Temple Houston
Lawyer with a
Gun
Sombrero
Bottle
(Select One)
Old West cognoscenti know about the flamboyant advocate Temple Lea Houston. Born on August 12, 1860, in the Governor's Mansion in Austin, Texas, Temple was the youngest son of Sam Houston. Yes, the Sam Houston, president of the Texas Republic and then senator and governor of the state. Temple's mom was Sam's second (or third) wife Margaret1. However both Temple's parents had died by the time he was seven, so Temple went to live with his older sister in Georgetown, a small town just north of Austin.
Footnote
Sam, when he was governor of Tennessee, married Eliza Allen, the daughter of a wealth planter, in January, 1829, and the marriage fell apart almost immediately (we're talking a few months). He married Margaret Lea, Temple's mom, in 1840. But in the interim, Sam had married a Cherokee woman named Tiana Rogers. This marriage ended when they decided to "split the blanket". That is, they simply separated. This was permissible under Cherokee law but because Sam was also a US citizen and had only been adopted into the tribe, there were questions whether he was legally permitted to abide only under the tribal laws.
The veracity of the stories about Temple's youth - like his joining a cattle drive at age 13 and working on a riverboat on the Mississippi - are subject to question. However, most scholars accept these two episodes as authentic. We also know Temple attended both Texas A&M (there's a photograph of him in an A&M's cadet uniform) and Baylor (at Independence, not Waco). Temple studied law and began practicing in 1880.
Temple and his wife, Laura née Cross, settled in Mobeetie up in the Texas panhandle. Another visitor to Mobeetie was a future New York City sports editor and boxing promoter named Bat Masterson. The story was that Bat and Temple once had a shooting contest and that Temple won. Although Bat really did spend some time in Mobeetie, we have to be honest and admit 1) Bat had moved out long before Temple arrived, 2) the shooting contest was in another town, and 3) the shooting contest never happened anyway2.
Footnote
Usually the story includes Billy the Kid participating in the shooting contest. There's no evidence that Billy ever met Temple, particularly for a shooting match that never happened.
Bat Masterson
The timing doesn't work out.
As befitting a scion of Sam Houston, Temple went into politics. He was elected to the Texas Legislature, both the House and the Senate. But he never really hit the big time like his dad. Besides, the times were a-changing.
In 1889 people noticed that due to inept allocation of land in what was then Indian Territory3, there was a chunk in the middle that had not been assigned to any of the Native Tribes. So these "Unassigned Lands" were opened to white settlement in the famous Oklahoma "Land Rush" on April 224.
Footnote
Starting in the 1820's all of the present state of Oklahoma (minus the panhandle) was informally referred to as "Indian Territory" or less often as "Indian Country". Approximately the eastern half was the land allocated to the "Five Civilized Tribes", the Choctaws, Cherokees, Seminoles, Chickasaws, and Creeks. As the years rolled on, the western section was divided into reservations for the Osage, Arapaho, Apache, Comanche, Sac, Delaware, Kiowa, and other tribes who were likewise removed from their ancestral lands.
Footnote
From the first, it was assumed that the Unassigned Lands should be opened for white settlement. That they should be reallocated and returned to the tribes was something that never occurred to anyone except perhaps the members of the tribes themselves.
The Land Run was just that. At noon on April 22, 1889 all those wanting to stake a claim in the Unassigned Lands - usually numbered at about 50,000 people - lined up on horses, in wagons, and in buggies. At a signal from a gun, everyone took off and staked their claims. Those not wanting - or failing to - claim an area for farms or ranches settled in cities - at first composed of tents - that sprang up literally overnight.
Temple didn't make that land run but he did opt for the run on what was called the Cherokee Outlet in 1893. This was a strip of land between the 96th and 100th parallels (longitude)5 and extending about 60 miles south from the Kansas border. The Outlet included the modern Oklahoma counties of Kay, Noble, Garfield, Grant, Major, Alfalfa, Woods, Harper, and Woodward. Temple settled in Woodward.
Footnote
It's actually the 98th longitude (meridian) that some historians mark as where the "Old West" begins. The line runs a bit west of the middle of Oklahoma, and strictly speaking is within the limits of the current city of El Reno. However, the line is a smidgen west of what you'd call the town proper and is between the modern city and what was the original Fort Reno.
But choosing the 98th meridian as the eastern boundary of the Old West presents a problem as do many arbitrarily specified criteria. This would mean that Frank and Jesse James, the Dalton and Doolin Gangs, Belle Star, and the famous "Hanging Judge", Isaac Parker, of Fort Smith, Arkansas, were not characters of the Old West. So a more inclusive boundary would be the Mississippi River.
We mean both the county and the town, of course. The town of Woodward had been established in 1887 at a point along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in the southwestern part of the Outlet (ergo, northwest Oklahoma). This was before the Outlet had been opened for white settlement and the town had been established to serve as a center for provisioning Fort Supply about ten miles further to the northwest.
Fort Supply had itself been built in 1868 as a base for the Army to monitor and control the Native Tribes of the area. That year it had served as the home base when George Custer led the army at the - quote - "Battle" - unquote - of the Washita. But by the late 1880's the Indian Wars were almost at an end, and Fort Supply shut down in 1895. So Temple moved in to Woodward and set up his law office.
You might think that the closing of Fort Supply would be bad news for Woodward. However, the Western Cattle Trail - the successor to the Chisholm Trail - skirted nearby and so rather than driving the cows on to Dodge City, Kansas, the herds could be shipped East by train from Woodward. But if the drive continued on to Dodge - the stockyards there were more spacious - or even further (some cattle drives went as far north as Canada) - Woodward was a convenient stopping place where the cowboys could relax, unwind, and enjoy the - ah - amenities.
We said that the Indian Wars were nearly over when Woodward was founded. But so were the cattle drives. And as the cattle drives went, so did the cowtowns.
We have considerable information about fracases in places like Dodge City or Abilene in the 1870's and early 1880's where city marshals like Bear River Tom Smith, Mysterious Dave Mather, Ed Masterson, James Masterson (yes, Ed and Jim were Bat's brothers), and James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok went gun-to-gun with the whiskey-fueled drovers. The newspapers were early institutions and duly reported such doings around the towns.
