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<img src="images/levee.jpg" class="center">
You are a young songwriter just arrived in St. Louis on a steamboat. Excitedly you make your way to the Deep Morgan neighborhood. It is a predominately black part of town filled with clubs, brothels, and restaraunts. You are sure to hear some great ragtime and blues, and a wealth of stories on which to base your lyrics. You have already heard hints of a great story about a murder at Curtis' Saloon from some passengers on the steamboat.
In your hands you hold your prized posession, a leather bound [[song notebook]] to keep track of all of your songs.
Standing at 6th Street and Morgan you wonder at the cacauphony of activity and jumble of businesses lining the street. Every way you turn you marvel at the human bustle that has sprung organically along the throroughfare much like the stalks of corn in the front yards of the homes.
One of the new [[electric police cars]] drives by looking quite unusual next to all of the horse drawn conveyances.
To your right is the [[Emporium]] with windows displaying a million millenary delights and stacks of Stetsons akilter. It is enough to make any hatter mad.
A couple of well-fed gentleman walk out of a [[restaurant]] rubbing their rotund bellies that place an undue burden on the buttons of their vests.
Music is spilling from the windows of what you assume is a [[brothel]]. A woman in a lace corset and petticoat is sitting in the second floor window sill smoking a cigarette.
The wonders continue down the street to the limits of your vision. You keep walking [[down the street|800 block]] to the 800 block of Morgan.
You absently riffle the pages of your [[song notebook]] trying to decide where to go.
Dang, I should have read the [[Directions]]
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>
<<audio "deepmorgan" play>>
<<audio "dandb" stop>>
<img src="images/street.png" class="center">
You will definitely need a place to stay, and the [[hotel]] across the street seems as good a place as any, but you really want to finish your song. The sign simply and earnestly says HOTEL,but the etched scroll work on the windows in the door portend an establishment of some class.
Across the street is a [[barbershop]], and you have learned from experience that it is usually an excellent source for news both official and unnofficial. The veracity of stories is not much of an issue when it comes to song writing, in fact it often gets in the way of a good ballad.
You look further down the street to [[11th & Morgan]]. You can see a boisterous crowd outside what you assume is the Bucket of Blood. I guess if you stay at the [[hotel]] you will be close to the action.
You forgot something and turn around to go to [[Morgan Street 600 Block]].
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>><<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>"Good day! May I interest you in a boater, boss of the plains, or beret?" The cheerful, but somewhat weary salesman asks. He was wearing a rather modest felt hat with a four inch crown and curved brim.
You say,"I'm [[just looking,]] thanks."
"On second thought, the [[boss of the plains]] looks nice."
<<return [[Leave store.|Morgan Street 600 Block]]>>The lure of the ragtime rolling from the sashes was too strong. You decide to enter the brothel.
As you enter the door the sound of the piano is nearly drowned out by the conversation, clinking of glasses, and the fake laughter of ladies clearly trying to earn a buck.
"How are you handsome?" A young lady says as she meets you at the door. "Do you want to go [[upstairs]]?
The song is amazing. Go over and talk to the [[piano player]].
<<return [[Time to go.|Morgan Street 600 Block]]>>
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>
<<audio "mapleleaf" fadein>>
<<audio "mapleleaf" volume 1 fadeoverto 20 0>>
<img src="images/Diner.jpg" class="center">
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>A sign outside says, "Best Meal in the World 10 Cents"
A smattering of tables with mismatched chairs are scattered along the wall with a couple of larger ones dominating the center of the room. A haggard cook is holding himself up with one elbow eyeing the ladies dining at the back table.
You are hungry, but you are not certain of the effects this food may have on your health.
You decide to have the two rolls and a hot coffee for [[five cents|I'm starving]].
After you look around, decide that this establishment does not really meet your standards of fine dining. You quickly turn to exit, when the cook says, "Can I help ya?"
You hastily mutter, "I just ate" and hurry out the <<return [[door|Morgan Street 600 Block]]>> while the odor of bacon grease and burnt coffee snatch at your coat."Are you sure? The [[boss of the plains]] just came in last week. It is quite the statement piece."
