Forward, Into The Past
From May 18 through May 24, 1896, the most famous show of its type, the original and biggest spectacle of its age, stopped in St Louis, setting up at the corner of Compton and Manchester. The show was so large that it required 15 acres of empty ground to stage.
Continue reading “1896: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show Comes To St Louis”I. Murder On The Riverfront
Noble Shepard was a 28 year old glassblower from Illinois. He left his wife and migrated to the riverside near downtown St Louis, where he holed up in a tent. 100 yards away, Tom and Lizzie Morton lived on a flatboat tied to shore. Tom was a good looking man of “slight frame,” who wanted to roam. He joined a small circus and met Lizzie Leahy in Alton, Illinois. Abandoning the circus, the two went off on a flatboat and tied up at the foot of Potomac Street. Tom found work as a machinist with Barr Department Store. Lizzie made her living doing needlework. Two months into their stay, they met Noble Shepard.
Continue reading “1897: No Picnic On Either Side Of The Law”