In the Cherokee Outlet, though, things are a bit difficult to pin down since the first newspapers in the region were opened only after the Outlet was settled. And in the 1890's the altercations that had been relatively frequent in the Kansas cowtowns were becoming fewer and further between as the long range cattle drives became less important to the livestock industry and farming took over.
But Woodward was not free of violence. In December 1894, a man named William McNeill "walked in" on his wife and another gentlemen named Sam Marshall. Honor affronted, William pulled his gun but evidently he was a rotten shot or Sam was just quick. Unfortunately, the shot went astray and ended up killing a Mrs. Robinson who was the proprietress of a local lodging house. Sam, though, did not escape the wheels of justice. He was charged with adultery6.
Footnote
One problem in determining just how Wild WAS the West compared to today is that the frontier towns were quite small and indeed many were just a few blocks across. So should we also count incidents that are reported as being "near" the town and which now would be within the city limits?
For instance, the year before the problem with William, Mrs. McNeill, and Sam, there was a similar incident regarding another man suspecting his wife of dalliance with another man. Although near Woodward, strictly speaking this was outside the city limits.
Nevertheless and despite what we learn on the now moribund Hollywood western, your typical Old West town did not have three or four gunfights a day. Three or four gunfights a year was extreme. Instead accidental deaths were far more common. Common causes were unintended discharges of firearms7, deaths from fires8, lightning strikes9, railroad accidents10, as well as fatal injuries at the workplace11.
Footnote
Deaths from accidental discharges of firearms were regularly reported in the press. In one case a man sent his 9-year old son to get a shotgun from the house. Not knowing the gun was loaded, his sister handed the gun to the boy and it accidentally went off, killing her. In another case a young man was killed when he was twirling a revolver around his finger in cowboy bravado.
Footnote
Electrical lighting had been commercialized by the 1890's but gas lighting was still more common. And in small towns and rural homes, oil lamps still provided much of the light. These could easily be overturned and causing fires which quickly could get out of control. Open flames were also common in kitchens and fireplaces. Fires were frequent and could spread so fast that sometimes whole city blocks would burn down.
Footnote
Lightning strikes were often fatal but not always. There was a report that told of a wealthy landowner from Indiana who in 1902 was walking along in a storm while carrying an umbrella - not a good idea - and which was struck by lightning. He was later found in "a nude condition" - and carried into a nearby farmhouse. He recovered and had no permanent ill effects from what the story called a "strange experience."
Footnote
Train accidents occurred regularly and involved everything from sudden stops to the train dropping from bridges. Although many accidents involved people simply being shook up, multiple fatalities were not unusual.
Footnote
As industries grew, workplace accidents became common. Since power was often supplied by steam engines but without modern pressure safety reliefs, boiler explosions were a constant danger. In 1887, three men were killed near Ardmore, Indian Territory, when a boiler powering a threshing machine exploded. Of course, boiler explosions of railroad engines could be catastrophic and railroad employees were often fatally injured. Lack of protective guards and shields also led to deaths when people - sometimes children - became tangled in machinery. Severe injuries and fatalities from farm equipment were also common.
That doesn't mean that the stories of the Old West gunfights were inventions of later-day writers (although the fast-draw "showdown" on main street is complete hokum). From the late 1880's through the turn of the then-Millennium there are many reports of train robberies, stage hold-ups, and posses chasing fugitives, all of which could result in gun violence.12
Footnote
In absolute terms the number of homicides in Old West towns was low, but when expressed as incidents per 100,000 per year as we do today, the rates could be as high or higher than the worst data of modern cities. Also with low absolute numbers but high rates you can interpret the findings to suit your pleasure. For instance, you can point out that in the Kansas cowtowns there were less than 1.5 homicides per year which seems low. Ha!, you say, the Old West was not a violent place at all!
But for towns with maybe 2000 inhabitants, 1.5 homicides per year translates to 75 per 100,000 per year - a rate considered extremely high by modern standards and higher than any current US city. Some places were even worse than the Kansas cowtowns. The mining towns of Bodie and Aurora, California - often lumped together - saw 36 homicides in their worst years. But because the population was low these numbers appear astronomical - 116 per 100,000 - higher than the worst modern cities in the world.
Irate husbands notwithstanding, it appears that Woodward was a peaceful enough town where gunfights were the exception and nowhere near the rule. As far as an actual Old West style gunfight in Woodward itself, there was only one that was deemed important enough for the editors to write home about. And that fight involved, yes, Temple Houston and two brothers, Ed and John Jennings. This happened on the night of October 8, 1895.
The gunfight was not a typical Old West shootout between good guys and bad guys. Temple and the Jennings brothers were opposing attorneys in a case involving a keg of beer that was stolen from the train depot. Scarcely what you'd think would lead to such a confrontation.
But during the trial there was some legal wrangling between the attorneys. Naturally back and forth brouhaha is common enough in a proceedings, but in this case some of the remarks were taken personally. Although at the time cooler heads prevailed, later that night the three men found themselves in the Cabinet Saloon with the words still simmering.
According to one account, Ed and Temple sat down and spoke quietly for a few minutes. Then suddenly they jumped up and pulled their guns. Jack Love, the former sheriff of the county, ran to Temple's aid, and in less than a minute Ed was lying dead on the floor and his brother, John, was staggering down the street with a severe arm wound.
Temple and Jack immediately turned themselves in to the city marshal13. They posted a bond of $2000 - big money in 1895 - and in May of 1896 both men were acquitted14.
Footnote
Although television's Rifleman, Lucas McCain, might shoot three or four men each time he came into town and then simply head back to his farm, the reality was that gunfights in the Old West almost always led to judicial investigations. A surprise to modern readers is that without internal affairs units as in modern police departments, even police officers - including city marshals and county sheriffs - would willingly submit to arrest if they used deadly force. They would typically be released on bond and return to their duties pending resolution of the case. Often the trials were brief and sometimes did not go beyond a preliminary hearing. In claims of self-defense, the benefit of the doubt usually went to the defendant.
Footnote
Later stories place Ed and John's younger brother, Al, at the center of the action. Some accounts even state it was Al, not John, who was wounded. But although Al was in town, there's no evidence that he was involved in the gunfight or that he was even in the saloon.
Soon after Ed's death, Al, who was also a lawyer (and had served as a county attorney based in El Reno, Oklahoma), left town and achieved some fame when he formed a gang of the most inept train robbers in the history of the Old West. Al's brief time as an outlaw landed him a sentence of life plus five years. He was paroled after three years, and - among other things - in 1951 was a contestant on the Groucho Marx comedy/quiz program You Bet Your Life.
