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Harris, Timmy

Prospector's son living in Boston, Massachusetts[1] in 1875. (October 27, 1870 – January 10, 1945)[2]

Son to Sam and Linda Harris.[1]

In 1871,[2] Timmy's father left him and his mother in Boston[1] when Timmy was less than a year old[2] to go prospecting for gold in the West.[1] In June of 1875,[2] his father discovered a pocket of free gold on Sioux land in the Black Hills.[1] in July,[2] he sent Timmy's mother a letter from Twin Bluffs,[1] Nebraska,[2] asking her to meet him at the Packsaddle Station,[1] near the Nebraska-Dakota Territory border. His mother arranged for relatives to take care of him in Boston while she was gone.[2]

While his mother was traveling, Timmy's father was fatally shot and left for dead by Wes Fallon in an attempt to discover where the Harris Mine was located. Bret Maverick found the elder Harris dying, but he survived long enough to show Bret the site of the mine and tell him that his wife was to arrive at Packsaddle in a few days. He asked Bret to take the gold he had mined from the strike and give it to his wife for his son.[1]

Bret was chased by a band of hostile Sioux as he crossed the Great Sioux Reservation out of the Dakota Territory. As he rode, he dropped several of Harris' gold nuggets, hoping to slow them down. By the time he met Linda Harris at Packsaddle, he had only one nugget left. He sold Mart Fallon a map to the Harris Mine for $15,000. Realizing the mine had been only a pocket of free gold and had played out, Bret had really sold Fallon a worthless piece of paper. To honor his promise to Sam Harris, he gave the money to Timmy's mother.[1]

Timmy's mother returned home to him in Boston[1] in August of 1875.[2]

See: Stage West