"You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!": The Story of Daisy B.B. Guns

This is least of these businesses. Our American stories we tell stories about everything you're on the show. We love to tell stories about our own history and always are this day in history and our historical segments brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College. Roger McGrath tells the story of a mining woman who saw her fortunes in a man's world and became one of the greatest women of the old West. Dr. McGrath is professor in Southern California and the author of gunfighters hi women and vigilantes violence on the frontier. Here's much as a frontier angel or the scene of the summer. That was really Cashman was one of the courageous women who helped make America's conquest of the frontier or Homeric hero, she range far and wide on every minute frontier from Arizona and Mexico in the South to Alaska in the Klondike. In the far north.

She is not forgotten.

She's a inductee of the Alaska mining Hall of Fame.

The Arizona women's Hall of Fame and Arizona women's Heritage Trail. There's also a really Cashman day in tombstone, she was a character in the 1950s TV series the life and religion of Wyatt Earp and the U.S. Postal Service under the stamp in 1994 born in County Cork, Ireland, in 1845 Nelly is only a teenager when she, her sister Francis mother leave Ireland seal to Boston in 1860 when the Civil War rocks. A shortage of young men allows Nelly find work as a bellhop in the hotel. Not many bill ups look like Nelly a beautiful and finally featured young woman with waist length brunette hair flawless fair skin and sparkly expressive eyes. Here's Jean Baker, author of the newly Cashman biography tough nut angel.

The tale of a real life adventures of the old West. The general you had a conversation with him and him actually go to the West because she liked it better.

There was the end of the Civil War.

Cashman's decide it's California for them to arrive in San Francisco after selling on steamships and crossing through the jungles and mountains of Panama on Burroughs Francis or Fanny, as she's called Mary's Irishman Tom Cunningham and starts a family. Nelly is off for mining strikes in Arizona, Nevada and I go and eat you mining camp. She establishes a boardinghouse in a restaurant builds it into a profitable enterprise instills and moves on any minor down on his luck.

It's for free at Nellis and Nelly is always ready to grub stake a prospector.

She also has a talent for the healing arts and nurses. Many injured or ill minor back to health.

Here's a story of the old West Marshall Trimble, otherwise known as the Will Rogers of Arizona. Nelly took great pride in the fact that she never turned away a hungry minor who had no money to pay for his meal or board and when there was a need to raise money. Whether it is for churches and schools or hospitals or family minor guilt in a mining accident. Nelly would head downtown for the saloons or the brothels with her hat turned upside down and she always left with a hat full of money. The source of those donations never bothered her. She said one time whether the money comes from an upstanding citizen or a member of an outlaw faction makes no difference to me in the money doesn't know the difference either in 1874 Nelly joins a party of 200 minors for the Catskill Mountains in northern British Columbia near the border, you can't reach an is practically unknown in all but inaccessible minors, including Nelly, the only female reach their destination and strike gold on the upper reaches of the sticking River and longest major tributary discrete. It's only fall when winter comes to the CRs minors are caught unprepared for the heavy snow falls and severe cold as the supplies dwindle doesn't begin falling ill with scurvy. Love Nelly is not among them. She left earlier for vacation in Victoria on Vancouver Island. When word reaches Victoria the minors are entrapped by snow and ice and suffering terribly. Nelly purchases 2000 pounds of supplies including plenty of lime juice. Hire six men and heads for discrete at Wrangell Alaska. US customs officers try to dissuade her from what they term a mad trip, but Nelly pushes on when the commander of Fort Wrangell. Here's an old woman is headed into the CRs dispatches a Lieut. with a squad of soldiers to rescue her little catch up with Billy until high up in the sticking River nearly exhausted and suffering greatly from the cold. Soldiers fly Nelly camp comfortably on the ice of this frozen sticking Lieut. since she is cooking her evening meal by the heat of wood fire and homemade a lively air. Soldiers greatly accept her offer of hot coffee and food and return without her winter weather so severe the people in coastal settlements. Nelly must've died. As Jean Baker and Nelly. Apparently Mary can be beaten now that I wondered how addiction figure out how to get out of there without it. It will go down to what she did was incline the opposite direction, and she climbed out of the hole she got herself 770 days of trail and digging yourself out of a snow slide. Nelly reaches discrete upon hearing of Nelly's truck newspaper called it an extraordinary feat by an indomitable female businesses all the five vastly as well as the push and energy inherent to a race with lime juice and good food. Nelly nurses everyone of the 200 Snowden minors back to good health.

