Untold Story of the Best Gunfighters in Deadwood

By Dale R. Lincoln

This book is about two unknown gunfighters, Herman John (The Colorado Kid) Tomlin and Howard Price (The Utah Kid) Tomlin, who became the world's best and fastest gunfighters. It tells about their adventures while traveling on a wagon train from Illinois to Colorado. They both pan for gold on Clear Creek near Black Hawk, Colorado. In the 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment, they fought in Indian wars against the Chiricahua Apache. Were gold guards on a stage from Deadwood, South Dakota, to First National Bank in Denver, Colorado? They were deputies in Deadwood, South Dakota. They were doing show performances in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. When they walked the streets or came to town, they never looked for trouble, but if you back them in a corner, with their lightning speed of fast draw and fire, you were dead before you could blink an eye. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Outskirts Press
• Release date: Apr 29, 2023
• ISBN: 9781977264558

Dale R. Lincoln

Dale R Lincoln wanted to create a different book about mystery without war and action that went beyond his writings and expressed imagination and originality. As of today, there is no known cure for a split personality, and it can only be subdued through the use of a proper doctor and medication. It is essential to put the reader in the shoes of the FBI agents and New York City detectives as they try to solve the crimes. To make the reader think of such heinous crimes that are happening every day. The reader has many possibilities for how they want the book to end. 

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Untold Story of The Best Gunfighters in Deadwood

All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2023 Dale R. Lincoln

v2.0

The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.

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Introduction to the book

This book is about two unknown gunfighters, Herman John (The Colorado Kid) Tomlin and Howard Price (The Utah Kid) Tomlin, who became the world’s best and fastest gunfighters. It tells about the adventures they had while traveling on a wagon train from Illinois to Colorado. They both pan for gold, on Clear Creek near Black Hawk, Colorado. Were in the 1st Colorado Cavalry Regiment they fought in Indian wars against the Chiricahua Apache. Were gold guards on a stage from Deadwood, South Dakota to First National Bank in Denver, Colorado. They were deputies in Deadwood, South Dakota. Doing show performances in Buffalo Bill’s Wid West Show. When they walked the streets or came to town, they never looked for trouble but if you back them in a corner, with their lightning speed of fast draw and fire, you were dead before you could blink an eye.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to:

To my wife Mieko for her help with Okinawa and Geisha

To Mieko’s sister Akiko

To my sister Connie Sue White

To all the Gunfighters of the Old West

To all the Marshalls and Sheriffs who stood for law and order of the Old West

Table of Contents

List of Notes and Illustrations

Chapter One: Thomas Jeffrey Bernath Saves The Day

Chapter Two: Athens To St. Louis Missouri

Chapter Three: Santa Fe trail to Independence, Missouri

Chapter Four: Santa Fe Trail to Cherokee Trail

Chapter Five: Cherokee Trail to Denver, Colorado

Chapter Six: Planning for Gold on Creek Creek

Chapter Seven: Cavalry Training at Fort Weld

Chapter Eight: Fighting in the Chiricahua Apache Wars

Chapter Nine: Gold Guards from Deadwood to Denver

Chapter Ten: Seth Bullocks’ Deputies of Deadwood

Chapter Eleven: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show

Chapter Twelve: Herman and Howard Go Back To Athens, Illinois

List of Notes and Illustrations

CHAPTER ONE

Thomas Jeffrey Bernath Saves The Day

John James Tomlin married Augusta Carolina (born Powell) Tomlin. They built a small house in Athen, Illinois, where he had his blacksmith and gun shops. John James, in trade, was a blacksmith, but in reality, he was a metalsmith. He creates objects primarily from iron or steel but sometimes from other metals by forging the metal and using tools to hammer, bend, and cut. As a Blacksmith, he produced objects such as gates, railings, tools, agricultural implements, cooking utensils, and weapons. John James could repair anything from armor to the most complex weapon. He was also a whitesmith who worked in gold, silver, pewter, or the finishing steps of fine steel.

