- Joined
- May 8, 2015
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- Pittsburgh, PA
I recently acquired a silver pocket watch made by Thomas Russell & Son of Liverpool, England, which documents the friendship between two remarkable men whose stories are both inscribed indelibly into the history of the American West. The somewhat enigmatic inscription on the rear lid reads "In Friendship to J. G. Bourke, '84, from Agent J. C." (The English hallmarks on the interior of the rear case lid indicate that the case, like the movement, was made by Thomas Russel & Son of Liverpool, and that the case was assayed at Chester between August 1883 and August 1884.) J. G. Bourke was John Gregory Bourke, who in 1884 was serving as a captain in the US 3rd Cavalry as an aide to Brigadier General George Crook, a distinguished Civil War veteran. My research indicates that "Agent J. C." was none other than John Philip Clum, the former Indian Agent at the San Carlos Indian Reservation in east-central Arizona, and who later became the founding mayor of Tombstone Arizona in 1881. This watch relates tangentially to Civil War history because the recipient, Captain Bourke, had earned a Medal of Honor for "Gallantry in Action" during the Battle of Stones River (12/31/1862 - 1/2/1863) while serving as a private in the 15th PA Cavalry, Company E.
In 1862 John Bourke ran away from home at the age of 16 to enlist in the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry, commanded by Colonel (and future brigadier general) William Jackson Palmer. He fought at Chickamauga, endured the Confederate Siege of Chattanooga, and he witnessed the fall of Atlanta as well. Bourke became an aide to Major General George Henry Thomas. He remained in the army after the war and Thomas got Bourke an appointment to West Point, from which he graduated as a 2nd Lt., 11th in a class of 39, in 1869. Despite the early age at which he had left home, Bourke was well educated, having been taught Latin and Greek, and having learned Gaelic from his Irish immigrant parents. Bourke served in the cavalry throughout the Apache Wars of the 1870s and the Great Sioux War of 1876. As an aide to General Crook, Bourke was present during all the negotiations with Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Geronimo. He kept a conscientious diary, in which he documented army life and politics, the nature of the frontier towns, townspeople, terrain and wildlife, and the ways and customs of the indigenous peoples. Much more than just a soldier and observer, Bourke was an assiduous scholar, ethnologist, and folklorist who published six books documenting the customs, myths, and religious practices of both native Americans and the Mexican settlers of the Southwest. His book, On the Border with Crook, is considered one of the best, most balanced and thorough first-hand accounts of the place and period that it covers. Despite having fought them, Bourke earned the respect and trust of many native Americans, who allowed him to witness many of their most sacred rituals, and who gained Bourke's sympathy and support. The Texas State Historical Association website describes Bourke as "a crusader for Indian rights." Pictures of Captain Bourke's watch, and more about the captain and his friend John Clum are available in the attached pdf.
John Philip Clum's character has been portrayed in over a dozen movies and TV series, including the popular Death Valley Days. He was invited to become the Indian Agent for the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona in 1874, following a succession of notoriously corrupt predecessors. There, Clum introduced a successful system of limited self-rule which was widely copied on reservations elsewhere. After three years on the job, Clum resigned in frustration over interference from army and other government officials, but he continued to look back with pride at those three years as his most important work. In that period, Clum became the only person ever to capture Geronimo without bloodshed. He evidently had been one of the few honest contemporaneous indian agents in the southwest, which is probably why he and Captain Bourke gained one another's respect. Silver was discovered near Tombstone Arizona in 1877, and Clum moved there and opened a newspaper, the Tombstone Epitaph, in 1880, which is still published. Tombstone officially became a town in 1881 and Clum became its first mayor. There he became friends with the famous lawmen, the Earp Brothers, James, Virgil, and Wyatt. It was also in 1881 that the iconic "showdown at the OK Corral" went down. A series of sensational court hearings followed the shootout, during which the Epitaph published the lawmen's version of events, whereas the rival Tombstone newspaper, the Nugget, took the outlaws' point of view. Death threats and actual assassination attempts against the Earps and Clum followed, which became sufficiently intolerable that both Clum and the Earps ultimately left town soon after.