"I guess it won't hurt to [[try|boss of the plains]]"
The clerk gets the hat from the high shelf behind him. "I was just reading about a murder that happened down the street. <p><img src="images/stetson.png" style="float:left width:393px;height:246px;">There were these two fellas gambling at The Bucket of Blood. That's ol' Bill Curtis' place. One of them thought the other was cheatin'. He tried one more roll of the dice and he lost his Stetson Hat."</p> This sounds like a great story to write a song about, so you take out your [[song notebook]] and jot a few notes.
"Where can I find this wonderful establishment?"
"Well, it's about five blocks up that way at around 11th and Morgan. If you just head out the [[door|Morgan Street 600 Block alt]] and turn right, you can't miss it.
<<set $stetson to true>>
<<if $boss_visited == false>>
<<set $lyrics to $lyrics+1>>
<<set $boss_visited = true>>
<<else>>
You've learned all you can here.
<</if>>
<img src="images/fourcourts.jpg" class="center">
You pass by [[Targee St.]] and remember hearing something from a passerby about a murder that happened their as well. You decide to check it out before the trial begins.
You can't help but be impressed by the infamous [[Four Courts]] building dominates the block. If you had business with the law this was the building to come to. Technically there are only three courts the Criminal Court, Court of Criminal Correction and the Police Court. The city marshall and sheriff have offices on the first floor as does the prosecuting attorney. Police Headquarters are on the second floor. The Police Stables are on the Twelfth St. side where the 'hoodlum wagon' was kept. The Coroner's office is at the corner of 11th and Clark.
Hangings took place in the courtyard and could hold up to two hundred witnesses.
You know that Shelton's trial is today, so you go into the [[Four Courts]] building.
You forgot something and have to go back to [[11th & Morgan]]
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>You enter the massive building and realize that it would be very easy to get lost. You look an official looking guard directions to Judge Withrow's courtroom.
"Oh, you're here to see the Lee Shelton case aren't you?"
You confirm that you are and he directs you upstairs to the [[courtroom]].
At the bottom of the stairs you see a directory and you make note of the location of the [[jail]] and [[coroner]]'s office in case you want to visit them later.
You think you have the whole song. Check you [[song notebook].
Exit the building to [[Clark]] St.<<cacheaudio "mapleleaf" "music/MapleLeaf.mp3">>
<<cacheaudio "staggerlee" "music/StaggerLee.mp3">>
<<cacheaudio "deepmorgan" "music/DeepMorgan.mp3">>
<<cacheaudio "dandb" "music/Duncan and Brady.mp3">>
<<cacheaudio "camera" "music/camera.mp3">>
<<cacheaudio "bell" "music/bell.mp3">>
<<cacheaudio "saloon" "music/saloon.mp3">>
<<cacheaudio "barrel" "music/barrelorgan.mp3">>
<<cacheaudio "frankie" "music/Frankie & Johnny.mp3">>
<<set $boss_visited = false>>
<<set $piano_visited = false>>
<<set $morgan_visited = false>>
<<set $lid_visited = false>>
<<set $drink_visited = false>>
<<set $barber_visited = false>>
<<set $testimony_visited = false>>
<<set $lyrics to 0>>There are seven stops total for lyrics and tune. $lyrics/7
<progress @value="$lyrics" max="7"></progress>
<b>Stagger Lee</b>
<<if $bulldog is true and $stetson is true and $forty is true and $barroom is true and $begging is true and $testimony is true and $tune is true>> Scroll down an read the lyrics. Then click "You Win" at the bottom. <</if>>
<<if $bulldog isnot true and $stetson isnot true and $forty isnot true and $barroom isnot true and $begging isnot true and $testimony isnot true and $tune isnot true>>
You have not started your song writing adventure yet.
