History of America 1873

Vanderbilt thriving in midst of depression. New York 1873.
Cornelius Vanderbilt, czar of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, is taking the depression in stride. In fact, he has begun an expansion that will allow trains to run from New York to Chicago solely on Vanderbilt track. In New York, as the jobless huddle around ashcan fires and in the parks, the Commodore is employing armies to instal tracks for his Harlem Line. Obligingly the city will pay half the $6.5 million bill for his elaborate elevated road bed. Living through crises in this manner seems to be one of the perks of running a family business worth $90 million. Four years ago Vanderbilt consolidated the New York Central system and built Grand Central Depot opened in 1871.

Panic hits Wall Street. New York Sept. 20, 1873.
The Stock Exchange has closed in panic, following a trail of ruined firms. After two days of turmoil starting with the failure of the government bond agent Jay Cooke & Co. Backer of Northern Pacific Railroad construction, Wall Street was again the busiest (and unhappiest) place in town. Speculators rushed through the streets looking “pale as ghosts” trying to unload their stock at any price.
There were few buyers except for Jay Gould, who helped check the turmoil by buying when everyone else was selling.

Carpetbagger power seen waning in South. Mississippi Dec. 7, 1874.
Futher evidence that the power of the Northern carpet bag Republicans is on the wane has come with yet another outbreak of racially motivated rioting. In this instance, some 75 Negroes are believed to have been killed when they attacked the courthouse herein Vicksburg in an attempt to prevent the forcible ejection of a carpetbag sheriff. Similar disturbances have occurred elsewhere in the state, noteably in Meridian and Clinton, prompted by the resentment of whites over the large number of Negroes in public office, including the lieutenant governor.

Henry Ward Beecher accused of adultery. Brooklyn, New York, Aug. 28, 1874.
The minister of the Plymouth Church here, Henry Ward Beecher, has been upheld in a report issued by a church committee investigating charges of adultery brought against him by Timothy Tilton. Rumours of misconduct had been common since 1870, but not till June did Tilton accuse Beecher, the nation’s most popular minister, of “improper advances” towards his wife, Elizabeth. The committee found in Beecher, who faces legal proceedings, nothing to impair the confidence of Plymouth Church in his “Christian character and integrity”.

Pinkertons bomb James farm, but Frank & Jesse not home. Missouri Jan 25, 1875.
Operatives of the Pinkerton Detective gency raided the farmhouse of the notorious outlaws Jesse and Frank James earlier this evening. According to witnesses, the Pinkerton men threw bombs made of cotton soaked in kerosene and turpentine into the James home. Unfortunately for the law, the James boys were not there. The attack did however, kill their half-brother Archie, and mangled their mother’s arm, which will probably have to be amputated. Whilst many people detest the James Brother as wanton murderers, local residents regard them as modern day Robin Hoods

Gold prospectors enrage Sioux, who refuse to give up ground. Dakota Territory, November 1875.
Conflict between white prospectors and Sioux Indians of the Black Hills has escalated to outright war as the United States government continues to ignore the terms of the Fort Laramie treaty protecting the Indian’s land. Thousands of white prospectors and settlers have illegally infiltrated the once sacred Black Hills since gold was found there in the 1850‘s. The treaty of 1868, meant to keep all whites off these prosperous lands, has been consistently disregarded by the army forces stationed there to enforce it. To add insult to injury, on March 3., 1871, the government passed an act that disallowed any further treaties with the Sioux, and permitted only infrequent meetings to consider changing the existing ones. Expeditions to “reconnoitre” the area verified rumours of gold, and last month the Indians of the northern plains were called together by the government in a futile attempt to gain legal access to the area.

Sound is sent over a telephone wire. Boston, June 3, 1875.
While testing modifications on a device that enables deaf students to learn to speak, Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson have made a discovery that may lead to the transmission of voice through telegraph equipment. When a transmitter spring on Bell’s equipment became stuck, Watson began plucking it to free it. Bell, who had been in the next room, burst in shouting “What did you do? Don’t change anything”. He had heard the plucking sound through the device.