One day, John James was shoeing a horse when a stranger walked up to his shop, leading his horse. The stranger said: Hi, I am Thomas Jeffrey Bernath. I was going to Taylorville, Illinois, to go to school when my horse threw a shoe. In town, a gentleman told me you were the best farrier around, and I should come here to have my horse shoed. John James said: I am John James Tomlin; if you wait a minute, I shoe your horse. While Thomas Jeffrey waited, a couple of farmers came by. One farmer said: John James is there any way you can make a plow where the soil does not stick to it? I have to get these crops in, and I am spending all my time cleaning the plow. At the same time, John James was shoeing Thomas Jeffrey’s horse. He said: John James, I overheard the farmer talking to you about a plow. I can help you design a plow with only one man to operate. John James said: If you help make just a plow, I will hire you as my partner in the blacksmith and gun shops. Thomas Jeffrey said: I know a lot about rifles and pistols; I could run the gun shop. John James said: When prairie soil stuck to the wooden or iron plows. It took a yoke (pair) of oxen and three workers: one to drive the team, one to steer the plow, and the third to clean dirt off (scour) the blade. Thomas Jeffrey said: I think it would be possible for one person to do all three jobs. John James said: Let us start making this one-man plow so that these farmers can get their crops in.

John James worked day and night to solve this problem. He would change the angle of the plow and use different kinds of metal with no success. He worked all day and night to forge a steel furrow wheel that would rotate on a shaft above the plow. As the plow dug into the soil, the furrow wheel would clean the soil and dirt from the plow blade. It worked for a while, but after several minutes the furrow would clot up with soil. Then Thomas Jeffrey said: Why don’t we design some scrapper to keep the groove clean. Then he had a great idea to put on a wheel scrapper; as the furrow wheel went around the wheel, the scrapper would clean the furrow wheel. So father hooked up a team of Morgan horses (Sunny and Moony) and went to the field as soon as that plow hit the ground. He yelled for Sunny and Moony to pull, the plow dug into the ground, and away they went. Sunny and Moony were going steadily, and father was plowing like a madman. With his new invention, the plow was as clean as a whistle as he was plowing the field. He was plowing furrows faster than a Bluejay-eating June bug on a hot August day. He called to hold Sunny and Moony, and they quickly stopped. He walked over to check the plow, smiled, yelled, and did a little jig. He walked the team to the barn and shouted at his wife to give her the good news. After that, farmers came from around asking my father to modify their plows. So father would charge for the material and 2.50 dollars and 50 cents a day for labor. We got so busy father hired a couple of workers to keep up with the demand. John James and Thomas Jeffrey had designed a plow that one man could operate. John James, Augusta Carolina, and Thomas Jeffrey sit at the supper table, discussing their future partnership. John James said: Luck would have it that your horse threw a shoe, or I would not have a great partner. With all your hard work and idea on the scrapper to clean the plow, you save the farmers’ day. Starting tomorrow, I will clean out the gun shop’s back room to give you a place to live. Augusta Carolina said: The Browns are leaving to go back East; maybe you can buy some furniture from them. John James said: Take the wagon and Sunny and Moony and go by the Brown’s tomorrow. Here take this 25 dollars to buy what furniture you will need.

The next day, Thomas Jeffrey hitched Sunny and Moony to the wagon to go over to Brown’s house to see if he could buy some of their extra furniture. John James said: If you want to get on the good side of Sunny and Moony, give them a sugar cube, but remember to give Moony the sugar cube first. He gets cantankerous if he does not get his sugar cube first. As soon as Thomas Jeffrey hitched up the horses, they were nudging him for their sugar cubes. Thomas Jeffrey headed straight to Brown’s place; as he was pulling up to the house, Mr. Brown was loading his wagon. Thomas Jeffrey said: Hello, I am Thomas Jeffrey, and I work for John James Tomlin, and I am wondering do you have any extra furniture for sale? I should do, said Mr. Brown: It is the barn; let us walk over to see As Thomas Jeffrey walked into the barn, he saw a bed, nightstand, table and chairs, bachelor’s chest, and a wash basin and pitcher. He asked Mr. Brown what the price was. Mr. Brown said: give me 5 dollars, and you can take it today. Thomas gave him 5 dollars, and Mr. Brown, I will get a hired hand to help you load. They got the furniture loaded, Thomas Jeffrey told Sunny and Moony to go, and off they went to Tomlin’s house. John James and Augusta Carolina saw him coming up the drive and when out to greet him. John James said: I will help you unload, pull the wagon up next to Gun Shop. After they unloaded, Augusta Carolina said: I will make your curtains and a tablecloth for your new place. After a few days of cleaning and scrubbing, his living quarters looked nice. Now Thomas Jeffrey had a nice place to sleep and wash up.