Things were not over yet, and some months after his acquittal, Temple was involved in yet another difficulty - although "difficulty" is a mild term for what happened.
According to the New York Sun, Temple actually shot and killed the father of the Jennings brothers. That was John Dela Fletcher Jennings and who was one of Woodward's judges! It seems Temple was determined to wipe out the entire family!
The story was published only three days after the shooting. So using proper historical criteria, we see that the story is - like most of our other stories about Temple - supported by an authoritative primary source.
So it must be true, ¿verdad?
Weh-heeeeeeellllllll, hold on there, pardner. Instead of just reading a New York paper, it might be wise to check with the local news reports. There was, after all, the Woodward News, which was first published in 1894 by the formidable William Ezra Bolton. That is, we will consult a paper printed in the town where whatever supposedly happened actually happened.
And according to the News, yes, on October 8, 1896, Temple got into a dispute with one of Woodward's citizens. And he shot the man involved.
But it wasn't Judge Jennings or any of his boys.
Instead, the man was Joseph B. Jenkins - that's Joseph Jenkins, for crying out loud! Joe was a farmer who lived about a mile east of town.
According to Temple's official and academically published biography, the dispute actually started off when Temple's youngest son, Sam, put his pony out to graze on Joe's fields. A neighbor had told Sam it would be all right and that Joe wouldn't mind.
But when Sam encountered Joe later in town, the old farmer was irate and actually spat in the boy's face15. When Sam told his dad what happened, Temple immediately left his office and confronted Joe and - again according to the official biography - Joe went for his gun. Temple then pulled his pistol and shot Joe twice, hitting him in the arm and in the chest, the latter bullet exiting out the back. Temple was arrested for assault with a firearm with intent to harm.
Footnote
Such an action certainly seems extreme for an adult dealing with a child in a dispute about "pasturage". On the other hand, Joe, we read, was elderly, and possibly with the cantankerousness that often accompanies advanced years, Joe may have gone into - literally - a spittle-flinging diatribe with Temple's son. Temple's son may have thought the unintended expectorate discharge directed his way may have been deliberate. On the other hand we can't but conclude that Joe over-reacted to what was a minor issue that could have been corrected in two minutes.
Of course, even today gunshot wounds to the chest are often fatal, and in the 19th century expectation of recovery was virtually nil. Joe was hospitalized, and despite the dire prognosis quickly began to recover.
Woodward's courts must have had pretty full dockets since it was over a year later, on December 15, 1897, that the case came to trial. Temple's biography states that Temple argued self-defense and so was freed but still agreed to plea to illegally discharging his firearm. He was fined $300 but again according to the story "dared any man to collect it".
Now we have to admit that contemporary newspapers accounts are often incomplete. sketchy, and sometimes flat out wrong - in one story Temple's name wasn't even spelled right. Nevertheless there are some difficulties with the official account.
For one thing, the Woodward News said that the boy involved was 14 years old. So that would be Temple's oldest son, Temple, Jr., and not young Sam, who in October, 1896, was only four. There were also stories printed the day after the shooting that said the problem with Temple's son and Joe had happened some days before.
The newspapers also didn't mention anything about Joe going for his gun. In fact, none of the stories mention anything about Joe even being armed. Instead, there were comments about how "harsh words" passed and there were headlines like "Temple Houston's Crime" or "Houston and His Dead".
As far as what happened to Joe while he recovered, the county commissioners authorized payment for his medical expenses. These included over $100 for his lodging and for that of his family. This seems to be an unusual consideration for someone if he was actually the instigator of a shooting incident.
But the real surprise is the dearth of news stories about the trial itself which news reports state was for "assault with intent to kill", a quite serious charge. The few stories also don't say anything about Temple pleading self-defense. Instead, we read that in court Temple simply refused to testify and evidently Joe didn't either. So the intent couldn't be proven. The final conviction against Temple was for the unlawful shooting of Joe.
So what was the scoop? We need to remember that in those days the benefit of the doubt in pleas of self-defense inevitably went to the defendant. Certainly if Temple had indeed drawn his pistol and fired only after Joe had gone for his gun, it's hard to believe that Temple would have received anything other than a full acquittal16.
Footnote
There are two cases that show how far the benefit of doubt went to a defendant claiming self-defense. In 1884 Mysterious Dave Mather got into a dispute with a man named Tom Nixon in Dodge City. At one point Tom had taken a shot at Dave but missed. Dave refused to testify and so the case against Tom was dismissed. Later Dave walked up behind Tom and called out "Tom. Oh, Tom." He then shot Tom in the back. Dave pled self-defense and was acquitted.
As late as 1908 there was even more benefit given when Pat Garrett, famous as the man who shot Billy the kid, was killed near Las Cruces, New Mexico. Pat had leased some land to a young sheep rancher named Wayne Brazel. Pat was trying to get Wayne to break the lease so he could sell the land. Wayne said he would if someone would buy his sheep. But Pat could find no sheep buyer.
Later Pat was driving a buggy from his farm into town with his friend Carl Adamson. Along the way they met Wayne. The topic of the sheep came up and Pat reportedly snarled he'd get Wayne off the land one way or another. As Pat got down from the buggy to take a welcome break, Wayne shot him in the back. He said he did so because of Pat's threat. Wayne was acquitted of all charges.
The story that Temple dared anyone to collect the fine is also not supported by the contemporary record. We learned of it only after Temple was dead and from one of Temple's friends.
But at the time Temple seemed to think the fine was quite reasonable. He showed no remorse and in a quote omitted from the official biography, Temple did not celebrate American diversity:
The shots were cheap, only $150 apiece. Jenkins is an Englishman and appealed to England to prosecute me for shooting him17. I am glad I shot him, and especially so when I remember his nationality.
Footnote
That Joe appealed to England - possibly contacting the English embassy - suggests there was reluctance on the part of the local authorities to proceed against Temple. Not only was Temple one of the town's most prominent citizen, but perhaps Joe was not seen as blameless in the matter.
True, Temple's outrage was understandable. But all in all, we can't say that Temple comes off in the best of lights. If Joe had died, Temple could easily have landed in prison. So Laura and the four children might have ended up destitute.