Harvey girls serve meals at rail depot. Topeka, Kansas, 1876.
Until now, eating at an American railroad station has been a hit-or-miss affair, with few facilities or amenities for a good meal. No Englishman Fred Harvey has decided to fill that void. He has opened a clean, well appointed dining room above the station on the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe line here. Orders are taken on board and full-course meals are ready to be served on arrival at the station by “Harvey Girls” n spotless uniforms that lend grace and propriety to the enterprise. Harvey intends to put such dining rooms all along the line.

Huge exposition marks centennial of United States. Philadelphia May 10, 1976.
Thirteen giant bells swayed and chimed 100 cannons fired a salute, 800 voices swelled the air with Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus and 4,000 foreign and American dignitaries gave a thunderous ovation. It was a stroke past noon today, and President Grant had declared the United States Centennial Exposition open. This celebration of American know how has been long in the making. In 1871, Congress called for “an international Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and products of the Soil and Mine” to be held on the nation’s 100th anniversary. President Grant and the Emperor Don Pedro II of Brazil, the first reigning monarch to visit the United states, strode from the podium in front of the main building and proceeded directly to Machinery Hall. The crowds pressed in after them. A gasp of wonder went up at the sight of the largest steam engine ever created.

Custer’s last stand at Little Big Horn. Dakota Territory, Jun 25,1876
Custer is dead! The legendary general and 265 troopers of his famed seventh cavalry Regiment were attacked by Sioux and Cheyenne Indians today on the banks of the Little Big horn River in Dakota Territory. Reports indicate that Custer and everyone of his men were killed by the estimated 2500 Indians under Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. The body of Custer was found on the pinnacle of a hill, the Seventh Cavalry flag still flying over him and the corpses of his men all around. After the battle the only living remnant of the ill-fated regiment was Comment, the faithful horse that belonged to Captain Miles Keough.
The Custer expedition was the key segment in a major campaign conducted by the army to force the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians to leave the Plains and return to their reservations.

Hickok killed playing poker at Deadwood. Aug 2, 1876.
“Wild Bill” Hickok was slain today at a saloon in Deadwood. Born James Butler Hickok, he served as an army scout during the Civil War, later as the sheriff of Hayes, Kansas, and most recently as marshall in Abeline, where he carried two pistols, a sawed-off shotgun and a Bowie knife. About five years ago “Wild Bill” retired, married and came to this territory to get into the gold prospecting. Today, whilst playing poker he was shot in the back by a drunk called Jack McCall. McCall had been told that his reputation as a gunfighter would be made if he killed Hickok.

Hayes elected President. Washington March 3. 1877.
Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio was declared winner of the contested race for President today., ending months of uncertainty over who would be the next resident of the hite House. By picking up all the disputed electoral votes, Hayes barely edged out Samuel J. Tilden of New York to climax one of the most rancorous chapters in the nation’s political history.
Tilden, a Democratic Governor had led his Republican opponent in both popular and electoral votes when returns were counted last November 7. However, Tilden was one electoral vote short of the needed 185, while Hayes trailed with 165. With 20 votes most of them from Southern states in dispute, a special electoral commission was established by Congress. It was dominated by Republicans and they awarded all 20 votes to Hayes.

10 Molly Maguires hanged for murder. Pennsylvania June 21, 1877.
Convicted of capital crimes on the evidence of a Pinkerton agent who has infiltrated their ranks, 10 members of the “Molly Maguires”, a secret organisation started by Irish-Americans to combat oppressive mining conditions, often by intimidation and killing, have been hanged for murder. At the trial it was revealed that James McParlan is the name of the detective hired by the Reading Railroad to penetrate the organisation.

Chief Joseph, surrendering says, “I will fight no more forever”. Montana, Oct 15, 1877
Nez Perce Chief Joseph rode up the hill accompanied by five warriors and offered his rifle to General O. O. Howard in a gesture of surrender after a five day standoff with the army in a bitter snow storm. The army took 418 prisoners. Only 87 were men, more than half of the wounded. The surrender ends the army’s four month pursuit of Chief Joseph that has cost the lives of 127 soldiers and 50 civilians. “I am tired of fighting” the 37-year-old Joseph told the remaining chiefs in the presence of an army emissary earlier in the day. “My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.”

