Bryan Ney

Martha Canary/Calamity Jane’s youth is sparsely detailed in her own autobiography, and little known from other sources. Biographer Duncan Aikman writes in "Calamity Jane and the Lady Wildcats" what he found by going to her hometown in Missouri some years after her death, when there were still individuals alive who remembered her family. From this we hear mostly of her mother’s wild ways, and we learn (p. 24) that they departed for the gold fields “with their covered wagon, two horses, three cows … [Read more...] about Calamity Jane comes to Montana

My novel, "Calamity Jane- How the West Began" gives an explanation for how Martha Canary got her nickname; that it came from a well-documented episode of her and her siblings being taken in by the Fergus family after being neglected by their parents. Is that where the name comes from? There is no evidence to support my story, but I will explain here why I think it lies within the realm of possibility. Late in her short life, an autobiography was ghostwritten for the illiterate Martha Canary, … [Read more...] about Theories as to the Origin of the nickname “Calamity”, and Other “Stretchers”

The actual history of the arrest and trial of Plummer and his gang is too complicated to present in my novel. First there was the trial and execution of Ives, then over days and weeks the pursuit of other gang members and their execution by military-like tribunals, and finally the arrest and execution of Plummer and two others of his gang. This essay is for readers of my novel who are interested in how closely my novel follows history in detailing Plummer's execution, and a note on accidental … [Read more...] about The Unforgiven, and Some Thoughts on Symbolism

Hiltebrandt’s murder in “Calamity” is based on a striking historical episode that shows how the bad guys held sway in the 1860's frontier. The following account from Langford in "Vigilante Days and Ways" (pp. 33-4), tells a tale of a place that was, as Lo tells us, worse than Bannack: “In a state of society where the majority of the people depend upon vicious pursuits for a livelihood, want and destitution are the natural elements. Increase of crime in all its forms follows. All through the … [Read more...] about The Hiltebrandt Murder: Plummer Throws Cold Water on a Chase

Frontier Montana was a most difficult place to practice medicine.  “Medicine” at this time entailed a lot of surgery, and a surgeon, often finding both hands in a wound, has need of an assistant.  A girl by the name of Sarah Waddams had this role for Dr. Glick.  For the sake of story, Martha Canary/Calamity Jane is given that role in my novel, "Calamity Jane- How the West Began".  Here is the real back story. Henry Plummer, prior to becoming Sheriff himself, goaded then-Sheriff Hank Crawford … [Read more...] about A Nurse of Undaunted Spirit

My novel, "Calamity Jane- How the West Began", is fiction, told from the viewpoint of a teenager who wasn’t actually there at the time.  That aside, I take the history behind the story very seriously.  In the twenty or so years since I bought Langford’s "Vigilante Days and Ways" at a Hollywood used bookstore, I have read and reread every single published contemporary account of the events.  All of these accounts portray Plummer was the leader of a gang that practiced mayhem and murder in Montana … [Read more...] about Revisionist History

It could be said that the story "Calamity Jane- How the West Began" was not so much written as it was woven together from historical anecdotes.  The pie episode in Kustar’s bakery is an example of this.  Here is that anecdote as presented by Langford in "Vigilante Days and Ways" (pp. 190-191): “A singular genius known as “Slippery Joe,” whose character reflected the twofold qualities of bummer and loafer, hung around the saloons and restaurants in the early days of Bannack.  He worked when … [Read more...] about Kustar’s Pies Backstory, or Humor on the Montana Frontier

The adults of frontier Montana faced danger and violence on an almost daily basis. The burden of this comes through in their writings, though with a dash of humor. Children's lives were much different, however. For instance, the trial of Ives (the basis of the trial scene in my book) was a grim affair where the two sides threatened each other with guns. Langford, in "Vigilante Days and Ways" (p. 299), describes that at the same time: “The urchins of the neighborhood were dodging in and … [Read more...] about Urchins of Frontier Montana