CSL&oH.A. Podcast #1 Nicholas Porter Earp

 

Nicholas Porter Earp, Public Domain

Welcome to Our very first podcast.

#1 Nicholas Porter Earp. 

Father of Wyatt Earp

                                                        250 years of American History

Gold.. The Story of the Lure of The West: By G.C. Stevens

 

A mine, outside of Victor, Colorado, went “nighty-night” in 1961. Loved this photo of it, and the sunset over the Sangre De Christo mountains. Photo by Dan Oelrich 

The whisper started in the east “Gold in California—ounces in every pan!” Young men and old men alike, saddle-maker’s apprentices, and adventure seekers, read it by lamplight and felt the walls of life shrink. Deep debts, damp winters, none of it mattered once the word west lodged in their chest like a bullet. Gold.... Was the draw 

By springtime, the harbors crawled with dreamers. Many sold their personal items for passage on a clipper rounding Cape Horn. Six months of gales and scurvy left them gaunt, but when the ship raised the pine-dark coast, they laughed aloud for the first time in years.  Sutter’s Fort was chaos: canvas tents, Chinese cooks, Kanaka sailors, Mormon battalion deserters—all swinging picks under a merciless sun. 

Many staked a claims on the American River where the water ran cold over black sand. Days blurred into muscle ache and the ping of iron on stone. Then, one August dawn, a young man's pan flashed yellow. A single nugget, thumb-sized, heavy as sin. He whooped so loud a grizzly answered from the ridge. Word traveled faster than wagons. Farmers abandoned plows mid-furrow; clerks bolted from ledgers; a preacher traded his Bible for a cradle. They came by oxcart, by mule, by foot across the alkali flats, dying of thirst with gold dust sewn in their hems. San Francisco, once a village of adobe and whales, sprouted saloons and three-story hotels overnight. A cup of water cost a dollar; a rotten potato, five. Some never struck it rich again, but the river gave enough to buy a ranch in the foothills. Some nights they still hear the rush of water over gravel, still sees the fever in new eyes arriving on the trail. The gold drew them west, yes—but it was the promise of open sky that kept them.

Jesse James Father left his family for the call of Gold

Photo courtesy Patrick Meguair

Robert Salle James married Zerelda Cole on December 28, 1841. His children were Alexander Franklin, Robert, Jesse and Susan Lavenia. He attended Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky, graduating in 1843 with honors and a Bachelor of Arts. The family soon relocated to Clay County, Missouri, where Zerelda's mother and stepfather were living, but Robert commuted back to Kentucky and eventually received a Master of Arts from Georgetown. He was considered a gifted student and a skilled orator. James was a noted revivalist. He was among the founders of William Jewell College in 1849. In April 1850, James left his family for California to visit his brother Drury Woodson James, who had already relocated to the state He also planned to prospect for gold and preach to the crowds of goldminers during the California gold rush. Shortly after arriving in California in August 1850, he contracted cholera and died on August 18, 1850, in the Hangtown Gold Camp.

                                                 Wyatt Earp from the authors collection

After leaving Arizona, Wyatt and his wife, Josephine “Sadie” Marcus Earp, had decided to head north to Alaska to follow the cash of several of the gold rushes. Though Wyatt wasn’t looking to get rich on the end of a pick and shovel. Instead, he would be “mining the miners” by setting up a saloon and gambling operation.

Ref Wyatt Earp in Alaska - by Michael R Dougherty

In Wyatt Earps Shadow, the Story of Morgan Earp: By G.C. Stevens

 

The name of the Wyatt Earp stirs up thoughts of gunfights and the violence of the American west and of Tombstone Arizona. But Wyatt was not alone in Tombstone. His family and their wives were there along with him. Two of his brothers joined him at the gunfight at the OK Corral on the day of fate. They were Morgan and Virgil Earp. After the gunfight, a trial was held and Wyatt and the other men who stood alongside of him there were exonerated by the law. But bad blood still existed between the Cow-boy factions in Tombstone and the Earp clan. Both Virgil Earp and Morgan would be ambushed. Virgil would be wounded and survived. Morgan would die from his gunshot wounds. 

In an article that first appeared in "Old West Magazine (1983) a story appeared which primarily introduced Morgan's common law wife, Louisa, who up until then had only been a mysterious name known through Frank Waters fictional memoir of Mrs. Virgil Earp. That story also introduced the first authentic photo of Morgan Earp. Two photos of Louisa also accompanied that story.

