Scale Model Old West Town-3

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This is Page-3 of our tour ~

This is a tour of my scale model old west town called Cactus Creek. I have built this town over the past several years. It is set up on tables in my basement. I have not yet made the streets and the landscaping. That is coming soon.

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Hello, I'm Mr. Ed

On this page you will see:

Bank

Coach Works

Newspaper Office

Photographic Studio

Dress Shop

Town Park

Freight Office & Dock

Pipe Works

Ice House

Newspaper Office ~

Our next stop is the newspaper office. Hiram Fry is the editor of the Red Cloud Chief Press. He also prints Harper's Weekly Magazine and a host of other things.

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Since television and the internet hasn't been invented yet, some folks in town walk past Fry's newspaper and watch him work through the plate glass window in front. Hey, it's something to do.

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If you want to read the paper, just pick up the rock and take a copy. Just drop a penny in the bowl.

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Hey, we're in luck! Hiram stepped out for lunch and left the door wide open. Let's go in and check the place out.

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The first thing you see when entering is the massive printing press.

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Hiram uses the press to print everything.

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On the large table in the corner are Harper's Weekly magazine, the Farmer's Almanac, political booklets and other items that is printed here. The smaller table holds blank paper sheets to be fed into the press.

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At the back wall is Hiram's desk. The small barrels that are stacked are printer's ink.

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There's a kettle of hot water on the stove for making tea. Hiram is a tea toteler. (The coal bucket has actual chips of real coal in it. May as well be as authetic as possible).

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Hiram's reading glasses are on his desk. Also there is a candlestick phone in case some locals want to call in a hot skoop.

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Hiram keeps a pretty good library of books to refer to for news stories.

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Well, let's head back out and check out the next place.

News Story ~ From the Red Cloud Chief Press. (Cactus Creek's Newspaper)

Funeral Held for Mr. McHiggins

Saturday, May 28, 1884

Yesterday a funeral was held for Stinky McHiggins on Main Street. No one attended. As you may recall, Stinky was the man who had the misfortune of being sprayed by skunks at least once a week. McHiggins had no wife, children or even a dog. He lived in a tar paper shack about two miles downwind of town. His groceries were always delivered to a tree stump about a mile from town and he would pick them up from there. His body was found by a passing stranger who notified sheriff Cogburn. Cogburn rode out to Stinky's place and found him on the ground, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot to his head. He left a suicide note that read: "I'm sorry. This is the only way. I can't stand the smell anymore. Goodbye!" Nobody came to the funeral as they couldn't take the smell as the coffin passed by. Everyone watched from closed windows. The horses pulling the hearse looked like they didn't even want to be there. So far, no one knows why skunks were always spraying Mr. McHiggins. The doctor could never get close enough to examine him. It was reported that between five and eight skunks watched from an alley as the funeral krept down the street. They all had tears in their eyes but this couldn't be confirmed. Three of the skunks came out and sprayed on the wheels of the hearse which really made the undertaker mad.

Photographic Studio ~

Next door to the newspaper office is Fry's Photographic Studio. He takes pictures of folks around town and people who are passing through town. He also takes pictures to use in his newspaper.

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The photo studio has a brick fireplace and Hiram keeps a good stock of firewood handy for it. The poster is for Buffalo Bill's Wild West show that came through Cactus Creek a couple of weeks ago. There was a problem however. Ike the Bounty Hunter called Bill a whoosey boy, Bill got mad and pulled his show out and left town after only one show. Now the folks around town are a little upset with Ike.

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That's Granny Wilson and her granddaughter, Ellie waiting for Hiram. They live on a pig farm about eight miles from town. They have saved their money for three months so they could come to town and pay the $1.00 to get their "picture took".

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Here's the fireplace. Looks like Hiram already has a fire going.

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On the back wall is a large mural of Rome, Italy. The person sits or stands in front of this and it acts as a backdrop for the picture. The round table in the corner show samples of Hiram's work.

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The tapestry rug on the floor is pretty worn.

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This is an older camera that Hiram uses. He wanted to take a picture of Ike the Bounty Hunter. But Ike refused. He told Hiram that he didn't like people pointing things at him.

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On the small chest behind the camera is a stereoptic viewer. Hiram makes the slides for that too.

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In the front corner of the room is a grandfather clock. There's also a large wooden elephant that is sometimes used as a prop in a picture.

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Through the doorway to the right is the darkroom.

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The workbench in the darkroom. The shelves on the wall hold the salution used in developing the pictures plus the glass plates for the camera are in holders on the shelf.

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On the cabinet in the back corner is Hiram's new camera that he uses when he goes out and around town.

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Once the photos come out of the salution tray, they are hung from a line to dry.

