Some “Wild West” Trivia

Let’s make this one a little more challenging and check out our knowledge of the “Wild West!”

1. Everyone has seen the “Old West” movies where the sheriff forms a “posse” to chase down the bad guys. What is the origin of the term “posse?”

2. How many shots were fired in the famous “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral?”

3. While on European tour, Annie Oakley offered to shoot the ashes from a cigarette held in the mouth of a volunteer from the audience. A young nobleman stepped forward and lit a cigarette. Oakley successfully performed the shot at a distance about 40 feet. Had she missed to her left, who would she have killed?

4. In 1905, what did the United States Government give to the Apache chief Geronimo in partial compensation for lost territory?

5. How did legendary Wild West figure Bat Masterson die?

6. Who was the first African-American to set foot in what is now the Southwestern United States?

7. On Sunday, July 26, 1879, what 2 Wild West legends shared a Sunday dinner at a hotel in Hot Springs, New Mexico?

8. What is the “Dead man’s Hand” and how did it get its name?

9. Where is the great Chiricahua Apache war chief Cochise buried?

10. What is remarkable about the old Santa Fe Trail?

Answers

1. Posse” comes from the Latin phrase posse comitatus, which (roughly) translates as “the power (or authority) of the county.” Under English Common Law, which was transplanted to the United States, the sheriff of a county was empowered to call for the assistance of all able-bodied citizens of the county in an emergency.

2. If you total up the number of shots reported by witnesses, here’s what you get: there were 23 shots fired over a period of 15 to 20 seconds. 3 men were killed, Wyatt Earp escaped injury, Doc Holliday received a superficial wound, Morgan Earp was hit in the left upper back near this shoulder, and Virgil was shot in the right calf. Considering that the exchange of gunfire happened at an average distance of about 15 feet this legendary event marks one of the worst examples of marksmanship in the history of the West.

3. Prince William (Wilhelm), who would later become Kaiser Wilhelm II, a central figure in the outbreak of World War I.

4. A Cadillac automobile

5. Of a heart attack, at the age of 67, at his desk in the offices of the New York Morning Telegraph where he was an editor.

6. Esteban, a Moorish slave of Andrés Dorantes de Carranza who accompanied Cabeza de Vaca on the latter’s search for the Seven Cities of Cibola. Esteban was killed near what is now Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, in 1537.

7. Jessie James and Billy the Kid.

8. In 5 card draw poker, a pair of aces and a pair of eights, often called “aces and 8’s.” It was the hand being held by “Wild Bill” Hickok when he was shot and killed on August 2, 1876 in Deadwood, South Dakota.

9. Somewhere in the Chiricahua Mountains of Southeastern Arizona. The exact spot is unknown since the men who buried his body never revealed the location.

10. It came close to, but never actually reached its namesake, Santa Fe, New Mexico.