Dollar conversions...

$1.00 in ____ = $______ today

1854 = $19.45

1861 = $18.01

1863 = $16.21

1864 = $13.15

1865 = $10.35

1867 = $11.05

1868 = $11.43

1869 = $11.80

1870 = $12.15

1871 = $12.83

1872 = $13.51

1873 = $13.80

1874 = $14.10

1875 = $14.40

1876 = $14.74

1877 = $14.97

1878 = $15.19

Interest Rates...

1869 -- 24% long term, 72% short term

1880 -- 10% long term, 36% short term

Telegrams...

The Telegraph Act of 1860 established a limit of $3 per every ten words, although in smaller towns such as this one, the cost was significantly less.

Monetary Words...

bit -- 1/8 of a dollar (2 bits = $.25 cents)

eagle -- $10 gold piece

double eagle -- $20 gold piece (1849)

gold dollar -- first minted in 1850's

half dime -- 1800-1873

half dollar -- first minted in 1801

half eagle -- $5 gold piece (1795)

nickel -- first minted in 1859

State Bank Notes -- issued prior to 1861 and usually redeemable only at the issuing bank; became National Bank Notes to make paper money valuable nation-wide

quarter -- first minted in 1804

quarter eagle -- $2.50 gold piece (1796-1907)

silver dollar -- first minted 1798

slug -- $50 dollar gold piece (1851)

V-spots -- $5 bills

$300 -- Robbing a stagecoach (offered by the state of California and Wells Fargo)

$200 -- Robbing the US mail (offered by the Federal government)

$250 -- Cattle rustling (offered by the Wyoming Stock Growers Association)

A gold bar was stolen, Wells Fargo offered 25% of the value of the bar as a reward.

Rewards offered on well-known outlaws...

$10,000 in 1870 would be $121,527 today

$25,000 -- Jesse James

$15,000 -- Frank James

$15,000 -- The Younger Gang

$15,000 -- The Dalton Gang

$10,000 -- Sam Bass

$10,000 -- Sam and Belle Starr

$6,500 -- The Sundance Kid

$5,000 -- Butch Cassidy

$5,000 -- Billy the Kid

$5,000 -- Johnny Ringo

$1,000 -- Oliver Curtis Perry

$1,000 -- Black Bart

$500 -- Unknown stage coach robber

$300 -- Richard Perkins (highway robber)

$50,000 -- John Wilkes Booth

$25,000 Each -- Booth's accomplices

$1,000 -- Quantrill

Record - $100,000, for Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America

1870--Abilene, KS, Tom Smith, initially paid $150 per month, later raised to $225. 

1876--Wyatt Earp was paid $250/month in Dodge City, KS (considered a very high amount).

1878--Dodge City, Kansas marshal $100 per month, assistant marshal and policemen $75 per month

Salaries could be expected to vary by the size of the town, and the size of its problems.

Cost of hired guns...

Hired guns typically earned $100 to $150 per month though it could go as high as $250.

And the guns they used...

Pearl-handled matched set of Colt .45 Peacemakers with holsters $100

Classic Peacemaker -- $17.00 by mail order

cartridges -- $.50 cents/box

Robbery amounts attributed to the James-Younger gang...

Liberty, Missouri, $60,000
Lexington, Missouri, $2000
Richmond, Missouri, $4000 
Russellville, Kentucky, $12,000
Gallatin, Missouri, $500
Corydon, Iowa, $6000
Columbia, Kentucky, $600
Kansas City, Missouri, $978
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, $4000
Adair, Iowa, $2000-7000
Hot Spring, Arkansas, $4000 
Gads Hill, Missouri, $2000-$20,000 
Corinth, Missouri, $10,000
Muncie, Kansas, $30,000
Rocky Cut, Missouri, $15,000

1870's San Francisco restaurant prices:
Green turtle soup - 15 cents
Bouillon - 15 cents
Fried smelts - 25 cents
Fried cod - 25 cents
Porterhouse steak - 50 cents
Kidneys with wine sauce - 25 cents
Mallard ducks - 40 cents
Calf's liver - 25 cents
Boiled ham - 40 cents
Venison steak - 25 cents
Cold roast beef - 25 cents
Tea - 15 cents

1870:
Wheat per bushel - $1.02
Flour per barrel - $3.00
Corn per bushel - 40 cents
Molasses, gallon - 15 cents
Mess pork per barrel - $9
Mess beef per barrel - $8
Lard per pound - 6 cents
Butter per pound - 15 cents
Sugar per pound - 7 cents
Cheese per pound - 5 cents
Rice per pound - 5 cents

1872 Topeka, Kansas
Butter per pound - 15 cents
Eggs per dozen - 15 cents
Sugar per fourteen pounds - $1
Coffee per eight pounds - $1
Prunes per eighteen pounds - $1

Horses & gear...