The real point, though, is for a prominent attorney to be involved in two gunfights in the span of a year and a day18 was way outside the normal distribution19. Temple's unenlightened comments also don't strike us as something we expect from a man of his education and intelligence. It's almost as if something was keeping Temple from the full possession of his faculties.
Footnote
References state that the population of Woodward in 1893 was 1200 and by 1907 - the year of statehood - it was 2000. So a reasonable, albeit perhaps a bit high approximation of Woodward's population for 1895 would be about 1500. Using this number we see that Temple alone pushed the homicide rate up by 75 per 100,000 in that year - higher than any modern US city.
What was that you said again?
It's almost as something was keeping Temple from the full possession of his faculties.
Hm. Maybe we've hit on something. So let's jump ahead to some of the tributes that came rolling out right after Temple died. Edited for brevity and clarity (and admittedly for some emphasis), we read:
It was while he was under the influence of liquor he did most of his peculiar and characteristic things.
Drink began to get a strangle-hold upon him before he reached his thirtieth year.
In his younger manhood before dissipation gained the same sort of clutch it had on his renown father, Temple Houston was one of the most splendid looking men of his time.
He was idolized by all Texans as well as by all hands in the old Indian Territory, but the cup was his downfall.
I never knew a man to hate drink as bitterly and to declaim against it so passionately as Temple Houston and still he yielded to it.
Temple Houston himself was permitting his own frequent indulgences in heavy sprees to cloud his life and career.
He served in both the house and senate of Texas from the Panhandle district and was slated for great political honors at the hands of the Texans until his unfortunate addiction to liquor overcame him.
He was a periodical drinker and an extremely difficult man in his cups.
These, mind you, were from the tributes.
Still Temple's champions might pooh-pooh such innuendo. After all, these comments were printed only when Temple couldn't answer. We never read about Temple's over-indulgence when he was alive.
What, never?
No, never.
What, never?
Well, ...
In the summer of 1896 the Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago. Although Oklahoma was not yet a state20, it was (and is) permissible for delegates of the US territories to be present and vote for the nominees21. Among those in the Oklahoma Delegation - in fact the leader - was Temple Houston.
Footnote
In 1890 the original Indian Territory was divided into two new territories. What was approximately the eastern half was officially named Indian Territory and the western half - including the modern panhandle - was designated Oklahoma Territory. In normal parlance, though, Oklahoma Territory was simply referred to as Oklahoma.
Footnote
Although the citizens of the territories can cast votes in selecting the presidential nominee and can vote in primary elections, the territories do not have any say in the actual election of the President. That's because the President (and Vice-President) are elected by the Electoral College where the number of electors is based only on the number of delegates in Congress. The Congress - and hence the Electors - represent the states, not the territories.
By that late date, long distance travel was no longer by horse or stagecoach. Instead it was by train with passenger service extending even to the smaller towns with the hubs at the major cities. With the Convention lasting from July 7 to July 11, the newspapers reported that Temple stopped in Kansas City where we know everything is up to date.
After checking into the Midland Hotel - one of KC's best - Temple talked politics with some of the other guests. But talking politics is thirsty work and - as reported in the news - "alkali dust was thick in Col. Houston's throat".
Temple took what for him was the natural remedy. After quaffing - and we quote - "several dozen Manhattan cocktails"22 he then went to one of the hotel's "Turkish baths"23. Seeing the attendants were dressed up in "Abyssinian24 costumes", Temple pulled out his revolver - which was illegal to carry in town - and "struck [sic] the muzzle in an attendant's face."
Footnote
We see, then, that if in 1896 Temple ordered the famous "Manhattan" - and the number is clearly an exaggeration - then the "cocktail" did not arise in the 1920's as a way to disguise the taste of bad Prohibition Era liquor. Although various fruit concoctions - "punches" - had been long popular, the true cocktail seems to have been invented in the United States in the 19th century particularly when ice - an integral part of many recipes - became routinely available. It's true that the cocktail quickly achieved popularity in Europe - painter Henri Toulouse Lautrec loved mixing cocktails for his friends - but these mixed drinks had long been popular in the American West. William Cody - the famous "Buffalo Bill" - was a fan of the cocktail and reportedly made a great Old Fashioned.
Footnote
A true Turkish bath is properly referred to as a hammam (from Arabic: حَمّاَم). The hammam evolved from - and is similar to - the communal bath houses of the Roman Empire and involves proceeding through a series of rooms and pools of differing temperatures.
Whether the Turkish baths at the Midland were so elaborate is something we don't know, and they may have been more like what we call a sauna.
Footnote
Abyssinia is the old name for the country we now call Ethiopia, albeit adjusted for shifts in the boundaries over the various years, wars, and treaties.
"Git down and crawl!" shouted Temple. The attendant25 wisely and immediately - and all the others - hightailed it out of the room.
Footnote
It's a good bet that the "Abyssinian" attendants referred to were African Americans who had been costumed to create an atmosphere of elegance and exoticism. Fancy hotels would often employ African Americans in service jobs and the word "Ethiopic" - the alternative term for Abyssinian - was commonly used to refer to black culture. Photographs or drawings of "Abyssinians" in the 19th and early 20 century were typically of sub-Saharan Africans.
Too much should not be read from the incident about Temple's attitude toward civil rights, a topic of which we know little. Certainly Temple would accept invitations to speak before African American audiences and would appear on a platform with black speakers.
Temple then let out a series of "war whoops" which - reported with pardonable exaggeration - "almost shook the glassware in the barber shop above". Then setting the revolver down, he was immediately nabbed by one of Kansas City's finest.
The policeman was about to haul Temple down to the hoosegow but the hotel's managers - one of the Stockham family of hoteliers according to the reports - interceded. It was agreed that Temple would be kept in his room until the next train departed from Kansas City.
This is the story as reported in the news. However an account was also included in Temple's official biography.
In the official telling we learn that Temple's raucous trip to Kansas City was after the Convention (Temple, we are told, left Chicago early). The account states that Temple "waved" his pistol in the attendant's face and demanded a war dance - nothing about ordering the man to "git down and crawl". Then we read that Temple stayed in his room overnight and remained in town to conduct some business.
However, a look through - yes - the contemporary record calls parts of the official account into question. Instead, as we'll explain below, Temple's stop in Kansas City was definitely the week before he arrived in Chicago. Nor did the authorities treat his stay simply as a boys-will-be-boys episode. Temple was indeed placed under arrest in his room and then booted out of town.
