Title: Two-Gun Hart--brother of Al Capone
Creator: AP Wirephoto (from newspaper clipping)
Date: 1929
Photo of Richard J. "Two-Gun" Hart, the brother of Al Capone. He was a federal agent on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation.
content.statelib.wa.gov/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/whitman&CISOPTR=457&CISOBOX=1&REC=7*******
The Capone Crime Family's Coeur D'Alene White Sheep
by Joe Kamps
Al Capone, pimp, murderer, bootlegger and crime lord, had little use for federal lawmen, except maybe one: Richard "Two Gun" Hart. Like Al, Hart was physically powerful and nail-tough — filled with fearless daring, adventurous to the point of recklessness, and a crack shot with a revolver gripped in either hand. Hart was a man whose personality largely paralleled that of the scar-faced mafia kingpin. Many said he even looked somewhat like Big Al, which came as no surprise to either of them, as they shared something more than physical and character traits. Two Gun Hart, United States government prohibition agent, was Al Capone's eldest brother.
Richard Joseph Hart was born James Vincenzo Capone, near Naples, Italy, in 1892, the first of the seven Capone boys. His family emigrated from the old country, settling first in Toronto, Canada, then eventually in Brooklyn, NY. James, already displaying a restless nature (and possibly fear of someone he had knocked through a window while protecting little brother Al) left New York and his family at 16, joining a Midwest-bound carnival. In that part of the country, he became enthralled with Native American culture. He also acquired an affinity for firearms and soon mastered their use. It was said he could knock off bottle caps from 100 feet with a pistol in either hand. After wandering about the Midwest for a time, the eldest Capone took his marksmanship ability with him into the U.S. Army, where he was awarded a sharpshooter's medal. The only Capone brother to enlist, he served in France during World War I.
After completing his military service, Capone hopped a freight train to Homer, Nebraska, and changed his name to Richard Hart. In Homer, he saved a certain Kathleen Winch from a flash flood; apparently she was quite impressed, as the two married, with Kathleen initially unaware of her husband's tie to the infamous crime family.
While his brothers built their crime empire in Illinois, Hart was first employed as Homer town marshal, then hired on with the U.S. Indian Service as a prohibition agent in 1920, shortly after the Volstead Act made the sale of alcohol illegal throughout the U.S. He spent much of the following decade keeping order and "busting stills" around Native American reservations in such far-flung areas as North and South Dakota; Minnesota; Toppenish, Washington, Spokane, Washington and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. In each of those areas Hart enjoyed a reputation as a relentless and hard-nosed lawman.
In one incident, Spokane detective P. B. Anderson witnessed Hart grabbing an obviously intoxicated Native American by the shirt and asking him firmly "where he got the liquor from!" The intimidated soul immediately offered up a name. In another incident, Benewah County, Idaho, bootlegger Charles Stengar sued Hart for personal injuries presumably sustained during Stengar's arrest by Hart.
The federal officer was equally dogged while in pursuit of suspects. He chased his quarry through cities and woods, across rivers, through the snow; he used cars, horses, snowshoes, and skis to "get his man." Hart also was known to cold-thingy fleeing suspects with the butt of his revolver and brought one to heel by using his car to attempt to nudge the suspect's vehicle off a bridge. In at least one case, he shot and killed a man he mistook for a fleeing suspect.
Like his gang lord brother, Hart was a snappy dresser. Crisp and flashy with a Sam Browne belt across his chest and his pearl-handled revolvers strapped to his hips, he refused to look less than his best and his sharpest, often changing outfits three to four times a day.
Hart was meticulously honest, according to a number of his fellow law enforcement officials from that era, and his family. In a 2008 interview, Hart's 81-year old son, Harry Hart, said of his father: "Lots of rumors about dad. (That he) stole something here or there, moved to get around trouble, etc. Baloney. He was as honest as you could get. A real straight arrow all of his life. He never saw the inside of a church, but he had a strict code of ethics he completely lived by."
Two Gun Hart's reputation for honesty greatly assisted him late one snowy night in Tekoa, Washington, where Tekoa Chief of Police John Croy stopped him. Hart had some cross-links broken on his tire chains, which noisily struck his fenders, apparently aggravating Chief Croy to the point of pulling Hart over. Croy and another individual involved, L.L. Cummings, claimed Two Gun "reeked of alcohol." Croy arrested Two Gun and impounded the car. At the trial, the day policeman, A.M. Baker, testified that he had spoken with Hart within half an hour of his arrest and observed no evidence whatsoever of intoxication. The defendant also produced a string of character witnesses who all testified to his deserved reputation for sobriety. Case dismissed — with a written reprimand for the arresting officer.