The 1983 Winter Issue of "Old West Magazine" #47304 From the Authors collection

Article by Glenn Boyer: Brother in the Shadow from the 1983 Winter Issue of "Old West Magazine" #47304 From the Authors collection

Temescal, San Bernadino Co. California July the 19th, 1880

My husband starts for Arizona in the morning. I'm going to stay here for the present with his parents. They do not want me to go, so I think I will have to stay here this summer. We 

have had ripe peaches and watermelons and green corn since the first of the month and we have not had any rain for four months, but we have very pleasant weather.

-From your sister Louisa Houston

Letter from Lousia Houston to her sister Kate

MORGAN SETH EARP

Morgan Earp was born on April 24th, 1851 in Lake Prairie Township, Marion County Iowa, of which Knoxville is the County seat. His parents were Nicholas Porter Earp and Virginia Ann Cooksey Earp.  When he was born they were living in the country on a farm. Morgans childhood was the same as his brothers, and farming was a difficult endeavor for the entire family. Though Morgan hunted, Fished and wandered the countryside.  The Earp family was very close-knit group of people, and Nicholas Earp was a very strong father figure who had severed honorably in the war with Mexico. At around the time of the civil war. The Earp family, under their farther Nicholas, decided to follow the new trails west to migrate to California, a grand expedition. Morgan was thirteen years old at the time and was accompanied by his brother Wyatt and James. After extensive preparations, in the Spring of 1864, the Earps departed Pella Iowa and headed west in a wagon train along the Oregon Trail, reaching Fort Bridger, Wyoming Territory, then heading south to Salt Lake City and across the Mormon Cut off, and Mojave Desert, arriving at their new home in San Bernadino California in December of 1864. One can only imagine what it must have been like for the young Earp boys. This trip must have shaped them into fine frontiersman. Lessons learned here most certainly helped them in the coming years. Nicholas Earp settled on a farm in the area of San Bernadino and lived there until 1868, when Nicholas, a man who had a wandering in his blood, pulled up stakes and returned to the east. By this time Morgans older brothers had moved on, and He and his brother Warren, were left to handle the drudgery of farm life.  After the Civil War, brother Virgil wandered the West.  He drove stages in California, worked the Union Pacific Railroad beds with Wyatt in Wyoming and ran a grocery in Lamar, Missouri, where Wyatt was constable and father Nicholas was justice of the peace. Virgil drove stages during the 1870s in Iowa, it was that there he met his third wife Allie Sullivan (first wife Ellen Rysdam remarried after being told by Ellen’s father that Virgil had died in combat in 1863, while his second wife, 17-year-old Rosella Drago, simply vanished from the records). Allie would stick by Virgil for the rest of his life. Virgil may have served briefly as a policeman with Wyatt in Wichita in 1875 and in Dodge City in 1876 and 1877. Brother James left the family and headed west to boom towns in Nevada. Nichoals Earp, Morgan and Warren made their way back east by wagon train and made it to the Union Pacific railhead in Wyoming. There they found Virgil and Wyatt working with railroad on construction crews. The reunited family then went east together to visit relatives in in Iowa and Illinois. The family eventually moved to Lamar Missouri where Nick Earp had owned farmland for many years. The Earps also left Lamar Missouri and Morgan parted ways with the family, and not much information is available about his whereabouts until 1875 when he shows up in Dodge City Kansas, where he served as a part time deputy sheriff the year before his brother Wyatt joined the Dodge City police force. Apparently, Wyatt tried to secure jobs for both Morgan and Virgil on the Wichita police force but wasn't successful. According to recollections of the family of Louisa (Houston) Earp, both her and her sister Kate (Kate Houston Robinson) went to Dodge city as Harvey (1) Girls. But she and Morgan probably did not meet there because Morgan had left Dodge city before her arrival (Brother in the Shadow: Glenn G. Boyer) but likely met her in another railroad town. (2) Record show that Morgan showed up in Butte Montana as a member of the police force on December 16th, 1879, and stayed there until early 1880. 

In December of 1879, the three elder Earp brothers, Jim, Virgil and Wyatt came to Tombstone, expecting to open a stagecoach line. They found the field full and turned to saloon keeping and gambling. They were unaware their talents with six-shooters would soon draw them into a political confrontation between the old Arizona Democrats and Republican investors who controlled Tombstone. Morgan arrived in Tombstone in late 1880, just around the time when the friction between the cow-boy factions and law enforcement, the situation which would eventually lead to his death. His brother Wyatt Earp was about to be appointed deputy-sheriff of Pima County for the Tombstone District, and brother Virgil was U.S. Deputy Marshal and had been since his arrival in Tombstone in December of 1879. These facts confirm why there was confrontations with numerous members of the outlaw gangs around Tombstone. 

