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moiu \in hot! i. umi:In rev-n? issue of The Herald and in connection with the tearing downof an old landmark of the city, the j St'-wari Hotel, thlt;-re was attempt todelve into the history of the build-ing. Positive information was diffi* j cult to obtain. The old-timers, who w* re here during those early days of the erection and ownerships of the jbuilding did not agr***- in Hour accounts ail the way and their mem-i CMy-y- 1ories were not clear on all points, jPursuing the subject further The Herald reporter got to Clay Head with inquiries and Mr, Head has kindly furnished an article clearing up part of the history and with refer-ences to a number of prominent j characters of the earlier days of Big Spring, The article from Mr. Head follows:“'Dm* lt;V*mopolitfin Hot**!”(Some 20 years afterwards knownas the Stewart Hotel.) iBuilt in the year of 1883, torndown in 10 27 therefore same was 4 4years old. This hotel was built at the same time that our first courthouse was erected and by the samecontractor who built the courthcn*KtJim Monahan lea ed this hotel andu- the first proprietor of same Monahan w a a deputy sheriff tinder Hoh Morrow and they were a splendidir m kef ping the law and order InPS»ur little “burg of some 800 peoplewills seventeen wide.open saloonscounting the Crystal Palace, the Nipand Tuck and Cal Williams’ Bucket of Blood, which only kept this name for about one week.It mattered not what kind of a fight was being pulled off when Bob irid Jim arrived both with a 45 on each flip each revolver working on a pivot so that they could shoot from the hip that fight was soon over The cowboys were good-natured and out tor any kind of fun and one nightone- twenty boys came in from theHong ranch and were going toshoot up the town They hitched 'heir mustangs at the hitching rackat the Mp And Tuck saloon f now Horn s restaurant . went into theNip and Tuck to down a few glassesOf kill me quick” whiskey or b.. rNear this hitching rack was a large patch of those large western cockle-burs Bob, Jim and some others look in the situation and hurriedly they gathered their hats full of thosecocklc-bnr* and raising the saddlesand blankets of every horse or mustang they placed a handful of theburs under the blankets next to thebid** of that mustang A f**w moments later out came the cowboys andswung themselves Into the saddles As soon as one's weight was in the saddle the burs took their mlschiev-ioas delight in sticking that mustang as he was never stuck beforo and upthe street these twenty cowboys went with no tim** to take out their revolvers to shoot op the town for they had to hold on to the saddle or be thrown for those twenty mu#*tangs were made This was only one of the many pranks that were played on the cowboys. Perhaps thenext week they would play just sucha jok*• on Bob and Jim. Everythingfor funMr. and Mrs. Charles D. Read andfamily occupied the southeast cornerroom of the hotel In October. IS§3 for one month until their home on Lot No. 1 ) in block No. 3 was completed The teams of Mr J, fl. I).Boydstun were busy hauling in athousand tons of buffalo bones (there being but a very few teams in the town) and Noble and llenry Boydstun hauled the lumber from the cars that was put Into the hotel.Karl of .\llt;**for«l Arrive*When the Karl of Aylesford arriv-)»*d everything was in a hustle. The hotel was leased by John I). Bird.well for the exclusive us»* of the Karl of Aylesford and his company He was a kind big hearted man and the cowboys loved him, and he was the only tender-foot” who ever came to West Texas and got by with It Manytimes did they give him a soft chair to sit by and see the great fights of the BAIHJEH8 as they were pulledfrom the barrel He purchased the Wardell ranch some t*n miles north-ea-t of town and between the ranch l house and th*- hotel his time was di-! vlded. Having a splendid hunch of! hounds many chases did he give the) Jack rabbits, lie bad a remittance of! $75,000 coming to him from hisEnglish estates every three monthsand the old town would liven up ex-1ceedingiy at these periods of his re-lt;» ipt of this remittance.He died in this the Cosmopolitanhotel ami there was not a dry eye mthe city when it was announced thathe was dead. H. Clay Read.
Newspaper Details
Big Spring Herald
Big Spring, Texas, US
Fri, Mar 04, 1927
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
TX, USA 25 Oct 2019
Other Publications Near Big Spring, Texas
Big Spring Stanton Herald
Big Spring Sunday Herald
Big Spring Weekly Herald
Big Spring Daily Herald
Big Spring Herald