In the 1920s, brother Al raked in millions from his brothels, gambling operations, and his best-producing cash cow, illegal liquor sales. To insure the continuous flow of his mammoth income stream, Capone directed the bribery, torture or murder of anyone who didn't "listen to reason." In the meantime, brother Richard worked selflessly and diligently to control his territory, personally arresting 20 murder suspects. In 1927, he was appointed as a personal bodyguard to President Calvin Coolidge while the chief executive vacationed in the Black Hills of Dakota. Some time afterwards, Hart and family headed for the Inland Empire
"Dad didn't talk much," said Harry Hart, "but I remember him telling us about living in Coeur d'Alene. I was probably only three or four so I don't remember anything about it. I know we did live in various places around the area."
For four to five years, the Hart family resided in, among other places, Coeur d'Alene and Plummer, Idaho; and Spokane, WA, with Two Gun always working to keep order on, and liquor off, Native American reservations. Despite his intrusion into the Native Americans' lives, he was well liked among most tribes, due to his tough-but-fair attitude and deep respect for their unique cultures. Hart always worked hard to learn the language of any tribe with which he interacted, becoming especially proficient in the Lakota and Omaha dialects.
Tribes generally were tolerant of his novel approach to law enforcement. A member of the Ogalala Tribe in South Dakota recounted how Two Gun lay in wait for bootleggers, hiding among a group of Ogalala children. He suddenly pounced on the bootleggers, startling the lawbreakers and the children. Afterwards the tribe affectionately nicknamed him "Soiko," which roughly translates into "big hairy boogie man."
During the summer of 1929, Hart was asked to organize a posse and bring in Coeur d'Alene tribe member Charles Cherrapin, a well-educated, prosperous wheat farmer who put four bullets in the back of his philandering wife. Hiding out in the hills surrounding the reservation, Cherrapin got word to the pursuing posse that he would probably "shoot to kill" anyone who tried to arrest him. As the posse closed in around him and Cherrapin learned that Hart was heading it up, he gave himself up peacefully.
Hart himself took at least one life while in Idaho; he was arrested for killing a murder suspect and was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing.
Richard Hart probably had the perfect job to satisfy his wanderlust, as he rarely spent long stretches of time in any one place. With the three officers assigned to him able to cover various territories, he could leave on short notice, often spending several days at a time tracking suspects or inside reservations on investigations, nowhere near a phone or telegraph. The December 22, 1928, Spokane Chronicle reported Richard's disappearance and probable death after he failed to report in after two days. In the article, an agency clerk pooh-poohed the newspaper's thought, claiming Hart could be gone as much as a week without reporting in. Of course, Hart eventually showed up.
Special Agent Hart worked out the Federal Building in Spokane for a time. He was involved in a number of arrests, including a young man suspected of car theft. Hart was alerted to the suspect's presence in town soon after the suspect tried to pass a bad check at the Davenport Hotel. In a separate incident, Hart arrested the manager of Spokane's Ritter's Drug Store at 2nd and Washington, alleging the manager sold denatured alcohol as an intoxicant.
Due to Special Agent Hart's successful law enforcement record in North Idaho and Spokane, he was assigned to enforce the law at the Toppenish Native American Reservation simultaneously with the Coeur d'Alene and Kootenai Reservations.
Not all of his time spent in the Inland Empire centered on work. As somewhat of a local celebrity, Agent Hart was asked to referee a headlining wrestling match at the American (later Post Street) Theater in downtown Spokane. He was also a gifted musician whose talents were displayed primarily to his family. According to his sons, Richard played the piano, squeezebox, trumpet, or "just about any other instrument he would pick up." At times he was able to combine business and pleasure, as evidenced by his attendance at various Native American Powwows during his posting in the Inland Empire. He policed a powwow near Cusick, a rodeo at Plummer, and led a kick-off parade for a Sandpoint Native American festival.