The key to the matter is that we find this story appearing on July 9, 1896, in the Ardmore, Oklahoma, newspaper, The Daily Ardmoreite. Furthermore, the Ardmore story was itself a reprinting of an Associated Press report with a Kansas City dateline although the date wasn't specified.
Now it is possible that everything could have happened in one day. That is Temple could have raised a ruckus in Kansas City and the story sent out and printed the same day in a town over 350 miles away.
It is possible we said.
But those with first-hand experience working on small town pre-digital Oklahoma newspapers will immediately realize you should allow at least a one day lag between a distant event and the printing. You had to have the event happen, the reporter get the information, write the story up (even then likely in longhand), and pass it on to an editor who would then turn the copy over to the telegrapher who would then send the story out over the wires.
The wire story then had to arrive at the telegraph office in the other town and be sent to the paper where a linotypist would create the galley. Then the printers would set up the press and print the paper. So a far more realistic timeline is that Temple's stay at the Midland Hotel must have July 8 or earlier.
So when was Temple in Kansas City?
Even today the 400 mile train trip from Chicago to KC takes a minimum of 7 hours. Ten hours is more typical. So if Temple was pointing a gun in the face of a hotel employee in Kansas City on July 8, then he would have had to leave Chicago the previous evening or at the latest early that morning. With the Convention beginning on July 7, this would all mean that Temple spent only one day at the 1896 Democratic Convention.
But this is not correct. On the morning of July 8, the delegation was meeting to resolve some outstanding issues. We know that Temple was present at those early committee meetings, and a news story specifically puts him in Chicago that day.
Now if Temple served on a committee on July 8, he could have gotten to Kansas City later that day. But it wasn't - to borrow a phrase from Arlo Guthrie - very likely and we don't expect it.
But the big problem with this Temple-left-very-early scenario is there is another news story - printed on July 11 - that places Temple at the Convention on July 10. That day Bryan was nominated to be the Democratic contender. And after the nomination was secured and the crowd began to cheer, we read:
A CONSPICUOUS [emphasis added] figure in all this tumult was Temple Houston dressed in a suit made of American flags, marching up and down the aisles bearing aloft the Oklahoma banner.
Knowing Temple was parading up and down the aisles in Chicago on July 10, we now must carefully reread the story that was printed on July 9. There we read that Temple's Kansas City sojourn was "last Thursday".
But July 9, 1896, was a Thursday. So a story printed on that day and referring to "last Thursday" must mean July 2.
The itinerary of Temple's trip has therefore indisputably fallen into place. On July 2, the Thursday before the Convention, Temple stopped at Kansas City's Midland Hotel. There he went on a drunken rampage and among other things endangered the life of a hotel employee by pointing a loaded gun in the man's face.
Temple was quickly arrested but out of deference to his position, the manager requested Temple simply be detained in his room. The idea was he would then be taken to the train station.
But wait! Didn't Temple stay overnight and conduct some business the next day?
Well, that's not what the story says. The actual words were that Temple was held in his room and "watched until train time".
Now in the 4.5 billion year history of the Earth, never has the expression "being watched until train time" been used to say that you were permitted to stay overnight - not using standard English. So we can be assured that when the next train left town, so did Temple.
After his enforced exit from Kansas City, Temple must have then continued on to Chicago and was present at the Convention26 from July 7 to at least July 10. He may have skipped the last day and passed through Kansas City on the way back home. And that he may have completed some business at this time we won't contend.
Footnote
Strictly speaking we can't rule out a more complicated journey where Temple went to Kansas City on July 2, caused the problems, was put on a train back to Woodward, and then made it back to Chicago in time for the Convention. That, though, is an awfully tight schedule. So we can accept that Temple went on to Chicago from Kansas City, and arrived on Friday. Then he spent a weekend preparing for meetings, meeting his friends, and possibly seeing the sights before the Convention began on Tuesday, July 7.
But whenever Temple st(r)uck a gun in a hotel employee's face and demanding he crawl on the ground, we see that Temple was not always a sterling representative of his town, county, and territory. Certainly not if he had fortified himself with Manhattans, a habit which explains why Temple's later acclaim was tempered with what was clearly just criticism.
But to be fair, there are also stories of Temple defusing confrontations. There is (yes) a newspaper account of how things in Chicago nearly got out of hand. It seems that a speaker, editor, and newspaperman - Franklin Pierce Alexander (courteously called "Judge" Alexander) - had been making strong comments favoring the gold or "sound money" platform which was opposing the "free silver" platform of William Jennings Bryan who at the Convention was to deliver his famous "Cross of Gold" speech. As reported:
[Judge Alexander's] tactics provoked a regular riot in which knives and revolvers were drawn and fists and chairs were flourished.
Temple Houston arose from his seat and said: "Gentlemen! Don't!" in a whisper. The effect was wonderful, and not a lick was struck or a word spoken.
Sadly, despite Temple's enthusiastic support, Bryan lost the election to William McKinley.
We also have to be honest and say that the stories related above are not typical accounts of Temple's many doings. By far the papers would report when he came to town and where and with whom he stayed and when he gave speeches and lectures for various functions and civic events. He was a popular speaker on many topics including astronomy. Of course, there are many stories about his activities as a lawyer where he usually appeared for the defense.
Temple's tendency to rely on oratory rather than the statutes brought him in for some criticism. He once successfully defended a young cowboy who had shot down a Native American - then called "Indians" - in cold blood. Temple's defense had little to do with the evidence and was largely reminding the jury of the days of the "Indian attacks"27. Temple also took the case of Clyde Mattox, a repeated murderer who had just killed his fifth victim. There was some indignation when word got out that Temple had volunteered his services. But Temple insisted he had only taken that case at the request of the family and friends of the defendant.
Footnote
The number of civilian casualties in the Indian Wars can be a contentious issue. Certainly during the Dakota/Sioux Uprising of 1862, at least four hundred settlers were killed. However, there is a difference between civilian casualties and settlers killed. For instance there were no settler casualties at the Little Bighorn, but there were certainly civilian casualties, one of whom was the newspaper reporter, Mark Kellogg, who had decided to go with Custer to see him whip the Indians.