News Story ~

Outlaw Jake Goush Hanged

Monday, May 10, 1883

Yesterday Outlaw and murderer, Jake Goush was hanged at high noon. There was no one meaner than Jake. He had started his criminal life at the age of 8-years old when he shot and killed three innocent indians simply for being red. His next murder was the deputy sent to arrest him. He joined the U.S. Army and fought the Indians and Mexicans. We weren't at war with them but he fought them anyway. He killed a saloonkeeper in Bisbee and a liveryman in Prescott. The crime he was hanged for was the murder of William Stiles who had bumped into him on the street. Jake shot him four times for being clumsy even though Stiles was blind. Jake was lead to the gallows yesterday in shackles and heavily guarded but he still managed to bite four people and a horse, kick three spectators, spit on sheriff Cogburn and kick the minister in the groin. As they placed the rope around his neck, he tried to bite off the hangman's ear. Rev. Collins, there to pry for Jake's soul, yelled, "I hope you burn in hell!" To which Jake yelled back, "Yah, I'll be standing next to your mother." After the trap door sprung, it took 40-minutes for Jakes legs to stop kicking.

Celia's Dress Shop ~

Our next stop is Celia's Dress Shop.

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Celia came from Toledo, Ohio and settled in Cactus Creek when she saw that there was no dress shop here. She bought an old house that hasn't seen paint in 30 years or more.

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Celia's shop is on the first floor. She has a sleeping room on the second floor.

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She has a few of her dresses and gowns displayed in the front window plus a pair of high-buttoned shoes. They're all the rage right now!

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Inside Celia's shop is full of sewing machines. There's three in all.

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There's a full size mirror so that the ladies can check themselves out.

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The cabinet has many bolts of cloth on it for just about any dress that Celia is asked to make.

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The sewing machine in the back corner has patterns ready to cut out.

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A table has material rolled out ready to be cut.

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Celia sent to St. Louis for the dress dummy. She was using Ike the Bounty Hunter as a fitter untill she stuck him with a pin. He yelled, "That's it! I'm done!" And stormed out. Celia likes her store-bought dress dummy better because it won't move around and it smells better than Ike did.

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Celia's old spinning wheel is in the back. She never uses it anymore but won't part with it.

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That's the shop. Let's head upstairs.

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The heat stove is just under this railing. As the heat rises, the second floor gets heated.

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Celia's bed.

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Now we head out of the back door...

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...and go around the side of the building.

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We go to the front of the house. This is where Celia gets her water and firewood.

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Celia's hand pump is here plus her firewood pile. Anse Cassidy, from Cassidy's Mill, brings by a cord of wood for her every week or so at no charge. He's kinda sweet on Celia. He asked Ike the Bounty Hunter if he was spoonin' for Celia. Ike said he wanted no part of her since she stabbed him. (The pin incident).

News Story ~

Indian Squatters Settle at the edge of town

January 15, 1883

About a month ago, an Indian named See Jack Run was seen living in a tee pee at the end of 5th Street. No one thought anything about it at the time. He seemed to stay to himself and didn't bother anyone. He never came into town so the citizens decided that he could stay. Yesterday it was discovered that now we have 750 Indians squatting on the one acre piece of land. Where they came from no one knows. Town drunk, Andy Andres said that is the problem with Indians, they maltiply like rabbits. We find that hard to believe...from one to 750 in 3-days. Plus no one had ever seen a squaw with See Jack Run. Ike the Bounty Hunter went to talk to See and was told that his family came to live with him. Apache Wild Beaver proclaimed, "There go naighborhood!"

Dusty's Freight Office ~

Everything coming or going to and from Cactus Creek goes through Dusty's Freight Office and dock.

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Dusty has a Mexican man named Jose Garcia working the dock. Since the dock area gets chilly some days, Jose wore a poncho and when Ike the Bounty Hunter saw him from a distance, Ike thought Jose was a Mexican bandito and shot him. Jose is still working the dock. He just works it now-a-days with a limp.

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The stairs goes down to a lower storage area.

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Cactus Creek Town Park ~

Right now all that is in the park is a gazebo and cannon.

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(Actrually, the gazebo was a bird feeder for the yard that I never used. I cut out the front and back to make walk throughs. The rest of it is glass windows).

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The gazebo has a practical use. There's a town pump inside for water.

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There's also candle lights at each doorway for night stroles.

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Ladies from town come by every day or so to water the plants and to plant more.

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Bluebirds hover around the roof.

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Their nice to look at but they crap on everything and eat the flower seeds. One of them bit Ike the Bounty Hunter once. Now the birds stay away from Ike. And there's one less bluebird hovering around the roof.

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There's an old Civil War cannon in the park. One year Ike thought it would be cool to fire the cannon off on the 4th of July. He didn't think about not using a real cannonball. After some men in town repaired the large hole in the side of the bath house, they filled the cannon's barrel with cement.

Coach Works ~

Next we stop by Jake Ramsey and Sons Coach Builders.

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Jake actually has two daughters, no sons. But since they are named Jessie and Bobby, Jake figured that it would sound better than "Jake Ramsey and Daughters".

