| 3/19/2011 |
Green River Whiskey
Sounds like J.W. McCulloch's folk have got his famous whiskey pouring again.
Spirits enthusists and collectors have enjoyed our history and our premium spirits since 1885. In 2011 you can still enjoy John McCulloch's award winning spirits. Ask your favorite dealer For John McCulloch's "Original Mountain Dew" and Green River Whiskey, or our 2010 Silver Medal winning American Vodka.
www.GreenRiverWhiskey.com
Check this E-bay link for some collectible history
Cheers, Scott McCulloch, 937-783-3385, Fax 904-458-8956
Fans will remember that old JW supposedly bought his share of the Blongers' Forest Queen gold mine from Lou in exchange for twenty barrels of Green River, the whiskey that "Blots Out All Your Troubles." Maybe we'll finally get to test the old adage.
-CJ
|
| 9/19/2011 |
Con Caddigan
Came across this on eBay:
Caddigan was a showman and bunko man, and an associate of the Blongers and Deadwood's Billy Nuttall in Leadville, Albuquerque and Denver. This poster was issued in 1911 after he sold two fake bricks of gold for $25,000. Read more about Caddigan here.
-CJ
|
| 10/7/2011 |
Sam Testifies
In April of 1885 Sam was on the thoroughbred circuit, but seemed to be spending a lot of time in Aspen. One day while having a drink at the Fashion Saloon, a scuffle broke out behind him. He described it thusly:
Was sitting with my back to the bar; heard a gunshot; jumped to my feet and saw deceased in the actof falling; his gun flew out of his hand to the floor; a man came in the side door and shot; he was taken out by several parties; deceased was on his hands and knees with his head toward the floor when shot.
It seems Frank Jones had been drunk and causing trouble, and when Special Officer James Fitzpatrick came to arrest him, Jones pulled a gun. He got off a shot to no effect, and Fitzgerald put him to the floor and whacked him with his pistol. As Jones struggled on the floor, hoping to get off another shot, Bernard Riley put a bullet in him and ended the fray.
-CJ
|
| 12/10/2011 |
Mountain Dew
At long last! Finally got my bottle of Mountain Dew.
Back in the 1890s, J.W. McColloch gave Lou 20 barrels of his famous Green River Whiskey — the whiskey without a headache — in exchange for an eighth interest in the Forest Queen gold mine. JW and the Blonger Bros. were partners for many years.
JW stopped making spirits come prohibition. The name was eventually sold, and the brand lived on until the Fifties, but now his descendants have picked up the baton, and the once-famous whiskey, distilled according to the original recipe, is flowing once again.
Just had a taste last night, and it did not disappoint. Kudos, gentlemen. And no headache this morning!
Interested? You can read more about it at GreenRiverWhiskey.com, or order some from Hi-Time Wine for about $20 a bottle.
-CJ
|
| 12/28/2011 |
Lou in California
In 1887, Lou apparently sat down in Deming, New Mexico, and filled out a pension request form. In it, he stated that he had moved to the Deming area from Albuquerque in 1883, splitting with his brother Sam for the first time in almost twenty years. During this time, he indicated that he had been staying with gambler Frank Thurmond, presumably in a hotel owned by Thurmond and his wife Carlotta Thompkins. He even goes so far as to name his doctors, and suggest that, as a cripple, he was in Thurmond's care.
For a long time we have taken this as gospel. We couldn't place him anywhere else until 1888, when he turned up in Kingman, Arizona for the trial of Kitty Blonger. He indicated in the hotel register that he was arriving from San Bernardino, California.
New information from Ancestry.com only muddies the water. According to the San Bernardino voter rolls, Lou was running a saloon in that town in 1885. Why would he have spent three years in California, notwithstanding at least one visit back to Deming, then redact the entire period from his pension request? Perhaps he was simply trying to sound as pathetic as possible.
-CJ
Joe in California
Joe's travels are largely a mystery. In 1868 he was in Jerseyville, Illinois. Indications are that Joe spent time with Sam and Lou in Salt Lake City around 1873. After that, he disappears until he shows up in Cerrillos, New Mexico in 1879.
These two periods of his life — 1868 to 1873, and 1873 to 1879 — are crucial to understanding the truth about Joe. Was he visiting with Sitting Bull? Scouting in the Indian Wars with Cody? Or Custer? Playing poker with Hickok? Communing with Gernimo?
Well, now we know a little more. Ancestry.com places him on the Inyo County voter rolls. He registered August 31, 1875, claiming to be a farmer at "George's Creek" — George Creek, probably. Farmer, not prospector?
-CJ
|