In 1898, Clum was appointed Postal Director for the District of Alaska. He traveled 8,000 miles in five months, setting up seven new post offices around the territory. While in Nome, Alaska in the summer of 1900, Clum met his old friends, Wyatt Earp and George W. Parsons (a famous Tombstone diarist). Earp was operating the Dexter Saloon at the time. Clum was later named postmaster for Fairbanks, Alaska, and served in that position until 1909. Caro, Alaska was named after his daughter Caro. He left Alaska in 1909 and spent several years touring the country for the Southern Pacific Railway, giving hundreds of lectures all over the country to promote tourism and passenger-use of the railroad. In 1928 he moved to Los Angeles, where he lived until his death in 1932 at age 80.
In 1862 John Bourke ran away from home at the age of 16 to enlist in the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry, commanded by Colonel (and future brigadier general) William Jackson Palmer. He fought at Chickamauga, endured the Confederate Siege of Chattanooga, and he witnessed the fall of Atlanta as well. Bourke became an aide to Major General George Henry Thomas. He remained in the army after the war and Thomas got Bourke an appointment to West Point, from which he graduated as a 2nd Lt., 11th in a class of 39, in 1869. Despite the early age at which he had left home, Bourke was well educated, having been taught Latin and Greek, and having learned Gaelic from his Irish immigrant parents. Bourke served in the cavalry throughout the Apache Wars of the 1870s and the Great Sioux War of 1876. As an aide to General Crook, Bourke was present during all the negotiations with Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Geronimo. He kept a conscientious diary, in which he documented army life and politics, the nature of the frontier towns, townspeople, terrain and wildlife, and the ways and customs of the indigenous peoples. Much more than just a soldier and observer, Bourke was an assiduous scholar, ethnologist, and folklorist who published six books documenting the customs, myths, and religious practices of both native Americans and the Mexican settlers of the Southwest. His book, On the Border with Crook, is considered one of the best, most balanced and thorough first-hand accounts of the place and period that it covers. Despite having fought them, Bourke earned the respect and trust of many native Americans, who allowed him to witness many of their most sacred rituals, and who gained Bourke's sympathy and support. The Texas State Historical Association website describes Bourke as "a crusader for Indian rights." Pictures of Captain Bourke's watch, and more about the captain and his friend John Clum are available in the attached pdf.
John Philip Clum's character has been portrayed in over a dozen movies and TV series, including the popular Death Valley Days. He was invited to become the Indian Agent for the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona in 1874, following a succession of notoriously corrupt predecessors. There, Clum introduced a successful system of limited self-rule which was widely copied on reservations elsewhere. After three years on the job, Clum resigned in frustration over interference from army and other government officials, but he continued to look back with pride at those three years as his most important work. In that period, Clum became the only person ever to capture Geronimo without bloodshed. He evidently had been one of the few honest contemporaneous indian agents in the southwest, which is probably why he and Captain Bourke gained one another's respect. Silver was discovered near Tombstone Arizona in 1877, and Clum moved there and opened a newspaper, the Tombstone Epitaph, in 1880, which is still published. Tombstone officially became a town in 1881 and Clum became its first mayor. There he became friends with the famous lawmen, the Earp Brothers, James, Virgil, and Wyatt. It was also in 1881 that the iconic "showdown at the OK Corral" went down. A series of sensational court hearings followed the shootout, during which the Epitaph published the lawmen's version of events, whereas the rival Tombstone newspaper, the Nugget, took the outlaws' point of view. Death threats and actual assassination attempts against the Earps and Clum followed, which became sufficiently intolerable that both Clum and the Earps ultimately left town soon after.
In 1898, Clum was appointed Postal Director for the District of Alaska. He traveled 8,000 miles in five months, setting up seven new post offices around the territory. While in Nome, Alaska in the summer of 1900, Clum met his old friends, Wyatt Earp and George W. Parsons (a famous Tombstone diarist). Earp was operating the Dexter Saloon at the time. Clum was later named postmaster for Fairbanks, Alaska, and served in that position until 1909. Caro, Alaska was named after his daughter Caro. He left Alaska in 1909 and spent several years touring the country for the Southern Pacific Railway, giving hundreds of lectures all over the country to promote tourism and passenger-use of the railroad. In 1928 he moved to Los Angeles, where he lived until his death in 1932 at age 80.
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