<</if>>
<<return "Close Notebook">>
<<if $tune is true>>
<img src="images/song.jpg">
<</if>><<if $bulldog is true>>
The night was clear
And the moon was yellow
And the leaves came tumbling down
I was standing on the corner
When I heard my bulldog bark
He was barkin' at the two men who were gamblin'
In the dark
It was Stagger Lee and Billy
<</if>><<if $stetson is true>>
Two men who gambled late
Stagger Lee threw seven
Billy swore that he threw eight
Stagger Lee told Billy,
I can't let you go with that
You have won all my money and my brand new Stetson hat
<</if>><<if $forty is true>>
Stagger Lee went home
And he got his forty-four
<</if>><<if $barroom is true >>
Said, I'm goin' to the barroom just to pay that
Debt I owe
Stagger Lee went to the barroom
And he stood across the barroom door
He said, nobody move and he pulled his
Forty-four, Ooh
<</if>><<if $begging is true>>
Stagger Lee, cried Billy
Oh, please don't take my life
I've got three little children and a very
Sickly wife
<</if>><<if $testimony is true>>
Stagger Lee shot Billy
Oh, he shot that poor boy so bad
'Till the bullet came through Billy and it broke the bar
Tender's glass
<</if>><<if $bulldog is true and $stetson is true and $forty is true and $barroom is true and $begging is true and $testimony is true and $tune is true>><<return [[You Win|winsong]]>>
<<else>>
<</if>>
<<return "Close Notebook">>
You are near the end of the red light district and it is dominated by the crowd around what you can only assume is Lee Shelton's establishment. You have to admire the man's hustle. He provided carriage service for the Deep Morgan neighborhood, was a political operative for the Republican party, and ran a rather successful lid club , or brothel.
<figure>
<img src="images/lidclub.jpg"/>
<figcaption>Shelton's lid club as it appears today.</figcaption>
</figure>
You notice that the door is ajar. You look around furtively and decide to enter the[[lid club]]
There is nothing further to see here so you head back to [[11th & Morgan]] .
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>
The building was dark, presumably shut down since Lee's legal troubles, but there is enough light from the yellow moon that you can tell that this is less of a bar and more of a home turned business.
It has been shut down since the shooting and a layer of dust has started to settle on the furnishings. You head upstairs to where according to the people you have talked to Lee had a room that he would occassionally sleep in.
There is a room at the end of the hall with the door ajar. You go in. It is barely furnished with a small bed and a chair. The bed is unmade and there is a holster hanging on the back of the chair. When a man messess with your hat you don't have time to worry about a holster.
You decide to write a few lines about the gun in your [[song notebook]].
[[12th & Morgan]]
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>
<<set $forty to true>>
<<if $lid_visited == false>>
<<set $lyrics to $lyrics+1>>
<<set $lid_visited = true>>
<<else>>
You've learned all you can here.
<</if>>The patrons outside were no false advertisement. The saloon was packed with people. Couples dancing to the ragtime piano, games of dice and cards played in every corner, shouts of joy, anger, and jealously competed to be heard.
You turn around immediately and [[head out|11th & Morgan]].
You head to the bar because if anyone can make sense of this chaos it is the bartender effeciantly pouring pints and shots to the outstretched hands of the men and women swarming.
<img src= "images/beer.jpg" width="278" height="341" >
"Hi," you shout to get his attention. He glances in your direction and indicates with raised bottles and tilt of his head that he has little time to talk.
"You better just wait your turn," says the aged and clearly drunk gentleman being supported by the bar rail. You can barely hear his ragged voice over the noise of the patrons.
"Well, I'm hear for stories not for drinks."
"If it's stories you want then you found your man, but you better by me a [[drink]]. I got stories."
"I shouldn't drink, but I would love to hear your stories" You decide to listen to the [[old man]].
This guy is clearly drunk, and you are starting to feel as if this may not be the safest place, so you [[head out|11th & Morgan]].
Before you leave you realize that it has been a while since you have gone to the [[bathroom]]. You ask the bartender and he points disgruntledly to a door in the corner.
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>
<<audio "saloon" play>>
Several men are sitting around drinking. You overhear bits of conversation that make it clear that if you were a Republican, then you weren't welcom there.
Tacked to the wall by the door was a letter by J.C. Covington, finanacial secretary of the Four Hundred Club, to the St. Louis Star Sayings dated December 29th, 1895.
"The Four Hundred Club was organized December 6, 1895, for the moral and physical culture of young colored men. We contemplate no acts of violence, and as law-abiding citizens and voters we stand ready and willing to protect the laws of our sity, State and the United States. Our order was organized with Mr. Will Richmond as president, Robert Lee as secretary and Mr. Lee [Lee Shelton] as captain."
