How did nat love die

Nat Love [ a ] June 14, — February 11, was an American cowboy and writer active in the period following the Civil War. His reported exploits have made him one of the more famous heroes of the Old West. Despite slavery-era statutes that outlawed black literacy, he learned to read and write as a child with the help of Sampson, his father.

Nat love grave

When slavery ended, Love's parents stayed on the Love plantation as sharecroppers , attempting to raise tobacco and corn on about 20 acres, but Sampson died shortly after the second crop was planted. Afterward, Nat took a second job working on a local farm to help make ends meet. At about this time, he was noted as having a gift for breaking horses.

He used the money to leave town, and at the age of 16, headed to the Western United States.

Nat love child

He trained himself to become an expert marksman and cowboy, for which he earned from his co-workers the moniker Red River Dick. The only difficulty with this story is that Deadwood newspapers, which covered every event of the Fourth of July celebrations, make no mention of a rodeo that day. It was at this rodeo that he claims friends and fans gave him the nickname "Deadwood Dick", [ 5 ] [ 7 ] a reference to a literary character created by Edward Lytton Wheeler , a dime novelist of the day.

Mounted on my horse my I felt like I could defy the world. Although he claimed to have received over 14 bullet wounds in his career with "several" received in his fight with the Native Americans while trying to avoid capture , Love wrote that his life was spared because the Indians respected his heritage, a large portion of the band themselves being of mixed blood.

He almost married the chief's daughter. The band of Native Americans nursed him back to health, wishing to adopt him into the tribe. Eventually, Love writes, he stole a pony and escaped into West Texas.