"In the period from December 1879-1880 , when Morgan reached Tombstone, there was no open hostility between the Earp's and what was to become known as the Cow-Boy gang, a confederation of lawless freebooters, men who had been run out of Texas and New Mexico."

-Glenn Boyer: Brother in the Shadow, Old West Magazine Winter 1983

There is a fairly deep history here in this part of the story, and has been well researched, and written about in other publications. But it necessary to note that Morgan never received adequate credit for his role in Tombstone. But it's worth mentioning that Morgan was both a fair and active Lawman in his own right. But the simple truth is that Morgan had become embroiled innocently in the Tombstone situation, and was merely trying to support his family, just like his brother Wyatt, he guarded bullion shipments of Wells Fargo, he gambled as did all of his brothers, he moonlighted as a Lawman and sometimes worked full time as a peace officer.                                                                                              

  On the night of March 18, 1882, after returning from a play at Schieffelin Hall, Morgan decided to play a game of pool with Bob Hatch in the back of Latters saloon on Allen street. He was fatally shot in the back, and the bullet entered his spine, the shot came through a window on the back door of the saloon. A second shot followed obviously directed at Wyatt who was seated in a chair near the game. The following morning, a Coroner's inquest convened based principally upon the testimony of the wife of Pete Spence. It was decided that the killers were Frank Stillwell and Spence, abetted by two others, one of whom was known as Indian Charlie and the other a John Doe.  He was just 30 years old. Morgan’s body was then transported to California, where he is buried at Hermosa Cemetery in Colton, California

  References; 

Virgil Earp: In a Brother’s Shadow

Although he was a first-rate lawman and stood tall during that deadly gunfight near the O.K. Corral, Virgil Earp will forever be known as Wyatt’s older brother.

by Lee A. Silva3/23/2018

Morgan Earp "Brother in the Shadow" Vol III by Glenn G. Boyer

Legends of America

Morgan Earp – Killed in Tombstone, Arizona

Note 1 

Fred Harvey was a businessman, and entrepreneur recognized the need for better restaurants and accommodations along rail lines throughout the Southwest. He formed a partnership with the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railway to open establishments along their routes. As part of the hotel and restaurant service staff, the Fred Harvey Company created the iconic Harvey Girls, who are often described as one of the first workforces made up of all women in the Southwest. Women made up much of the service staff that worked at the Fred Harvey Company’s establishments. Women came from all over the country to work as a Harvey Girl

Ref 

The Harvey Girls – Increasing Opportunity (U.S. National Park Service)

Note 2 

Morgan Earp "Brother in the Shadow" Vol III by Glenn G. Boyer

Brother in the Shadow Old West Magazine Winter 1983 Article by Glenn Boyer

The Picklock of Biographers of Tombstone Arizona By G.C. Stevens and Scott Dyke

 

Tombstone Arizona today, Photo taken by the Author

I'd like to apologize to Scott Dyke, from Arizona. This article is long overdue.  People's lives sometimes meander aimlessly down an unknown, but surprising path.  Over the last thirty-five years the author, Gene Stevens has been emersed in American history, through historical reenacting, researching and writing. He has written a few books and well over two hundred online articles on historic and political topics and also published online western fiction.  But the authors research would take a real turn, after he visited Tombstone Arizona in 2015. That first trip to Tombstone, inspired so much interest with Gene, that he would return four more times. But along the way, he began to research the Tombstone story. Then one day he happened upon an Ambrotype photo which caught his imagination and while researching that photo it opened other doors, and he became involved with other photo investigations. Those stories can be found on this blog. It seemed to be pre-ordained that that Gene should write about the American West and to do these photo investigations. A chaotic hobby that Author Glenn Boyer called "Photo-wishitis" which is the reason for this article, because this pursuit led Gene directly to Glenn Boyer's doorstep, or should we say grave side, because he had already passed on by the time that the author discovered him.

CONNECTIONS 

There were connections made during the work on the photo,  it was discovered that a large amount of Glenn's personal Earp collection had been sold off. It was suspected that the photo might have been part of that collection, but alas, we will never know and that investigation is a closed case of no provenance.  But... Gene was not dissuaded from the pursuit of more knowledge. Because the bigger benefit was yet to come. In fact, many doors would open for future endeavors because of this research. It would also lead to Scott Dyke, who wasn't only a Wyatt Earp historian, Western researcher and lecturer, he was also Glenn Boyer's closest confidant before Glenn had passed away. And Scott had become deeply involved with the process of disseminating Glenn's collection for auction. He had been privileged to view Glenn's entire collection, and he was kind enough to speak to me about Glenn Boyer and Tombstone. I'm deeply grateful for Scott. 

