Pretty much the title. I'm plotting a story set in Indian Territory in 1894, with a Pinkerton agent as the protagonist, and need the closest office that would've existed at the time. So far, my own research has barely managed to turn up anything on locations. Just that the first office was in Chicago, and that there were 20 nationwide by 1906. Any help anyone can provide would be much appreciated.
Have you looked at any books about the Pinkertons yet? I'd imagine you'd need to read a couple, and if the researchers don't mention it, you can probably get away with making one up.
No, but I started running down the list of big cities in the era that were close, to see if I could stumble on anything, and an article on a famous Pinkerton revealed that the Denver office was active by at least 1891, so I'm leaning towards using it. The presence of a rail line from Denver to St. Louis and St. Louis to Tulsa is another point in its favor. Unless anyone else can find a closer office at the time, I think this thread is resolved.
Ever watch Deadwood on HBO? Great line in there where one of the not-so-law-abiding characters says something like, "I don't like the Pinkertons. They're muscle for the bosses, as if the bosses need any more muscle." Good show. Not likely to help you much, but there's some Pinkerton stuff in there.
No, though I do intend to get around to getting HBO someday. The Pinkertons' negative reputation was a big factor in my choosing one as a protagonist, and picking the date. Since they'd just come off the Homestead Strike fiasco and the act banning the federal government from hiring them, they couldn't afford to turn down an eccentric client offering strange jobs for vast sums of money (the story is for an anthology of Lovecraftian cosmic horror called "Corporate Cthulhu"; a corporation has to figure in some way, so I picked the Pinkertons).
Doesn't clive cussler have a series essentially set about then ... i think its the isaac bell novels (hes not a pinkerton per se - but his agency is essentially the Pinkertons in fictional form)