Thomas Tate Tobin

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Thomas Tate Tobin
Born May 1, 1823(1823-05-01)
St. Louis, Missouri
Died 1904
Occupation Mountain man, adventurer, US Army scout, bounty hunter
Spouse Pascuala Bernal

Tom Tobin (1823 – 1904) was an American adventurer, tracker, trapper, mountain man, guide, US Army scout, and occasional bounty hunter. Tobin explored much of southern Colorado, including the Pueblo area. He associated with men such as Kit Carson, "Uncle Dick" Wootton, Ceran St. Vrain, Charley Bent, John C. Fremont, "Wild Bill" Hickok, William F. Cody, and the Shoup brothers. Tobin was one of only two men to escape alive from the siege of Turley's Mill during the Taos Revolt. In later years he was sent by the Army to track down and eliminate the notorious Felipe Espinosa, returning to Ft. Garland with Espinosas' head in a sack.[1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Thomas Tate Tobin was born in St. Louis, Missouri on May 1, 1823 to Bartholomew Tobin, an Irish immigrant and Sarah Autobees. Sarah, believed to have been a Delaware Indian, had been widowed before marrying Tobin and brought a son, Charles Autobees (later Autobee), into the marriage. A year later, a daughter Catherine was born to the couple.

[edit] Early life

In 1828, Charles Autobees, then 16 years old, went west to work as a beaver trapper. He returned to St. Louis in 1837. That year, his half-brother Tom, then 14 years old, returned with Charles to Taos, in the company of Ceran St. Vrain. Tom worked as a trapper and scout at Bent's Fort, and in Taos, and along with his brother, worked at Simeon Turley's store, mill, and distillery at Arroyo Hondo. He accompanied his brother Charles on trips to deliver supplies and whiskey to trappers in trade for furs, and they took the pelts to St. Louis to trade for more supplies for Turley's store. Autobees and Tobin made regular stops in places such as Fort Jackson, Fort Lupton, Bent's Fort, and El Pueblo.

By 1846, Tom had married Pascuala Bernal, and was living with his family in Arroyo Hondo, near Taos. He continued working for Turley, and delivered dispatches to Fort Leavenworth for Gen. Stephen Kearny.

[edit] The Taos Revolt

For more details on this topic, see Taos Revolt .

On the morning of January 19, 1847, insurrectionists opposed to America rule began a revolt in Don Fernando de Taos (present-day Taos, New Mexico). They were led by a Hispanic man, Pablo Montoya and a Taos Indian, Tomás Romero, known as Tomasito.

The Indians, led by Tomasito, went to the home of Governor Charles Bent, broke down the door, shot Bent several times with arrows, and scalped him in front of his wife and children. Several other government officials were likewise murdered and scalped. Among them were Stephen Lee, acting county sheriff; Cornelio Vigil, prefect and probate judge; and J.W. Leal, circuit attorney.

The next day a large mob of approximately 500 Mexicans and Indians attacked and laid siege to Simeon Turley's Mill, where Autobee and Tobin were working. Autobee saw the crowd coming and rode to Santa Fe to inform the occupying American forces about the revolt and to try and get help, leaving eight to ten mountain men, including his brother Tom, to defend the mill. After a day-long battle, only two of the men, Johnny Albert and Tom Tobin, would survive, both escaping the burning mill separately on foot during the confusion of night fighting.

After his escape, Tom and his brother Charles served as scouts for a company led by Capt. Ceran St. Vrain, to find and capture the insurrectionists. Those perpetrators who were not killed in battle were tried and put to death.

[edit] Scout, guide, Indian fighter

In 1847, Tobin farmed on land bordering the San Carlos River southeast of El Pueblo, selling his crops to Lt. Col. William Gilpin, who was camped with his troops near Bent's Fort. The next year, Gilpin asked Tobin to scout for him during his planned spring campaign against the Indians. Gilpin then asked Tobin to serve as a courier, carrying dispatches from the Canadian River valley of Oklahoma to Bent's Fort.

Just before the Civil War, Tobin was hired as a scout by Maj. B.L. Beall, to guide an expedition to find a railroad route to California. Beall described Tobin as "having a reputation almost equal to Kit Carson's for bravery, dexterity with his rifle, and skill in mountain life."

