It was interesting to watch old Red Shirt when he was presented to the
Queen. He clearly felt that this was a ceremony between one ruler and
another, and the dignity with which he went through the introduction
was wonderful to behold. One would have thought to watch him that most
of his life was spent in introductions to kings and queens, and that he
was really a little bored with the effort required to go through with
them. A second command from the Queen resulted in an exhibition before
a number of her royal guests, including the Kings of Saxony, Denmark,
and Greece, the Queen of the Belgians, and the Crown Prince of Austria.
The Deadwood coach, one of the features of the show, was of particular
interest to my royal guests. This was a coach with a history. It was
built in Concord, N.H., and sent by water to San Francisco to run over
a route infested with road-agents. A number of times it was held up and
robbed. Finally, both driver and passengers were killed and the coach
abandoned on the trail. It remained for a long time a derelict, but was
afterward brought into San Francisco by an old stage-driver and placed
on the Overland trail.
As it worked its way East over the Overland route its old luck held
steadily. Again were driver and passengers massacred; again it was
abandoned. At last, when it was "hoodooed" all over the West and no
independent driver or company would have anything to do with it I
discovered it, bought it, and used it for my show.
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