Post 5 The Blancett Family and more wild west adventures

Hi Family,

Thank you to my granddaughter, Missy and daughter Tracy who have been trying to figure out the posting issue on this site. I guess it comes down to the fact that it can be done but you have to jump through a few hoops to do so. You all have my email address so if any questions.... And if anyone out there is a long lost relative to us and may has more info hopefully they can do the work to get in touch with me, otherwise enjoy (I hope). Thank you to cousin Judy (Boulger) for her support in many ways in keeping me going!

This week, I am stepping back to the Blancett family and another one of Truman's story. I did buy a paper back book this week titled "Porter and Ike Stockton Colorado and New Mexico Border Outlaws" by Michael Maddox. He has quite a bit in there about the Blancett brothers and a couple of other family members. I did learn some new things in skipping ahead and reading about our bunch. He did tell how our family was much respected especially Mose(s)---a County Sheriff (and our grandfather). They were a family that did not back down at the sign of trouble but faced it, that helped win the west! But, some of them did suffer an untimely death because of it.

Continuing Truman's (Moses' brother) historical journal:

                                                     Mollie Blancett Van Endert

"Before leaving Denver, my sister (Mollie Van Endert) had purchased an upper plate of false teeth which fitted very loosely. It was the first time John and I ever had seen false teeth and we found much entertainment watching our sister exhibit the set.  She could loosen and replace them very easily with no other assistance other than that of her tongue, an operation that was both amusing and terrifying to us. It came to me that if she would permit being taken out on the plains and exhibited to the Arapahoes I could frighten them out of the country by making them believe she was an evil spirit.

The strange thing about it all that not many hours later these random thoughts became a reality and sister was to save our lives with her false teeth.

The following morning we found signs of Indians in the rocks bordering the corral where the horses were kept. Obviously the Arapahoes had been hiding all night and were merely waiting to hit on some plan to get possession. They probably reasoned that they couldn't take them until they scalped us. As it turned out, they left their own horses a short way off and sneaked up to the cabin while we were at breakfast at 7 O'clock. We were in the kitchen. I thought I heard something and looked up into the front room to find it full of Indians, about 10 as I remember. I recovered from my surprise and asked what they wanted. John and I stood in the door that lead to the kitchen. Some of the Indians had learned to speak our language and they enumerated the things they liked to eat. The chief told me to have the "white squaw" make heap biscuits, meat, coffee. His order, in all, included about everything on the menu.

Meanwhile I was thinking fast trying to hit on a means of escape or how I could work on their superstitions. All of a sudden the incident of the false teeth came to my mind and I left John to stand guard in the doorway telling the Indians that the "squaws" were cooking "heap biscuits" and coffee. I went to sister and told her she must do as I instructed or some of us would be killed. She was to allow me to lead her into the room, her hair pulled down and showing evidence of a struggle as she looked toward them. She was to manipulate her teeth as she had demonstrated. As we started for the front room she walked stooped over. I threw a piece of buffalo rug across her shoulders to add to her grotesque appearance. At the proper moment she caught the eye of the chief and promptly demonstrated her prowess as a demon with her mobile teeth.

I was right behind her and I noticed that the rest of the Arapahoes all glanced at their Chief. I knew we had won and shouted to the Chief that he much get away; that the woman with the funny teeth was a bad spirit and I was going to burn her in a fire.

The Chief let out a loud grunt and started for the open door. The door happened to be too small and the rest of the redskins climbed over each other in their scramble to get away. In their hurry they dropped a bundle of arrows which my sister later took to Denver and left in the basement of the Courthouse with other Indian junk"