Lesson 5: Loyal Lovers and Shady Ladies
These are the tales of the Rose of Cimarron, Big Nose Kate, and Baby Doe Tabor, women who stood by their man through very trying circumstances. In some of the cases the men were worth the trouble, in others they might have been better off without them.
Introduction/The Rose of Cimarron
Introduction:
In this lesson, we'll explore the lives of Rose Dunn, also called the Rose of the Cimarron; Kate Elder, or Big Nose Kate; and Baby Doe Tabor. All three of these women had passionate or long-lasting love affairs with men who caused them to be involved in trouble or a scandal. Rose Dunn fell in love with a handsome outlaw, Big Nose Kate was Doc Holiday's long-time companion, and Baby Doe Tabor became the talk of Colorado when wealthy Horace Tabor divorced his wife of many years to marry her.
The motivation for becoming involved with an outlaw man on the run from the law, a notorious gunslinger, or a powerful millionaire with an eye for the ladies was in each case different.
For Rose Dunn, it was the acquaintanceship of her brothers to the Dalton gang and its members that allowed her to meet and fall in love with George "Bittercreek" Newcomb. If not for this chance meeting, she would probably have led a very predictable life, marrying and settling down with one of the local townsmen. After getting over her dangerous relationship with Newcomb, this is exactly what she did. If Newcomb had lived, Rose would have had been fated for a much different and no doubt unpleasant life as the wife of a man with a price on his head. It makes one wonder how long it would have lasted before she left him.
Big Nose Kate, Doc Holliday's companion, was on the wrong side of the law herself before she ever met up with the charming dentist turned card shark and gunslinger. She had her own shady business of prostitution which she did not plan to give up. Kate was not a woman to be dominated, even though Doc Holliday did his best to make her do his bidding. Theirs was more of a long-term relationship, an unhealthy one. It was based, it appears, on equal portions of dislike and affection. In a way, these two outlaws were good for each other, providing one another with affection and companionship. On the other hand, they were each a bad influence upon the other. Kate put up with much abuse from the handsome and often drunken Doc Holliday and Doc also suffered at the hands of Kate's retaliation when she turned him into the law for the one crime he probably didn't commit.
Baby Doe Tabor risked her reputation by marrying millionaire Horace Tabor. No crime was involved except perhaps a crime of the heart. After Tabor divorced his loyal, long-suffering wife of many years to make the beautiful young woman his wife, Baby Doe was completely ostracized by Denver society. By most, Baby Doe was considered to be a young gold-digger. Certainly, the thought of bettering her situation and a chance at the good life weighed in her decision to become involved with this wealthy silver king.
All three of these women faced a good degree of hardship and heartache as a consequence of their choices, and while studying their stories we can speculate as to what motivated them to stay in unhealthy, even dangerous relationships or to risk all for love.
The main sources for this lesson will include WildWomen of the Old West. Riley, Glenda and Etulain, Richard. Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, Co. 2003 and Women of the Western Frontier in Fact, Fiction and Film, Lackmann, Ron McFarland & Company, Jefferson, North Carolina, 1997.
The Rose of Cimarron
Pretty Rose Dunn or The Rose of Cimarron, as she is often called, met dashing George "Bitter Creek" Newcomb, a member of the notorious Doolin Gang, through her brothers, who were also outlaws and thieves. The Doolin Gang were an infamous band of outlaws. They were responsible for a series of bank, train and stage robberies during 1891-1896. The Doolin Gang were ruthless and often murdered innocent bystanders. They at times teamed up with the Daltons, who had been lawmen before they turned to crime.
When Grat and Bob Dalton were killed in a bloody ambush in Coffeeville, Kansas in 1892 while trying to pull off a bank robbery, the remainder of the gang scattered. What was left of the Dalton gang eventually merged with Bill Doolin's gang, which included outlaw George Newcomb. The reassembled gang of ruthless thieves and murderers began a new siege of terror.
It was about this time that the Rose of Cimarron came into the picture. Members of a posse intent upon arresting the gang kept close watch. They concealed themselves in a wagon and rode into the town of Ingalls, Oklahoma. The posse members hid themselves along the street and sent a messenger into the saloon to tell Bill Doolin that he was surrounded and ordered him to surrender. Doolin's response was, "Go to hell".
The outlaws in the saloon that day included Bill Dalton, Bill Doolin, George Newcomb, and several other members of the gang. One of the other members, Arkansas Tom, was sick in bed in Mrs. Pierce's nearby hotel.
Gunfire opened up from the saloon upon the posse. A hail of bullets ensued, and the frightened townspeople all ran for cover. It was here that the Rose of Cimarron performed her daunting act of courage. Rose peered down from the second floor of Mrs. Pierce's hotel into the street and saw that her lover had only his six-shooter for protection.
She got his Winchester and cartridge belt from the hotel room, intending to deliver it to him. But the posse had surrounded the hotel and there was no means of escape. Rose tore a bed sheet into strips, tied them together into a rope and lowered both herself and the weaponry to the ground.
Rose must have taken a gamble that that the posse would not shoot a woman. Dashing through a hail of gunfire, she ran across the street to deliver the weapon to her lover. She found Newcomb badly wounded, so Rose gave the rifle to another outlaw. With Dalton and Doolin providing cover,the injured Newcomb was loaded on a horse and was taken to safety. Arkansas Tom, sick in bed, was the only outlaw captured that day. The rest of the outlaws escaped, but many of them were seriously wounded in the shootout..
George had a price on his head, and unfortunately, some time later, Rose's outlaw brothers shot her lover for the reward money. After her lover's death, Rose retired from crime, and became the wife of an Oklahoma politician and lived the rest of her life as a respected citizen.