She is called the angel of the CRs and when we come back will continue with the story of Nelly Cashman on our American stores. We have been here, the host of owner every day on the show were bringing inspiring stories from across this great country. Doors were big cities and small to but we truly can't do the show without our stories are free to listen to what they're not free to make if you love what you hear. All American stories.com and click the donate button a little of a lot to L American stories.com stories and continue with Roger McGrath in the story of Nelly Cashman stays in British Columbia for another three years operating their businesses in raising money to build St. Joseph's Hospital in dictatorial. In 1870, Nelly returns to San Francisco to visit her mother in the Cunningham's Fanny and her husband now three boys and two girls who love their aunt Nell and are fascinated by her many adventures you mining strikes soon since Nelly to Tucson in Arizona territory. She opens no monocle restaurant first business in Tucson owned by a woman.

But 1980, she has for the new Silver strike in tombstone, she gets over operation of the Russ house hotel and within weeks becomes part owner when the prospector she feeds her friend grub stakes is Edward Doheny, who later becomes one of America's great oilmen along after Nelly begins operating the Russ house hotel her sister's husband dies of tuberculosis. Nelly rushes to San Francisco and brings Fanny and her children to tombstone to live in the home immediately behind the Russ house in 1883 Fanny dies at tuberculosis and that Nell finishes his job.

The Cunningham children when Nelly arrives in tombstone, there is no Catholic Church. As Marshall Trimble in 1880, there is an article in tombstone epitaph that said Nelly Cashman, irrepressible started out yesterday to raise funds for the building of a Catholic Church.

We don't know what success attended her first effort, but that there is going to be a Catholic Church in tombstone before many more days if Nelly has to build it herself. She convinces the owners of the Crystal Palace saloon, one of the owners is Wyatt Earp to allow Sunday services to be held there until the church is built. Nelly leads the way in fundraising for what becomes a Sacred Heart Church Billy also helps build the first school in tombstone in the first nonmilitary hospital in Arizona, St. Mary's in Tucson. She also establishes a fund for prospectors injured in mining accidents and serves as treasurer of tombstone's chapter of the land league of Ireland becomes one of the most influential and respected figures in tombstone. As Jean Baker.

During that time down that gunfight at the okay corral happened and now he knew all about players Doc Holliday Wyatt Earp dollars brothers.

She knew the mayor came downrange on climb who thought she was absolutely wonderful and wrote about glowing reports that her son called publisher of the tombstone epitaph in tombstone's first mayor said of Nelly or Frank manner, self-reliant spirit and are emphatic and fascinating Celtic brogue impressed me very much and indicated that she was a woman of strong character and marked individuality as Marshall Trimble with another story exemplifying Nelly's servants heart during the Christmas season of 1883 in busy five-man build a robbery, killing four people, including a pregnant woman.

They were caught, dried, convicted and sentenced to hang. Nelly took it upon herself to be there mother confessor just before the hanging entrepreneur and build a grandstand outside the high walls of the tombstone courthouse selling tickets to watch the hanging. The outlaws pleaded with Nelly not to let their hanging become a public spectacle. So the night before the event. Nelly and some friends arrived late, late in the evening with tools in hand, they tore it down after the five men were hanging the authorities and plan to donate their bodies to medical science that the condemned men protested the Nelly so she saw to it that they were given a proper burial, and hired a guard to protect their graves for several days dying Mexican stumbles in tombstone and collapses at the entrance to the Russ house.

Nelly hasn't carried inside and put on the bed before he dies, he mutters to her go to move away gold nuggets are found in his pockets, Nelly, and some 20 tombstone minors are soon exploring the desert and land for moonlight and bought California water in several of the men on the verge of death from dehydration. The Phoenix Herald newspaper reports that no blame to others have died of thirst. Actually Nelly is in better shape than any of the men she volunteers to go off on her own, assuring her fellow prospectors a good angel will guide her to water. She crosses miles of scorching desert and miraculously comes upon isolated mission not buzzing the rest.

She organizes a rescue party helps drive burros loaded with goatskin sacks, water back to the minors. She arrives just in the nick of time.

In 1895 the age of 50. Nelly is still going strong.

When she arrives in Tucson newspaper reports yesterday Tucson was visited by one of the most extraordinary women in America Nelly Cashman whose name and face been familiar to every important mining Or district on the coast for more than 20 years. She rode in the town from Casagrande and horseback John wooden merely prostrated the average man with fatigue. She showed no sign awareness and went about town in that column, businesslike manner, the blogs, particularly her when news of the great strike in the Klondike reaches the states. Nelly is off for the far north immediately.

