OCR Text |
Show STANDARD-EXAMINER SUNDAY, SEPT. 15, 1991 FEATURESEDITOR:625-4270 TRAVEL Inthe1880, tahwastheWildWeswith frontier towns rocking with saloons, gunshots and the dust ofmen fresh from the open range, Its denizens toted six-shooters, wore scuffed chaps and groomed handlebar moustaches, But this history has been largely overlooked until now- in James Beckstead's recent comprehensive look at... The Crandall family of Springville invested money made in railroading into several ranches in Utah and Millard counties. Historical photographs courtesy ot James Beckstead ‘This photograph was found in Ogden. it wae probably takenin the 1880s. windie pur3 didn’t happen. “These things about gurfights didn’t happen.” “Utah,” he remembers her saying, “was settled by peace-loving Mormons. The towns were all set out in proper fashion.” By JANELLE BIDDINGER Standard-Examiner staff The schoolbell, signaling the start of seventh grade, had sounded. James Beckstead, now grown anda just-published author, rememberssitting contentedly that first day of lessons, thinking: Finally. Finally, Young Becksiead raised his hand. “I said, ‘That isn’t how it happened. Utah wasthe Wild West, just as much as anywhereelse.’ ” And now,years later, Beckstead finally has the proof, in his just-published book, “Cowboying: A Tough Job in a Hard Land” (University of Utah Press, $19.95 soft cover). we're going to get to the real stuff. The young Beckstead had alreadyfilled his head with cowboys; he’d read book after book on the outlaw West. He knew that Butch Cassidy, a one-time cowboy, was more famous in his day than that other outlaw, Billy the Kid. He knew that Utah’s sprawling Through a lively text and dozens of historical photographs — more than 90 open range madeit prime cattle country. He percent never before published — Beckstead has portrayed a Utah whose denizenstoted six-shcoters, wore scuffed chaps and groomed knew that the great Oregon-boundcattle drives, whose cowboys outfitted in Ogden, rivaled the cattle drives of Texas celebrated in dusty handlebar moustaches, a Utah that was such movies as “Red River.” every bit the Wild West as neighbors Wyoming, Colorado and Arizona. If you could have walked to the fringes of such well-ordered 1880s cities as Salt Lake City and Ogden, the book reveals, you’d have found yourself in a typical frontier town, rocking with saloons, gunshots and the dust of men fresh from the cattle range. This side of Utah history has long been overlooked. “It’s like Utah was this big black See COWBOYon 5E Finally, he was to partake of that traditional seventh-grade class: Utah history. Here would be some schoolin’ worth learning. The teacher took her place before the class and, in Beckstead’s memory, said something to this effect, “Children, the thing you need to know about Utah is that it was different than the other Western states.” Beckstead sat back in his seat, a bit apprehensive. “These things about Indian and cowboys Walter ‘Latigo’ Gordon was a Texas cowboy who cameto Utahin the 1880s He died in Ogden in 1937. It was typical to be tough and Texan too By JANELLE BIDDINGER war between Carlisle and the Mormon settlers Gordon’s and his own broadening forehead. But it’s more than that. Gordon carried all of the attributes that Beckstead admires in Utah's early cowboys. Gordon, who was born in North Carolina in 1865, drifted into southeastern Utah in the 1880s, where before long he hired on as a foreman for the British-owned Kansas and Standard-Examiner staff Walter Eugene “Latigo” Gordon was the quintessential Utah cowboy: He was Texan Many of the working cowboys whodrifted through the Beehive State between 1865 and 1895 took their early knocks in the Lone Star state. Some stayed; others worked there briefly, then moved on Like many, Gordon was “tough-minded, fearless and gun-toting” says James Beckstead, author of “Cowboying: A Tough Job in a Hard Land.” of Monticello and Bluff, said Beckstead. When Carlisle pulled out of Utah in 1896 Gordon opted to stay. But the wounds ran deep, and Gordon was arrested in a shooting incident with a local lawman. Later, he was ambushed and gravely wounded, and his farmhouse burned to the ground Gordon finallyleft the area, and died in Ogden in 1937. Much has been written about Gordon, but as far as Beckstead knew, he had never been photographed. “You never, never saw a photograph of him,” he says. Through “sheer luck,” Beckstead discovered Gordon had a daughter living in Moab. But she was bitter over what shefelt was unfair treatment of her New Mexico Land and Cattle Company, known as the Carlisle outfit and one of the most colorful of all Utah cattle companies, says Beckstead On top of supervising some 80 cowboys, Gordon opened a saloon, the Blue Goose described by Beckstead as the most famous watering hole in southeastern Utah Before long, however, Gordon was caught up in a vicious and bloody years-long land But of all of the cowboys who ever roped a steer here, Gordon — whose nickname was pronounced “Laddie-go” — is Beckstead's favorite Why? “May be beca ise we have the samehairline,” he jokes, referring to = Portrait by QUINN JACOBSON/Standard-Examiner ‘Cowboys’ author James Beckstead didn’t agree with what he was taught — that Utah ‘was settled by peace-loving Mormons’ and the ‘towns were all set out in proper fashion.’ See GORDON on SE Jiggle queen is coming back to TV as Carol Brad om 5 ar a’ Ss conter three h n K + E ’ “ e . - bie” thatsi since drign dismal autumn $ : was he act he Emn unfairly snubbed hoth Lo ste cespite trical quali! fh That's Somers ts, back right. Chrissy of “Three’s wh SI Company” fame is getting another my-caliber show shot at prime-time teievision critics). This 15 as it should be, since | know many of us young, heterosexsa! mals hack m th 3? Tite fele is back also starred in (another Em ff ble na Hmmn <a KiGsS Duffy e £ night on ( Non torci Lad . ; wit woman a and = - tT . Z g‘ . ; } pp Having hing b u:s hree ve deh *** Sneakine —_ 4 , NN.A r ine . dunace pres { Thomas te v0 b fe S make Abe ti rr of d ngs ‘ is te bx J spe q tod our Americans bie afident 1G give f nm cra anin 5 n itive Republicans rh owat Thomas on ti so repea rt em is, liberal freedom short m conser- Democrats Got ik supreme ourt press him for abort fes confirmed, ieir time lobbing ns at him, designed | 0k like the offspring Lincoln and Mother Teresa REPUBLI - their at- ressional aides for a on coun of ours rea rat Rare are W ffered su an im sider’s view imto the workings DRees Republicans, on A that Bork lun " Rat in vote against him. ich nuck ue vu \fold. An st Whateve i ) ' ate Confir ¢ \ = 4 been glued t this Supreme S nH 7 rates a ARC iam of you I've set watching al ad as two deinionn a “Step By Step.” and ™ premieres Prda the understandine tlooked by the CS. ng with tt this fall with a new prime-time hali-hour sitcom the. on sen ened ant donati three kids of his own Th 1 a Somer “She's ra Patrick star Ty cations ¥ Suzanne show ais ree KIGS OT his own — n and the fellow fall in love : ‘ ws = many TI a widows th off the a oO ™ imnect mad £ 3 i r andani.fva Oarg-tx2 m ner ¢€Vv since nroe-amm ’ " Saal all us take r tne tO ming § Which should “Which Mark ' , : In “Step By Step,” Somers pla Judge iN Thomas, SENATOR: your views Teil on JUDGE THOMAS: Vi tor, 1 unequivocally ept of freed support the con REPUBLICAN SENATOR: And imer Have you anything Against (Mts greal country of ours’ JUDGE THOMAS: No sir, [ love See SAAL on SE |