b'Jews in the Old WestBy Alan RockmanA t one of the trenches (MajorTheres the story of the man who, along with his close friend George) Forsyth cameSeth Bullock made Deadwood what it was in the wake of across Sig Schlesinger,Wild Bill\'s murder. The story of Wyatt Earp\'s paramour - and the Jewish immigrant fromfinal wife; the story of a Russian Jew who fled Russia to avoid Hungary who had signed on (inconscription in the Czar\'s anti-Semitic army only to enlist in the army) because he neededthe U.S. Cavalry and die, just yards away from Custer, on a a job and was accepted for noLast Stand Montana Hill on a hot summer day in 1876. The particular reason; he was notstory of Otto Mears who almost single-handedly prevented prepossessing in any way and had no particular experiencean Indian War on the Colorado-Utah borderlands. The of the Plains. But when the fighting (on Beecher Island)story of Edward Salomon, the German-born colonel in started he pulled his weight. Afterward, Forsyth referredcharge of an Illinois regiment, who calmly smoked a cigar to him as that "Brave and active young Israelite." Nor wasas cannon balls exploded around him on Cemetery Ridge at Forsyth surprised by Schlesinger\'s performance, for he said,Gettysburg, and who was later rewarded by President Grant "My experience with men of his race during the Civil War,with a governorship in Washington Territory.with a single exception, had strongly impressed me in their favor as being brave men and good soldiers." Major GeorgeEver hear of Harris Newmark, who became the prominent Sandy Forysth, on the bravery of soldier Sig Schlesinger,developer of a little town called Los Angeles? Or Sol Star, one of the heroes of the battle of Beecher Island (Mort,who with his partner Seth Bullock opened the first general Terry, Cheyenne Summer - The Battle of Beecher Island, Astore in Deadwood, South Dakota around the same time History, Pegasus Books, New York, London, 2021, p. 228). Wild Bill was treacherously shot by Jack McCall. Star wouldlater go on to become the Mayor of Deadwood for many There are so many stories of the little-known contributionsyears. How about the aforementioned Sig Schlesinger or the of Jews to the history and the cultural fabric of the Oldviolent Irishman miner-turned-gunfighter Jim Levy, who West. Here are just a couple of snippets of some of them andwas considered to be one of the most dangerous gunfightersSol Star, Mayor of Deadwoodtheir contributions to the Western experience. in Arizona territory that it is said even Doc Holliday feared him, and would only "go down" after being shot in the Theres the story of the man whose blue canvas, originallyback, it is said, in an ambush. Jerry, Frontier Merchants: Lionel and Barron Jacobs and the sold to make roof material, would become a multi-billionJewish Pioneers Who Settled the West, Crown Publishers, worldwide enterprise, or the story of the English-born, SanCharlie Russell\'s first painting of note, "Waiting for aInc., New York, 1998, p. 3). These Jewish migrants who came Francisco merchant, who after going crazy due to goingChinook" - that little postcard of the dying cow in the snowwest overcame all kinds of obstacles, floods, rocky roads, bankrupt over an unnecessary shipment of Peruvian rice,surrounded by ravenous wolves was sent - via his foremanmountains, and plains with over 100 degree weather, the would "reinvent" himself as "Emperor Norton I" - Emperor- to his boss, Louis Kaufman, a Jewish rancher and theunfriendly animal kingdom denizens of the mountains and of the United States and Protector of Mexico,who, wearinghead of the Stadler and Kaufman Meat Company, who haddeserts, the human element, whether it be prejudiced bigots a King\'s jacket totally covered in medals, would strut theinquired about the extent of the 1886-1887 disaster on hisand an occasional outburst of ugly anti-Antisemitism or streets of old San Francisco greeting the citizens as his loyalcattle herd. the local outlaws and hostile Indians. Most of them came subjects. Far from tossing him into the Pacific or runningthrough all right!him out of town on a rail, the populace embraced theirThis writer is reasonably sure that you have heard of Levi emperor, and when he died, thousands of people marchedStrauss, who upon seeing the threadbare clothing, or bitsWhoever and whatever they were, they all played key - if in his funeral procession! and pieces of it worn by the \'49ers, (the Gold miners, notstill relatively unknown to history - roles in the settlement of the football team) took the large rolls of denim canvasses hethe West.was going to use as roofing material, cut them into clothing sizes, and thus, the blue jean was born. Or of JosephineAs noted by the Jewish Museum of the American West, Marcus Earp, the showgirl who ventured to a growingDavid W. Epstein in his work Why the Jews Were So southern Arizona mining community, first winning theSuccessful in the Old West and How to Tell Their Stories heart of Sheriff Johnny Behan, and when Behan cheated(Isaac Nathan Publishing, 2007) summarized the exploits, on her she found lasting love and adventure in the arms ofexperiences, achievements, and role in the development of the U.S. deputy marshal in that little dusty burg known asthe Old West:Tombstone; a marshal by the name of Wyatt Earp. It was a time when we were free to do the best we could, If you are familiar with Arizona history the nameusing our intelligence, creativity, hard work ethic, and Goldwater might ring a bell. But before there was aJewish values.Barry there were "Big Mike," his grandfather, Baron, his father, and Morris, his uncle - the Phoenix department During this period we found ourselves in a totally free, store dynasty whose own involvement in city and statecapitalistic society.politics would motivate Baron\'s son into a lifelong career, serving as both a governor and a United States senator We flourished as merchants at all levels: importers, and a presidential nominee in 1964. And Charles Strauss,distributors, wholesalers, and retailers (Sol Star in the mayor of Tucson at the time Geronimo initiallyDeadwood, Levi Strauss in San Francisco, and others surrendered to General Crook - it is Mayor Strauss who(writer\'s comment)).is sitting almost directly in back of the aforementioned general in Camillus S. Fly\'s iconic photo of the surrender The groundwork of our modern thriving market system negotiations between the wily Apache chief and thewas created by Jewish merchants in cities, towns, and bewhiskered general. villages throughout the West.By the mid-1870s over 20,000 Jewish Americans, most of We came with merchandise, in wagons and ships. We them immigrants from Germany, Austria-Hungary, Poland,brought anything we thought could sell in this vast new Russia, and England had migrated to the distant lands,territory that had literally nothing with which to start.states, and territories west of the Mississippi, according to author Jerry Stanley in his biography about the Arizona No government agency told us what was needed, or how His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton merchants-turned-bankers Lionel and Barron Jacobsmuch to bring."21,257 had settled in the region west of Kansas" (Stanley, 38 July 2023'