Underneath this letter there was a notice of Lee's trial which was to begin tomorrow in the Four Courts building over on Clark Street.
There is not much else to learn here, but the story is definitely more complicated than you originally thought.
[[The Bucket of Blood]]
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>><img src= "images/jail.jpg">
Just in case you were curious, this is what the jails looked like.
Now that you have looke everywhere, you decide to finish your notes in your [[song notebook].
Go back to [[Four Courts]] When you enter the courtroom they are swearing in a witness.
"Mr. Jones, do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"
"I do"
The prosecutor stands takes a cursory look at his notes and asks, "Mr. Jones were you at the Bucket of Blood the night Lee Shelton killed William Lyons?"
"Objection"
"Sustained. Mr. Bishop we are here to determine the facts, not state them in the exmination of the witness".
"Thank you Judge Withrow," Governor Charles P. Johnson, Shelton's attorney, said. "May I also add 'when it is possible for sneaking detectives to pry around and obtain statements by fraud it is time for men to be careful.'"<i>from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch May 12th, 1897</i>
"We'll take that up later Mr. Johnson. Continue with the witness Mr. Bishop."
"Mr. Jones, were you at the Bucket of Blood Christmas night 1895."
"Yes sir."
"Can you please tell us what happpned?"
"Stagger Lee shot Billy
Oh, he shot that poor boy so bad
'Till the bullet came through Billy and it broke the bar
Tender's glass"
It is like the song is writing itself. You quickly take out your [[song notebook]] and write down the witnesses exact words.
You have heard all you need to hear so you head out of the courtroom to explore the rest of the [[Four Courts]] building.
<<set $testimony to true>>
<<if $testimony_visited == false>>
<<set $lyrics to $lyrics+1>>
<<set $testimony_visited = true>>
<<else>>
You've learned all you can here.
<</if>>
"You look a little lost," says the man behind the counter. "And if you don't mind me saying so, a little weary."
The journey up river was a little much maybe you should go head and turn in for the day. I'm sure that the hit song will be there tomorrow.
"You know, you are right. I am tired. I will take that [[room]] .
On the other hand, you feel like you are hot on the trail of something good. The early bird may get the worm, but if you never go to sleep, you'll beat even the early bird.
"No thanks, I'm on to a good story right now. I think I'm going to [[keep working|800 block]].
"If it is a story you are looking for," the inn keeper says, "then you should stop by the barbershop after hours once all the white people leave."
"Thanks."
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>You walk into a narrow room lined with benches for waiting customers on the left and a wall of mirrors to the right. In front of each mirror was an ornate brass and oak chair with leather upholstery. The counters were lined with tall bottles filled with colorful salves, lotions, and tinctures.
<img src= "images/barberchair.png"> <img src="images/Bitters.jpg" width="215" height="320">
"We're getting ready to close mister," one of the barbers said as he finishes with a last couple of snips on the only customer still there.
"I know. The inn keeper said that if I came here after hours I might hear some great stories. I'm a song writer and always looking for something interesting to write about."
"Fine with me," the barber said.
You take a seat on one of the wooden benches and start counting the octagonal tiles on the floor. As the final customer pays and walks out, a group of black men who had been loitering outside when you entered began to come in. The stream of men kept the bell at the top of the door jingling for quite some time.
They all look at you because it was obvious that you don't belong.
"Don't mind him," said the barber, "he fancies himself a song writer and wants to listen to our stories. Those stories started immediately with different men clamoring to be heard.
"Well the only story worth tellin' is Lee and Billy."
"Man I heard ol' Billy Lyon was beggin' for his life."
"Well he shouldn't have touched Lee's hat. Everyone knows you don't mess with a man's hat especially if that man is Stagger Lee."
"Man I heard it ain't had nothin' to do with that hat. It was politics man."
"You say everything is politics."
"Naw, hear me out. You know Stag was a Democrat."
"And Billy was a Republican, but what was he doin' in The Bucket of Blood. He knew that was the turf of Stag's 400 Club."
"He was tryin' to work a deal or something."
"Aw man you full of it. It was about that damn hat."
"I don't care what it was 'bout. All I know is that Billy was beggin' talkin' about him havin' kids and a sickly wife."
