One of the several Native Americans to join Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show was Charging Thunder. Does the name sound familiar? This Lakota chief joined the crew when he was only 26 years old. He married one of the American horse trainers in the crew, eventually. Ah, romance! Such a beautiful thing!
Charging Thunder became a British citizen after the show and started working in Manchester’s Belle Vue Circus as an elephant trainer. Later on, he got sick of the circus and eventually became a factory worker, then changed his name to George Edward Williams.
Gould and Curry and the Savage
Other than the saloons, the shootouts, and the outlaws, mining for gold was also a huge pastime or a permanent job. Gould and Curry Mining was a huge part of the Wild West. Lots of towns had jobs in the field of mining. In this photo, we see the silver mine in Virginia City, Nevada. There were two major mines back then: Gould and Curry and the Savage.
The miner that you see in the photo was approximately 900 feet underground, and sadly, it was harder to mine than you think because he was burning a magnesium wire to make it easier for him to see. No, it’s not like today’s mining, where you plug a computer and a bunch of wires into a gadget and wait for it to earn you some money. Nope! Here, you had to do it the traditional way. You had to dig for your wealth. After the discovery of the silver deposits, Virginia City became a boomtown. The city grew to 25,000 residents at its peak. When the mine’s output started to go down, so did the residents. Only 850 people live in Virginia as of 2010. Now, that’s what you call fearless.
The First-Ever Saloon
We all know that saloons were the most popular go-to place back in the old west because they served a wide assortment of folks that included not just cowboys but also fur trappers, soldiers, miners, and many more. Are you curious to know where the first-ever saloon was established? You’ll never guess, but it was in Wyoming in 1822, but quickly popped into the American Frontier.
These were among the more popular establishments available to people in the west by 1880. Bartenders were the most respected men back then because they prided themselves in their saloons' appearance and their ability to pour their customers a drink. Most of these saloons were used for harlotry, gambling, and opium dens.
Maiman
The Native American Man that we see in the photo is named Maiman. He was a Mojave Native and worked as a guide-interpreter in the 19th century, especially during the 1870s in Colorado. Maiman had a regular named Timothy O’Sullivan, who was a photographer. He would help him find some of the best locations for taking beautiful photographs.
Unlike other photographers out there, O'Sullivan didn't like the thought of photographing native Americans in a studio. Instead, he liked to capture them in a very realistic way. Aside from many nature shots, he also liked taking many Civil War battlefields. Now, that’s a photographer with a lot of guts!
Billy the Kid
Now, we go to the old west’s favorite outlaw, Billy the Kid. Although he was the most well-known outlaw, he wasn't always named Billy the Kid. His real name was Henry McCarty. In case you were wondering why he became so famous, he was known for having killed at least 8 men at a young age, and was one of the notorious gunfighters during that time.
The Kid was originally born in New York City and later moved to New Mexico. This guy was already a rebel because he even fought in the Lincoln County War. Because of his many indiscretions, he was arrested and put in jail. Unfortunately, in an attempt to escape from jail, Sheriff Pat Garrett shot and killed him. He died at the age of 21, but his legacy did not end there. Rumor has it that he didn’t die in the gunfight, but over the next few decades, many people committed the same crimes and claimed to be Billy the Kid.