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never before witnessed on the coast and probably never after?a atta. To the cheers of a large throng, three fashionably dressed gentle-ide mules rode directly into the Sound, .the object being the determi->f the most seaworthy animal on the basis of greatest distance of ion into the Gulf. Leander, with a distance of three-fourths of a mile sd over Parnassus and a gray mule misnamed Walk-in-the-Water. ter new sport with a brighter future gathered crowds on October 3 Christian. The Pass Christian Yahaws played the Christian Brothers Young Athletes in the coast?s first baseball game to be reported in le Yahaws, who already had the game sewed up at 17 to 10, magnani-elinquished their turn at bat in the top of the fifth on account of d honors for the most number of runs (four) by a single player Henry Orr, son of the Radical Republican U.S. commissioner, olitical climate again turned nasty as the Republicans moved to ite their power in Mississippi. Proclamations against carrying con-:apons were ignored by both sides, and on the eve of the June both sides resorted to intimidation, threats, and harsh language. In isboro Democrat Mayers accused Benjamin Orr, then a candidate for legislature, of being a ?liar, a scoundrel and a thief.? The Republi-the election, and both Benjamin and his son Henry made numerous reats to kill Mayers.
s came to a head on July 8, 1868, when Mayers accompanied his sister-in-law to Pass Christian for the purpose of visiting friends, wing evening at 6 p.m., as he walked alone and unarmed back to wharf, he spied the Orrs lurking on the sidewalk some distance up . Forewarned of their intentions, Mayers entered Thomas Bond?s rowed a double-barreled shotgun, and resumed his stroll. As he s antagonists, Benjamin shouted, ?You have denounced me as a liar ef. ? Mayers replied, "I have and you have threatened my life.? Even >oke, the elder Orr drew his pistol. The editor leveled the shotgun
instantly. Mayers then turned the shotgun on Henry, who was* pulling his revolver. When the second barrel misfired, the vounge*' 'rr put a pistol ball in Mayers? left wrist and emptied the revolver without' .^rther effcct as the editor ran for cover.
A detachment of infantry surrounded the Harrison County Courthouse during the trial the following month. The verdict of the court was self-defense. When Mayers was re-arrested and retried by the military, the verdict remained the same. Mayers then resumed the publication of his newspaper without further harassment.
By May 1869 no one doubted the reality of the New Orleans, Mobile &. Chattanooga Railroad. Hundreds of men, both black and white, worked at grading the roadbed and constructing immense bridges across Pascagoula Bay, Biloxi Bay, Bay St. Louis, the Rigolets, and Chef Menteur Pass. The lumber mills of Handsboro and; those at the mouths of the Pearl and Pascagoula rushed to fill fat contracts for cross ties and bridge timbers.
A load of English rails arrived in Mobile in October, and on November 9 the track-laying commenced from Mobile westward. Soon thereafter crews began tracking from the foot of New Orleans? famed Canal Street eastward and at several points in between.
The 4th Military District ceased to exist in February 1870 with the restoration of Mississippi?s Congressional representation in Washington, and the deployment of the Ship Island garrison to other commands then ended the military occupation of the coast. On the heels of that evacuation the people of Harrison County indicted their carpetbagger sheriff and other officials on charges of extortion and malfeasance, ejecting them from office.
That Fourth of July the men of New Orleans? Mississippi Fire Company Number 2 arrived by steamer in Biloxi for their annual outing, hosted that year by the Blessey family. Mayor John L. Henley, in his last official act, welcomed the group and joined in the festivities. As the celebration grew spirited, someone suggested the display of an American flag. In due time one flapped between two trees, and the firemen?s brass band lined up to play the ?Star Spangled Banner.? The burst of patriotism ended one minute into the anthem as the unreconstructed coronets and trombones dropped into ?Dixie.?
Two weeks later New Orleans Volunteer Fire Company Number 14 journeyed to the Blesseys' in Biloxi for their outing and, following the celebration, boarded the Creole for j:he return trip. On the forward lower deck of the steamboat stood 30 black railway workers bound for another section of track. One by the name of Smith led the others in a serenade recounting the allegedly cowardly actions of the Confederate defenders of New Orleans during the recent unpleasantness. Other verses of the insulting ditty extolled the bravery and obvious superiority of black troops during the taking of that city.
An officer of the Creole descended to the lower deck, remonstrated with Smith, and suggested a less inflammatory ballad. As the officer returned to his post, Smith hurled a number of profane epithets describing that officer in particular and whites in general. In the midst of the tirade, one of the firemen went forward and inquired of Smith if members of his profession were included in the unflattering assessment.
Accounts differ as to exactly what happened next in this bloodiest race riot in coast history, but someone, not the fireman, struck Smith. In the ensuing melee, Smith practically severed the firema,n?s.left arm with a straight
Opposite page: Pizarrn K. Mayers (bottom, courtesy, Tommy Wix{ vas owner and editor of the Handsbot emocrat (top, courtesy, BPL), the only newspaper on the coast during Reconstruction. His editorial column expressed his aggressive and often abusive opinions of certain "carpetbagger" politicians. Mayers took the paper to Pascagoula in 1878, where it became the Pascagoula Chronicle Star.
Below: Eliza Jane Poitevent grew up in Hobolochitto, and, writing under the pseudonym "Pearl Rivers," submitted a number of poems to the prestigious New Orleans Daily Picayune. Eventually she married the owner of the paper and upon his death became the first woman to own and edit a major American newspaper. In 1884 she succeeded in having the name of her hometown changed to that of her paper?Picayune. HNOC
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