Yup, I pinched myself. Now I am considering suing myself for sexual harassment. I am finally writing a blog post for April Fool's Day.
Do you know what a pirates favorite holiday is?
Aye'pril Fools Day!
You know I have waited for this moment all of my life.
And now that this moment has arrived...and the literally dozens of almanac readers are waiting in anticipation...I find myself at a loss for words. Oh well, when the words don't come you have to turn to history.
Luckily we live in what would be the Old Wild West if we were a century and a half earlier. It is pretty tame now, but there was a time when southwest Kansas was famous for outlaws and lawmen...like Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Doc Holliday, and Mysterious Dave Mather. These famous gunslingers are featured quite prominently in the Boot Hill Museum located in Dodge City. But, if you are brave enough, go a little deeper into the Long Branch Saloon and you will find a placard describing one of the few lady lawbreakers of the old west.
Hattie April Goldtooth (seriously, what a name!) resided in Dodge City starting around 1887. She was employed as a seamstress at Debbie's Dress shop, and that is where things started for her. It was the first day of April, and a cowboy brought in a dress and gave it to Hattie. The story is a little sketchy, but apparently after Hattie fixed it he asked her to put it on and join him in front of the justice of the peace. Well, Hattie didn't want anything to do with the cowboy. This made him mad and he stormed out.
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| Hattie in her favorite hat |
Some say this kind of drove Hattie a little crazy. According to eye witnesses (both who were legally blind) Hattie went next door to Wahl's Gun Mart and purchased two silver plated revolvers. These two guns are on display in the Boot Hill Museum. Anyways, she left the gun shop waving those revolvers in the air. She started shooting at cowboys but since she was more of a seamstress than a gunfighter all she managed to shoot was a water trough (much like they do in all old westerns) and a couple of plastic cacti that had been imported from China to liven up the town.
Eventually the sheriff (Bucktooth Joe) was able to calm her down. He gave her a stern lecture saying there would be no fooling around with guns, and as you have probably guessed that is what led to the very first April Fool's day.
Have a good one!
Mr. Hot Coco
Pretty adorable. The drum lead up in the collins piece a nice touch, as well.
ReplyDeleteI found a Hattie Goldtooth on line. She had recently been booked on the Navaho Nation, Arizona for resisting arrest. Probably a descendent of your Hattie.
ReplyDelete