She arrives in Daiichi Alaska during March 1898 and becomes one of the first women to take the steep shoe could pass trail that the summit on the Canadian border. The Mounties required each stampede or back 2000 pounds of supplies or they would let them in. I guess he didn't want American citizens to parish on Canadian soil will 54-year-old Nelly had to make several trips up the snowpack trail, but she was able to pass inspection and then while waiting for the ice to thaw.

She build a raft and then floated 500 miles down the Yukon River to reach Dawson Brady in a series of fierce rapids.

Along the way. Nelly soon opens a restaurant in a grocery store, which includes a small library becomes known as the prospectors, even of rest, newspaper reports her entrance into a saloon or dance hall is the signal for every man in the place to stand. Nelly is always done well, but she really strikes it rich in the Klondike claim on Bonanza Creek pays her more than $100,000 equivalent to 3 million in today's money.

Nelly continues living and prospecting in the Yukon and Alaska for another 25 years.

She becomes an expert must sure more than once driving teams of dogs through the snow for hundreds of miles, there's Marshall in 1923 at the age of 78.

She mushed a dog sled team 350 miles in just 17 days. Newspapers all over Alaska. The story of that intrepid lady named Nelly Cashman during the fall of 1924 fable health finally begins to fail, she dies at age 79 in January 1925 in St. Joseph's Hospital, which she had helped build nearly 50 years earlier. Nelly was single all her life.

She had several proposals. She was very pretty woman, but she never married, and when asked if she ever feared for her safety. Being the only woman among so many roughhewn men.

She replied sweetly. If you act like a lady. Men will always treat you like one shortly before she dies a reporter asks her if she ever feared for virtue while living in all male mining camps prospecting on while frontiers, she replies.

Bless your soul know I never have had a word said to me out of the way the boys would sure see to it that anyone who ever offered to insult me, could never be able to repeat this and thanks to Roger McGrath about storytelling and hold so many good ones. You're on the show. Also, thanks to Greg Hagler Nelly Cashman story here on our American stories and return to our American stories mixed the story of a truly iconic American.

These days he is a leading youth sports and BB gun manufacturer, but most of us, at least know about. Perhaps a few of us have even owned a daisy BB gun at some point nor was there to tell the story of the company is Joe Murphy, the chairman of the board that the Daisy Aragon Museum in beautiful Rogers Arkansas they see is what's considered to be a super brown super brand is one that survives in one business for great length of time. It's also one of its identify by top of mind awareness.

When you ask somebody to to name a soda company you're always going here Coca-Cola when you asked somebody that name attractor come you're always John Deere maybe worse. Certainly within the first two when you asked somebody the name of BB gun.

Inevitably, Daisy is over 98% of the time. The first words that come out of the mouth unaided. My name is Joe Murphy I work four days a manufacturing company from 1999 to 2017.

During that time I helped to develop and oversee the nonprofit Corporation Daisy Aragon Museum, the Roger Stacy or Museum and I remain as chairman of the board of the nonprofit Corporation today. A lot of people want to know about Daisy manufacturing, which is the most popular brand of Aragon brand that everyone knows but a lot of people want to know how to daisy get its name well really can't tell the story of Daisy manufacturing company without dealing with three companies that were in business in the 1880s in Plymouth, Michigan by way Plymouth is just a day outside of Detroit and even back then it was not a far buggy ride from downtown Detroit out the Plymouth and Plymouth was as sure it is a very industrial town railroad had a river. Back then, if you had a railroad in the river. You had industry or you will soon have industry. The three companies know that I think we need to talk about a little bit more manufacturing. Plymouth iron windmill companies formed by Clarence Hamilton and the Plymouth air rifle company, which was Hamilton's company through which it makes Markham manufacturing founded by gentleman named Phil Markham in 1879 buckets and sisters in the horse trough since they were in the business of making things out of wood that would hold water and fill Markham and his son first envisioned the idea and produce the little woodier in 1886 and they took it up to Chicago now in our museum we have an example of this stunning look at it.

It's a slab of wood stayed from a barrel.

Only it's not meant. And they've inserted a brass barrel limit and right action, God and so they were just toying with the idea please send this they took it up to show in Chicago and there was a distributor there. That said, we want exclusive rights to the scone but you have the name with the Chicago so they were by two years later, producing about 100 guns a day and they actually built a new factory totally dedicated to their air rifle business. The Plymouth air rifle company was owned by gentleman Clarence Hamilton who was a prolific inventor of lots of things and repairers.

