Looking For Descendants

In my research, several descendants of key players in the cattle war have surfaced. Their stories and information are adding layers and depth to the book. I've decided to give a list of families who were involved in the cattle war and ask their descendants or relatives to contact me - GayleGresham@gmail.com
These are families who lived in Chaffee, Fremont and Park Counties in 1883-1884:

Ernest Christison
J.B. Cameron
Robert Cameron
Nancy Cameron Coffee Casteel
Jesse Stingley
Nettie Cameron Stingley
Ben Jameson
Frank Reed
Henry Van Kleeck
Ira Mulock
Ira Parker Mulock
Edson Mulock
William Gribble
T. Witcher
Gregory Gross
W.R. Smith

Gayle's Update

Happy New Year!

I kind of left you hanging since I went to the Women Writing The West Conference. I had a great time visiting with the other writers and getting to know them. It is great to be a part of this organization. I was elected Secretary for 2007-2008 and I'm working to help with the marketing of WWW. Next year's conference is in San Antonio and I can't wait to go!

The best part of the conference was meeting with an editor who is very excited about my book project on Ernest and the cattle rustling. He can't commit to the book until the manuscript is complete, but he is very encouraging. So, in the past few months I've been working on improving my writing and organizing the book. And I've kept on researching. Amazing facts are turning up-- facts that keep me questioning and searching for more answers. I've learned more about Ed Watkins' background and more about his wife. With recent information, I've realized there is still a lot of buried treasure for me to dig up. I'm grateful for what keeps coming to the surface and for what I discover when I dig deeper.

Here's to 2008 -- the year of a completed manuscript, I pray!

My Writing Space

This week I'm getting ready to go to the Women Writing The West conference in Colorado Springs next weekend. I've belonged to this great organization for a year and I can't wait to see the women I met at last year's conference and greet in person the women I've met through e-mail in the past year.

Recently, someone on the WWW listserv shared a site of Writers' Rooms. I was intrigued with seeing where other people write. So I decided to show you my little corner of the living room where I write. You can see my notebooks and books. But the photo doesn't show the stacks on the piano bench beside the desk or the piles of maps and papers on the dining room table! Nor does it show the trail worn in the carpet to the kitchen, which beckons me every time I get stuck:-)

Cameron Mountain

This is Cameron Mountain, northeast of Salida. Cameron Mountain stood at the center of the cattle range of Thomas Cameron. Ernest Christison's range was nearby the Cameron range.

I recently came into contact with J.B. Cameron's great-great-granddaughter, Laura. J.B. decided to get out of town around the time Ernest was arrested and moved to Washington Territory . It is so interesting to hear stories from other families.

Ute Creek Trail

Last Friday, John and I drove to Salida, then drove up northeast on County Road 175 or Ute Creek Trail. Ute Creek Trail was the road the settlers in the 1860's used to get to Canon City. It was also the cattle range of Thomas Cameron, one of the early settlers and a friend of Ernest Christison. Thomas, Ernest and Thomas' son, J.B. jointly registered a brand in 1880.

Imagine herding cattle through this terrain--without the nice gravel road!

Researching Ernest Christison's Story

Dr. Wendell Hutchinson, Connie, John and Gayle (Salida 1981)

Have you ever had a story that stayed with you? For years? 

I took a Colorado history class when I was a sophomore in high school in 1981. When it came time to write my term paper, I decided to write about Ernest Christison. I knew two things about my great-great -uncle -- he was a cattle rustler and he spent time in the state penitentiary. I searched for info about Ernest in Chaffee County history books my parents had collected. I learned that Ernest's partner, Ed Watkins, was lynched in Canon City in 1883.

Realizing there was more to the story, I decided to go to Salida to talk to Dr. Wendell Hutchinson who had co-written Under The Angel of Shavano. My parents and my boyfriend at the time (now my husband, John) drove to Salida in early November and we had a delightful day visiting with Dr. Hutchinson. He showed us where Ernest Christison's cabin had once stood near Salida. He told me about Ernest and the Watkins situation. I learned that Ernest had escaped from jail, too. Dr. Hutchinson also introduced us to John Ophus, a man who had developed an interest in the Christison family and done some research. 

I wrote my paper, got an A+, and gained a new found love for historical research. Because of this experience, I started researching my family history early in my married life. Throughout the years, Ernest's story kept rising to the top. Discovering Betty Regnier, Ernest's granddaughter who remembers him, and with the new surprise of my intersecting ancestry with Erin, Ernest's great-great-granddaughter, writing Ernest's story has become even more pressing. 

Originally I planned to write one book -- a family saga with Wilburn's life and Ernest's story

-- but as I dug into Ernest's story, I discovered I have enough information for his very own book. I started with an inch and a half notebook holding a few pages about Ernest; in the past few months it has grown to a fat notebook full of court records and newspaper articles. And I'm still running into surprises. What a story. I can't wait to share it with you.

Ernest Christison - Cattle Rustler

I've mentioned Ernest Christison several times, but I've not really told his story. Ernest was Wilburn and Elizabeth's second son. In 1884 he pled guilty to stealing cattle and was sentenced to two years in prison. All of the local history books say he went to the Colorado State Penitentiary for ten years, but his prison records show he was sentenced to two years.

Ernest's story has been quite a puzzle to piece together and more intriguing than I ever dreamed! It is a wild west movie in real life. I'm working on Ernest's story now and I'm starting to feel like Louis L'Amour!

One of the best things about writing Ernest's story is talking with his granddaughter, Betty. She is the lady who gave me the picture of Wilburn and Elizabeth. Betty remembers Ernest quite well. He lived with her family in Colorado Springs when she was a child. She remembers him playing his fiddle and mouth harp. And she remembers him as the sweetest, kindest Grandpa a child could have.

I will continue Ernest's story another day...