K is for Killer Links, Kit Carson and Black Jack Ketchum

First, today's killer links:

The deadline for the Pen Women Flash Fiction Contest is May 1. Theme is Are you Devious at Heart? Tell us a story in 100 words or less.

LibroVille is a new site doing website hosting for authors. Right now, it's free, and I believe the first twenty get to keep it free for life in exchange for helping iron out any wrinkles. It sounds like you'll be a bit of a beta tester, but that's not a bad deal for web hosting and such.

The Lexicon Writers Conference in North Texas will be in July. Writers who get there early get to participate in learning to shoot different weapons, horseback riding, golf and a pub crawl. At the end of the conference, there will be a trip to a casino in Oklahoma. Now, that's how Texans do a writer's conference!

For locals, the Pikes Peak Library District has a sort of mini-conference and signing for readers and writings, coming up this weekend, called Mountain of Authors. I'll be there, so come say hello if you end up coming!

Alright, for today's Wild West lesson, I couldn't make up my mind, so I'm going to try to do a short bio of both Kit Carson and Black Jack Ketchum. We'll see if I can accomplish that.

it Carson

Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was born December 24, 1809 in Madison County, Kentucky. He was number eleven out of fifteen kids (some reports say nine out of fourteen), and his father died when he was nine years old. He had to work to earn money for the family, so he never really received a formal education. In 1826, at around age sixteen or seventeen he joined a wagon train on the Santa Fe Trail, starting the journey that would lead him to the life of a famous trapper, Indian Agent, soldier, mountain man and explorer.

In 1828, he was hired to go on a fur trapping expedition into California. He ended up doing this in the Sierras and the Rockies, along with other mountain ranges in between, until 1840, when he became hunter, then chief hunter, for Bent's Fort here in Colorado. During those trapping years, he became very involved with the Natives, marrying an Arapaho woman (Waa-Nibe, which meant Singing Grass), followed by a Cheyenne woman (Making-Our-Road), after his first wife's death shortly after birthing their second child.

In 1842, John C. Fremont hired Carson to be his guide on map-making expeditions to the west. He worked with Fremont for years, gaining fame in his reports, and being noted as an American hero. Together, they ended up embroiled in the Bear-Flag Rebellion in California, and Carson went on to help U.S. soldiers during the Mexican-American War. When the war had finished, he became a rancher in New Mexico, though he did run dispatches to President James Polk, at times. During this time, he married his third wife, Maria Josefa Jaramillothen, who was fourteen years old at the time. They had eight children together.

From 1854 to 1861, he served as Indian Agent to the Ute and Apache Indians. He then officially became involved in the Civil War, with his responsibilities mostly centering around organizing infantry volunteers and dealing with the Navajo tribe's unwillingness to leave their land (huh, shocker). He was ordered to destroy their crops and take their livestock in order to "starve" them out, which ended successfully (for the U.S. government, anyway), and most surrendered to him. Though he, personally, treated them well, orders came through to move them, so he led them on the "Long Walk," which took them 300 miles from Arizona to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. There weren't enough resources in place to support them, causing disease and starvation, so the military ultimately let them leave Fort Sumner and go back to the New Mexico/Arizona border after they signed a treaty to stay there.

Before moving to Colorado in 1866, Kit Carson was awarded the title of Brigadier General. It was highly unusual for someone to reach this sort of ranking when they were illiterate, though he could sign his name. In Colorado, he expanded his ranch business (sheep) and was appointed commandant at Fort Garland, here in Colorado. He used his friendship with the Utes and good standing with the U.S. government to try to help relations between the two, even accompanying a delegation of Utes to D.C. to help their cause.

He died May 23, 1868, of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and was buried beside Josefa in New Mexico, who had died a month before due to complications while birthing their last child.

Black Jack Ketchum

Thomas Edward "Black Jack" Ketchum was born October 31, 1863, in San Saba County, Texas. He's more interesting for his death than for his life, really. He and one of his brothers worked as cowboys in New Mexico, as well as Texas until they got bored and took to robbing trains. They and a few friends became the Ketchum Gang, hitting trains going through territory familiar to them due to their cowboy days.