"So, Scott Dyke and Ben Traywick can verify your primary sources?"

"Yes. Scott Dyke has been collating my files for the last three or four years. I am grateful for Scott’s help. It has been a tedious piece of labor. I am also in the process of scanning and digitizing my collection. The folks of Legendary Publishing are handling this. They are updating the process on their blog at www.legendarypublishing.com. Before Scott, Ben Traywick had access years ago. [Traywick, who has known Boyer since 1969, calls him “the No. 1 Earp historian” and adds, “Glenn has always opened his files to me when I visited his home.”] They are the only ones that have had complete access to my collection; so much has “disappeared” over the years when I was in a sharing mode."

-Glen Boyer

Ref Interview: Glenn Boyer / Not Married to Wyatt Earp

Ref *See HISTORYNET article Scott Dyke on Glenn Boyer   

Scott is a prolific writer, Wyatt Earp historian and Western researcher and lecturer, he has written much about the Earps and Tombstone in his column "Meandering the Mesquite." The column is syndicated and has been published for 15 years. In 2019 it was voted best column" by AZ Newspapers Assoc.

We spoke a lot about Earpania, which is the historic pursuit of the minutia of the Wyatt Earp days in Arizona. He noted that many of these history hounds in this area were a rapacious and narrow minded bunch. I think the same is true for many who engage in the pursuit history.  Scott Noted that Boyer was not his only source for research. Naming other authors, Silva, Traywick, Palmquist, Morey et al had contributed to his base knowledge and further explained that he had been across country six times for Earp research, and had found some stuff in Lamar, Dodge, Ft Griffin etc. that nobody knew.  

I did an interview piece on Boyer for "Wild West" magazine about 10 or so years ago (among other mags I have written for are "American Cowboy and National Epitaph.) Wrote it all (Wild West) because Glenn could not have been bothered. Pretty revealing. Spent nearly 20 yrs out here (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Texas, Nevada Calif, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming etc) putting boots on the ground.

Great stuff!

Mission accomplished, sorta

-Scott Dyke

I recently reconnected with Scott to complete this article which I started some time ago. When I found that Ben Traywick had passed. It made realize that the time to capture some of the true story of Tombstone's dedicated writers and biographers was quickly running out. And I wanted to tell the story. I sent Scott a list of questions. But we swept those aside to let Scott speak freely:

The Interview:

First, and most importantly, it is essential to define true research. A variety of sources are required.  Many who involve themselves read a few books and seek out handfuls of folks that show interest in a subject matter. Walking tours of Tombstone (or Lincoln etc.) are entertaining, as are those who conduct them. Most know only what they read. Traywick used to identify these as "wannabes" Reenactment of a gunfight does not mean the actors or producers know diddly squat. 

Traywick used to pose tests for me; to find historic sites and ponder events. (In my column/ obit for Ben I outlined a couple tests he gave me.) Six times I have gone cross country on Earp related research. I interviewed local historians and significant relatives, sought out cemetery records from funeral homes, poured over newspaper morgues, sought little old ladies who run the small-town libraries, and walked the earth where those who were being investigated trod.

I have files on every author that graced (or smudged) the Earp field. There is not a spot  that is Earp related that I have not seen, except Alaska. Even the obscure Example: Mattie's gravesite in Pinal, the exact location of the Clanton ranch, the Curly Bill death site in the Whetstones (and his probable grave site), Wyatt's first wife's grave in Lamar, Missouri, the arrest record of Holliday in Albany Texas, both McLaury ranch sites, Leadville Colorado Deadwood SD , Harqua Hala, San Diego, Las Vegas, New Mexico, exclusive permission to see  Earp letters in Dodge City (Ford Co, Hist Soc), Wyatt's grave in Colma, Big Nose Kate's bordello in Globe, Wyatt's oil well in Calif, the site of Contention and Drew Station robbery,  etc.  There are lots of people that have seen these places, but no one exists, to my knowledge, has been to them all. And, those who have were mostly misled, as I was a time or three. And, of course, files on all of Boyers sources and their bona fides. including actual pages of Cason notes that were the initial genesis for "I Married Wyatt Earp, as well as the Flood MS, his failed book Wyatt Earp, and actual letters from these same sources that Glenn gave to me to disprove future doubters.