However in later years, attacks on homesteads were increasingly rare. In the Comanche Wars of the late 1870's about twenty settlers were killed and this was during what is best described as a running battle. In the Apache Wars of Geronimo in the 1880's, about five settlers were killed. However, as the 19th century ran out, the legends of the Old West had already taken hold on the public's imagination, and the idea of warriors regularly swooping down on undefended farms was firmly part of America's collective consciousness.
Temple was also involved in an interesting "cold case". In 1878 a man had been killed in Bosque County, Texas, and twenty years later the case had yet to be solved. Then suddenly the Bosque County sheriff showed up in Tecumseh, Oklahoma, and arrested Marion Lee, the owner of one of Tecumseh's hotels.
Although Marion fought extradition claiming it was all a case of mistaken identity, he was put on trial in Texas. Temple was retained for the defense not the least reason being his skills in making closing arguments. Marion was acquitted28.
Footnote
As an aside, following one of the stories about the Lee case a paper printed an example of a 19th century Western joke:
Oklahoma City is metropolitan, but when the newspapers there announce that a young lady will play Chopin's "Waltz In A Flat," they are going too far. There are no flats in Oklahoma City.
A real knee-slapper.
Two of Temple's most legendary cases have been told many times, but strangely (?) were ignored in the contemporary press. The first was reportedly from his early days in Woodward. At the court in Enid, he was defending a young cowboy who had supposedly shot a man in what appeared to be cold blood.
According to one telling, Temple walked up to the jury box and began arguing that his client had no choice but to take preemptive action since his victim had been a practiced gunman. Bending over the rail of the jury box, Temple roared:
This malefactor was so adept with a six-shooter that he could place a gun in the hands of an inexperienced man, then draw and fire his own weapon before his victim could pull the trigger. Like this!
Temple then pulled his gun and began firing at the jury. The men scattered.
The judge - John L. McAtee - also had quickly left the bench. When he returned he rebuked the brash attorney. Temple just chuckled:
"Your Honor," he said, "you need not have been afraid. My cartridges were all blanks." His actions were not show of disrespect for the court, Temple added. "I just wanted to show what speed the dead man possessed."
The jury - not finding the tactics convincing - returned a victim of guilty. But on appeal Temple said the jury had "separated during the hearing and mingled with the crowd". The young cowboy was freed.
As we said at the time no papers seemed to think this dramatic scene was worth reporting. And we must wonder if perhaps, just perhaps, there's a bit of the stretching of the blanket. Firing blanks at someone is extremely dangerous as the packing is ejected from the cartridges at high velocity. Also simply the force of the expanding gases can cause seriously injury. People have been killed by blanks.
Ironically what was Temple's most famous case was quite minor, and he appeared completely pro bono with virtually no time for preparation. That was in 1899 when he defended a "fallen woman" named Minnie Stacey.
There are variant tellings on what happened, of course, and usually you'll read Temple was in the court for another case when Minnie's case came up. She had no representation but Temple said he would defend the lady if she was agreeable. Another report is that he was at home and someone sent word that Minnie needed counsel.
Despite the later fame of this case, this story too was ignored by the newspapers at the time. But the story and Temple's speech to the jury - the famous "Soiled Dove Plea" - was printed a few years later in various papers. As that story has been told many times we'll content ourselves with a sampling of Temple's closing words to the all male jury.
The Master, while on Earth, while He spake in wrath and rebuke to the kings and rulers, never reproached one of these. One he forgave. Another he acquitted.
If the prosecutors of the woman whom you are trying had brought her before the Savior, they would have accepted His challenge and each one gathered a rock and stoned her in the twinkling of an eye. No, Gentlemen, do as your Master did twice under the same circumstances that surround you. Tell her to go in peace.
Minnie was acquitted.
How Minnie fared in later years is a subject of much conjecture. Some say she continued her trade but others that she "reformed". Bedeviling the record is that both "Minnie" and "Stacey" were reasonably common names of the time29.
Footnote
By the 1890's "dance hall" sections of Western towns were becoming phased out and some of the ladies therein employed often settled down. In 1894, Mary Eliza "Dolly" Kezer came to Woodward hoping to become a dance hall manager but found the era was rapidly fading. So around 1900 she put in a claim for some land southwest of Woodward. She lived on her farm until April 9, 1947, where she is thought to have been the first victim of the destructive Woodward Tornado.
So Temple's life continued - at least as reported in the papers. There were, though, some signs he was slowing down. In a larceny case a man was accused of stealing 10,000 shingles from a lumber company. Temple, we read, "assisted" in the defense and the case ended with a conviction.
Photographs no longer showed the handsome young man with the chiseled features. Even in his mid-thirties Temple had looked old beyond his years. He also cut his long tresses and swapped his wide brimmed "sombrero"32 for a cloth cap.
Footnote
Temple's "sombrero" was not the true "sombrero" of the Hispanic culture. Instead the reference is to a wide brimmed cowboy hat. A fact not well known to casual readers of Western miscellany is that the most popular hat of the Old West was the Derby or bowler.
But the most popular "cowboy" hat worn by the real cowboys was called the "Boss of the Plains" and was a simple wide brimmed hat with a rounded cylindrical crown. The advantage of the Boss of the Plains was the brim could be reshaped and the crown creased to fit the pleasure of the wearer. It can - although in the days of the Old West rarely was - be shaped to look like the modern cowboy hat of the movies and television shows.
Still, honors kept coming his way. In 1902 the railroad that was laid down from Enid to Waurika missed the small town of Botsford by half a mile. So the town fathers moved everything "of value" to be next to the railroad. The new town was incorporated as "Temple" after yes, Temple Houston33.
Footnote
The city of Temple, Texas, was not named for Temple Houston. This bustling metropolis about 120 miles south of Dallas was named for Bernard Moore Temple who was chief engineer of the Santa Fe railroad. Originally the Santa Fe officials wanted to change the name of Milano, about forty miles southeast, to Temple but Milano's citizens objected. So in 1882 a new city was incorporated at the junction of the Santa Fe Railroad and the International and Northern Railway and named for Bernard.
Jack Elam
He played the marshal.
It was also in 1902 that Temple had his name floated out on a list of candidates for the first governor of the proposed state of Oklahoma. Although statehood didn't come for another five years, everyone saw it as inevitable and Temple's candidacy seemed to be a natural34.