You aren't sure about the politics stuff, but that bit about Billy beggin' sounds good.
Write this in your [[song notebook]]
The conversation was still going strong when you decided to leave. A few of the men noticed the bell as the [[door|800 block]] opened, but most of them couldn't hear it over the sound of their own voices.
<<set $begging to true>>
<<if $barber_visited == false>>
<<set $lyrics to $lyrics+1>>
<<set $barber_visited = true>>
<<else>>
You've learned all you can here.
<</if>>
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>
<<audio "bell" play>>
<<audio "barrel" play>>
<img src="images/washington.png" class="center">
A man stands on the corner playing a barrel organ hoping to collect spare change from the passers by.
It is getting late. The moon rises yellowed by the smog wafting above the street, and an old bulldog is barking at you when you walk by.
<img src="images/bulldog.png" width= "370" height="263" style="float:left"> You are not exactly sure why, but this image really strikes you, so you decide to write it in your [[song notebook]] .
You have finally made it to Bill Curtis' Saloon at 11th and Morgan, [[The Bucket of Blood]]. It is a raucous establishment with all manner of people milling about. You were expecting a dive given the name, but this is a classy establishment, though you do notice that there are several ladies who might have also been employed at the brothel and a some quite indebriated gentlemen attempting to make their accquaintance. You decide to go in.
Across the street is a [[photographer|Photography]] The sudden burst of light from the flash powder can be seen through the windows accompanied by the distinctive explosion. It might be worth checking out to see if the owner of the establishment witnessed anything.
Morgan street continues to [[12th street|12th & Morgan]],so you decide to go check out Lee's establishment. The lights are a little dimmer and the sidewalks a little less jammed with patrons.
You ask a young man entering the Bucket of Blood how to get to [[Clark]] Street. Helpfully points out the way.
Now that you think about it you forgot something back in the [[800 block]] .
<<set $bulldog to true>>
<<if $morgan_visited == false>>
<<set $lyrics to $lyrics+1>>
<<set $morgan_visited = true>>
<<else>>
You've learned all you can here.
<</if>>
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>
<<audio "staggerlee" play>>
You are listening to the Lloyd Price version of Stagger Lee. It is by far the biggest selling of all of the various covers.
You can play again if you like.
Restart now?
<<link "Restart">><<run Engine.restart()>><</link>><<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>This is interesting, but it belongs in another song. For more information look up Duncan & Brady. You can start [[here|shootout]].
[[The car drives by|Morgan Street 600 Block]]The coffee is a little bitter and the rolls a little hard, but it is the conversation you are more interested in. Two ladies, most likely on a break from the establishment next door, were going on and on about a Mr. Stagger Lee.
"Oh, I thought about working up in his place up near 12th street, but I have heard some crazy stories. He is always gettin' into scuffles at Bill Curtis' place. Arguin' politics and what not especially when those gentlemen are meetin' at the 400 Club in the back room"
You decide to approach. "Excuse me ladies, but I couldn't help but overhear. I'm songwriter and your story sound fascinating."
"You a songwriter? Well then you might want to go talk to Edward, the piano player at the brothel next door."
"Thank you kindly ma'am"
You hurriedly finish your rolls by soaking them in the bitter brew in order to make them chewable, and rush out the [[door|Morgan Street 600 Block alt]] <style>
body {
background-image: url('images/deepmorgan.jpg');
}
</style>
<b>[[Directions]]</b>
[[START|Morgan Street 600 Block]]
"That melody is amazing," you say, "Do mind if I write down a few bars in my [[song notebook]]?"
"Go ahead," the piano player says. "I picked it up from a fella named <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Joplin">Scott Joplin</a>. He was playin' it over at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Turpin">Tom Turpin's</a> place. He called it a rag."
"Thanks." You walk [[out|Morgan Street 600 Block alt]] of the brothel with a little bounce in your step.
<<set $tune to true>>
<<if $piano_visited == false>>
<<set $lyrics to $lyrics+1>>
<<set $piano_visited = true>>
<<else>>
You've learned all you can here.
