The Notable Endeavors of Thomas Colehan - "A Rooney Descendant of the Irish Diaspora in the Wild West"
By RoxAnne Rooney Petterson
Illustration from Harper's Weekly. v.47 Jan.-June 1903
Thomas Colehan’s mother was Mary Rooney, the seventh child of Michael (Daddy Mick) Rooney and Catherine (Mammy Kitty) Caulfield. Sometime after 1875, Mary, her husband, Michael Colehan (spelling of his name varied) and five of their children said goodbye to their family and friends in Minnesota to seek their futures in California.
The Irish had a strong foothold in California. Many left famine-stricken Ireland at a time when the cry of California Gold was heard throughout the United States. It was estimated that 10-20 percent of the population of the gold camps were Irish.
In the 1860's, Alameda County and California as a whole had elected to political office a number of men who had been born in Galway and Roscommon Counties in Ireland. This was a part of Ireland dear to the hearts of the Rooney and Colehan families, as it was also their birthplace. The Transcontinental Railroad had been completed in 1869, making the overland route to California more attractive. By 1880, when Michael and Mary had joined many of their countrymen, about 39% of the population of San Francisco was Irish. Mary and Michael settled east of San Francisco in Livermore, Alameda County.
The family's move to California was the start of many adventures for their youngest son, Thomas. According to the book History of Alameda County, California: Including Its Geology, Topography, Soil and Productions, Volume 2, in the mid 1850’s “there was estimated to be a full 50 thousand head of cattle and horses in the township, besides immense bands of sheep in the hills and mountains.” In July of 1880 when Thomas was about the age of 15, most of that land was under cultivation, Thomas was working as a sheep herder for Richard T. Pope. Richard T. Pope owned 3,000 acres and 2,500 sheep, a rancher dealing mainly in sheep. Looking at census records, Thomas undoubtedly worked beside and was mentored by 60-year-old John Floid born in Ireland. He also worked beside vaqueros Logan Frank Sr. and Logan Frank Jr.
Thomas was the subject of numerous newspaper accounts that include an incident in 1897. Mistaken for the notorious triple murderer "Diamondfield Jack" Davis, who was wanted in the state of Idaho, Thomas was arrested and jailed. Later, after a visit from the Idaho sheriff, it was determined he was not Diamondfield Jack Davis and released. He would bring suit against the sheriff for false arrest, however, when the case went to trial the suit was dismissed.
Newspaper accounts tell of Thomas and his brother Dan attempting to commit two of their spinster sisters, Mary Jane and Catherine, to an insane asylum. Dan requested a commitment hearing in 1894. At that time, if thought to be insane, a Lunacy Commission consisting of several doctors would hear your case and determine your sanity. Mary Jane and Catherine were determined insane by the commission. Mary Jane, who was not one to conform to all of society's conventions, requested their case be heard by a jury. A newspaper account of the Sacramento Bee of August 20, 1894, describes Mary Jane as a "well educated woman, holding a State Normal School diploma, county school certificates, and for years had been a teacher in the public schools" system of California. For the first time in Alameda County's history a jury was allowed to hear the case of a sanity ruling. Championed by reformers, the women became a symbol of the movement. Mary Jane and Catherine were found sane by the jury and released.
In October of 1895, it is Thomas who asks for commitment of his sisters. Catherine, who according to one account had suffered a buggy accident a few years earlier, was committed to the Agnews Insane Asylum. Mary Jane was found to be of weak mind but not dangerous to the community and released.
In December of 1896, Mary Jane was once again charged with insanity. This time by Mr. Ross, the owner of the Wilson House, where she was boarding. Mary Jane claimed to own his property and tried to take possession of it. She was committed to the Stockton Asylum.
The year 1900 finds Thomas a silver and gold miner in Tonopah, Nevada, about 210 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Gold was found in Tonopah in March of that year, and the area soon became a mecca for those who missed out on the 1849 California Gold Rush and the 1859 Comstock Lode near Virginia City, Nevada.