After leaving the Inland Empire in the early 1930s, Two-Gun was appointed a special agent of the Department of the Interior, working with Nebraska Indian tribes. While there, he crossed paths with the relatives of the man he had shot to death, mistaking him for a fleeing suspect. Three of them held him down while the fourth pummeled his face with brass knuckles, costing him an eye. Later, due to a terrible stroke of bad luck, a cataract formed on his good eye.
With Hart's vision significantly impaired, a sympathetic Homer, Nebraska, government official appointed him Justice of the Peace, a job with some prestige and a miserable salary. Pressed by financial concerns, Two Gun stowed his pride and asked the family Capone for assistance, which they readily provided on several occasions — probably not without a price, as Ralph Capone transferred title of some real estate to Hart while Ralph was being investigated for income tax evasion. As part of the investigation, Richard Hart was called by federal agents to testify regarding that transfer of deeds. Two Gun swore under oath the property was now his, and his real name was James Vincenzo Capone, full brother of Ralph and Al Capone.
After Hart divulged his actual identity from the witness stand, the news of his Capone family affiliation swept across the country and his carefully guarded 30-year-old secret was over. Some of his former associates, when faced with this revelation, smiled knowingly. A number of them had never bought into the dark-skinned Italian's ever-changing claim of Mexican or Native American ancestry. One J.K. Murray, a federal prosecutor based near Bismarck, North Dakota, recalled once accusing Hart of being "mixed up with the Capone mob" because of the similar features of Richard and Al. "That's once I guessed right."
Regardless of the ongoing Capone legal difficulties, Hart used the time surrounding the investigation to catch up with his family, including the syphilis-ridden kid-brother Al. Says Harry Hart: "Dad and I went back to Wisconsin to visit my uncles. Al was around, but I didn't speak to him much. He seemed ‘all there,' but his memory was hazy. Besides, Dad wanted me to keep my distance from him. I liked Ralph the best. He was quiet, too, but he was real good to me. I'd ride with him places, things like that."
Two Gun Hart remained permanently settled in Homer, often seen about town tapping a white cane. He died of a heart attack at age 60 on October 1, 1952, after an eventful life, part of which took place in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene.
Taken from:
www.spokanecda.com/article.php?type=history*******
When Jim Capone was a boy, he ran away to join the circus. He traveled about the country and throughout Central America before arriving in Homer, Nebraska. For some unknown reason, he thought that Homer was a great place to live. So, he stayed in Homer and changed his name to Richard Joseph Hart. One reference claims that he chose Hart in reference to his cowboy film hero, William S. Hart. A flash flood struck the town and “Hart” rescued a man and his daughter. He then married the daughter. One source claims he served in World War I while another says that he “invented a war record and became the head of the local American Legion. He became known as “two gun Hart” because he wore guns on each hip, like a cowboy, and was said to be able to hit a bottle cap with a single shot from 100 feet with either hand. He became the town’s marshal and then the sheriff.
I gotta tell ya, the history on this guy is not consistent. What seems to be true is that he became a Federal Prohibition agent and busted a bunch of stills and gained a reputation for being a tough guy. He joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a Prohibition Agent and was said to be quite rough. One story is that he killed an Indian in a barroom brawl in a saloon in Sioux City, Iowa. He was acquitted of any charges after the jury found out the dead guy was a bootlegger. He was re-appointed Homer’s town Marshal but was fired after he was accused of a petty burglary while on night patrol. Broke, he appealed to his family for money and his brother Ralph began sending him a monthly check. It was only then in 1940 that he told his wife that his brother was Al Capone.
As I said, the history written on James Vincenzo Capone is very inconsistent. Nevertheless, there is one truth out there that is quite ironic: Al Capone broke Prohibition Laws and Jim Capone served to uphold Prohibition Laws and the law breaker is the famous one while the law enforcer remains largely forgotten.
Taken from:
symonsez.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/two-gun-hart-and-rain-is-on-the-way/*******
The first "Two-Gun Hart"Two-Gun William S. Hart Selling War Bonds in Los Angeles during World War I - circa 1918
Plenty Coups (Crow) and Two-Gun Bill Hart - no date
Birth Name: William Surrey Hart
Date of Birth: 6 December 1864, Newburgh, New York
Spouse: Winifred Westover (married 1921 - divorced 1927)
Child: William S. Hart, Jr. (1922–2004)
Date of Death: 23 June 1946, Newhall, California
Nicknames: "Two-Gun Bill"; "Two-Gun Hart"; "Two-Gun Bill Hart"
WHEN WILLIAM S. HART BEGAN HIS FILM CAREER in 1914, he initiated a fresh approach to Westerns that continues to influence the genre today. Although Western motion pictures were already very popular, for the most part they were exercises in mediocrity, filled with "impossibilities or libels on the West," according to Hart in his 1929 autobiography, My Life East and West. But in the course of appearing in or producing more than 60 movies over an eleven-year span, William S. Hart created a film style that revealed a more authentic vision of the Old West. At the same time, he made a major contribution to film history by developing and embodying the prototype of the frontier hero. Fame, artistic recognition, and wealth were Hart's rewards.
