The record
Left Open
Where the record runs out: the questions the post leaves standing, and those its own records raise.
What survives is a silhouette rather than a full portrait…
9 questions, left open: 2 the post leaves, 7 the records raise.
The post leaves this open · Open
Billings or Sheridan
Was the reference meant for the Ideal Hotel in Billings, or the one in Sheridan? At this point in her life, Angie was not yet documented as operating the Ideal in Sheridan, yet no record has surfaced placing her in control of the Billings Ideal either.
…the truth may never be fully known.
- What we know
- A 1951 Martinez News-Gazette item (plate 8) calls Angie "owner of the Ideal hotel" while her parents visited her in Billings. Sheridan's Ideal is documented with her from 1955 (plates 14, 15).
- What we don’t
- Which Ideal the 1951 item meant. No record places her in control of either hotel in 1951.
- What might answer it
- Billings and Sheridan city directories for 1950 to 1952; property and license records; hotel advertisements.
- Evidence needed
- A record naming her with the Billings Ideal, or with Sheridan's before 1955.
Evidence
- QualifiesPlate 8The clipping says "owner of the Ideal hotel" and no more.
The post leaves this open · Open
For Pearl Logan, or with her
It remains unclear whether she initially worked for the well-known madam Pearl Logan or operated in some form of partnership with her…
…as no definitive record has yet surfaced.
- What we know
- The post says she began in Sheridan in some relation to the madam Pearl Logan. The museum holds no record that names Pearl Logan.
- What we don’t
- Whether Angie worked for her or with her.
- What might answer it
- Sheridan license, tax and court records from 1953 on that name both women.
- Evidence needed
- Any record naming Pearl Logan with Angie or the Rex Hotel.
The records raise this · Open
Who told of serving papers at the hotel?
- What we know
- The post says "City Marshal Jack Wolfe described an attempt to serve legal papers at the hotel." The April 2, 1957 clipping (plate 21) gives that account to Sheriff Willard Marshall, and names Jack Wolfe as a local attorney speaking for the hotel. No record names a City Marshal Jack Wolfe.
- What we don’t
- Whether any other record of the April 1, 1957 meeting reads otherwise.
- What might answer it
- The council's own minutes of the April 1, 1957 meeting; the 1957 Sheridan city directory's listing for city marshal.
- Evidence needed
- The minutes. The clipping already points to an answer; closing it is the curator's call.
Evidence
- ContradictsPlate 21In the clipping the account is Sheriff Willard Marshall's ("Marshall told of an instance when he went to the hotel to serve a paper"); Jack Wolfe is a local attorney for the hotel.
The records raise this · Open
171 or 173 North Main
- What we know
- Plate 13's caption gives 171 North Main Street. The post's text, the 1957 incorporation notice (plate 18) and the 1958 revocation (plate 24) give 173.
- What we don’t
- Whether 171 is a slip, another number for the same building, or a second address.
- What might answer it
- Sanborn fire-insurance maps of Sheridan; city directories; county property records.
- Evidence needed
- A map or property record giving the building's number or numbers.
Evidence
- SupportsPlate 18The principal office: "173 North Main Street, Sheridan, Wyoming."
- SupportsPlate 24"The Ideal hotel, 173 North Main."
- ContradictsPlate 18The incorporation notice gives 173 North Main Street.
- ContradictsPlate 24The 1958 revocation gives 173 North Main.
The records raise this · Open
Dyer, Dryer or Dreyer
- What we know
- Jack Alexander's obituary (plate 37) spells her Donna Dreyer. The post's body calls her Donna Dyer, "a woman mentioned in John 'Jack' Alexander's obituary"; its thanks spells Donna Dryer.
- What we don’t
- Whether the thanks' Donna Dryer is the same person, and how she spells her name.
- What might answer it
- The author.
- Evidence needed
- The author's confirmation of the name and spelling.
Evidence
- QualifiesPlate 37The obituary spells her "Donna Dreyer."
- QualifiesPlate 37The obituary spells her "Donna Dreyer."
The records raise this · Open
Elko or Sheridan
- What we know
- The post dates the wedding to August 28, 1958 and says it is "strongly believed" to have been in Elko, Nevada. Jack Alexander's obituary (plate 37) says he married Angelina Calicura in 1958 at Sheridan, Wyoming.
- What we don’t
- Where they married. The museum holds no marriage record.
- What might answer it
- Marriage records for 1958 in Elko County, Nevada and Sheridan County, Wyoming.
- Evidence needed
- A marriage license or certificate.
Evidence
- ContradictsPlate 37The obituary: "he married Angelina Calicura in 1958 at Sheridan, Wyo."
The records raise this · Open
1960 or the mid 1960s
- What we know
- Jack Alexander's obituary (plate 37) says they moved to South Lake Tahoe in the winter of 1960. The post says the mid 1960s, and records her in Billings through 1965 (plate 29; the Billings Times, as cited). Her own South Lake Tahoe obituary (1986) calls her a 22-year resident: since about 1964.
- What we don’t
- When they moved, and whether they moved in stages.
- What might answer it
- South Lake Tahoe directories of the 1960s; El Dorado County property records; Sierra Pacific Power employment records for Jack Alexander.
- Evidence needed
- A dated record placing either of them in South Lake Tahoe before 1965.
Evidence
- ContradictsPlate 37The obituary: "They moved to South Lake Tahoe in the winter of 1960."
- SupportsAngelina Alexander, obituary, Tahoe Daily Tribune, January 2, 1987"A 22-year resident of South Lake Tahoe" at her death in December 1986: since about 1964, the post's mid 1960s rather than Jack Alexander's obituary's 1960.
The records raise this · Open
Tarantino's first, or last
- What we know
- The post puts Tarantino's in the 1970s, managed and then bought, before the Tahoe Inn and the Timber Cove. The obituary (plate 37) puts the purchase after she retired from managing the Tahoe Inn and Timber Cove. A 1972 press print (plate 31) has the couple in "their new restaurant," unnamed. Her Martinez obituary (1986) also puts Tarantino's last: Timber Cove was "the latter" of the dining rooms she managed, and "prior to her illness, she operated Angie's Tarentino's."
- What we don’t
- The order, and which restaurant the 1972 print means.
- What might answer it
- Business licenses and directories for South Lake Tahoe, 1970 to 1986; the obituary the post cites for Joe Tarantino's.
- Evidence needed
- A dated record of the Alexanders' purchase of Tarantino's.
Evidence
- ContradictsPlate 37The obituary orders it the other way: she managed the Timber Cove and Tahoe Inn restaurants, and when she retired from that, "the Alexanders bought Tarantino's Restaurant."
- QualifiesPlate 31A 1972 press print has the couple in "their new restaurant," unnamed: consistent with the post's 1970s.
- ContradictsAngelina Alexander, obituary, Martinez News-Gazette, December 30, 1986"Managed several dining establishments at South Lake Tahoe, the latter being Timber Cove restaurant. Prior to her illness, she operated Angie's Tarentino's": Tarantino's last, as Jack Alexander's obituary has it.
The records raise this · Open
Nephew, or a generation further
- What we know
- Plates 12 and 39's captions call Andrew Calicura Angie's nephew. Plates 1 and 2's captions call him her parents' great-grandson, which would make him her great-nephew.
- What we don’t
- Which is right.
- What might answer it
- The family.
- Evidence needed
- The family's word on how Andrew is related to Angie.