The gang members loved to attend socials in Cimarron, New Mexico and Elizabethtown, and the townsfolk thought they were just well-off, well-behaved boys. They had no idea the boys charming their girls were, in fact, members of the infamous Ketchum Gang.

Briefly, the brothers went back to ranching, but it was entirely too dull, so they robbed the rancher and went on their way, showing up in a little town called Liberty, New Mexico, where they robbed a general store overnight and took off, the owner and his posse hot on their heels. Several folks were killed on both sides in a shoutout in an arroyo, and the Ketchum boys, sans their gang, headed off to Arizona, where they joined the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, headed by Butch Cassidy. They continued robbing trains until July 11, 1899, when the rest of the gang went to rob a train without Black Jack. His little brother died of gangrene in prison, thanks to a gunshot wound, but Black Jack had no idea, or so he maintained.

On August 16, 1899, Black Jack attempted to rob a train, still unaware of his brother's demise. He ordered the train stopped so he could uncouple the cars, but he'd stopped it on a tight bend that made it impossible to uncouple them. Instead, the conductor snuck up on him with a shotgun. They fired at each other, with Black Jack taking a gunshot to the arm that almost severed it at the elbow. He fell out of the train and the conductor took off, warning stations ahead of the robber stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Dizzy and ill for his injury, Black Jack tried to flag down several trains, finally getting one to stop. He surrendered to them and asked them to take him in. They took him to Trinidad, Colorado, where his arm was amputated, and he was taken into custody, ordered to hang.

On April 26, 1901, after many delays in his hanging (obviously...the robbery was in 1899!), Black Jack was finally led out to the scaffold. By this time, he just wanted to get it over with, and requested they hurry up. The San Francisco Chronicle reports his last words as being, "Good-bye. Please dig my grave very deep. All right; hurry up." Unfortunately for Black Jack, the rope was too long or they had misjudged his weight (there'd never been a hanging in that county, nor was there ever another one). Black Jack fell so hard that he was decapitated, which has only happened two other times, once in 1601 and once in 1930. The ruling to have him hanged was later considered unconstitutional, and he was the only outlaw ever hanged for robbing a train in the state of New Mexico. Tickets were sold to his hanging, and little souvenirs were made and sold, including little dolls with nooses around their necks. Sick.

Would you pay to go to a hanging? Do you think that being kind to the Indians you've uprooted makes a difference when forcibly removing them? Any links to share?

May you find your Muse.

*Letter K courtesy of OCAL of clker.com
**Kit Carson, seated, By Mathew Brady or Levin C. Handy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
***Navajo prisoners of Kit Carson year 1864 forcet on Long Walk, (Arizona Historical Society), Wikimedia Commons
****Tom Ketchum aka "Black Jack" (1863-1901, Source: http://www.claytonnewmexico.net/images/blackjack/blackj1.jpg, Wikimedia Commons
*****"Black Jack Ketchum getting fitted with a new necktie." He is being hanged at Clayton, N. Mex. Terr., 1901, Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. (09/18/1947 - 02/28/1964),
National Archives and Records Administration, College ParkLink back to Institution infobox template, Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), Wikimedia Commons

MonsterFest: Skinwalkers

It's my day in the 2011 MonsterFest, hosted by Sommer Leigh (awesome name, wouldn't you agree?) of Tell Great Stories.

Skinwalkers

What are they?

We are going to focus on the Navajo version of the skinwalker: yee naaldlooshii (which translates to "with it, he goes on all fours.") A skinwalker is a witch who can shape shift, at least partially, by using an animal's pelt. They are best known in the form of the coyote, but can take any shape, so long as they possess that animal's pelt.

What's so scary about that?

Not only can they shape shift (some say not fully), but they also practice mind control and read minds. Skinwalkers are known to cast spells that can cause illness or death, cause car accidents, mimic voices or the cry of a baby to draw people out of their homes, and wreak havoc overall.

People report creatures whose eyes don't reflect their headlights, stalking them from the roadside. These creatures can keep pace with a car and, ultimately, force it off the road.