Ben Traywick and Glenn Boyer:

Traywick led me to Boyer who was a recluse, shunned by a small group that hated his butt. Mostly because Glenn had a Trumpian demeanor. He wrote what he wanted, some  of it was clearly all Boyer, not Wyatt. However, his files, which I spent 10 years with, were magnificent and extremely accurate. They even revealed what he "exaggerated" I saw it all. I was fortunately able to communicate with some of his sources; many that were Earp related. I copied everything, with his permission. I organized his files and when he died his estate sold my "blue boxes" as part of an auction that totaled nearly $500,000. Years before he sold another $500,000 to a museum in Harrisburg Pa. I talked to the mayor who bought them. Other items of Wyatt and Josie were sold to private collectors. I know some of them. I have some Earp memorabilia that I got from Boyer, Traywick, and Lee Silva. 

A few years after Traywick sent me to Boyer (ask me sometime to tell you that story!), he asked, "Are you still seeing Glenn? "Yes." Ben, who knew Boyer for 40 years, responded "Amazing. He cost me many friends through the years. How do you do it?" (The answer will come in the future)

I have written for Wild West, American Cowboy, Nat'l Epitaph, etc, My column Meandering the Mesquite is syndicated (since 2009) and reaches 13 papers. It was voted "Best Column)" in 2019 by AZ Newspapers Assoc. Dozens of lectures, including one for AZ Centennial that drew over 400.  Dozens have reached out through the years, as you have. I try to help, but have learned to be guarded.

S.D.

G.C. Stevens

Copyright 2025(c)

Wyatt Earp Never Wounded: By G.C. Stevens

 

                                                      Drawing Courtesy of Jose Marquis

Wyatt Earp was a lawman in three of the most dangerous frontier towns in the wild west. Wichita Kansas, Dodge City Kansas and Tombstone Arizona. In a twist of fate of Wyatt Earps life, he had never once been wounded in any gunfight that he had been involved in. This legendary claim  holds true, in the many discussions about gunfights in the old wild west. With fast draws and strategic positioning, but there's no documented evidence that suggests of Wyatt being hit by gunfire any bullets.  From the infamous Gunfight at the OK Corral and the legendary Vendetta Ride, Earp's legacy often blends fact and folklore, making him a figure of enduring fascination in Wild West history. Wyatt Earp would provide some insight on how he viewed gunfights during a 1910 interview:

 “The most important lesson I learned from proficient gunfighters was the winner of a gunplay usually was the man who took his time. The second was that, if I hoped to live long enough on the frontier, I would shun flashy trick-shooting—grandstand play—as I would poison.”

“When I say that I learned to take my time in a gunfight, I do not wish to be misunderstood, for the time to be taken was only that split fraction of a second that means the difference between deadly accuracy with a six-gun and a miss. It is hard to make this clear to a man who has never been in a gunfight.”

American West; Nicholas Porter Earp, the True Story By; Gene Stevens

                                                 Known photo of Nicholas Porter Earp

                            Nicholas Porter Earp, the True Story By; Gene Stevens

To Understand Wyatt Earp, you must know Nicholas Earp.

-Scott Dyke 

Sound bites in historic documentaries, and Hollywood movies do true research a great disservice. The story of Nicholas Porter Earp the father of the famed Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp, is one figure in American history that deserves a better investigation.    

Nicholas Porter Earp was born the son of Walter and Martha Ann Earp in 1813. He married Virginia Ann Cooksey and his most famed son Wyatt was born in 1848.. Nick was an adventurer, Entrepeneur, soldier, Sergeant and political leader. For some reason, these aspects of Nick Earps life are glossed over, as juxtaposed against Wyatt Earps life, like a comma in a sentence or an abbreviation. 

 Environmental Historian Andrew Isenberg (PBS documentary on Wyatt Earp) described Nicholas Earp as " colorful, larger than life... But to round him out, he was a dead beat, and that he skipped out on debts and was a drinker".  But to describe Nicholas from the 21st century perspective is nearly impossible, and lost on the modern historian, who fails at understand how difficult peoples lives really were during this time. Nick was a strong father figure, a military Sergeant in a time when all warfare conducted on the new frontier was brutal and bloody. He had crossed the continent during war time and experienced things that very few modern men could survive. 

The Earp family was of English and Scots-Irish descent. The first Earp immigrants to arrive in the  American colonies was Thomas Earp Jr., who arrived in Anne Arundel County on July 6, 1674, as an indentured servant from Ireland. He is buried in St. Anne's Parish in Annapolis. Nicholas was named for a circuit-riding judge in Kentucky. Nicholas' father Walter Earp was born in Montgomery County, Maryland, in 1787, a fifth-generation Marylander who later became a school teacher, Justice of the Peace in Monmouth, Illinois and a Methodist Episcopal preacher.

