1885 (Year)

1885 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 1885th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 885th year of the 2nd millennium, the 85th year of the 19th century, and the 6th year of the 1880s decade. As of the start of 1885, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

Events of 1885
In 1885, a band of armed outlaws broke into Fort Lackman, a United States Department of Defense base near Lubbock, Texas. In addition to firearms, they kidnapped Doctor H. Edward Preston, a noted physicist famous for his work with flying machines. Doctor Preston’s disappearance began the largest manhunt in US Marshal history for his suspected kidnapper, Daniel Kendall “Cowboy Dan” Baumgartner, and his posse. Though Cowboy Dan was never found, the remains of Doctor Preston would be discovered in a remote mountain pass in rural Nevada, known as the North Truckee Pass, eight years later. Only one arrest was made in connection with this crime; Arn Erich Schultze, a previous member and deserter of the Cowboy Dan posse, served eight years of a twenty year sentence in a federal prison for conspiracy to commit murder, burglary, and assault of a federal officer, before being released on probation. Arn would be found dead less than a month later in his home in Little Jack, Texas.