Vanderbilt dies, leaves $100 million. New York Jan 4, 1877
Cornelius Vanderbilt, who rose from poor agrarian roots to amass a fortune in shipping and railroads, has finally lost a fight - for his life. Irascible as ever at 83, he berated the journalists hovering outside his home. “I am not dying” he bellowed. “Even if I was dying I should have vigour enough to knock this abuse down your lying throats and give the undertaker a job.”
Vanderbilt, who quit school at age 11, ran the first ferry service from Manhattan to Staten Island at 15. In the 1830‘s a owner of a steamship company, he cut fares with such vigour his competitors paid him to leave the Hudson Valley.

The United States is a nation of immigrants, a country inhabited by people whose ancestors all shared the painful experience of being uprooted from their native land to start a new life in a strange new world. From this common experience, America has earned a reputation as a land of opportunity for the world’s oppressed and a ‘melting pot ‘ where a variety of ethnic, religious and racial groups have mixed together to form a new culture. From 1870 to 1920, more immigrants - some 25 million - arrived in America than ever before. As they entered New York harbour the Statue of Liberty beckoned “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” One of the most obvious facts the newcomers faced was that the society they were joining was one undergoing a dramatic transformation.
In 1907, Henry Adams - historian, novelist descendant of presidents - published has classic autobiography. In it, he reflected on the social and economic changes he had witnessed in his lifetime: the development of railroads and ocean liners and the telegraph; the rise of industry; the growth of cities; the explosion of technical and scientific knowledge. The world he observed around him in the last years of his life seemed so different to the one he had known as a child that he often felt a stranger in his own land; a relic soon to be consigned to oblivion by the march of progress. At the rate of progress since 1800, every American who lived into the year 2000 would know how to control unlimited power. He would think in complexities unimaginable to an earlier mind. He would deal with problems altogether beyond the range of earlier society.

Yellow Fever takes 14,000 lives in South. New Orleans, Nov. 1878
The epidemic of the dreaded disease called “Yellow Jack” appears to be abating, but it has taken more than 14,000 lives in the South since it first struck in ‘New Orleans back in May. This has been a time of death and horror for stricken communities in the Mississippi Valley and Gulf Coast area. Here in New Orleans, yellow fever raged all through September and October, with a total of 27,000 cases and 4046 deaths reported. There was also epidemics in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. In New Orleans wagons patrolled the streets on a daily basis to collect bodies. There was no time for funerals. As one physician in Memphis commented “Death was triumphant”.

“Calamity” Jane aids victims of smallpox. Deadwood Dakota Territory 1878
Martha Jane Cannary is an unlikely candidate for the role of saviour. She drinks hard, runs with railroad gangs and “Wild Bill” Hickok, and serves frontier clientele as everything from showgirl to bawd. But “Calamity” Jane is proves she values more than making herself a legend in her own time. Taking a respite from adventure, she has been nursing smallpox victims her in the plague-torn Dakotas. Always reinventing herself, Jane says she has spent recent years as a man. In 1875 the straight shooting renegade concealed her gender to travel to the Black hills with a geological expedition. The next year she claims to have spent tracking Indians with General George Crook and 1,300 male soldiers.

Jetties, levees and showboats bring new life to the Mississippi. New Orleans 1879.
James B. Eades has had his revenge. Many called the St. Louis engineer insane when he suggested deepening the channel at the mouth of the Mississippi by building jetties, or artificial walls leading into the Gulf of Mexico. The river, he said would scour the channel to remove mudbars. The jetties were built, and today the channel at South Pass is 30 feet deep, enough for the largest ships to get through . No longer will the pass be blocked by ships stuck on mudbars. Now, the port’s future is assured. The Corps of Engineer also plans to strengthen the levee system.

Edison succeeds with electric light. Menlo Park, New Jersey, Oct 21, 1879.
Thomas A. Edison’s determined quest for a long-lasting electric light bulb succeeded today with the production of a bulb that burned for more than 13 hours before being switched off. Edison tried literally thousands of materials to find one that would last long enough to be commercially practical. Success finally came with the test of a bulb filament made of carbonised cotton.
The bulb is just one element of an electric lighting system being developed in Edison’s laboratory here. It includes a dynamo that can generate electricity reliably at low cost and a network of wiring that will carry electricity of the required voltage.

