adventurer
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...
guide
A guide is a person who leads travelers, sportspeople, or tourists through unknown or unfamiliar locations. The term can also be applied to a person who leads others to more abstract goals such as knowledge or wisdom.
Travel and recreation
Ex ...
,
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
bounty hunter
A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...
. Tobin explored much of southern
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...
, including the
Pueblo
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
area. He associated with men such as
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...
Ceran St. Vrain
Ceran St. Vrain, born Ceran de Hault de Lassus de Saint-Vrain (May 5, 1802 – October 28, 1870), was the son of a French aristocrat who immigrated to the Spanish Louisiana in the late 18th century; his mother was from St. Louis, where he was b ...
Taos Revolt
The Taos Revolt was a populist insurrection in January 1847 by Hispano and Pueblo allies against the United States' occupation of present-day northern New Mexico during the Mexican–American War. Provisional governor Charles Bent and severa ...
. In later years he was sent by the Army to track down and kill the notorious
Felipe Espinosa
Felipe Nerio Espinosa (-1863) was a notorious Mexican-American murderer who killed an estimated thirty-two people in the Colorado Territory throughout the spring and fall of 1863.
Early life
Felipe Nerio Espinosa was probably born in what is today ...
and his nephew; Tobin returned to Ft. Garland with their heads in a sack.Kutz, J.: ''Mysteries & Miracles of Colorado'', Rhombus, 1993
Biography
Thomas Tate Tobin was born in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, on May 1, 1823 to Bartholomew Tobin, an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
immigrant, and Sarah Autobees. Sarah, believed to have been a Lenape, had been widowed before marrying Tobin. She brought her son
Charles Autobees
Charles Autobees (1812–1882), whose last name was also spelled Urtebise and Ortivis, was a fur trader and pioneer in the American Old West. He was the founder of Autobees, Colorado.
Early life
Charles Autobees was born in St. Louis in 1812 to ...
(later Autobee) into the marriage. A year later, the couple had a daughter Catherine together.
Early life
In 1828, Charles Autobees, then 16 years old, went west to work as a beavertrapper. He returned to St. Louis in 1837. That year, his half-brother Tom Tobin, then 14 years old, left with Charles and his colleague
Ceran St. Vrain
Ceran St. Vrain, born Ceran de Hault de Lassus de Saint-Vrain (May 5, 1802 – October 28, 1870), was the son of a French aristocrat who immigrated to the Spanish Louisiana in the late 18th century; his mother was from St. Louis, where he was b ...
to return to Taos. Tom worked as a trapper and scout at
Bent's Fort
Bent's Old Fort is an 1833 fort located in Otero County in southeastern Colorado, United States. A company owned by Charles Bent and William Bent and Ceran St. Vrain built the fort to trade with Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Plains Indians and ...
and in Taos. Along with his brother, Tobin worked at Simeon Turley's store, mill, and distillery at Arroyo Hondo. He accompanied his brother Charles on trips to deliver supplies and
whiskey
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ...
to trappers in trade for furs. The men took the pelts to St. Louis to trade for more supplies for Turley's store. Autobees and Tobin made regular stops in places such as Fort Jackson, Fort Lupton, Bent's Fort, and El Pueblo.
Marriage and family
By 1846, Tom had married Pascuala Bernal. They lived in Arroyo Hondo, near Taos. He continued working for Turley, and delivered dispatches to
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perma ...
On the morning of January 19, 1847, insurrectionists opposed to American rule began a revolt in Don Fernando de Taos (present-day
Taos, New Mexico
Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Ch ...
Pueblo
In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
also known as "Tomasito" (Little Tomas).
The Pueblo, led by Romero, went to the home of Governor
Charles Bent
Charles Bent (November 11, 1799 – January 19, 1847) was an American businessman and politician who served as the first civilian United States governor of the New Mexico Territory, newly acquired by the Military Governor, Stephen Watts Kearny, ...
, broke down the door, shot Bent several times with arrows, and scalped him in front of his wife and children. They murdered and scalped several other government officials. Among them were Stephen Lee, acting county sheriff; Cornelio Vigil, prefect and probate judge; and J.W. Leal, circuit attorney.
The next day a large force of approximately 500 Mexicans and Pueblo attacked and laid siege to Simeon Turley's Mill and Distillery, where Autobees and Tobin were working. Seeing the crowd approach, Autobees rode to Santa Fe to inform the occupying American forces about the revolt and to try to get help, leaving eight to ten mountain men, including his brother Tom, to defend the mill. After a day-long battle, only two of the men, Johnny Albert an Tobin, survived they escaped the burning mill separately on foot during the confusion of night fighting.
After his escape, Tobin and Autobees served as scouts for a company led by Capt.
Ceran St. Vrain
Ceran St. Vrain, born Ceran de Hault de Lassus de Saint-Vrain (May 5, 1802 – October 28, 1870), was the son of a French aristocrat who immigrated to the Spanish Louisiana in the late 18th century; his mother was from St. Louis, where he was b ...
, to find and capture the insurrectionists. Those perpetrators who were not killed in battle were tried and mostly hanged. Romero was assassinated while in jail by a US dragoon, John Fitzgerald.
Scout, guide, Indian fighter
In 1847, Tobin farmed on land bordering the San Carlos River southeast of El Pueblo, selling his crops to Lt. Col. William Gilpin, who was camped with his troops near
Bent's Fort
Bent's Old Fort is an 1833 fort located in Otero County in southeastern Colorado, United States. A company owned by Charles Bent and William Bent and Ceran St. Vrain built the fort to trade with Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Plains Indians and ...
. The next year, Gilpin asked Tobin to scout for him during a planned spring campaign against the Indians. Gilpin asked Tobin to serve as a courier, carrying dispatches from the
Canadian River
The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .
Felipe Espinosa
In the early 1860s
Felipe Espinosa
Felipe Nerio Espinosa (-1863) was a notorious Mexican-American murderer who killed an estimated thirty-two people in the Colorado Territory throughout the spring and fall of 1863.
Early life
Felipe Nerio Espinosa was probably born in what is today ...
(along with two cousins) moved to the San Luis Valley from New Mexico. The Espinosas went on a killing spree beginning in 1863, murdering more than 30 Anglos in the area in retaliation for relatives killed in the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
. A detachment of soldiers from Ft. Garland, as well as several posses, attempted to capture the brothers, but succeeded only in killing one brother, who was quickly replaced by a cousin. Eventually, Colonel Sam Tappan, the commanding officer of Ft. Garland, requested Tobin's help in bringing Espinosas' reign of terror to an end. He provided Tobin with a detachment of fifteen soldiers, but Tobin left them at camp, as they made too much noise on the trail. Tobin tracked the Espinosas to a camp and shot them. He cut off their heads and carried them in a sack back to Ft. Garland as proof of his success. When asked by Tappan how his trip had gone, Tobin reportedly replied, "So-so", then rolled the heads out of the sack and across the floor. The government had posted a reward for several thousand dollars (Dead or Alive) for the Espinosas, but Tobin never collected the full amount. The governor of Colorado gave him a coat like Kit Carson's and the Army gave him a Henry rifle.
Billy Carson
In 1878, Tobin's daughter Pasqualia married William (Billy) Carson, a son of
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...
. Some years later, Tobin tried to stab Carson for abusing Pasqualia; the younger man hit Tobin in the head with a sledge hammer and shot him in the side. Tobin and his son-in-law apparently reconciled a few days later, but Tobin never fully recovered from the shooting. He did outlive Billy Carson, however.