Lots of things never search US patents and trademarks.gov. You'll find lots of patents by Clarence J. Hamilton in 1882 he found that another company called the Plymouth iron windmill company. Most windmills back then were made out of wood derricks were made out of wood blades were made out of wood and they had a vein like a tail orient the face of the windmill into the wind's for Hamiltons windmill was called the iron when, and these were used for today.

We think windmills producing energy when the energy for electricity electricity. In 1882, so this was the pump water for stock at the farm and so invents us windmill. It has a rudder instead of a tail and it has a counterbalance weight and those two things, not only will orient the windmill into the wind, but at different wind speeds blades with Will Millwood actually can't turn a little bit as an airplane at different speeds in order to more efficiently turn the wind into a pumping motion, energy so windmill company was in business and selling the steel windmill. They hired a salesman right out about a 100 mile radius territories try to sell the windmill. The farmers at the same time Hamilton the inventor of the windmill built a little wooden gun similar to Markham's gun and he was only selling about 50 guns a day. Much like when he produce the windmill windmills were all made out of wood he made to steal one because you looked at the wooden Markham guns and he thought I can make better when I was still swim a little steel what's now referred to as a wire stock or wireframe gone in the stock of the gun just a piece of wire. Then, in the shape of a gun stock and then he realized he really didn't have the capability to produce that's certainly not hundreds of so he took it to the general manager of windmill company by the name of Lewis Cass half this list I made this in my garage. I can't produce them to the capacity. I think it should have to do no company could use this gun for us.

This would be a good product diversification.

By 1888 the time at which he made this will all steel BB gun air rifle windmill company was struggling to realize that the windmill literally waited and that they could only distribute about 100 mile radius of the very limited in their marketing territory. Most farmers had a window so it's a better windmill that you need a better windmill when you have one that's working so they actually have a board meeting in which they pulled all the officers of the board whether or not they should file bankruptcy and we days in fact there were very thankful that it failed by one vote, that of the general manager. So when Clarence took this little gun.

The general manager. The window company and said we could diversify. He was actually trying to save his own company also. So Mr. Lewis Cass half takes the gun fires it into his wastebasket.

He likes takes it outside solution go up against. Fires to be single. It splits the single and he turns the Clarence and he wants the telling how much he likes. I love having young people and asking them what would you tell me if I had to do something really like and you wanted to express it and they say it's cool that school that guns radical let guns also and I told him we could be the awesome radical sick Aragon company today with the colloquialism that dates back to as early as 1880 was today's you like it. It's a day's salute to recordings of that statement.

One is what today's oneness Clarence days. Frankly, I don't know that it matters, but the idea was the gun was exceptional. He liked it. He called Daisy and so the first guns they are in loss with the words Plymouth iron windmill Co. Plymouth British because we used four letters back then states applied for days and days. He was simply the name of the gun wasn't the name of the company at all, and you're listening to drummer from telling the story of a super super grim Daisy Aragon history continues after these commercial messages and were back stories in our story on the iconic manufacture guns in America, we last left off Joe Murphy, chairman of the board Daisy Aragon Museum in beautiful Rogers Arkansas. I urge anyone is ever in that area to visit one of the most beautiful parts of this country was telling us about how Daisy product of a windmill company in Plymouth, Michigan got its name was also telling us about these three companies employment marker manufacturing. The aforementioned iron windmill company in the Plymouth air rifle company doing these three companies would come together let's continue with the story. That's really the Daisy story of how it came to be and how the name of the salesman told the story some 40 years later that he personally would buy the BB guns for $0.75 piece, he would take them out and run his route with his horse and buggy have a small reproduction model of the steel windmill that he took with him a sample and when he met with the farmer he would offer him the windmill he would present gun for two dollars apiece trying to make his money but he said he was authorized to sell the gun for a dollar.

If the farmer would put him up. Give him room and board for himself and his horse and barn over the weekend so that he didn't have to ride the hundred miles back to his hometown so the company changed its name to Daisy fracturing in 1895 and Clarence Hamilton when he gave that gun to his windmill company because he was one that found the window company and organize local business people. He and his son continued making Plymouth air rifle guns, and they also then continued to make 22 firearms shortly after he gave that gun to the Plymouth iron no company said you can have the patents of this gun and have the rights to produce and sell this gun if you remain profitable. If the company doesn't remain profitable. I'm taking my gun back don't know that he could've legally done so. But that was the agreement they had will in 1899 a customer approach to Markham, remember the Markham company was making started making your guns. This is how these companies are all interrelated and they challenge Markham to make an airgun, but it had all still Erica seen the Plymouth air rifle Erica.

