books and the Internet for facts on
most any historical figure will provide
conflicting information, facts and
figures the researcher has no way of
verifying. The best one can do is to
look for commonality, for familiar
threads that run through the various
accounts. Still, sometimes one has to
pick from differing stories. This writer
readily admits that he is no historian.
If you have different “facts,” I’m sure
they are correct.
Along this line, it is interesting to
note that the Wichita Eagle, which
published Rowdy Joe’s obituary in
1899, had previously reported him
dead in their Oct. 29, 1874, edition.
In the first, presumably erroneous
account, Indians “murdered” Joseph
Lowe as he traveled with a party “en
route for the Black Hills.” The October
1874 article was apparently a correc-
tion to an even earlier report. It read,
in part: “We last week published an
account of the attack, but the dispatch-
es had his [Rowdy Joe’s] name [as]
John Lowe, instead of Joe. Thus this
violent man met a violent death.” No
matter which report you accept, this
seems to be true.
Finally, it should be mentioned that
Rowdy Kate Lowe is one of the char-
acters of local history portrayed during
Parker County Heritage Society’s
Annual Historic Talking Tombstones
Tour. An Oct. 22, 2016, article
about the tour read: “One of the first
characters tourists encountered was
Rowdy Kate Lowe, a bordello owner
who had been run out of Kansas and
Chicago before temporarily settling in
Weatherford. Lowe, portrayed by Kay
Huse, warned the tourists of the after-
dark activities, including card games
and heavy drinking.
‘Things can get pretty rowdy
around here,’” Lowe warned.
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Sources:
The Wichita Eagle
“The Wild West: History, Myth and
the Making of America,” by Frederick
Nolan, Arcturus Publishing, 2003.
“Jim Courtright of Fort Worth: His Life
and Legend,” by Robert K. DeArment,
TCU Press, 2004.
East Texas Historical Journal
“Bird Cage Theater the Ultimate Honky
Tonk,” by Larry Noyes.
“Wicked Women: Notorious,
Mischievous, and Wayward Ladies
from the Old West,” by Chris Enss,
Rowman & Littlefield, Feb 20, 2015.
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