Footnote
One thing that slowed things up was that there were actually two territories involved - Oklahoma and Indian Territory. To make these into separate states would have shifted the Congressional representation to where, well, certain politicians wouldn't approve. Eventually it was agreed that the two territories would be merged as one.
An irony is that the state flag displays Native American imagery and the name itself - "Oklahoma" - is from the Choctaw language and usually translated as "Red People". okla: people, tribe, nation. humma: red; crimson. And yet the state has established that English is the official language. What is less known is that Oklahoma's State Folk Song - "Oklahoma Hills" - was co-authored by a man who wrote a regular column for the Daily Worker, the official newspaper for the American Communist Party. One biographer wrote that he was in fact the original author of the song. But that, as they say, is another story.
So in the later years, Temple still had stories written about him, he was still considered a viable candidate for public office, and he even had a town named after him.
In 1930, Edna Ferber, one of the most popular authors of the early 20th century, published Cimarron, a novel about the early history of Oklahoma. The author's main protagonist was Sabra Cravat, who with her husband, settled in the fictional town of Osage, Oklahoma. Sabra's husband, Yancey, was clearly modeled after Temple Houston and in the book, Yancey even defended a "fallen woman" named Dixie Lee.
Finally in the early 1960's Temple was bestowed with the ultimate honor above which it is impossible to achieve. There was a prime time television show about him. Commonsensically called Temple Houston, the show ran for one season and starred Jeffrey Hunter as Temple and Jack Elam as the local marshal.
So it's all the more surprising that after August 15, 1905, we read:
Temple Houston, who died in poverty and obscurity in Woodward, Okla., the other day was a sparkling example for the theorists who maintain that there is such a thing as the transmission of mental traits.
He had not kept pace with the progress of the Southwest and was interesting mainly as a survival of the men and manners of the times that were. His last days were spent in poverty.
His life was unfortunate, and several years ago he passed out of public life.
It must be said to the credit of Oklahoma that during the later years of his life Houston's opportunities for picturesque ostentation were limited and that he was almost as much of an anachronism on the streets of Guthrie [Oklahoma] as he would have been in the lobby of the St. Regis, New York.
Temple had died only three days after his 45th birthday. The cause was apoplexy or in modern terminology a cerebral hemorrhage. Such a short life was by no means the rule for the Houston family. His older brother, the more abstemious Andrew Jackson Houston, lived until 1941, age 87. But as we saw Temple did not have a particularly temperate lifestyle.
Temple's fate, though, took no one by surprise. During one court appearance in 1904, he had evidently suffered a minor stroke. Not long afterwards some passing cowboys found him unconscious in his buggy as he had been traveling to one of his court cases. He did recover.
Then in September, 1904 - a month after he had been a delegate to the Territorial Democratic Convention - a paper reported that Temple was critically ill, and that all his cases had been reassigned. In December, Temple was admitted to a hospital in Topeka, Kansas. He spent some months there and in a hospital in Wichita. But Laura eventually brought him back to Woodward to be closer to his friends and family. He remained bedridden until the end.
Although born and getting his start in Texas, once Temple settled in Woodward he quickly embraced the new territory. One story is he left Texas because he was irritated that he didn't win the Democratic nomination to Congress.
But Temple's own explanation for his new allegiance was delivered in typical Templian exuberance.
You have read in the sacred word of how the Devil took our Savior up to the summit of a high mountain and offered Him all within the range of His vision if he would fall down and worship the Prince of Darkness. I have sometimes thought that the barren hills and rocky deserts of that country presented but a poor recompense for so groveling an act as that of devil worship.
But if His Satanic Majesty could have made his offer from the vantage ground of one of the beautiful elevations of Oklahoma, with its rippling streams, its singing birds, its flowering prairies, its shady woodlands, its waving fields of grain, and its tens of thousands of cattle feeding in knee deep grasses, the fact that our Savior was of divine origin would alone have saved Him.
Had He been of mortal flesh he would have yielded and the Bible would never have been written.
Amen.
References
Temple Houston: Lawyer with a Gun, Glenn Shirley, University of Oklahoma Press, 1980.
"Houston, Temple Lea", H. Allen Anderson, Texas State Historical Society, June 15, 2010.
"Mobeetie, TX", H. Allen Anderson, Texas State Historical Society, June 15, 2010 (Revised: May 9, 2016.
"Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway", Augustus Veenendaal, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society.
"Houston, Temple Lea (1860 - 1905)", Beth Anne Doughty, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society.
"History Of Woodward", Mildred Hepner, The Key Finder, Vol. III, No. 1, January, 1982, Vol. III, No. 2, April, 1982, Reprinted on Welcome to Woodward County, Donna Dreyer, Northwest Oklahoma Genealogical Society.
"Indian Territory", Beth Anne Doughty, Encyclopedia of the Great Plains,.
"Unassigned Lands", Bob Blackburn, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society.
The Old West Trivia Book, Don Bullis, Gem Guides Book Company, 1992.
Dividing Line: The Past, Present and Future of the 100th Meridian", Harvey Leifert, Earth Magazine, January 22, 2018.
The Gunfighter, Man or Myth?, Joseph Rosa, University of Oklahoma Press, 1969.
Official Proceedings of the Democratic National Convention Held in Chicago, Ill., July 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th, 1896, Containing, Also, the Democratic National Committee, etc. with an Appendix Containing the Proceedings of the Committee of Notification Organization of the Democratic National Committee of 1896, and the Letters of Acceptance of William J. Bryan and Arthur Sewall. Reported for the Convention by Reporter Edward B. Dickinson Official Stenographer, Logansport, Ind., Wilson, Humphreys & Co., 200-204 Fourth Street. 1896.
"Plea for a Fallen Woman", Temple Houston, Address to the Jury by Col. John Hallum in Self Defense in the Case of the State of Texas Against Him: An Indictment for Shooting a Minister of the Gospel: Together With the Extraordinary Facts and Remarkable Incidents Connected With the Trial and Prosecution, Col. John Hallum, J. H. Phillips, [No Date].
"How Long is the Train Journey from Kansas City to Chicago? How Far is Kansas City to Chicago?", Wanderu.
"Alexander, Franklin Pierce", Sarah Cunningham, Texas State Historical Society, June 22, 2016.
"Who Invented the Cocktail?", Wayne Curtis, The Atlantic, June, 2010.
"How to Cook Like Henri Toulouse Lautrec", Alastair Sooke, BBC Culture, July 29, 2014.
