Charlie Utter
This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2007) |
Charles H. Utter | |
---|---|
trapper, guide | |
Known for | Friendship with Wild Bill Hickok; and Calamity Jane |
Charles H. "Colorado Charlie" Utter (March 14, 1838 – July 3, 1915) was a figure of the American
Early life
Utter was born in 1838 near
Career
In early 1876, Utter and his brother Steve took a
"Wild Bill" Hickok
Utter had been a close friend of Hickok's for some time previously, constantly watching to ensure that Hickok's weaknesses of alcohol and gambling would not bring Hickok to a bad end. Utter was not present on August 2, 1876, when Jack McCall fatally shot Hickok in the back of the head as Hickok played poker in a Deadwood saloon. Utter later claimed the body and placed a notice in the local newspaper, the Black Hills Pioneer, which read:
- "Died in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2, 1876, from the effects of a pistol shot, J. B. Hickok (Wild Bill) formerly of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Funeral services will be held at Charlie Utter's Camp, on Thursday afternoon, August 3, 1876, at 3 o'clock, P. M. All are respectfully invited to attend."
Attendance at the funeral was heavy, and Utter had Hickok buried with a wooden grave marker which read:
- "Wild Bill, J. B. Hickock [sic] killed by the assassin Jack McCall in Deadwood, Black Hills, August 2d, 1876. Pard, we will meet again in the happy hunting ground to part no more. Good bye, Colorado Charlie, C. H. Utter."
Utter left for Colorado, but returned in 1879 to have Hickok re-interred, at Calamity Jane's urging, in a ten-foot-square plot at the Mount Moriah Cemetery, surrounded by a cast-iron fence and with an American flag in the ground.
In February 1879, Utter purchased the Eaves Saloon in Gayville, a mining town 1.75 miles (2.82 km) west of Deadwood, but ran into a string of bad luck. He was found guilty of selling liquor without a license.[citation needed]
Later that year, Utter opened a dance hall in Lead, a company town far more sedate than its raucous, rollicking neighbor, Deadwood. The dance hall's "boisterous music and scandalous cancan dancing" earned Charlie an appearance before the honorable Gideon C. Moody. Charlie was convicted of "operating a nuisance," but because he had already closed the establishment, Judge Moody sentenced him to a mere one hour in jail. He was also fined $50 on the charge of disturbing the peace.[4][5]
Utter was back in Deadwood by the fall of the year. He opened another dance hall and also managed one of Deadwood's theaters.[5] On September 26, 1879, a fire devastated Deadwood, destroying more than three hundred buildings (including Charlie's dance hall and the theater he managed) and consuming the belongings of many inhabitants.
After Deadwood
Following the destructive fire, Deadwood ceased to be a frontier town where fortunes could be built (or rebuilt) from nothing, and the newly impoverished left to try their luck in other gold rushes. Utter followed, first to Leadville, Colorado, in February 1880; then Durango, Colorado, having separated or divorced from his wife;[6] then Socorro, New Mexico. There, he opened a saloon and was reported to have a relationship with faro dealer Minnie Fowler. Utter's biographer, Agnes Wright Spring, traced him to Panama in the early 1900s. By then losing his eyesight, he owned drugstores in Panama City and Colón.[7] According to ship manifests, Utter made several trips back and forth between the United States and Panama in 1888, 1891, 1905, 1910, 1912, each listing his occupation as a "druggist".[8][9][10][11] He finally returned to Panama in 1913.
His gravestone is in Cementario Amador, Calle B, Santa Ana, Panama. The inscription lists Charles H. Utter as having died on July 3, 1915.[12] His wife Emma B. Utter, his wife who died in 1894, is buried nearby.[citation needed]
Personality
Utter cut a notable figure; he was 5'6" (167 cm), and was reported as being meticulous in his appearance, highly unusual for that place and time. He had long, flowing black hair and a moustache, perfectly groomed, wore hand-tailored fringed
In popular culture
Utter is
Further reading
- Boardman, Mark. "More Than a Sidekick: Charlie Utter blazed his own trail in the West," True West (March 29, 2019).
- Mallet, E.J. Jr. Scribner's Monthly (September 1872).
- Robinson, Doane. Encyclopedia of South Dakota (Pierre, S.D., 1925), pp. 669–670.
References
- ^ "Colorado, County Marriages, 1864-1995," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKJ7-TXWL : October 14, 2017), Charles H Utter and Matilda Nash, September 30, 1866, Clear Creek, Colorado, United States; citing reference ID 1, State Archives, Denver; FHL microfilm 1,822,743.
- ^ "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4L2-W21 : March 19, 2020), Charles Utter, 1870.
- ISBN 978-0-7627-6171-5.
- ^ Franz, Mary. "The Real Men of Deadwood." Wild West, August 2006, pp. 22+.
- ^ a b Koster, John. "The Man Who Wrote Wild Bill's Epitaph." Wild West, April 2015, pp. 58+.
- ^ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFDN-VHB : July 29, 2017), Charles H Utter, Ruby City, Gunnison, Colorado, United States; citing enumeration district ED 57, sheet 162B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,090.
- ISBN 0-87108-733-2.
- ^ "California, Los Angeles Passenger Lists, 1907-1948," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZQ6-YLG : March 13, 2018), Chas H Utter, 1912; citing Immigration, ship name Pennsylvania, NARA microfilm publication M1764 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1; FHL microfilm 2,229,903.
- ^ "Louisiana, New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820-1945," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KTRT-VP3 : March 13, 2018), Charles H Utter, 1910; citing Ship Turrialba, affiliate film #31, NARA microfilm publications M259 and T905 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,454,888.
- ^ "New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JFQG-J6T : August 20, 2019), Chas. H. Utter, 1905.
- ^ "Louisiana, New Orleans Passenger Lists, 1820-1945," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKNP-PKGX : March 13, 2018), Charles H Utter, 1888; citing Ship Costa Rican, affiliate film #071, NARA microfilm publications M259 and T905 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 200,212.
- ^ "BillionGraves Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL19-GP3M : October 31, 2017), Charles H. Utter, died July 3, 1915; citing BillionGraves (http://www.billiongraves.com : 2012), Burial at Cementerio Amador, Santa Ana, Panama, Panama, Panama.
- ^ Adams Museum Deadwood, South Dakota "Pioneer Days in the Black Hills" by John S. McClintock
- ^ Adams Museum Deadwood, South Dakota "The Black Hills After Custer" by Bob Lee
External links
- "Charlie (Charley) Utter aka 'Colorado Charlie,' Deadwood, S.D. Revealed
- "Charlie Utter – Bill Hickok's Best Pard," Legends of America website
- "Charlie Utter," Black Hills Visitor
- "Deadwood Character: Charlie Utter," The Deadwood Chronicles
- Hall, Sharon. "Wild West Wednesday: Charles 'Colorado Charlie' Utter," Digging History Magazine (February 26, 2014).