The Earps Invade Southern California: Bootlegging Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and the Old Soldiers’ Home

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Most readers of the Wild West know Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, and Morgan Earp for the famous shootout on the streets of Tombstone, Arizona. But few know the later years of the close-knit Earp family, which revolved around patriarch Nicholas Earp, and their last push at a major monetary coup in Los Angeles. By 1900 a newly established Old Soldiers’ Home was in place at Sawtelle (between Santa Monica and Los Angeles), with thousands of veterans earning monthly pensions, but in an environment where alcohol was prohibited. Enter the Earps and their “blind pig” (illicit alcohol sales) scheme. Two of the Earps, Nicholas and son Newton, were enrolled in the Soldiers’ Home, and Newton’s far more famous half-brothers Wyatt and Virgil showed up from time to time, but the star of the operation was older brother James. Booze would flow, the pension money would be “dispersed about,” and jails were sometimes filled, as the Earps and several other men on the make competed for the veterans’ money. We are also reintroduced to Old West figures such as “Gunfighter Surgeon” Dr. George Goodfellow, “Silver Tongued Orator” Thomas Fitch, millionaire George Hearst, detective J.V. Brighton, Lucky Baldwin, and many other well-known westerners …
Date: July 15, 2020
Creator: Chaput, Donald & De Haas, David D., 1956-
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Col. William N. Selig: The Man Who Invented Hollywood

A book about Col. William N. Selig's career as an early cinematic pioneer and movie director and founder of the film industry that became Hollywood in Los Angeles.
Date: 2013
Creator: Erish, Andrew A.
Object Type: Book
System: The Portal to Texas History
Convairiety, Volume 6, Number 13, July 1, 1953 (open access)

Convairiety, Volume 6, Number 13, July 1, 1953

Bimonthly newsletter published for employees of the Convair Division in Fort Worth containing work-related information, updates about employees, and other news.
Date: July 1, 1953
Creator: Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History

OK, USA: A Musical Guide Book to the States: Soldier Shows "Blueprint Special"

The last of the U.S. Army Soldier Shows "Blueprint Specials" to be published, "OK, USA" is a musical revue on the theme of U.S. soldiers returning to the United States and finding it finding it as foreign and exotic as any country overseas because they have been away and living under extreme circumstances for so long. Like the other "Blueprint Specials," this show includes a complete script (multiple copies this time); a conductor's score and complete set of instrumental parts; a sample program; set and costume designs; and detailed instructions for producing the show using whatever materials are at hand. Unlike the other "Blueprint Specials," it includes no information on the librettists, songwriters, and other staff who worked on the show.
Date: 1945
Creator: United States. War Department.
Object Type: Musical Score/Notation
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with William R. Sanchez, June 24, 2011 transcript

Oral History Interview with William R. Sanchez, June 24, 2011

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with with William R. Sanchez. Born in Texas in 1918, Sanchez joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in 1938. He was drafted into the Army in 1940 and elected to serve in the Philippines. He was assigned to the 59th Regiment, Coast Artillery, Battery D and later Battery H at Fort Mills (Corregidor). He was then assigned to Army Intelligence in the Harbor Defense Headquarters. He recounts how the Army Intelligence at Corregidor provided advance notification of the Japanese force on its way to attack Pearl Harbor. He describes participating in the battle for Corregidor, being taken prisoner in the Malinta Tunnel, and his role in disposing of an American flag after the surrender to the Japanese. He discusses the treatment and living conditions he experienced as a prisoner of war. He was held captive at Bilibid Prison and Cabanatuan in the Philippines. He was transported aboard the Totorri Maru, a hell ship, to Formosa. He was then relocated to Camp Omori near Tokyo, Japan where he befriended Gregory “Pappy” Boyington and Louis Zamperini; was beaten by “the Wiley Bird” (Mutsuhiro Watanabe); and encountered Premier Tojo. He discusses his …
Date: June 24, 2011
Creator: Sanchez, William R.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History