Nicholas' mother, Martha Ann Early, was born in Avery County, North Carolina, on August 28, 1790. Nicholas was the third of ten children; his siblings include six brothers: Lorenzo Dow, Josiah Jackson, James Kelly, Francis Asbury, Jonathan Douglas and Walter C (twins); as well as three sisters: Elizabeth, Mary Ann, and Sarah Ann. When Martha Earp died at age 91, she had eight living children, 85 grandchildren, 130 great-grandchildren and 13 great-great-grandchildren.

Soon after Nicholas' birth, the family moved from Virginia to Hartford, Kentucky, in 1813, where Nicholas spent the rest of his childhood. As a young man, Nicholas may have served in the Black Hawk War of 1831 though, no record of this is found in the state of Illinois Black Hawk War Records online. We do however know that he served as a sergeant in the Mexican–American War. During the Mexican–American War Nicholas served under Captain Wyatt Berry Stapp of the Illinois Mounted Volunteers. Then during the Civil War, Nicholas served in Pella, Iowa, as a United States Provost Marshal for recruitment.  His sons Newton, James, and Virgil enlisted in the Union Army on November 11, 1861. 

While his father was busy recruiting and drilling local companies, Wyatt, along with his two younger brothers, Morgan and Warren, were left in charge of tending the 80-acre corn crop. Only 13 years old, Wyatt was too young to enlist, but he tried on several occasions to run away and enlist. Each time his father found him and brought him back home.

                                                    WAGON MASTER 

May 12, 1864

Forty wagons and one hundred and fifty emigrants line up at Pella, Iowa. Nicholas "Captain" Earp leads the caravan across the Missouri River into Omaha Nebraska and beyond. Sixteen year old Wyatt is in charge of Earp wagons and stock. He also draws the hunters job and with a gift from his father of an under and over combination rifle and shotgun, he is able to keep a group of twenty people in fresh meat all the way to California.

- The Illustrated Life and Times of Wyatt Earp, by Bob Boze Bell.

    The story of Wyatt's boyhood surroundings is carried to the point where his father resigns from the Army (Provost Marshall Position) and with his family begins the covered wagon journey to California.

-Letter to Ira Rich Kent, Houghton Mifflin Co, From Stuart Lake in reference to the content of Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshall.

We know quite a bit about the Earps trip to San Bernandino California, thanks to a member of his wagon train Sarah Rousseau. She was the wife of Doctor, born into a well to do English family in 1816 by the name of Sarah Jane Daglish, according to Author Nicholas Cataldo, She "bloomed into a highly educated woman". When she came to America, she lived for a while in the Michigan area, presumably the Michigan Territory, as Michigan gained statehood in 1855.She married Physician husband James A. Rousseau and they moved to Kentucky in 1839 before eventually moving to Knoxville Iowa. 

So it's also probable that Sarah Jane at sometime in her early life encountered native Americans. This is mentioned because multiple encounters with Indians would occur in the coming months. It just so happens that sometime shortly after the move to Knoxville, they decided to risk the distant, arduous and highly dangerous trip to California by way of wagon train. And Nicholas Earps plans for moving Wyatt and his family out of the area from their home in Pella Iowa began after brother Jims discharge from the union army.  The civil war would soon be over and the flood of pioneers moving to the west, was just beginning for the ghost of manifest destiny that would drive people far into the interior of the continent. 

The Earp residence in Pella Iowa

 both photos taken by the Author Gene Stevens

Photo Courtesy of Bob Boze Bell from

 "The Illustrated Life and Times of Wyatt Earp"

The wagon train west rendezvoused in Pella Iowa and departed on May 12th 1864. It wasn't long before and early in the trip, that the people in the wagon train began to experience difficulties. It started with the Curtis's losing a cow and a horse. The cow was not recovered. Later in the journey. It started becoming apparent that the entire trip was going to be fraught with danger, as they began to encounter people that dishonest and not obliging. Upon reaching the Missouri River one of the wagon train folks, la small child fell from a wagon be pulled by mules and was run over, he fortunately recovered,. But by this time, it was becoming very apparent that they undisciplined people of this wagon train were heading into a terrible situation. The entire trip was fraught with internal fighting and lack of cooperation from the families who were onboard the wagon train.  And Sarah Jane, probably did more to aggravate the situation, rather than help. The one thing that she was good at was she documented her surroundings, the weather, birds, the temperature, the rivers, the grass, Indians, and people being sick. And the one person she disliked the most was the Wagon Master. Nicholas Earp. 

