Otero Beeson was listed as a traveling member of Kansas City Local No. 34 in the August 1912 edition of International Musician. This let other union members and bandleaders know he was not performing unsanctioned work outside the purview of his local union. Ote had accepted a summer engagement with the Coronado Tent City Band and met up with them in Kansas City for a couple weeks at Electric Park before traveling on a special train back to Coronado Beach. Along the way, they played concerts in Newton, Kansas (June 30) and Albuquerque, New Mexico (July 1).
On August 6, Ote received a telegram from his older brother with $75 and news that his father, legendary cowboy and lawman Chalk Beeson, had been involved in an accident with a skittish horse. He was instructed to return home to Dodge City at once.
That is not what Ote did.
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today.
Here...this is you. 
Leave a Reply