<</if>><<audio "dandb" play>>
You are listening to "Duncan and Brady" another crime ballad based on historical events in St. Louis. In this case it is about a shootout between the police and several men in the Deep Morgan neighborhood. During the melee, Officer Brady was shot by bartender Harrison Duncan.
Take a minute and enjoy the song and read the article from the Post-Dispatch below, then get back to the main story.
<html>
<head>
<title>Title of the document</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>A Fatal Fusilade</h1>
<iframe src="media/Shootout.pdf" width="100%" height="500px">
</iframe>
</body>
</html>
Go back to [[Morgan Street 600 Block]] Lee Shelton eventually died in the Missouri State Prison in Jefferson City where he was serving time for another crime. Below you will see copy of his death certificate states that he died of PHTHISIS PULMONALIS another name for tuberculosis.
<img src="images/deathcert.jpg" class="center">
Go back to [[Four Courts]] That was quite a relief. You had been so busy working on your song you hadn't gone since you arrived in St. Louis. You were happy to see that the bar stocked the new toilet paper popularized by Clarence and E. Irvin Scott.
Even though germ theory is relatively new, you wash your hands and go back to the [[bar|old man]]
<img src= "images/scotts.png">
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>
<<audio "deepmorgan" play>>
Stepping back out into the street the noise hits you almost as hard as the bitter cold of January.
One of the new [[electric police cars]] drives by looking quite unusual next to all of the horse drawn conveyances.
To your right is the [[Emporium]] with windows displaying a million millenary delights and stacks of Stetsons akilter. It was enough to make any hatter mad.
Music is spilling from the windows from what you assume is a [[brothel]]. A woman in a lace corset and petticoat is sitting in the second floor window sill smoking a cigarette.
A couple of well-fed gentleman walk out of a [[restaurant]] rubbing their rotund bellies that place on undue burden on the buttons of thier vests.
The wonders continue down the street to the limits of your vision. You keep walking to the [[down the street|800 block]].
You absently riffle the pages of your [[song notebook]] trying to decide where to go.
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>
<h1>PHOTOGRAPHY</H1>
<div class="fade-in">
<div class="row">
<div class="column">
<img src="images/woman.jfif" width="300" height="500"
align="top">
</div>
<div class="column">
<img src="images/burgess.jpg" width="300" height="500">
</div>
<div class="column">
<img src="images/sexton.jpg" width="300" height="500">
</div>
<div class="column">
<img src="images/tophat.png" width="300" height="500">
</div>
</div>
</div>
All of these photos are of actual St. Louisans in the late 1800s.
The photographer turns to you and asks, "Would you like to have a portrait done?"
"[[Yes]] I think I will."
"No, thank you." Exit to [[11th & Morgan]] .
<<audio ":playing" fadeoverto 2 0>>
<<audio "camera" play>>
You got your room for the night.
As the early beams of sunlight pull back the curtains you hear the intermittent high notes of a street musicion below. You go to the window and open it to the cold morning blast and hear a young man singing about the fantastic tale of a murder over a Stetson hat.
Someone has beaten you to it.
You have [[failed]].I understand, but you have more important things to do, and when it became clear that as a songwriter you had very little money, you were asked to [[leave |failed]]. You really should stay focused.
<figure>
<img src="images/bentonmural.png" class="center">
<center><figcaption>Thomas Hart Benton mural in the Missouri state capitol.</figcaption></center>
</figure>
This is yet another crime ballad inspired by events in St. Louis. You are listening to a version of <i>Frankie & Johnny</i> by Taj Mahal. It is not your main focus, but if you would like to learn more, keep reading.
"The song was inspired by one or more actual murders. One of these took place in an apartment building located at 212 Targee Street in St. Louis, Missouri, at 2:00 on the morning of October 15, 1899. Frankie Baker (1876 – 1952), a 22-year-old woman, shot her 17-year-old lover Allen (also known as "Albert") Britt in the abdomen. Britt had just returned from a cakewalk at a local dance hall, where he and another woman, Nelly Bly (also known as "Alice Pryor" and no relation to the pioneering reporter who adopted the pseudonym Nellie Bly), had won a prize in a slow-dancing contest. Britt died of his wounds four days later at the City Hospital. On trial, Baker claimed that Britt had attacked her with a knife and that she acted in self-defense; she was acquitted and died in a Portland, Oregon mental institution in 1952." (wikipedia)
In 1942 Frankie Baker returned to St. Louis to sue Republic pictures for defamation over the depiction in the 1936 film <i>Frankie and Johnny</i>. She lost her case.