A CHILDHOOD IN THE WEST
William Surrey Hart was born in Newburgh, New York, probably in 1864. During his boyhood, his family traveled extensively in the Midwest as his father searched unsuccessfully for the ideal site to build a gristmill and make a permanent home for his family. Young Bill was raised in a pioneer atmosphere; he had contact with Indians, ranchers, and cowboys and learned Indian sign language and a little of the Sioux language from his playmates. He gained a respect for Indians and their cultures that he never lost.
HART'S FIRST CAREER
The Hart family returned to New York while Bill was in his early teens, and it was there that he developed an interest in the stage. By 1900 he had appeared in productions from New York to San Francisco to Montreal. He received critical acclaim for his own production of The Man in the Iron Mask and his creation of the role of Messala in Ben Hur. Hart's first Western role was also in a stage production: in 1905, he was cast as "Cash" Hawkins in The Squaw Man. His subsequent stage roles were primarily Western and included the lead in an enormously successful production to The Virginian.
TWO GUN BILL
While touring with the company of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine in 1914, Hart decided to move to California to make Western films. In his autobiography, he wrote, "I was an actor and I know the West . . . . I had to bend every endeavor to get a chance to make Western motion pictures." Hart obtained parts in several Westerns and collaborated in writing screenplays, and his film career was launched. As a filmmaker, Hart drew on his childhood experiences, insisting on using realistic costumes, locales, and situation. The public loved "Two Gun Bill" and his movies, and he obliged the fans with one success after another. He became one of Hollywood's top actors and most successful directors.
LA LOMA DE LOS VIENTOS
Some of Hart's Westerns were shot on and around a ranch in Newhall, California. In 1925, after completing Tumbleweeds, his final film and one of his finest, Hart purchased the Newhall property. He commissioned Los Angeles architect Arthur Kelly to design a magnificent Spanish colonial style mansion, which Hart christened La Loma de los Vientos (Hill of the Winds) and occupied in 1927. Hart filled his home with treasure reflecting his interest in the West, including Navajo textiles, Indian costumes, guns and weapons, and Western paintings and sculptures. In his retirement, he became active in the operation of his ranch and deeply involved in Santa Clarita Valley community affairs.
He wrote more than a dozen novels and short stories as well as his fascinating autobiography, My Life East and West.
Hart's reputation as a Western figure put him in contact with other prominent personalities of the day. Western enthusiasts, such as Will Rogers and Wyatt Earp, and important artists, including Charles M. Russell, C. C. Crisadoro, and James Montgomery Flagg, visited the ranch or corresponded with Hart.
THE HART LEGACY
True to the spirit of Western heroes he had portrayed on screen, Hart was humbly grateful to the fans who had supported his film career. "While I was making pictures, the people gave me their nickels, dimes, and quarters. When I am gone, I want them to have my home." When he died in 1946, he left the bulk of his estate to the County of Los Angeles, stipulating that his house and the ranch property were to be used as a museum and public park. Today, the Parks and Recreation Department of Los Angeles County operates and maintains William S. Hart Park, which includes hiking and nature trails, a large picnic area, a campground, an exhibit of farm machinery, an assortment of live animals including a herd of bison, and approximately 110 acres set aside as a wilderness area.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angles County is responsible for the interpretation of the historical portion of Hart's bequest, which includes his home and its contents and several other buildings. The Friends of Hart Park and Museum, an active group of local citizens, provides volunteer support services.
La Loma de los Vientos stands today not only as a tribute to William S. Hart but as a valuable and edifying museum. Hart's personal effects and movie paraphernalia are displayed in his home along with Indian artifacts and Western American art that he amassed. These materials form a major resource for understanding the American West as it was perceived in the early part of the century.
Taken from:
www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/ap1411.htm