Immigrants push population to 50 million. Washington 1880
Stimulated by a flood of immigrants, America’s population grew by more than 11.5 million in the past decade to a total of 50 million, the 1880 census shows. And the nation, which up until now has been predominantly rural and populated with Northern and Western Europeans , is becoming increasingly heterogeneous and urban.
New York, landing place for most European immigrants is the first state to top 5 million, with Pennsylvania close behind with 4.2 million residents.
America is still moving west, the census shows. California’s population rose by nearly 50% in the decade to 864,000. Oregon nearly doubled to 175,000 and the population of the state of Washington more than tripled to 75,000.

Ads catch America’s fancy. Philadelphia 1880
Since the Civil War, the volume of national expenditure on advertising has been growing by leaps and bounds. Five years ago Francis Ayer, a former schoolteacher, and his father, founded N.W. Ayer & Son, signed the first “open contract” , with a firm of rose growers.

Kansas becomes first state to go “dry”. Kansas 1880.
Not since Maine passed temporary prohibition laws I 1851 has the temperance movement shown such political might, with legislators being bombarded by calls for a prohibition law against the sale and consumption of alcohol. The National Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Prohibition party are lobbying with new fervour and their efforts are paying off.
Governor John St. John with the support of the N.W.C.T.U. Has forced through a bill outlawing the sale of alcohol, after officials refused to shut down illegal saloons.

Garfield wins presidency; margin is 9,464. Washington Nov 2, 1880.
James A Garfield of Ohio has been elected President, winning a good majority of electoral votes but his Democratic opponent, Winfield S. Hancock of Pennsylvania by a mere 9,464 popular votes. The road to the White House was not an easy one for Garfield. He won the nomination on the 36th ballot at the June convention of the Republicans in Chicago.

President Garfield Shot. Washington July 2, 1881.
President Garfield was shot and critically wounded early today as he walked through the waiting room of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station on his way to catch a train north. The two shots, one in the back, and one in the arm, were fired by Charles J. Guiteau, a disappointed office-seeker from New York, who was quickly seized.
The President, who was rushed back to the White House, was heard to say as the shots were fired: “My God, what is this?” Bystanders also reported that after the man fired the gun the man shouted “I am a Stalwart and now Arthur is President.” Stalwarts are member sof the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Vice-President Chester A. Arthur who earlier supported the Stalwart agenda, will succeed to the Presidency should Garfield succumb.

60 Miles of elevated track cross New York. 1881.
In 1874, with New York streets a tangled mass of horse-drawn wagons and harried pedestrians, a newspaper heralded the elevated railway as the solution to “overcrowding which has imposed many social, moral and political evils upon the city.” At the time a lone 5 mile stretch of elevated track, built by Charles Harvey, ferried passengers along 9th Avenue. The trip from Battery to Harlem now takes 42 minutes, a fact sure to spur even faster city development.

Garfield Succumbs; Arthur succeeds him. Washington Sept. 20, 1881.
Less than a day after the death of President Garfield, Chester A. Arthur of New York became President in the early hours of this morning. The new President took his oath of office at 2.05 a.m. In his New York city home at 123 Lexington Avenue and will lead the nation a sit mourns the death of its leader.
The assassin Guiteau, who was seized at the time of the shooting is in custody and will be tried for murder later this year. The new President, a 51 year-old lawyer was elected as Vice President on the Garfield ticket last year

Earps wins a bloody gunfight at O.K. Corral. Tombstone, Arizona, Oct. 26, 1881.
After years of hard feelings between the Clanton Brothers and the famous Earp Brothers of Tombstone, things came to a showdown today on the corner of Fourth and Allen Streets a the O.K.Corral. Deputy Marshal Wyatt Earp and his brothers Virgil and Morgan, accompanied by the town ‘dentist’ “Doc” Holliday, gunned down their old nemeses in broad daylight. Just before Wyatt blazed away, he told the Clantons “you S.O.B.‘S you’ve been looking for a fight and now you can have it.” As they began to draw their guns, the two Clantons and their two cronies fell dead from the fire of the Earp’s pistols and Holliday’s shotgun.

Geological survey made of Grand Canyon. Washington 1881.
Science is gaining a foothold in one of natures most inscrutable wonders. Clarence E. Dutton, back from the first big geological survey of Grand Canyon, says its endless chasms were chiselled by water over 1,000 years. The Colorado (Spanish -reddish) River, Dutton days, initially wound lazily to the ocean. When the land began to elevate, the river gained momentum, slicing downwards as quickly as its banks rose. Its first white visitors, a Spanish party led by Don Lopez de Cardenas in 1540, never made it to the bottom. Missionaries returned in 1776 and named it Bucareli Pass after the viceroy of New Spain.

