Meet me at St. Louis:
Sad story of Katharina "Kittie" Tatsch's marriage
Anglo-Boer War exhibition at the Fair.
Visit atthefair.homestead.com
to learn
more about the World's Fair in St. Louis, 1904.
John Backhouse and Kittie Tatsch. Wedding photo.
Kittie Tatsch was a maid and waitress at the Sentinel Hotel in Yosemite
Valley in the late 1890s and early 1900s. She gained celebrity status
when Julius Boysen photographed her in various poses on the
Overhanging Rock at the Glacier Point in Yosemite. These pictures sold
as postcards, and she proudly autographed them. In the summer of 1904,
she was about 34 years old. She found her mate at the World's Fair
in St. Louis, but the brief marriage ended in tragedy.
San Francisco Call, July 28, 1904, p. 7:
English Soldier Wins Bride at Exposition.
Veteran of the Boer War Will Wed a Young Woman From California
St. Louis, July 27.—According to an official bulletin issued
to-night by the World's Fair Press Bureau, the first wedding
among the British soldiers of the Boer war will be celebrated
next Tuesday morning, the principals being Private John Backhouse
of Vallies, England, who plays the part of lieutenant in a war exhibition,
and Miss Catherine Tatsch of Yosemite, Cal.
The ceremony will take place in the St. James Memorial Church.
The British troops will attend in a body. Major U. S. Stewart
will give away the bride and Captain John Dick will act as
best man. The bride will be attended by Miss Freida Dorn
of Eau Claire, Wis.
In the evening the party will attend a special performance
given in their honor by the management of the Palais du Costume,
on the Pike. The preformance will consist of a typical society
wedding performed by costume models at the Palais.
The announcement of the engagement comes one week after the
first meeting of the couple.
The Evening News, San Jose, August 3, 1904:
California Girl Becomes the Bride of Boer Soldier
St. Louis, Aug. 3. — The marriage of John Backhouse,
a Boer soldier and Katherine Tatsith[!] of California was
solemnized yesterday as St. James' Memorial church. Rev. Duckworth
performed the ceremony. The bridal party, which drove to the church
from the World's Fair grounds in Cape Colonly carts, loaned for
the purpose by the Boer War Company, included
Major W. L. Stewart, who gave the bride away; Freda Dorne
and Captain Dix, who attended the bride and groom, and Alice McKernan
[McKerhan?], 5 years old, who bore the ring. The ceremony was
witnessed by many friends of the bride and groom.
The party returned to the World's Fair grounds immediately
after the ceremony and partook of a wedding breakfast.
A reception was held throughout the day and in the evening
the wedding party attended a special performance at
the Palais du Costume. Mr. and Mrs. Backhouse will be the guests
of Mrs. Simpson, a friend, for a short time, and will then
live in camp at the Boer war colony.
One hundred days later, a grim news from St. Louis reached Kittie's friends:
Dallas Morning News, November 12, 1904, p. 3:
Trouble at the Fair.
Jefferson Guard Shoots Two Bystanders at a Scuffle
St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 11—One man is seriously,
perhaps fatally, wounded, and other has a painful wound in the side,
as the result of an attempt of Ernest Trias [Chriss!]
a Jefferson Guard, to stop a fight between two members
of the Boer War exhibition, at the World's Fair grounds
today. John Backhouse, an Englishman, and Philip Mars a Boer,
were watching a scuffle between two other members of
the company, when Trias[!] interfered.
The combatants, it is said, joined forces against
a common enemy and attacked the Jefferson guard, who drew
his revolver and fired two shots, wounding Backhouse,
and Mars. The men who started the disturbance were not injured.
San Francisco Call, November 13, 1904, p. 38:
Boer Veteran Killed at Fair.
Guard Who Claims He Was Assaulted by Ex-Soldier Fires Shot That Ends Life
Special Dispatch to the Call
St. Louis, Nov. 12.—
After passing through the deadly battles of the great
South African conflict, John Backhouse, a British veteran of the Boer war,
who on August 2 wedded Miss Catherine Papsch[!] of California, was shot
and killed at the World's Fair by Ernest Chriss, formerly a member of one
of the Boer armies during the Boer war and now a Jefferson Guard.
Backhouse was In the employ of the Boer War section. The shooting affray
occurred in the arena of the concession immediately after the
performance. Chriss says that while he was standing at the main gate
of the show it was reported to him that a fight was in progress inside.
He walked into the arena and found George Standevan and Daniel Devillers
engaged in a fistic conflict. Upon the appearance of the Jefferson Guard
the fight ended. Chriss says Backhouse seized him with the announced
determination of taking his revolver from him. The guard immediately
drew the weapon and shot his assailant through the groin.
A general encounter between Boers and Britons ensued. Many blows were
struck, and revolvers were drawn, but no more shots were fired.
Officials of the concession arrived upon the scene after the fatal shot
had been fired and succeeded in parting the combatants. Before this
had been done Chriss had been badly beaten about the face and shoulders
A few minutes after the shooting Backhouse was removed to the World's Fair
Emergency Hospital, where he died four hours later. Chriss was arrested.
The body of Backhouse was sent to the St. Louis Morgue.
John Backhouse was 33 years old and his home was in Leeds, England.
Ernest Chriss is 24 years old and a member of Company A of the
Jefferson Guards. He served under General F. A. Funston in the Philippines
during the Spanish-American war, and later went to South Africa
and fought with the Boers.
Chronicles of Early Ascents of Half Dome
