Comedian of the Frontier

In his day, theater actor and manager Jack Langrishe (1825–1895) was about as well known in the West as General Grant was in the East. Langrishe provided entertainment to prospectors, miners and their families in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota and Idaho. He followed the expanding frontier from the old Northwest Territory to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and enjoyed his share of luck—he was out of town during the 1871 Chicago Fire, and was traveling through Indian territory at the same time Custer’s command was being wiped out a day’s ride away.
Best known as a gifted comic actor and producer of fine dramas, Langrishe also edited newspapers, was an Idaho state senator and served as a justice of the peace. Here for the first time is the complete story of the father of theater in the West.

Margaret McCutcheon Lauterbach has worked for or edited newspapers in Hollywood, Denver and East Lansing. She writes a weekly gardening column for The Idaho Statesman. She lives in Boise, Idaho.
The director of nearly 100 plays, musicals and operas, Charles E. Lauterbach is a retired Boise State University professor of theatre arts and a founding member of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and the Michigan State Performing Arts Company. He lives in Boise, Idaho.

Margaret McCutcheon Lauterbach and Charles E. Lauterbach
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 268
Bibliographic Info: 35 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2016
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6409-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2495-2
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments ix

Preface 1

Introduction 5

 1. New Land, New Life 9

 2. Moving West: The Old Northwest Territory 19

 3. A New Theatre Home 22

 4. Riding High 31

 5. Profits Shrink 46

 6. Rootless 53

 7. Colorado 61

 8. Gold Circuit 75

 9. Into Unknown Perils 91

10. Return to Montana 109

11. Chicago 115

12. The Black Crook Venture 124

13. Battered but Not Beaten 131

14. Deadwood 137

15. High in the Rockies 153

16. Mining, Managing and Acting 164

17. On the Last Tour 174

18. End of the Last Tour 182

19. Another Gold Rush 189

20. A New Career and Reflections 196

21. Shattered Peace 202

22. The Last Act 209

Epilogue 219

Chapter Notes 225

Bibliography 249

Index 255