Map showing the route of the forlorn 

Wagon Train to San Bernadino California  

On July 7th and 8th, Mrs. Rousseau made the following entry;

WHILE AT FORT LARAMIE

"We have to keep a close watch day and night over the stock. Mr. Earp went out to see about the guards (Military guards)  and found that they had got up a dance. And he told them they must quit their dancing on be on duty".

Certainly a common sense request and Mrs. Rousseau understood that they needed the stock looked after, then she continued with her entry;

One of the soldiers told him to mind his own business and ordered him off. I made him awful mad and he was for killing. He used very profane language, he could hardly be appeased. But he cooled down after a while.

Could it be that Nicholas Earp actually had concern for the people in his wagon train?

Other serios issues plagued the wagon train. They had frequent encounters with Indians during the course of the journey. Upon running into Piute Indians, Sarah declared that they;

Were a tribe that is very fond of horse flesh to eat, and great hands to steal anything they can lay their hands on.

The problems with Indians continued;

"We crossed the Santa Clara 14 times today, after going twelve miles made a dry camp at Camp Springs. After filling our kegs (at) the last crossing place, The Indian Chief told the guide we must give them something for traveling through their country, to renumerate them for using water and grass. We all gave them some flour. We intend to let them have the care of our horses tonight, they are going to take cattle as well. The Chief with four others we kept as prisoners till morning when they bring back the stock... Then they will be free.

The following day Sarah Jane's diary states that they fed the Indians who were with them. Nicholas was apparently unhappy about this decision and derided the members of the wagon train . But the loss of food and stock would prove nearly deadly towards the end of the long trip. Because on the same day, they were beginning to enter a crucial stage of their travels, as Sarah Jane reported seeing unusual trees, probable Cactus, because shortly after this, Sarah Jane reported that they had entered the desert. But she erroneously blamed the situation on Nicholas Earp. A mistake that he did not make. A mistake that was done independently by the people of the wagon train and not the wagon master, who it appears was being undermined.                                                                                                                                          

We fed the five among us. All are willing to do so but Mr. Earp. He swears and cuts up about it, although (sic) he derives the same benefit as the rest of us. I fear he may cause us some trouble when we get to the muddy.                                                                                                                                           

-Sarah Jane Rouseau 

On November 16th 1864, Mrs. Rouseau reported that they were approaching an area somewhere between Las Vegas Nevada and Salt Springs California where they were traversing very difficult and sandy terrain.  And it seems that the social fabric of the wagon train members was declining as time went on.  The coming days would prove to be a test of will and survival, as they approached California. Mrs. Rousseau would document their crossing over steep mountains. 

Toward the top there was perpendicular rock some six feet to get up, besides others not so bad. We all doubled up teams but Mr. Earps wagon. He's up that started up that awful mountain with our mare and Mr. Hamilton started a span of mules after them to help them get along. they got up safely. It appeared to me that he didn't care if he killed our horses or not. If he had he wouldn't have tried to go with only two. All the Indians have traveled with us today.

The next day

Went on about ten miles, met some 30 or 40 Indians, large and small. Watered our horses ate a luncheon, went two miles further and camped. The Indians all followed on. We gave them all something to eat and they herded stock.

These astounding entries in Sarahs diary exemplifies the lack of discipline on the wagon train west. And also shows further contempt for Nicholas Earp. As an observation, conjecture did not kill the animals, but giving away supplies in the way of food could have proven to be deadly in these circumstances. 

 At this point angers were flaring. Mrs.Rousseau had made yet another entry in her diary but whether or not she ever tried to speak to Mr. Earp about her complaints was never mentioned in her diary.

November 25th

This evening Mr. Earp had another rippet with Warren ( (The youngest Earp Son) fighting with Jimmy Haten. And then commenced about all the children. Used very profane language and swore if the childrens parents did not correct their children, he would whip every last one of them. He still shows out more and more every day what kind of man he is.

By Tuesday December 6th, 1864, the members of the wagon train were in a very tenuous situation. The lack of discipline and misjudgment was taking its toll. They were low on food, starving and their live stock was giving out. They were very close to dying in the desert and they knew it. 

Oh, how my heart aches to see them. They look like skeletons, and act so pitiful begging something to eat. They try to eat the dry brush or anything they can get a hold of, we went about three miles when the stopped and couldn't travel any farther. My poor little children have walked most of the way. And how desolate we feel. We had to let the poor little boys go back with Mack and the horses to Bitter Springs where there may be some grass that may save the poor things from starving to death. What bitter tears I have shed to think of our condition.  Here in the wild desert with a small quantity of flour, enough with care to last a few days.