Others report something half human, half animal staring in their windows at night or climbing on the roof. They will try to break in, pounding on the doors and windows. They possess great speed, agility, strength and any other abilities they may glean from the animals whose pelts they wear. In owl or crow form, they can even fly.

Never meet a skinwalker's eyes, or they may take over your body. Some believe they can also use human skin to shape shift. If you're lucky, they will simply read your thoughts.

Skinwalkers sometimes use corpse powder, reported to be made of bone dust, to kill. They blow it in a person's face, which causes their tongue to turn black and their bodies to convulse. Eventually, they die.

How will I know one if I see it?

For one, there will be a naked man standing around with an animal pelt on his head. He will likely look pretty menacing. Sort of like he wants to kill you or step into your skin like a designer suit.

Aside from that, their eyes are said to glow yellow when they're in human form, yet not reflect light in animal form. Alternatively, they may have glowing red eyes. Also, they tend to look like a mutated form of the animal when shifted, rather than completely like that animal. If an animal is deformed, steer clear.

This sounds pretty groovy; how does one become a skinwalker?

How? By committing pure evil. Skinwalkers choose to be evil; they aren't born with a curse or bitten against their will. They learn some of the same things medicine men learn, making them educated and intimately knowledgeable with the workings of your mind and body. If they break cultural [moral] taboos, they gain their powers. One common way to become a skinwalker is to murder a family member, especially a sibling.

Holy evil skin-wearers, Batman! How can I fight them?

Due to the fact that skinwalkers often shift into predators, the Navajo have forbidden use of the skins of coyote, wolves, bears, owls, foxes, crows and cougars. Furthermore, Anasazi ruins are to be avoided, as it has long been thought that powerful magic could be created there.

Avoid talking about skinwalkers. Discussing them will bring their attention on you.

The only way you can harm a skinwalker is with a bullet coated in white ash. Beware, though, as you must take care not to be caught trying to kill a skinwalker; if they catch you, your gun will likely jam. Then you die.

Actually, there may be another way. If you discover who the skinwalker is, you can say their full name three times, which will cause them to perish. Good luck tracking them, though! If they know they've been recognized, they will become intent on killing you to keep their identity secret.

So where did they come from in the first place?

No one really agrees on this. Some think they started with other tribes (the Lakota, for one, or the Anasazi). Others feel they came to be after the forced marches by the whites. They developed the ability to shape shift in order to get away from the white soldiers and use the animal's strengths to keep them safe.

Another interesting origin story (from the Wikipedia entry on skinwalkers) involves the poor members of the tribe. They went door-to-door in ceremonial garb to collect food left out by those in each hogan. When people stopped leaving food out, the poor became angry and disillusioned, turning evil. Let this be a lesson to you, penny pinchers!

These are old stories, though, right? Just silly old tales.

Actually, the Navajo believe there are still skinwalkers. In fact, there has been a lawsuit in recent years, brought against an alleged witch/skinwalker by attorney Michael Stuhff during a custody battle. The child in question reported to his mother that his father had taken him to see a witch and a ceremony had been performed. During the ceremony, a dark doll and a pale doll were buried, indicating that the mother and lawyer (allegedly) would end up buried in that area. The judge, being a Navajo, recognized this particular ceremony and shot down the father's lawyer's argument that it was a Blessing Way, another ceremony he was quite familiar with. The verdict was upheld.

Reservation police have come forth with stories of animals pacing their vehicles at 60mph. Sometimes it is more man than animal.

You can still find people who will tell you of their encounters with skinwalkers. Whether it's the mother whose door was ripped open on an early morning paper route, or the man who watched a maddened creature crawl all over a neighbor's house, scratching at windows, pounding on doors. The skinwalker exists in the here and now, and no longer cares only to exact its vengeance on the Navajo people, but anyone who dares cross Navajo land. So lock your doors and windows tight, block the chimney, stay off Navajo land, and for heaven's sakes, if you hear a baby crying outside, don't go to investigate. It may be the last thing you do.

Hey, what's that pounding I hear on the roof?

Sources (and further reading):

Wikipedia article on skinwalkers

Rocky Mountain Legends

Skinwalkers - What Are They?