Jeffery John Barnes; 1855-1904
Jeffery, known as JJB, and
Lenora Rose, known as Rosie, were of the adventurous sort. They were poor farm people,
striving on the Kansas plains, living in a sod hut. Both parents were dead from overwork
and illness. The prairie grass grew tall; it came to JJB's hip in the spring. Rosie had
long hair and flashing green eyes. One spring day they bid farewell to the sod hut, the
two graves with their wooden crosses, and went west. They caught a stagecoach at the
nearest settlement (Parsons, Kansas) and headed for Dodge City. Dodge City was exciting.It
was an explosive combination of gunfighters, buffalo hunters, cattle drivers, gamblers,
prostitutes, and other frontier riffraff. |
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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 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. |