Full Script c.1898 LOST THEATER PLAY The Wyoming Mail PONY EXPRESS Edwin Wolcott

Description

c.1898 Full Handwritten Script
The Wyoming Mail
Lost 19th-Century Theater Play
Based on the
Pony Express
Written out by actor Edwin E. Wolcott
This auction is for a 19th-century ledger book, with the date "1898" on the page where the script begins.  98 pages are filled with the full and complete script for
The Wyoming Mail
.  It is somewhat abbreviated in period "script shorthand," but readable and decipherable if one takes the time to get accustomed to the penmanship and style of abbreviation.
This play itself seems to be lost to history.  However, I'm including my research from period newspapers.  One article describes how this same play was performed at the Dewey Theater in Oakland, California in the year 1900.  The other articles are related to Edwin E. Wolcott, owner of the ledger.  He was an actor in numerous plays into the 1910s.  He was apparently a bit of a playwright, and also apparently a heavy drinker, as mentioned in one article where his wife is divorcing him due to drinking, and after returning from a trip to find he has another young lady inhabiting his flat ("to keep his mother company").
The last few pages of the ledger seem to be this actor/playwright's journal of interesting place names, people's names, and such ... undoubtedly to be incorporated into future scripts he intended to author.
In all my research, I have been unable to establish whether Edwin E. Wolcott was, in fact, the playwright for this particular work that was written out in his hand.  It's not clear from his journal, nor does the Oakland newspaper article mention who wrote the play.  No other record of this play seems to exist, though it is quite an interesting one!
Text of the Oakland Tribune article, Feb. 3, 1900:
"DEWEY THEATRE - A powerful romantic play entitled 'The Wyoming Mail' will be the next attraction at the Dewey Theatre.  Special pains have been taken to mount the piece accurately, and a strong cast will handle the many excellent roles.  The story of the play is as follows:
"In the year 18-- on a road near Big Bluffs was situated a post office.  It was the time of the 'Pony Express,' when the mail was carried across the mountains on the back of a pony ridden by those intrepid men who risk their lives for their duty.  At the beginning of the story, Ned Brown, an old mail carrier, is held up by an outlaw, Bud Farsen, and his gang called the 'Marceys' -- Brown is shot.  Opening the mail, his mail pouches are stripped and their contents stolen, the gang taking the money.
"Fearson [sic] gets certificates for ,000, which he hides unknown to his partners under a rock in the road.  These papers are restolen by a tramp who was, unseen, watching the whole scene.  About this time, Scissors, the girl mail carrier, arrives on the scene, but too late to prevent the murder and, over the dead carrier, vows an oath of vengeance.
"Bud Farsen, assuming to be one of the lawyers in charge of the estate left to 'Scissors,' calls on the girl's friend, Sam Marsden, and demands the guardianship of the girl that he may gain control of the estate.  'Scissors' refuses to go.  Marsden recognizes Fearson as the leader of the hold-up, and they capture him but, denouncing the tramp who stole the certificate from him, manages to escape.
"The third act [Note: This is an error; the script has this as Act II.] is laid in the office of the 'Big Bluff Squealer,' and is one of the brightest satires on a country newspaper that has ever been written.
"The last act [Note: Correct, this is the final act--Act III.] is located in an illicit distillery owned by Sam Marsden.  The tramp, Miller, who has been watching Fearson during his stay at Big Bluff, thinks it about time something was doing, and takes a hand in the game, and with the aid of the handkerchief as evidence, and witnessing the murder of Brown, convicts him, turning all cards against the highwayman and revealing himself as chief detective of the Chicago police force."
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CONDITION...
]
- Excellent antique condition
-- from a non-smoking environment
.
- No sign of abuse or moisture damage.
- One page has come loose, but I do not believe any pages are missing.
The above is my good-faith attempt to disclose all noteworthy issues. Keep in mind that vintage/antique items always show their age. (Don't we all!?)  It would be impossible to mention every tiny detail, so please expect that
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