Wife of Jeffery John Barnes 1855-1904 |
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Parsons, Kansas - Cripple Creek, Colorado |
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Lenora Rose Barnes |
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The
cavalry at Fort Dodge was forever busy; law was beginning to filter in. JJB found his job
at the Dodge House Hotel, where many a gunslinger and cattle drover took a bath, got a hot
meal, and bedded down for the night. During this time, JJB witnessed many gunfights and
watched the huge droves of cattle come in from Texas for shipment east. The Santa Fe
Railroad had made it into Colorado and was working its way through the Rocky Mountains. He
also saw the many wild buffalo slaughtered for sport and hides was the
"sportsmen" shot from the train cars. He took one of the last photos of the few
buffalo left on the prairie. This photo was handed down to be treasured by future
generations. He was friends with Doc Holiday, whose hobby was making cement animals. As a
token of their friendship. Doc gave JJB a frog. This, too, was passed down through the
family (to W.L. Barnes).Rosie had even more passion for life, love, and adventure than did
JJB. She took up with a drover from El Paso, who was a very proficient gambler. They made
a good team. Rosie and the gambler headed for a small mining camp in Colorado called Cripple
Creek. Here,
riches of silver and gold awaited everyone who was lucky and hard working enough. They
lived in a small log cabin deep in the woods, traveling back and forth by horseback.
"Rosie s Palace" was one of the first gambling saloon and house of prostitution
in Cripple Creek. It was the only social drinking establishment for miles; needless to say
it was an instant success! However, tempers were hot, women were scarce, and the gambler
was always watching Rosie. During one card game, a handsome young drifter caught Rosie 's
eye. The gambler knew very soon that the attraction was more than the usual
"customer." Rosie and the cowboy had long talks and,of ten took moonlight
strolls down the dirt street. (In those days, the cowboy always walked on the outside of
the lady with no inside plumbing, it was necessary to dump chamber pots and water bowls
out the window. Courtesy dictated that sewage land on the street or the cowboy instead of
the lady.) Late one evening, in a drunken rage, the gambler shot Rosie and her cowboy.
Both were killed. A year later, her belongings and trunk arrived at the Dodge House. The
trunk contained a letter from the gambler that described the tragedy. The news was rough
on JJB. He returned to Parsons and the farm; later, he married Ellen Radel. They had one
son, W.L. Barnes. W. L. never opened the mysterious trunk, which he carried back to Dodge
City with his bride, Anne Elizabeth Wilson. After his death, however, W.L.'s son Frank,
Frank's wife Oma Belle, and Anne Elizabeth went through the trunk and learned about
Rosie's Palace and the Cripple Creek shooting.
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