The Best Cabdriver in El Paso
Advertisement from the El Paso Evening Tribune, Dec. 8, 1891 |
(Read Part Fourteen: The Worst Cabdriver in Galveston)
On December 11, 1891, Myar’s Opera House in El Paso presented The Millionaire, written by Leander Richardson. The play was a timely piece of anti-union,
pro-capitalist propaganda that wasn't above stirring up ethnic rivalries. The protagonist, James O’Brien, was a
contractor trying to finish the transcontinental railroad, despite
the machinations of a sinister Italian labor agitator named Ferreti.
The production had traveled across the country, led by star actor
Daniel Sully in the lead role of O’Brien. In each city, a large
band of “supers” were hired, to play the crowd of Irish and
Italian laborers working to build the railroad.
As the San Francisco Wasp reported,
In El Paso, Tex., the "supers" were all Mexicans with one exception. His name was Brannigan — Mike Brannigan — and in the day-time he was a hack-driver.
In a crucial scene, the workers go on
strike, and Ferreti and O’Brien face off across the tracks. Ferreti
is backed by a band of Italian workers, while O’Brien tries to
rally the Irish workers to his side:
The train is seen crossing a trestle in the distance, when O'Brien, disguised as a section-hand, impassionately importunes the striking sons of Erin in the following terms : “Remember, boys, O'Brien is an Irishman like yourselves.”
At this point in the performance, Mike
Brannigan realized that he was standing on the wrong side, being
counted as an Italian:
He forthwith started to cross the stage, but Ferreti told him sotto voce to remain where he was. "I'm d--d if I will," yelled Mike ; " I'm an Irishman, and I'll go over to the Irish whether you like it or not." It is needless to say Mike made a hit.
Mike didn’t just make a hit on the
stage. He made a hit in El Paso.
A hack waits on an El Paso street in the 1880s (detail of photo held by the DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University) |
He and his wife had arrived in 1885, probably attracted by the frontier character of the growing city. El Paso—also known as “Sin City” and “the Six-Shooter Capital”—had more than a little of a rough and tumble atmosphere that must have reminded Mike of his days in Gold Rush San Francisco. With the arrival of the railroad, El Paso had also emerged as a colorful tourist destination, and a favored stop for travelers heading from one coast to the other. Mike set up shop with a livery stable and soon became one of the most well-known and popular characters in town.
Jerry Collins has retired from the hack business, having been bought out by that most popular driver, Mike Branagan. (El Paso Times, Sept 20, 1890)
As always, Mike made the papers
frequently, but no longer for his old practices such as fighting,
causing public disturbances, or overcharging customers. Instead, he
was the subject of quaint anecdotes such as the following:
Col. Mike Brannigan has two strange looking birds in a cage. On being asked what kind of birds they are, he said they are Chinese birds from Japan. (El Paso Herald, Oct. 15, 1889)
With his hack business flourishing,
Mike and his wife invested in real estate, and soon became
comfortably well off, enough to travel frequently. They took almost yearly visits to
Mary’s family on the east coast; Mike also made several visits to
his old stomping grounds in California. In 1893 they went to the
Chicago World’s Fair—this time not to work the fair, but simply
to visit as tourists.
The Brannigans became El Paso society
figures, with their comings and goings noted in the papers. Although
Mike and Mary never had children of their own, Mary had a large Irish
family back east, and many of her nieces and nephews came to Texas to
stay with the Brannigans in their cozy brick cottage on Oregon
street.
Mike became a beloved El Paso fixture,
which must come as a shock to anyone familiar with what Mike used to be like. Adding to his popularity were the visits he started
receiving from famous people. With Mike’s sordid past now
comfortably receding from memory, old friends started making a point
of dropping by and visiting Mike whenever they passed through Texas.
And so, we can now see who some of the powerful people were who had
protected Mike back in the day, and who now were willing to openly
call Mike Brannigan a friend.
George Hearst, founder of the Hearst dynasty. |
George Hearst, founder of the powerful
Hearst dynasty, may have known Mike from the Gold Rush days of the
1850s. Hearst made his true fortune in Virginia City, and he and Mike
were active there at the same time. After Hearst’s death in 1891,
his widow Phoebe Hearst sent Mike several presents and mementoes of
his old friend, including a silver set of harness for his carriage,
and a painted portrait of the late Senator.
William Randolph Hearst (Wikipedia) |
Following his father’s example,
William Randolph Hearst also considered Mike Brannigan a friend. He
owned ranches in Texas and Mexico, and employed one of Mike’s
nephews as a captain for cattle drives.
C.P. Huntington (Wikipedia) |
Mike often bragged that he could ride any railroad in the country for free, on account of his friendships with powerful railroad millionaires. By this he was certainly referring to Collis P. Huntington, one of the “Big Four” founders of the Central Pacific. Huntington may have first known Mike from his Sacramento days. Despite his polite, businesslike demeanor, Huntington reputedly had a private preference for “outrĂ©” stories, and this may well have drawn him to Mike Brannigan. As a railroad magnate, Huntington traveled the country in his own private railcar, and in 1895 he made a special visit to El Paso to see his old friend, Mike Brannigan. There may have been a spat, though:
Mike Brannigan indignantly denied the report that he was fired out of C.P. Huntington’s private car by the colored porter. (El Paso Herald, November 25, 1895)
John William Mackay (Online Nevada Encyclopedia) |
Irish-born John William Mackay was one
of the Bonanza Kings who made their fortunes in silver from Virginia
City, during the same years in which Brannigan was there.
Whenever he passed through Texas, Mackay would stop by to see his old
friend, and “he and Mike always spent a social hour together talking
about old times.”
Drury Malone (JoinCalifornia) |
Drury Malone owned a warehouse in
Sacramento during Mike’s time there, and later went to Virginia City for the silver rush. Meeting no luck as a prospector, Malone had the
fortune to marry into wealth, and became one of the
most wealthy and powerful men in California, serving as Secretary of
State in the 1870s. Once he had taken her wealth and risen to power, Malone divorced his unfortunate wife. He stopped by in 1893, and Mike showed
him the sights of El Paso and Cuidad Juarez.
Heavyweight Champion of the World James Corbett (Wikipedia) |
“Gentleman Jim” Corbett was the son
of Patrick Corbett, a San Francisco hackdriver and livery stable
keeper who would have known Mike Brannigan from the 1860s. In 1894,
while Corbett was World Heavyweight Champion, he toured Texas, but
did not make it to El Paso. Corbett sent Mike Brannigan an apologetic
telegram: “Impossible to play. Very sorry. Remember me to all my
friends. J. Corbett.”
With such powerful allies as the
Hearsts, Huntington, Mackay, Malone, and Corbett, Mike decided it was
safe to show his face in San Francisco, once again.
Next time: Mike Brannigan, Triumphant