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Las Vegas OPTICViewpointsFriday, December21, 2012 AiNuestra Historiauringthe Optic’s first years, Las Vegis was the epicenter of vice and violence in the wild wet as many notorious outlaws took up residence in the new rail town.So it was that during the Optic’s formative years, Russ Kistleris colorful coverage of the mayhem and mischief on the streets of Las Vegas, helped make the young editor one of the leading newspapermen of that era — and the Optic a precursor in creating the lore and legend of the western outlaw.Kistler, who mailed his Optic throughout the United States, provided first-hand and sometimes lurid accounts of the inc essant murders, robberies and disorder which pervaded buth sides of the Gallinas. More than any other periodical of that era, Kistleris Optic nurtured the mystique which would forever cloak such nefarious Las Vegis outlaws as Billy the Kid,Bob Ollinger, Do: Holliday, mysterious Eteve Mather, J.J. Webb, Dave Rudabau^n and Hoodoo Brown (Hyman G. I'Jeill).Las Vegis surpassed even Etodge Gty, Kan., and Tombstone, Ariz., as the hub of outlaw activity in the late 1800s, as written in counties books and articles. .A glimpse of the vie e and violenc e which overran Las Vegas — and which was regular fare in the Optic — was vividly observed by scholarly historian and Las Vegas resident Ralph Emerson Twite hell, who wrote soon after the outlaw era: Without exception, therea man’s life into eternity. It is well-preserved in alcohol and has been viewed by many in our office today. If the rush continues we shall purchase a small tent and open a side show to which complimentar tickets will be issued to our personal friends.”Like many of his nevrepapt contemporaries, Russ Kistler no doubt embellished or exag gerated many Optic reports about the infamous outlaws c the day — and some historiar believe the whole episode wa nothing more than a Kistler prank. But we will never kno’ whether Kistler actually had the Kid’s trigger finger at the Optic, because nine days later the Optic reported that the fir ger had been sold to a young lady from Oakland, Calif., for $150 cash. (In her 1998 book “Etc Holliday: A family Portrait” author and Holliday descendant Karen Holliday Tanner writes that publisher Kistler was prone to fabrication and gross exaggeration t compete with the Gazette arc the Herald”)Whether embellished, exag gerated or even fabricated, th Optic’s reporting helped creal and promote the mystique of the western outlaw, and Kistler played no small part in tb outlaw legends which overtook a rid fascinated the entire country — and remain firmly embedded in the lore of western .Americana.But Russ Kistler was not good at business. Though one of Mew Mexico’s most celebrated newspapermen he would eventually be forced to sell his beloved Optic, ard later die penniless.Jesus L. Lopez is a native Las Vegas and a local historia hte may te reached at 42 3733.JesusLopezOptic kindled outlaw lorewas no town which harbored a more disreputable gang of gimblers, desperadoes and outlaws than did Las Vegas. They controlled, for a while, the local peace officers, and the danc e halls and public resorts were the scenes of many shooting affrays and robberies. In the new town, in the immediate vicinity of the Castaneda hotel, were located some of the most disreputable saloons, dance halls and resorts ever seen in frontier days.” (According to Twiteh-ell and other writers, 29 men were murdered in and around Las Vegas in 1880 alone.)Kistler's fascinating coverage of the rampant crime vras in part responsible for the Optic’s eariy success, as both its circulation and advertising scared. On July 21,1881, for example, the Optic headline was simple but tantalizing: The Kid Killed,” referring to the death of Billy the Kid, who was shot and killed at Fort Sumner by Sheriff Pat Garrett the rd^nt of July 14,1881, after escaping from the Lincoln count}' jail and killing two guards.Well known in Las Vegas, Billy the Kid had been incarcerated at the San Miguel County jail on Dec. 27 of the previous year, when he was broult;^nt here by Sheriff Garrett and his pcsse, to be transported by train to Santa Fe. Many other notorious outlaws of the time were also housed at the same jail, which more than once was stormed by vigilantes who carried off and lynched several prisoners at the banging windmill at the Old Town plaza, as recounted previously in I'Juestra Historia. (Located at the northwest comer of Valencia and South Gonzales streets, the jail was partially extant into the earlyin this 1S30 photograph, J.J. Vtebb, convicted of murder and sentenced to be hanged, is shown in shackles at the San Miguel County jail, at the northwest corner of Valencia and Mirth G3n-zales, from which he escaped with six other prisoners on Dec. 3, 1881. The Optic reported the escape under the headline Bye, Bye Eirds. Fuss Kistler mailed his newspaper throughout the U.S., and the Optic's colorful coverage of the many nefarious criminals who made Las Vegas their horne, helped create and popularize the myth and legend of the western outlaw.1960s, and as a young boy the writer enjoyed many playful hours exploring the old hoose-gow.)Shortly after the Kid’s death, the Optic would create a stir in Las Vegis and beyond - claiming to possess the Kid’strigger finger. It all started when the Optic published the following item on July 25,1881: An esteemed friend of the Optic at Fort Sumner, L.W. Hale, has sent us the index finger of 'Billy, the Kid,’ the one which has snapped many
Newspaper Details
Las Vegas Optic
Las Vegas, New Mexico, US
Fri, Dec 21, 2012
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Kokomo-Howard C.
IN, USA 04 Apr 2022
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