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Jake's got a pretty nice shop. He can build just about any type of wagon or carriage that you want.

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There's a tall step ladder by the back door that is used for building tall wagons or for getting lumber down from the racks.

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By the front door is a water barrel for drinking. On the overhead beam is a houst for lifting heavy items.

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Jake is in the process of building a buckboard for a rancher named Lucas McCain.

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There's a table for making spoked wheels.

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There's racks on the back wall for board lumber.

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There is also an anvil for shaping metal parts.

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Out the side doors is Jake's newest wagon. He built it for Sully's Butcher Shop.

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Their putting the finishing touches on the butcher shop wagon.

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A repair job that Jake's doing is a broken wheel on a covered wagon.

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The family was passing through Cactus Creek on they're way west when they hit a rut in the road and cracked a wheel hub. But Jake can fix it up.

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Jake's shop is one of the only buildings in town with a skylight.

Town Bank ~

As our tour winds down, we now visit the Cactus Creek Bank.

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Looking in one of the front windows, you see the firewood pile for the stove.

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The other window shows the lobby area.

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Since the doors are open, let's look around inside. Maybe we can find some old money laying somewhere.

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There's the stove.

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There's the teller's window.

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I knew it! I knew we'd find some old money laying around somewhere.

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The other side of the room has a table for writing checks and other things on.

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The barred door leeds to the back of the bank.

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In the back is the filing cabinets.

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Also back there is the bank manager's desk.

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The bank vault is back there too.

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Hey, the door is opened. Cool!

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Whooo! The vault's full of money!

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We could grab some money and head out the back door. No, Ike would probably catch us. We'd better not.

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When Ike the Bounty Hunter first came to town, he got a job as a bank guard. He was fired two days later. The first day he pulled his revolver on a 10 year old boy dressed in a cowboy outfit. Ike said he thought it was a midget bankrobber. The second day Ike tackled a man who was leaving the bank with a fist full of dollars. It turned out to be Wes Bradley, a teamster who had just cashed his paycheck. The bank manager said he had to fire Ike because he figured he would have less trouble with bank robbers than he did with Ike.

Cactus Creek Pipe Works ~

At this time pipe companies were fairly new concepts. Large mining operations needed piping to run off water from their mine shafts. Another industry that was just getting started in the 1890s was gas lines for gas lighting. Cactus Creek's only gas lights are the street lights in front of the hotel. But they want all lighting to be gas by the start of the new century, 1900.

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The buildings at the pipe works are small. This is the company office.

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Martin Luther Briscoe was a beaver trapper before he came to Cactus Creek. But he was always interested in pipes. Really?

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The buildings at the pipe works are old. The paint on the office and the tool shed has pretty much flaked off.

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The tool shed is small. They don't need a lot of room just for some pipe tools.

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This is the pipe rack beside the buildings. The silver pipe on the bottom is water pipes. The pipe in the center and top racks are two differant sizes of gas line pipes. The ladder ofcourse is to retreve the pipes that you need.

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Then the pipe is layed on the workbench beside the office and can be cut to size. The wooden barrel is the grease bucket.

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The pipes are also threaded here. The pipe threader is laying on top.

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The tools hang in a holder on the bench side.

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There's so much junk in the shed that the wheel barrel has to sit outside.

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Sitting next to the pipe rack is the pipe works' outhouse.

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After a hard day pipe fitting, when ya gotta to go...ya gotta to go!

The Ice House ~

Cactus Creek is one of the lucky towns to have an ice house. The cafe has an ice box in their kitchen and the saloon likes to serve cold beer. Plus a few others in town use ice in various ways. So it stands to reason that an ice house was needed.

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Ice houses in the period of 1885 to 1895 were made with several types of materials. Some were made of brick, some were made of cinder blocks, adobe, logs, etc. The roofs were, in most cases, made with mud or grass. These building materials kept the interior of the structure cool.

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The inside floor of the ice house was dug out. The pit was around 20 to 30 feet deep. Long copper vats were filled with water and lowered into the floor pit. Then the entire area was covered with a thick amount of straw. After about a week to ten days the water would freeze solid.

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Then a couple of the vats would be pulled up and the ice removed and cut into blocks about three feet by three feet.

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The blocks would be loaded onto ice wagons and delivered around town. Ice was delivered about every day or two. In warmer weather or warmer climates, it would melt more rapidly.

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The ice house in Cactus Creek is an old building. The log walls are sagging, some of the mortor between the logs have fallen out and the grass on the roof is kind of long because the town's men are all too lazy to get up there to cut it.

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And speaking of lazy, they probably would have replaced the building except none of them want to dig another pit.

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Oh cool! They are getting ready to deliver some blocks of ice.

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I'm getting cold just looking at them.

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Well, at least the saloon beer will be served cold tonight at the No. 10.

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