One day, while working a rifle for a customer, Thomas Jeffrey looked up and saw an odd-shaped man with his legs dangling down the side of a mule, playing his juice harp to the Skip To My Lou tune. As the man got closer, Thomas saw he was carrying an odd object across his lap. When the man got off the mule, he walked over to Thomas Jeffrey and said: I am Abraham Lincoln, the Deputy County Surveyor of Sangamon County, Illinois,(1-1) call me Abe. Thomas said: I am Thomas Jeffrey Bernath, an assistant to John James Tomlin blacksmith and gun shops. Abe, how can I help you? Abraham Lincoln said: I knocked over my transit by accident and bent the tangent screw. When I survey, I need the screw to move the plates to get a true level: Thomas Jeffrey said: Abe, if you could leave the transit here for a couple of days, we will fix it for you. Abe said, I have to make a trip to the county seat in Springfield, so that I will see you in a couple of days. Abe got back on his mule, started playing his juice harp, and headed down the road. John James arrived from shoeing horses on a nearby farm and saw the transit. He said: Thomas is this a new job. Thomas said: Abe Lincoln dropped it off with a bend tangent screw, which needs to be straight. Abe, it will be a couple of days before we can repair it. John James said: I will work on the tangent screw; you finish the rifle for Mr. Powell. With special gripping tongs, John James tried every possible way to get the screw out but was bent so badly that the screw would not move. He called Thomas over and said: Do you have an idea how to remove the screw without breaking it. Thomas said: Let me cut some notches into these tongs so I can get a better grip on that screw. Thomas cut eight notches in the tongs’ jaws and started rotating back and forth until the screw finally came out. Then he treated the heated screw in the hearth, took a ball peen hammer, and lightly tapped on the screw until it straightened out. Then he quenches the screw in water to make its case-harden. Then, after the screw cooled off, Thomas Jeffrey put the screw back into transit, and it worked profitably, moving the plates back and forth. Then, Thomas Jeffrey came up with an idea to put a hood over the screw in case the transit was ever knocked over again. The screw would stay intact without any damage.

In a couple of days, Abraham Lincoln came riding up on his mule, playing his juice harp to the tune of Skip to My Lou. As he approached the blacksmith, John James said: Old Abe looks funny with his long legs hanging down the side of the mule. Abe came up to the blacksmith shop and said: Is the transit fixed? John James said: Sure is Mr. Lincoln, and I am John James Tomlin. I was away when you brought in the transit. Well, Thomas Jeffrey put a metal hood over the tangent screw, so it would not bend again if the transit was accidentally knocked over. Abe said: How much do I owe you for the repair? John James said: Parts, labor, making adjustments, and operating the total forge cost of 5 dollars. Abraham Lincoln said: Well, to make a profit, I will have to survey three one-quarter sections of land at 7 dollars and 50 cents. Can I try out the transit to see if it works?

John James said: Sure, you can shoot a line down the middle of my land. Abe set up the transit, and Thomas Jeffrey ran the chain length as Abe checked to see if his transit was working. After several measurements, Abraham Lincoln was satisfied that his transit was working. Abe said: Thank You to John James and Thomas Jeffrey and gave them a firm handshake. He packed up his mule and headed for Athens to finish surveying while he was playing his juice harp. John James said: That is a sight to see a very tall man riding with his long legs hanging down that mule and playing his juice harp to Skip To My Lou. In the future, John James Tomlin always had an excellent story about how he helped the man who would become President of the United States years earlier with his broken transit.