The Wagon train reached San Bernadino on December 17th, 1864. The families set up camp just east of todays San Bernadino County Court House. The town that greeted the newcomers was a pretty tough western town, known for its saloons, gambling halls and red light district on south "D" street. According to author Nicholas Cataldo, This was Nicks kind of town.

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Third street in downtown San Bernadino looking east from "D" street

Known as "whiskey Point" Photo Courtesy Nicholas Cataldo, The Earp Clan

The Southern California Years.

A Sense of morals, justice, duty and the courage to apply those traits, are instilled by God and a strong father figure.

- The Author

Nicholas and family were quick to settle down in San Bernadino, The Earps rented a farm on the Carpenter ranch near the Santa Ana River. In a letter written to a friend in Pella Iowa, James Copla, the senior Earp made some small talk and bragged about California and the great weather, but then reflected on the trip from Pella to California saying; 

"I did not start from home expecting to stop here, when we got here, we are all so near run through that we would not go any longer"                                                                                    

While living on Carpenter ranch Nick Earp visited downtown San Bernadino regularly, and became a rather well known figure, championing the cause of the common man against what he defined as "the hypocrisy of big business and politicians. Nick was also elected foreman of the grand jury in 1867.                                                                                                          

But, the Earp Clan was a very restless bunch and one day son Wyatt took a little vacation, and ran away. But according to historian Glenn Boyer, Wyatt returned and was whipped by Nick. As it turns out, farm life did not appeal to the Earp boys. Sons Jim and Morgan, Earp had gone to mining towns in Montana, while Virgil and Wyatt worked for a while with a Salt Lake bound freight wagon and later for the Union Pacific.  But, by 1868, frustrated that no one would help with the farm he headed back to the Midwest. Nick looked up Virgil and Wyatt who found work at the Union Pacific Railhead in Wyoming, and they all made the trip back to Iowa. The Earps minus Virgil, James and Wyatt returned to Southern California.

The Greenback Party

Upon his return to California, Nick stopped by San Bernadino and bid on a Janitors job position in the court house, but lost to someone else. He was unable to find employment, so the family moved into a small farm community southeast of Corona. A town called Temescal. While there he did some farming and ran a grocery store there for a couple of years. While there, Nick got involved in politics and stirred up rivalries among its residents over issues of the proposed new California Constitution and the virtues of the newly formed Greenback Party.  He was an ardent follower of the Greenback party, which was organized in 1874. The group was opposed to the retirement or reduction of the greenback and favored an increase as the only paper currency. Nicholas even wrote an essay on the subject called "The Greenback Question" which was published in July of 1878.                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                                   

       According to Local Press

"In Temescal they have had a political funeral. They have actually gone through the process of a political funeral, and have raised a monument inscribed as but go Mr. Earp and he will recite to you the inscription, Now is the cold fact. Mr. Earp the old man eloquent of Temescal, is in this town,. He informs us that Temescal is simply solid for the new constitution- that there is not a dissenting vote. He also informs us that the people in that precinct will vote for no man opposed to the new deal reform. That is the proper spirit."

The Old Frontiersman

Unfortunately, the Greenback party nominees lost in the election, but the state constitution that they fought for passed and is still in effect today. And Nicholas Earp had a big part in that.  During his later years in southern California, Nick was a saloon keeper, elected Justice of the Peace in Colton California in 1884. Two years later Virgil Earp ran for Constable in Colton and won. Nick was also reelected to the Justice of The Peace. He was also a chapter member of the San Bernadino Society of Pioneers in 1888. In December of 1897, the old frontiersman was seriously injured after he fell from a horse. Nick died in the Old Soldiers Home at Sawtelle, Near Los Angeles on February 12 1907. He was 93 years old.

 References

The Earp Clan: The Southern California Years, By Nicholas R. Cataldo.

Rousseau Diary 1864 San Bernadino County Museum.

 Family tree of Wyatt EARP - Geneastar

Earp, Nicholas P Rank: Sergeant Regiment: Illinois Independent Mounted Volunteers Company: Stapp US Mexican War Soldiers & Sailors Database - Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) 

 Nicholas Porter Earp - Wikipedia 

The Illustrated life and times of Wyatt Earp by Bob Boze Bell.

The Stuart Lake Letters from the collection of Glenn Boyer, Courtesy of the Arizona Historic Society.