Horse, average work horse -- $150

Horse, good saddle horse -- $200+

Wagon -- $65

Saddle -- $30, cowboy saddle -- $60

Harness -- $40 - $60

Buggy -- $65 - $85

Food...

oranges -- $.50/dozen

dried figs -- $.20/pound

dried apples -- $.10/pound

dried apricots -- $.15/pound

dried peaches -- $.12/pound

fresh peaches -- 3 for $.10

fresh apples -- 2 for $.05

sugar -- $.10/pound

flour -- $.04/pound

Miscellaneous...

Cigars -- $.05 -.10 each

Calico fabric -- $.07/yard

Men's suspenders -- $.25

Nails -- $.02/pound

Books -- hard cover average $.50

Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1,840 pages -- $12

New York Tribune Almanac -- $.25

German Student Lamp -- $5

Newspaper Subscription -- $3/year

Pump organs -- $99 to $340

Home and farm costs...

Land -- $5/acre (avg. 160 acres)

House -- 16'x22' (2 rooms) = $300

Shanty -- 8'x10' (1 room/dirt floor) = $25

Stable and well -- $150

Plows, cultivators, field equip. -- $325

Chairs -- $1.25 each

Bed, bureau and commode -- $15

Cookstove -- $25

Coal -- about $80 per year

Kerosene -- $.15/gallon

Land costs:

1870 - Land for development in Greeley, Colorado Territory $1 per acre

1870 - Farm land near Fort Scott, Kansas $12 to 20 per acre and unimproved lands within 12 miles $3 to 7 per acre

1873 - Nebraska improved farm lands $10 to 30 per acre; unimproved $4 to $10 per acre

1874 - Sutter County, California $20 to 80 per acre

Cattle prices...

heifer -- $18.75

cow -- $26

bull -- $75-105

3 year old steer -- $62

2 year old steer -- $22.50

yearlings -- $12.50

calves -- $2.50

Cowhands and cattledrives...

cost of a cattledrive $.01/mile per head of cattle

a cow worth $4 on the range would be worth $40 in Chicago

Cowboys -- $20 to $40 per month

Overseer -- $100 per month

Wages...

prostitute -- $200/month; $1-$5 per customer)

bank clerks -- $150/month

dance hall girls -- $.5-.25 cents/dance

other:

miner -- $20/week

common laborer -- $100/month

school teacher -- $30/month (small school)

steamboat pilot -- $600-$700/month

insurance company president -- $1000/month

reporters -- $20/week

printers -- $8/week

typesetters -- $4/week

printers devils -- $2.50/week

Prices from Montgomery Ward's 1872 catalog...

(Mongomery Ward's web site)

Gentleman's toilet set, including toothbrush, nail brush, razor, razor strop, lather brush, comb, hair brush -- $1.00

2 colored undershirts -- $1.25 (white -- $1.00)

2 colored drawers -- $1.25 (white -- $1.00)

3 New York Mills white shirts -- $2.50

6 pairs men's cotton socks -- $1.00

6 pairs Army wool socks -- $1.00

7 yards blue denim -- $1.00

3 yards plain cassimere [cashmere]-- $1.00

1 hoop skirt, 1 bustle, & 1 hair braid -- $1.00

1 ladies gold locket, plain -- $1.50 enameled -- $2.00

1 pair ladies earrings & pin set, imported -- $4.50

1 pair ladies solid gold ear drops -- $3.00

1 plain gold ring (all sizes) -- $2.00

1 silver plated hunting case watch -- $6.00

1 silk parasol -- $1.00

1 heavy plaid shawl -- $3.00

Marked cards $1.25 per pack
Specially marked/loaded dice, $5/set
Electric die, $2.50 each
Electric Dice Tables, $150

A Faro Dealer could make as much as $100 per week 

Most poker games had a $1-$2 limit.
Bets at a Faro were typically $.25-$1
Dice could be played for as little as $.05/throw
Ten-cent chips at the roulette wheel were common

Liquor prices:

From a wholesale liquor store at Dodge City [Kansas became a "dry" state in 1880--no legal manufacture or sale of liquor]

High Mucky Muck (a soft drink), Energy, Fire Fly, Orinoco, Ginger Ale -- $20 per cask
British Bass Ale and Irish Guinness Stout -- $20 per cask
American brewed beers such as Anhauser -- $2 per case
Jamaica Rum -- $5 per gallon
Port and Sherry -- between $1 to $5 per gallon
Western brandy -- $15 per case
Gin -- $1.50 per gallon
Whiskey -- $2-$3 per gallon

Saloon beer prices fluctuated but on average: 2 glasses for $.25 cents or 2 bits.