"Toulouse-Lautrec: A Life", Julia Frey, Viking, 1994.
"The Bartender Who Started It All", William Grimes, The New York Times, October 31, 2007.
An Autobiography of Buffalo Bill (Colonel W. F. Cody), Illustrated by N. C. Wyeth, Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, Farrar and Rinehart, Quinn and Boden, 1920.
Buffalo Bill Cody: The Man Behind the Legend, Robert Carter, John Wiley and Sons, 2000.
"Abyssinia (Historical Region, Africa)", Encyclopedia Britannica.
"The Houston Children", Sam Houston Memorial Museum.
"Lone Wolf of the Canadian", Oklahoma Today, September/October, 2011.
Modern Dictionary of the English Language, MacMillan, 1911.
Etymological and Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language, James Stormonth, William Blackwood and Sons, (1881).
The Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum, Woodward, Oklahoma.
The Grand Western Railroad Game: The History of the Chicago, Rock Island, & Pacific Railroads, Robert Farnsworth, Dorrance Publishing, 2017.
"Billy, Bat and Temple Houston: Caveat Emptor, or 'Let the Buyer Beware.'", Marshall Trimble, True West, November 14, 2018.
"How Many People Died During the Indian Wars?", Marshall Trimble, True West, June 13, 2018.
"Woodward County", Ian D. Swart, Arcadia Publishing, 2009.
"What was the Fare for Railroads and Stagecoaches?", Marshall Trimble, True West, June 25, 2018.
Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Vigilantes: Violence on the Frontier, Roger McGrath, University of California Press, 1984.
"The Rifle, Man!", Mort Drucker (Artist), Mad Magazine, No. 53, March, 1960.
I Go With Custer: The Life and Death of Reporter Mark Kellogg , Sandy Barnard, Bismarck Tribune (1996).
"Big Pasture", Richard Mize, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society.
Heck Thomas: Frontier Marshal, Glenn Shirley, University of Oklahoma Press, 1981.
Population of Oklahoma and Indian Territory, 1907, Department of Commerce, United States Government Printing Office, 1907.
Cimarron, Edna Ferber, Grosset and Dunlap, 1930.
Woody Guthrie: A Life, Joe Klein, Knopf, 1980.
Temple Houston, Jeffrey Hunter (Actor), Jack Elam (Actor), Jack Webb (Executive Producer), William Orr (Executive Producer), 1963 - 1964, Internet Movie Data Base.
Historic Temple: An Illustrated History, Patricia K. Benoit, History Publishing Network, 2009.
Contemporary Newspapers
Primary source newspapers cited here can be found at The Gateway to Oklahoma History sponsored by the Oklahoma Historical Society website or Chronicling America at the Library of Congress.
"A Fatal Accident", [Vinita, Indian Territory], Indian Chieftain, May 5, 1887.
"Miss Harrison Instantly Killed", The Guthrie Daily Leader, July 12, 1895.
"Three Killed, Ten Hurt: Terrible Threshing Machine Explosion in the Territory; No Chance of Escape", Miss Harrison Instantly Killed", The Guthrie Daily Leader, August 16, 1895.
"At Woodward ..." The Guthrie Daily Leader, December 18, 1895.
"Son of Sam Houston", The Portland Daily Press, July 8, 1896.
"Made Them Dance: Temple Houston of Oklahoma Makes Things Lively at Kansas City From the Rocky Region of Bitter Creek.", The Daily Ardmoreite, July 9, 1896.
"Mr. Grant Ousted", Kansas City Daily Journal, July 9, 1896.
"It is Bryan", The Guthrie [Oklahoma] Daily Leader, July 11, 1896.
"Telegraphic Brevities", Alexandria Gazette, October 9, 1896.
"Two Shots Fired", Woodward News, October 9, 1896.
"Houston and His Dead", The [New York] Sun, October 11, 1896.
"Houston's Crime", The Daily Ardmoreite, October 11, 1896.
"Temple Houston's Crime", Wordward News, October 16, 1896.
"Improving", Wordward News, October 16, 1896.
"Glad He Shot Jenkins", The Wichita Daily Eagle, December 25, 1897.
"Proceedings at the Temple of Justice: Territory of Oklahoma vs. Temple Houston", The Woodward News, December 24, 1897.
Commissioners Proceedings", The Woodward News, January 8, 1898.
Commissioners Proceedings", The Woodward News, January 9, 1898.
"Outlines of Oklahoma", The Wichita Daily Eagle, February 13, 1898.
"Lee of Tecumseh Cleared", The Wichita [Kansas] Daily Eagle, February 27, 1898.
"A Letter from Marion Lee ...", The Tecumseh [Oklahoma] Republican, March 4, 1898.
"Should See It", The Beaver [Oklahoma Territory] Herald, July 6, 1899.
"Emancipation Day at Guthrie", Kansas City Journal, August 4, 1899.
"Denuded by Lightning", Anadarko Daily Democrat, May 15, 1902.
"Outlines of Oklahoma", The Wichita [Kansas] Daily Eagle, January 1, 1903.
"Convicted of Grand Larceny", The Wichita [Kansas] Daily Eagle, May 15, 1904.
"Matthews is the Nominee", The Muskogee Cimeter, August 4, 1904.
"Houston Critically Ill", Palestine [Texas] Daily Herald, September 20, 1904.
"Temple Houston, the Famous Woodward Lawyer, Was Taken to the Topeka Hospital Last Week", Barbour County Index, November 30, 1904.
"Witness in Murder Trial", The St. Louis Republic, December 20, 1904.
"Temple Houston Dead", Bisbee [Arizona] Daily Review, August 19, 1905.
"Houston Laid to Rest", The Guthrie Daily Leader, August 21, 1905.
"Death of Temple Houston", Okolona [Mississippi] Messenger, August 30, 1905.
"Temple Houston's Great Plea for ... a Fallen Woman ... From a Report Published at the Time", [Guthrie] Oklahoma State Register, Vol. 14, No. 35, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 31, 1905.
"Lawyer and Gunfighter", The [New Haven, Connecticut] Daily Morning Journal and Courier, September 14, 1905.
"Stories of Houston", [Washington] Evening Star, September 16, 1905.
"Temple Houston", East Oregonian, September 30, 1905.
"Some Stories of Temple Houston", The Black Hills Union and Western Stock Review, November 17, 1905.