<figure>
<img src="images/Frankie.png" class="center">
<center><figcaption>Frankie Baker</figcaption></center>
</figure>
Return to [[Clark]] St.
<<audio "frankie" play>>
<b>Introduction:</b> Dec. 25th, 1895 Lee "Stagger Lee" Shelton killed Bill Lyons. The story soon became a legend transmitted throughout the country in song. It was not the only murder ballad based on events in St. Louis, but it was by far the most famous. You will be taking a trip through St. Louis during the late 19th and early 20th century.
<b>Objective:</b> Collect all of the lyrics for the song <i>Stagger Lee</i> by Lloyd Price.
<b>Procedure:</b> Visit the locations in the story by clicking on the hyperlinks. Do not click the "back" button in your browser. You may have to scroll to the bottom of the page to find the link.
Exception - External Links - These will appear with an arrow next to them. In this case if you click back, then you will be returned to the narrative.
At certain points in the story you will be told to add items to your song notebook. When you do, the lyrics will appear.
Be careful because there are distractions do not let them deter you from your task. Choose one of those and you will have to start over.
<p><b>How to Win:</b> Collect all of the lyrics and the tune for the song. A new link will appear in your notebook taking you to the "WIN" screen.</p>
<b>Notes:</b> Have your volume turned up.
<b>[[Return |Splash]]</b>
You did not manage to complete the song. You are welcome to go back and begin your adventure again.
Restart now?
<<link "Restart">><<run Engine.restart()>><</link>><<set $barroom to true>>
<<if $drink_visited == false>>
<<set $lyrics to $lyrics+1>>
<<set $drink_visited = true>>
<<else>>
You've learned all you can here.
<</if>>
"Well I'm pretty interested in the story of Lee Shelton and Billy Lyons."
"You mean ol' Stag Lee. He was a baaaad man."
You recount what you know already, which isn't much. "I know they were fighting over a hat or something like that, and then Lee pulled his gun and Billy started begging."
"Well, I guess that's one version, and maybe the most interesting one. I heard that they were shooting dice. I heard that Billy pulled a knife. I heard the old Stag shot the devil himself. I've heard a lot of things, but I also know the truth."
"If I write a good enough song then the truth will be in what the people sing."
"That may be the case son, but I want you to know that it was more than gambling and a hat that cause old Stag to walk through that barroom door with his fourty-four."
"Please tell me you did that on purpose."
"Did what?"
"Write the next verse in my song. 'And he stood across the barroom door
He said, nobody move and he pulled his Forty-four'." You immediately take out your [[song notebook]] and write it down.
"Now that is a good line. I wish I could take credit, but it just came out that way. You see he wasn't armed when he came in. He went to his place over on 12th and Morgan and picked up in a room he had at his lid club."
"No, what I really wanted to tell you was this was all about politics. Next year they're going to have the Republican Convention here in St. Louis and some of the black folk are fed up. They plan on letting them Republicans know that they aren't doing enough to stop the racist attacks. Stag was one of them. The Democrats caught wind and started to court them. Billy was still beholden to the Republicans. This fight between Stag and Billy was more about politics than anything else. Well that and another murder that happened a few years back."
<figure><img src="images/repcon.jpg" class="center">
<figcap><small>1896 Republican Convention</small></figcap>
</figure>
You look at him like he is crazy.
"Don't believe me? Well, then you should head to the [[Backroom]] . They are holding a meeting of the 400 Club right now."
Before you check out the [[Backroom]] you should probably stop in the [[bathroom]] .
[[Backroom]] home of the 400 Club
Head back out to the [[street|11th & Morgan]]
"Before I'm through with you, don't forget about Lee's own lid club up on on 12th & Morgan"
Again, you don't have any money. You need to finish this song. Stop wasting your [[time|11th & Morgan]] .You wake up in an alley behind the Bucket of Blood covered in a melange of liquids. Your money, and more importantly your song notebook are gone. You will need to [[start over |failed]].