One late afternoon a hunter came by and asked for John James. At the time, John James was making horseshoes and said: I am John James Tomlin. Can I help you The hunter said: I am Homer B. Gates, I talked to a man in town, and he said you are the best blacksmith around, and if anybody can build a suit of armor, it would be John James Tomlin, John James said: Why in the world a suit of armor? Homer said: I want to fight a grizzly bear in hand to hand with just a hunting knife. I need the armor to keep the bear from biting and ripping me apart and a specially made hunting knife, John James said: Well, this will take some time and money to make the armor and knife, John James said; Jeffrey take Homer measurements of his head, torso, arms, hands, legs, and feet. Thomas took all the measures and asked: what kind of a knife do you want. Homer said: I want a knife with a blade that is 14 inches long, with two cutting edges. The bottom edge will run the whole length of the knife, and the top edge will be 8 inches long. I need the blade made of case-hardened steel to cut through bone and a good grip on the handle, so I do not lose or drop the knife. John James told Thomas we would use coal on the forge and this will make a higher temperature to form the armor pieces. Then he said: Homer will come back in a couple of weeks; we should have his armor and knife. Then John James turned to Thomas and said: We will take turns hammering out the pieces of armor and pumping the bellows Thomas said: On the knife will take some time to get the blade case-harden. John James and Thomas Jeffrey work day and night on making the armor pieces and knife. They master the process of forge welding by first heating the iron in a coal forge and hammering out any imperfections. Then, increasing the heat, they hammer overlapping metal ends until they bond. Then to ensure the piece held together, they overlapped the steel hull plates that were held together by rivets that they hammered in by hand. John James said: How in the world is Homer going to be able to move his arms, legs, and hands in this suit of armor. Then Thomas Jeffrey came up with a steel mess in all the joins. He said: We will put steel mess in the shoulders, elbows, knees, and make steel mess gloves. That way, he can walk, move his arms and legs, and grip his knife. John James said: We can take steel wire and weave everything together and attach to the armor with rivets to make it flexible" It took about two weeks to finish the armor; they polished it bright and shining, waiting for Homer to pick it up.

While waiting for Homer to pick up his suit of armor, Thomas Jeffrey had an idea of making a 10-shot pistol with an oval rotating cylinder. So one day, he asked John James would be possible to make just a pistol. John James said: "It is possible, but the pistol would have to be in perfect balance for the shooter could have control while firing. Thomas Jeffrey showed John James a rough drawing and said:

What do you think. John James looked at the drawing and said: I think this will work. Thomas Jeffrey said: I will work on it in my spare time. The next day Homer shows up to get his armor. First, he put on the lower half, which included the legs, feet, and lower waist, second put on the torso, which had the breastplate, a piece of armor to reinforce the breastplate, a part of armor to protect the abdomen, and a solid piece of armor to save the upper tighs third put on the armor to cover the arms, armor boots, and mess gloves armor for is head which included a visor to protect his eye. John James said: Stand up and move around. Surprisingly Homer stood up and moved very well. Then, John James said: I will push you easily, then really hard to see if you can keep your balance. John James gave Homer a little push, and he kept his balance without falling over. Then, John James took a running start and hit him with full force, and Homer fell over on his back. It took him a while, but he did manage to get back on his feet. Thomas Jeffrey said: I will put some small spikes on the bottom of his armor boots so he will not get knocked over so easily. Homer took off his boots, and Thomas Jeffrey put ten spikes in an even pattern on the bottom of each boot. The next day with his full armor on, was hit again with full force, and this time he was not knocked over. John James said: Now we will see how well you handle your knife, see that tree; pretend its bear now go attack it. Homer was handling that knife like an expert, stabbing and cutting that tree without falling over. John James Said: Well, Homer, looks like you are ready for hand-to-hand fighting a grizzly bear." Years later, we found out Homer did fight a grizzly bear hand-to-hand. After several hours of going back and forth with the bear, Homer was able to kill and gut him with that special knife. He received several bruises and small cuts, and now that old bear is a rug in front of Homer’s fireplace.