John L Sullivan wins title by K.O. Mississippi Feb. 7, 1882
Paddy Ryan’s reign as the king of bare knuckle fighters was short lived. The Boston strong boy, John L Sullivan put away Ryan, the first undisputed American champion in nine rounds. In addition to the purse, the 25-year-old Sullivan won a side bet of $5,000. The Bostonian may abandon the bare-knuckle fights because fan interest in them seems to be waning.

Frank James gives up without a fuss. Jefferson City, Missouri Oct. 5, 1882.
With little drama and absolutely no fanfare, Frank James, the viscous outlaw and popular folk hero, walked in and surrendered to Governor Crittenden today. Upon entering the office of the governor, James turned over his Remington .44 revolver and commented “I want to hand you that which no living man except myself has touched since 1861, and I am your prisoner”. Just 6 months since his brothers death, the James gang is defunct.

Jesse James shot dead. St. Joseph, Missouri Apr. 3, 1882.
After more than 15 years of robbing banks and hijacking railroad trains, Jesse James has been killed - by his cousin, a member of the James gang. Townspeople say that James’ kinsman, Bob Ford, had never liked esse, and that when a $10,000 reward was placed on the outlaws head, Ford decided to go after it.
He supposedly asked James if he could join the band of outlaws for a robbery. This morning, the 19 year-old Ford, armed with a pistol, came up behind James’ back as the outlaw was standing on a chair dusting off a picture. Ford, firing from only a few feet away, shot James through the head an killed him instantly.

American cowboys are passing into legend. The West 1882.
The success of the American Cattle Kingdom has depended on cowboys, most of whom are ivil War veterans, ex-slaves, Mexicans or Easterners in search of adventure. Their lot is not an easy one; for 18 hours a day, they ride the herd northward, round up stragglers and keep a look out for Indians and rustlers. But afterwards came pay day ($25 a month), and the boys, armed with revolvers, rode into Abeline or dodge City, “the wickedest place in the West,” in wild celebration. Violence and lawlessness have been common in these cow towns, where saloons are often scenes of reckless abandon.

Vanderbilts throw nation’s costliest party. New York, March 26, 1883
Mrs Alva Vanderbilt won sweet revenge tonight by throwing the worlds most expensive party for the same high society that has snubbed her. The costume ball cost $75,000 for food and entertainment. Rumour has it that Mrs. Caroline Astor begged Mrs. Vanderbilt to allow her unmarried daughter Carrie to attend, even though neither Mrs. Astor nor her daughter has ever before set foot in the Vanderbilt residence. The Vanderbilt home at 660 Fifth Avenue, is almost brand new. Its architect is Richard M. Hunt , who was the designer of the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty.

Northern Pacific finishes 2nd line to coast. Gold Creek, Montana, Sept. 8, 1883.
“I have no golden spike, but an iron one” said Northern Pacific president Henry Villiard top a huge crowd of dignitaries, workers and onlookers here today as they celebrated completion of the vast new railroad to the Pacific North West. After 19 years of battling unforgiving terrain and near-ruinous financial upheavals , it seemed fitting that the final spike would be the same one used so long ago in Minnesota. First Villiard and then former President Grant hammered the spike, as crowds cheered and cannons boomed from St. Paul to Portland Oregon, across 1,222 miles of the new transcontinental line.
On the Northern Pacific, the round trip from the Mississippi to the Columbia River, which had taken Lewis and Clark 2 ½ years, will take nine days.

Millions hail Brooklyn Bridge opening. New York May 25, 1883.
When John A. Roebling proposed a bridge to unite Brooklyn and New York in 1867, he boldly envisioned it as “the great engineering work of this continent and of the age.” Today, the German-born engineer’s awesome steel-cable span, hailed as the “eighth Wonder of the World” opened amid wildly enthusiastic celebrations, as millions waved their flags and cheered from streets, rooftops and river boats, as dignitaries from President Arthur on down inaugurated the East River masterpiece under a brilliant, cloudless sky. Above the road is an elevated promenade on which, “people of leisure enjoy the view”.