In November 1868, Tobin was appointed by Gen. Penrose as chief scout on an Indian-hunting campaign. Other scouts hired were Tobin's brother Charles Autobee, and "Wild Bill" Hickok.

[edit] Felipe Espinosas

In the early 1860's, Mexican national Felipe Espinosa (along with two cousins) moved to the San Luis Valley from New Mexico. The Espinosas went on a killing spree beginning in 1863, murdering over thirty anglos in the area in retaliation for relatives killed in the Mexican-American War. A detachment of soldiers from Ft. Garland, as well as several posses, attempted to capture the brothers, but succeeded only in killing one brother, who was quickly replaced by a cousin. Eventually, the commanding officer of Ft. Garland, Colonel Sam Tappan, requested Tobin's help in bringing the Espinosas' reign of terror to an end. He provided Tobin with a detachment of fifteen soldiers, but Tobin left them at camp, as they made too much noise on the trail. Tobin tracked the Espinosas to a camp and shot them. He cut off their heads and carried them in a sack back to Ft. Garland as proof of his success. It is said that when asked by Tappan how his trip had gone, Tobin replied "So-so", then rolled the heads out of the sack and across the floor. There was several thousand dollars reward (Dead or Alive) for the Espinosas, but Tobin would never collect the full amount. But he was given a coat like Kit Carson's by the governor of Colorado, and a Henry rifle by the Army.

[edit] Billy Carson shooting

In 1878, Tobin's daughter, Pascualita, married Kit Carson's son William. Some years later, Tobin tried to stab Carson for abusing Tobin's daughter, and Carson hit Tobin in the head with a sledge hammer and shot him in the side. Tobin and his son-in-law apparently ironed out their problems a few days later, but Tobin never fully recovered from the shooting. He did, however, outlive Billy Carson.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kutz, J.: "Mysteries & Miracles of Colorado", Rhombus, 1993
  • Carter, Harvey Lewis; Kit Carson (1990). Dear Old Kit: The Historical Christopher Carson. University of Oklahoma Press, 125, 152, 192. ISBN 0-8061-2253-6. 
  • Colorado Historical Society; editors Grinstead, Fogelberg (2004). Western Voices: 125 Years of Colorado Writing. Fulcrum Publishing, 50. ISBN 1-55591-531-0. 
  • Conard, Howard Louis; Dick Wooton, Milo Milton Quaife ed. (1980). Uncle Dick Wootton. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-1408-1. 
  • Field, Ron; Illus. Richard Hook (2003). Elite 91: US Army Frontier Scouts 1840-1921. Osprey Publishing, 7, 8-9. ISBN 1-84176-582-1. 
  • Hewett, Edgar L. (2004). Campfire and Trail. Kessinger Publishing, 44, 45, 46, 51. ISBN 1-4179-7649-7. 
  • Lecompte, Janet "Charles Autobees", featured in "Trappers of the Far West", Leroy R. Hafen, editor. 1972, Arthur H. Clark Company, reprint University of Nebraska Press, October 1983. ISBN 0-8032-7218-9
  • McTighe, James (1989). Roadside History of Colorado. Johnson Books, 340-341. ISBN 1-55566-054-1. 
  • Nash, Jay Robert (1994). Encyclopedia of Western Lawmen & Outlaws. Da Capo Press, 122, 367. ISBN 0-306-80591-X. 
  • O'Brien, Christopher (1999). Enter the Valley: UFOs, Religious Miracles, Cattle Mutilations, and Other Unexplained Phenomena in the San Luis Valley. St. Martin's Press, 40, 164. ISBN 0-312-96835-3. 
  • Scott, Bob (2004). Tom Tobin and the Bloody Espinosas. PublishAmerica. ISBN 1-4137-0956-7. 
  • William, Henry Frederick (1958). Thomas Tate Tobin. Henry. ASIN B0007HPY5W. 

[edit] See also

Persondata
NAME Tobin, Thomas Tate
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tobin, Tom
SHORT DESCRIPTION Mountain man and adventurer
DATE OF BIRTH May 1, 1823
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Louis, Missouri
DATE OF DEATH 1904
PLACE OF DEATH