Newspaper accounts tell that Thomas was successful in his mining operations. Thomas would partner with others and own numerous mines through the years. He partnered with Jim Butler, the first to find gold in Tonopah, and Senator elect F. K. Thorn among others. As a miner, Thomas would become the subject of a 1903 Harper's Weekly article (Volume 47, January-June 1903). He would travel east, mainly to Pennsylvania and New York, to interest investors in the Tonopah area mining operations. Thomas was also part of a group that started selling stock in their mining operations on the San Francisco Stock Exchange. Thomas had ownership in mines in Tonopah and on Gold Mountain and Round Mountain in Nevada. He had ownership in the App and the Rawhide Mines in Tuolumne County, California, along with at least one mine in Alaska.
Along with mining, Thomas would also invest in the building of the first brewery in Tonopah. It opened in April of 1903 and at that time, Wyatt Earp was operating a saloon in Tonopah. Wyatt and his brothers were well known for their gunfight at the O.K. Corral. In the April 20, 2017, edition of the Nevada Appeal, Rich Moreno wrote, "In January 1902, Wyatt Earp, fresh from Alaska’s mining boom, arrived in Tonopah with his wife, Josie. Within a few months, he and a partner had opened the Northern Saloon and Earp was working for the Tonopah Mining Company hauling ore and supplies. For a very short time, he apparently worked as an appointed deputy U.S. Marshal in Tonopah, mostly serving papers to defendants in federal court cases—but never engaged in any shootouts with desperados. In the late summer of 1903, the restless Earp and his wife decided to leave Tonopah. He sold his investments and headed to Los Angeles to live. The two, however, returned several times to prospect around Silver Peak and other parts of Esmeralda County.” The two men may have had a few beers together and played a few rounds of cards.
Tensions between Irish and Chinese laborers had been brewing in the west long before the building of the transcontinental railroad. Tonopah was no exception. Unions were formed, in part, to pressure employers to hire whites only.
Chinese had also come to Tonopah. They set up support businesses like laundries, hotels, restaurants, and grocery stores. These businesses often made more money than the miners made. In 1903 tensions came to a head when, according to newspaper accounts, "a committee of the Labor Union led by their President, had in the middle of the night marched upon Chinatown, beat them over the head, robbed them and ran them out of town."
Personal accounts tell of them being beaten and robbed of any money. Chinese owned houses were ransacked and possessions smashed. Men on horseback beat the Chinese as they ran them three to five miles out of town. This beating resulted in the death of a laundry keeper. One of the leaders of the Chinese Community was Charley Chung. During the riot, he went to Thomas's house for protection. The majority of the townspeople stood behind the Chinese. They arrested 18 of the rioters, however none of them were ever punished.
In 1905, Thomas headed to Fairbanks, Alaska, having received word they struck it rich on a claim in which he was part owner. Enroute while in Vancouver, he learned a sweetheart from his childhood days in Minnesota, now widowed, had stopped in Vancouver on her way to Hawaii. He delayed his Alaskan journey to visit his old friend. They were reacquainted and married soon after. Although Thomas was quoted in newspapers to say he would split his time between Bar Harbor, Maine and Tonopah, any connection to Bar Harbor, Maine has yet to be established. The next information we have of his marriage is from the 1920 census, Thomas is listed as a widower living in a boarding house back in Tonopah with his occupation listed as a mine manager.
Mining was hard physical work, and getting supplies to support the desert camps was especially hard on man and beast. According to newspaper accounts, Thomas proposed importing camels from Australia to perform as pack animals. The military had introduced camels to the desert before the Civil War only to abandon the experiment when the Civil War broke out. When putting a query out in the Tonopah area recently, a gentleman from the area recalled his mother talking about a man named "Coalman" who had camels. This "Coalman" could have been Thomas Colehan. Though slim, the possibility does exist that Thomas made bringing camels to help his operation a reality.
In 1908, Thomas would embark on a year and a half long "exploring tour”. First traveling to Siberia, he spent three months there observing their mining operations. According to an article in The White Pine News, of Ely, Nevada, dated April 24, 1909, Thomas’s conclusion was, "Although the country may be very rich, an American has no business there.” During this time, he also traveled to mining operations in Mexico declaring, "Mexico is a coming country in mineral production, but Nevada according to my opinion is the best country of them all."
In 1920, finding love once more, Thomas married again saying he was retiring to Berkeley. After this Thomas’s trail runs cold. Someday the records will be found and we will find out how Thomas’ story ends.