So Daisy agreed to make two guns for the Markham company to another, making guns for their competitor.

One of the board members on Markham's board had been the person to take this opportunity to Daisy fracturing saying you guys for making steel windmill shoemaking steel guns you can make this gun that we need made for cost so Markham, the founder of the Markham company due to a family situation decides that he's going to take his small fortune moved to California in 19 12 x 19 16, you sold all of the stock to executives at Daisy to executives working for Daisy now on, the majority stock are all stock in the Markham company during the Great Depression. These two executives decided that they could no longer personally on the stock in Markham solely sold the stock of Markham to the Daisy manufacturing company and that's how Daisy Markham became one company since Markham made the first gun in 1886 Daisy began saying we been in their business and C6 that first little gun Lewis Cass shot in the shingle was made in 1888 because they require Markham started using line since 1886 when I joined the company I found out a bit difficult to say that in the business in no way required business that's been in business but who was I to change history at that point.

So from 1889 when Daisy made the force Daisy BB gun asked Plymouth iron windmill company tonight 1895 when they became Daisy manufacturing company, then by 1915 know that the company exponentially. They went from one two-story building to a dozen buildings they occupied everything in Plymouth, Michigan between the railroad line and switcher line and winters were tough in Michigan still are today. Originally the buildings at the Plymouth iron windmill company and then faction warning connected with each other.

Imagine is a manufacturer that you doing different processes to your products in different buildings, and then you have to go outside the take them. The next building that had some challenges to ensure in the course Detroit was known in the course Plymouth was very close to Detroit. They were known as the motor town hotel. They were known as the headquarters of the big three automakers for GM and Chrysler. Those were the big companies the workforce of Helen Joplin. Daisy learned the trade became a specialist at some machinery or something then your ultimate goal is to go to the big three autoworkers make more money to make more money building $450 card could make building a dollar so by 1958, who was the grandson of Lewis Cass Huff said the words Clarence at today's now Cass is vice president of the company is father Edward as president. Cass is a young man is on the track to become president. He's been a pilot or two he flew P 38's and he bills a couple airplanes and he holds one of Michigan's first pilot licenses which he got as a teenager, so he's quite the polity loves flying.

He flies all over the country. He has a job that allows him to and requires him to fly a lot and Daisy has its own corporate or so.

He's flying on a trip to the South.

He stops the refuel and Rogers Arkansas. There's not much in Rogers, Arkansas in 1958 today were in town approaching 70,000 in the metropolitan area. That's much larger than that by Bentonville Walmart's head quarters in 1958. Roger was more of a separate small town with 6000 people missed he comes Siri lands at the grass strip at the airport. He likes the people, and he announces that I would bring my company here, but I won't lands on the dirt runway anymore. You've got a page. This runway in the city, Rogers took him seriously and they began the court. Daisy and and so he declared he would bring his company here and he did.

Of the 700 employees. He offered all of them to keep their jobs if they wanted to move the Arkansas. They didn't know much about Arkansas and people weren't as transient as we are today. They didn't leave their families and their history of their family just to go take a job somewhere. So 100 families took him up on the offer of moving the Rogers and he brought him down here are a few at a time on the airplane but a match in a town of 6000 people and just accept my mouth that that was probably 1500 home Rogers Arkansas and all of a sudden you need 100.

That's a large percentage overnight.

Growth and song in 1958. A lot of good growth happened because of Daisy moving 100 families here overnight things that make us super brand I think are multigenerational. Certainly, people would have a Daisy airgun today.

Their parents probably had one. The grandparents have always had one. It's the type of thing the hand down his right of passage within your family.

A lot of people own the weekend that belong to their grandfather their great-grandmother and the value of those things and they pass down and therefore the brand becomes important to them. In my experience with with Daisy in marketing and public relations. I often said that our brand this is what we think it is. It's what others think it is and it's a very personal thing and that that's when a brand becomes a brand and it's not just a logo or name that somebody can throw out it's something that you have a heartfelt identity with that it means something to you so it's the most valuable thing that the company series on its balance sheet is the goodwill of the Daisy brand name stork value other than the and the part that it's played in the heritage of our country. If you look back to the days when Daisy was founded as a windmill company about in the 1880s, and how the country how the country is changed and how the company is progressed over the years. That's what makes it ingrained in people's minds and a terrific job by Katrina Heim collecting the audio in the story and a great job as always by Monty Montgomery on the editing and production. The story of the Daisy Erica here how Americans