A short break for Awesome
Ok, so I'm making great progress. The switch in my brain finally flipped again. Feels great! I do, however, have to break for Awesome. I'm doing a story on the ghost towns of Death Valley. I gotta say, the wild west really does have the coolest history of all of these parks. This is my favorite story so far, about the town of Skidoo (yes, that's right):
Skidoo was founded in 1906 when two prospectors, on their way to the Harrisburg strike, found gold. The town reached a population of 700 and became famous as the site of the only hanging to take place in Death Valley. It occurred when Hootch Simpson, a saloon owner who had fallen on hard times, tried to rob the bank, was foiled in the attempt, and later went back and killed the owner of the store in which the bank was located. During the night the townspeople hanged Hootch. According to legend, he was hanged twice. The second hanging was to accommodate news photographers who missed the first hanging. No one was ever arrested for the hanging. Skidoo is located off the Wildrose road on an unpaved high-clearance road not recommended for automobiles. Nothing remains of the actual townsite.
Skidoo was founded in 1906 when two prospectors, on their way to the Harrisburg strike, found gold. The town reached a population of 700 and became famous as the site of the only hanging to take place in Death Valley. It occurred when Hootch Simpson, a saloon owner who had fallen on hard times, tried to rob the bank, was foiled in the attempt, and later went back and killed the owner of the store in which the bank was located. During the night the townspeople hanged Hootch. According to legend, he was hanged twice. The second hanging was to accommodate news photographers who missed the first hanging. No one was ever arrested for the hanging. Skidoo is located off the Wildrose road on an unpaved high-clearance road not recommended for automobiles. Nothing remains of the actual townsite.