As the years went by, John James and Thomas Jeffrey had a very successful business with the blacksmith and gun shops. Even when Howard and I were 5 and 6 years old, we would help our father forge the metal on projects that he was doing. I would pump the bellows to keep the fire hot. My father would say: Herman, pump faster; we need more air for oxygen to make this fire hotter to make this metal softer so I can hammer the right shape. Sometimes I would pump so hard and long I thought my arms were coming off. (But it paid off cause in later years in life, as a gunfighter, it made my arms strong and quick to draw and fire a handgun with lightning speed). Howard would bring him tools to hammer, bend, and cut the metal. Then Howard would pump the bellows every other day, and I would get the tools. Then times Howard and I would help Thomas Jeffrey in the gun shop. We would bring him tools and help clean the shop on the days in. Howard and I learned about pistols and rifles from Thomas Jeffrey; he always took the time to ensure that we fully understood what he taught us. One day Thomas Jeffrey handed me a unique pistol he had repaired for a customer. He said: Feel the shape of the pistol and how it feels in your hand. Now pull back the hammer, and feel the tension it takes to pull it back. Now check to see if the pistol is empty, pull back the hammer and squeeze the trigger and feel the pressure when you squeeze. Then he handed the pistol to Howard and told him the same thing.

Thanks to Thomas Jeffrey, Howard and I got interested in drawing fast with pistols. Thomas Jeffrey made a unique pair of pistols for Howard and me, and we practiced daily on our fast draw. One day Thomas Jeffrey said: You two have a fast draw contest to see who is the fastest. So here was Howard and I, with empty guns going to draw on the count of three. Thomas Jeffrey said: When I count to three, you draw; we heard one, two, three, and we drew. Thomas Jeffrey said: My Lord, it is a tie; you both drew simultaneously." Thomas Jeffrey tells our father that Howard and Herman clear leather simultaneously, then he adds how fast those boys are incredible.

We did not know our father, John James and Thomas Jeffrey, was making us a pump repeating rifle for our fourteen birthday on May 30. Our father and Thomas Jeffrey was going over some ideas on getting rid of a single-shot rifle and making a pump-repeating rifle with 16 shots. John James said: We must have some feeder tube to hold the 44 caliber bullets. Then made extra feeder tubes without the shooter taking time to load the feeder tube. Thomas Jeffrey said: Let’s make a hollow stock to hold five extra feeder tubes; once the shooter fires all 16 rounds, he can pull the empty tube in the stock and pull a full tube from the stock and keep firing, John James said: That will work, now we will have to make two pump rifles, one for Herman, and one for Howard. Then our father said: The hard part of making will be the receiver, bolt, and forend. We can make the stock and forend out of black hickory, Thomas Jeffery said: I have some 26-inch barrels already made; all I have to do is ream and rifle the barrels for 44 calibers. John James said: You work on the barrels, and I will work on the pump actions.

Thomas Jeffrey begins reaming the barrels with a bit that touches the tight spots and progresses with larger and larger bits until the barrel is free of any forged surface. Then he starts using rough boring bits that are twisted squares that look a bit of a bolt, and the removing tool is called an easy out. Now Thomas Jeffrey has to turn the tool in the barrel opposite, so it does not twist and thread itself into the barrel and break off. With this process, the chips will be pushed ahead of the bit and must frequently stop to clean out the chips. Thomas Jeffrey knows the caliber will be 44; it will take him even more reaming to get out the final bore size.

