George Parrott , who was also known every bit Big Nose George , was a pocket-sized fourth dimension cattle rustler in addition to highwayman inwards the American Wild West inwards the belatedly 19th century. He was reputed to convey a large olfactory organ , thus the nickname.
Big Nose in addition to his gang enjoyed a successful career robbing freight wagons in addition to phase coaches. In those days , all draw of piece of employment organisation transactions were done inwards cash , in addition to coaches oft carried large amounts of paper coin peculiarly during paydays.
One twenty-four hr menstruum dorsum inwards 1878 , Big Nose’s gang decided to essay their luck on a Union Pacific prepare that was carrying payrolls for its employees. They industrial plant life a lonely stretch of tracks close Medicine Bow River , inwards Wyoming , loosened a spike inwards the rails in addition to waited for the prepare to arrive. But a sharp-eyed railroad employee spotted the tampered rail , repaired the impairment in addition to alerted lawmen earlier the prepare could arrive.
This innocuous-looking duet of shoes hides a macabre secret. Photo credit: Scott Burgan/Flickr
Big Nose George in addition to his men fled to Rattlesnake Canyon at the base of operations of Elk Mountain. Hot on their heels were 2 police enforcement officers— Wyoming deputy sheriff Robert Widdowfield in addition to Union Pacific detective Tip Vincent. When the officers arrived at Rattlesnake Canyon , they saw the ashes of a campfire that was hastily stamped out. As Widdowfield stooped to experience the ashes to come across how recent the burn downwardly was , a shot from the bushes stuck him inwards the human face upward killing him instantly. Vincent turned in addition to tried to run precisely was shot next.
The Union Pacific Railroad straight off set a bounty of $10 ,000 on the caput of Big Nose George. This was later on doubled to $20 ,000.
George in addition to his men remained at large for the adjacent 2 years , until Big Nose got drunkard inwards a bar inwards Miles City , Montana , in addition to boasted of the killings at Elk Mountain. He was arrested in addition to hauled dorsum to Rawlins , where a case courtroom industrial plant life him guilty in addition to sentenced to hanging.
Ten days earlier the scheduled execution , on March 22 , 1881 , George Parrott made an movement to escape. Using a pocket knife , he sawed through the rivets on the heavy leg shackles that fountain him in addition to struck jailer Robert Rankin inwards the caput keen his skull. Despite existence injured , Rankin managed to telephone outcry upward out to his married adult woman , Rosa , who grabbed her husband’s pistol in addition to ordered George Parrott to provide dorsum to his cell.
The entirely known photograph of “Big Nose” George Parrott
When the tidings of the attempted escape spread throughout the metropolis , an irate mob stormed into the jail , dragged George Parrott out in addition to strung him from a telegraph pole.
Having no identify unit of measurement to claim the corpse , Doctors Thomas Maghee in addition to John Eugene Osborne took possession of Parrott's trunk inwards lodge to study the outlaw's encephalon for clues to his criminality. The doctors sawed off the overstep of Parrot’s skull in addition to examined the encephalon precisely industrial plant life no marked differences betwixt Parrot's encephalon in addition to a "normal” one.
From this indicate onwards , John Osborne’s experiments began to plough decidedly bizarre. He outset molded a go out mask of George’s human face upward using plaster of paris. Then he removed peel from the dead man’s thighs in addition to breast , in addition to sent them to a tannery inwards Denver amongst a real specific laid upward of instructions. The hide—which included George’s nipples—was to live fashioned into a duet of shoes in addition to a medicine bag. When Dr. Osborn received the shoes , he was disappointed to regain they didn’t include the nipples , precisely he wore them anyway.
Carbon County Museum Director Tiffany Wilson belongings the special duet of shoes. Photo credit: www.travelchannel.com
The residue of George’s dismembered trunk was kept inwards a whiskey barrel filled amongst a tabular array salt solution , in addition to Osborn continued his bizarre dissection in addition to experiments for a year. Eventually , the whiskey barrel was buried inwards the yard behind Dr. Maghee’s office.
With the grisly episode behind him , Dr. Osborne got into politics in addition to went on to go the outset Democratic Governor of Wyoming , in addition to later on the assistant Secretary of State nether President Wilson. At his first ball every bit the Governor inwards 1893 , Osborn was said to convey worn the notorious shoes.
The sawed-off skull cap was presented to Dr. Osborne’s 15-year-old assistant , Lillian Heath , who later on became the outset woman individual physician inwards Wyoming. Over the years , she used the skull cap every bit an ashtray in addition to later on every bit a doorstop inwards her office.
Big Nose George was nearly forgotten until i May afternoon inwards 1950 , when structure workers unearthed a whiskey barrel filled amongst bones piece excavating for a novel building. Inside the barrel was a skull amongst the overstep sawed off , a bottle of vegetable chemical compound , in addition to a duet of shoes.
A local paper article reports the regain of “Big Nose” George Parrott’s remains inwards 1950 inwards Rawlins. Photo credit: Carbon County Museum
The local government had a clear sentiment whom the remains belonged to , precisely they needed verification. Then someone remembered the skull cap Dr. Lillian Heath had kept , in addition to sent for her. Dr. Heath was even in addition to so live in addition to good into her eighties when she was contacted. The skull cap was brought to the scene , in addition to it jibe perfectly amongst the skull industrial plant life inwards the barrel. Decades later on , deoxyribonucleic acid testing verified the results.
Today , the shoes made from the peel of Big Nose George , together amongst the bottom constituent of his skull in addition to his go out mask , are on permanent display at the Carbon County Museum inwards Rawlins , Wyoming. The skull cap is at the Union Pacific Museum inwards Omaha , Nebraska. The medicine handbag made from his peel was never found.
The skull of Big Nose George. Photo credit: Scott Burgan/Flickr
Carbon County Museum’s redesigned exhibits nearly “Big Nose” George Parrott. Photo credit: Carbon County Museum
Source: Wikipedia / Legends of America / WyoHistory.org