorted by a detachment of 15 soldiers and 2 officers out of Fort Keogh who were on their way to pick up a military payroll. Big Nose and Dutch Charlie Burris got to bragging in a Miles City saloon about killing the officers in Wyoming and got themselves arrested for the reward out on them. The two outlaws were brought back to Rawlins and convicted on two counts of murder and Big Nose was sentenced to hang on April 2, 1881. He gnawed through his restraints and attempted to escape after using his shackles to fracture the skull of the jailer. When the townsmen in Rawlins heard about it they busted him out of jail themselves and strung him up on telegraph pole. It was not the most gentle of lynchings. The townsmen did not bother with a noose. George got to thrashing around and broke the first rope. They got another rope and this time George grabbed ahold of it above his head and tried to wiggle loose. By the time Big Nose finally strangled to death he was begging for somebody to shoot him. During the struggle both of his ears were torn off. A new doctor in town named John Osborne pronounced death and then took the body to an office he was sharing with Dr. Thomas Maghee. The two doctors decided they might like to study the brain of Big Nose George to see if they could surmise something that might lead to criminal behavior. They made a death mask first in case it might be important for measurement later and then cut the skull cap off with a hacksaw. They gave the skull cap to 15 year old Lillian Heath, the medical assistant, who used it as an ashtray, a pen holder and a doorstop through her long career. They did not discover anything much unusual about the brain, but Osborne decided to take some the hide and send it to a tannery in Denver. When he got it back he had a pair of shoes made of Big Nose George’s skin. What was left of Big Nose George Parrott was finally loaded into a barrel of saline solution and buried in the backyard behind the doctor’s office. Osborne eventually entered politics and became Governor of Wyoming. He wore the shoes he had made of the hide to his inauguration. Maghee was actually a pretty compassionate doctor where no criminals were concerned. He lived a long and useful life. Lillian Heath became the first female doctor in Wyoming. In 1950 she was still creaking around at the age of 85 when the barrel was dug up during a construction job and the bones found inside. Authorities asked Lillian for the skull cap so they could match it up to the skull and verify who the body once was. It was a perfect fit, but Lillian would not give it up until she was promised another door stop.
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