John James has finished the receiver and is trying the working action to see if it will work. Everything in action is working fine. He puts the barrel in the receiver, the receiver on the stock, and fits the forend to the barrel. He loads a brass feeder tube with 16 44 caliber bullets and inserts in the receiver; he loads five more bass feeder tubes, swings the butt plate up and out of the way, and inserts five full brass feeder tubes in the stock. He fired one round of 44 caliber bullet, turned to Thomas Jeffery, and said: Now is the true test. Will it work? After firing that first round, the bolt is unlocked, and the forend is free to move. John James pulls back on the forend to begin the operating cycle. The bolt unlocks and moves to the rear, which extracts and ejects the empty shell from the chamber, cocks the hammer, and begins to load the new shell. There is a big smile on John James’s face as he pumps the forend rapidly as 44 cartridges fly all over the place. He looked at Thomas Jeffrey and said: Thomas, we have a repeating pump rifle. By the way, how many barrels do you have left, cause I am going to make myself a repeating pump rifle? So John James and Thomas Jeffrey pump that forend at a rapid pace without any failures. John James engraves Herman and Howard’s names into their receivers. Thomas Jeffery made rifle scabbards out of a leather hide, in which he tooled a western scene with Herman and Howard’s names.

When Herman and Howard came to the supper table, their mother had fixed them their favorite meal with a giant birthday cake. Then Herman said: Father and mother, why are Howard and I the same age, and we are not twins?’ Father said: Rengaide Indian tribe of the Fox and Sauk (1-2) attack a small settlement of about 50 people by the Sangamon River near Athens in revenge to get their land back. Then mother told the story, she said: When your father was in the Illinois voluntary militia to fight renegade Indians who broke the peace treaty. The militia came across a small village of 50 settlers on the outskirts of Athens near the Sangamon river. The Fox Indians had left the reservation and raided and killed everybody in the village in revenge to get their land back. As your father was looking for survivors, he heard a faint cry. Then, he found you, which at the time you were only about three days old, covered up in a blanket in a large wooden chest. Your mother had put you in there before the Fox Indians killed her and your father. Your father now wrapped you up in the blanket and brought you home to me. Your father said: Augusta do you want to have another baby. I said: are you crazy? I just gave birth to Herman, who was only about three days old. Then your father handed you to me; my eyes filled with tears as I held you in my arms; you were so tiny and helpless. You looked right at me with a little smile and were hungry. I can tell you one thing, you two wore me out feeding you two at the same time; Herman would be on one tit and you on the other. We found out later that your father and mother were Henry William and Mary Sarah Price. We adopted you; we named you Howard Price Tomlin, giving your parent’s name for your middle name. After the story, Howard and I just sat there in amazement. Herman said: "I do not care, Howard; you will always be my brother.: We just laughed and hugged each other and finished supper. We when to bed that night thinking no matter what, we would always be brothers.

Registration No. 104

(Vol.3, page 180)

Baby’s Name UnknownRecorded June 9th, 1844

Be it remembered that it has been made appear to my entire satisfaction that the baby with out a name of the parents of Howard William and Mary Elizabeth Price deceased (who were killed in an Indian Raid) will be adopted with the name of Howard Price Tomlin who was born on May 30th, 1844 to Adopted Parents John James and Augusta Carolina Tomlin. From this day set forth he will therefore and is entitled to all the privileges of the surname Tomlin according to law.

Witness my hand and this 9th day of June 1844

Charles Williams

County Clerk

Certificate of Adoption 1-3

CHAPTER TWO

Athens To St. Louis Missouri

Our father was reading the Illinois Weekly Journal paper one Sunday in 1860 and shouted at my mother: Hey, they found gold in Denver, Colorado. (1-4) That’s when our father started to get gold fever. He wanted to sell the blacksmith and gun shop to Thomas Jeffrey and move to Denver to pan for gold. But my mother said: no, just keep the contact open with Thomas Jeffrey in case we move back to Athens, and you will always have your blacksmith shop to come back to. Then, our mother said: How long would it take to travel to Denver. My father said: it would take over 50 days to go 15 miles a day. I will have to build a wagon to carry our furniture and supplies for a 900 hundred mile trip. I will get Thomas Jeffrey to start drawing up the plans in the morning. Then I will ride over to Powell’s farm and buy four of his best Morgans; with Moonly and Sunny, we will have six horses to pull the wagon. Then our father said, well, mother, pick out the things you want to take to Denver. The one thing my mother cherished was her