How hard would it have been to come up with $80 in 1885 America?

Factual Questions
1

Just saw Back to the Future 3 for the 1000006 time. Wouldn’t it have been easier for Doc Brown to just pay Mad Dog the $80?
The Inflation Calculator says $80 in 1885 is like $1885.93 in 2009. But would a horse really cost the same as $1768.05? And a bottle of whiskey the equivalent of $117.87?

How hard would it have been to borrow $80 back then?

2

In all probability, Doc had more than enough money to pay Mad Dog, he chose not to pay him out of principle, and the fact that he didn’t make Mad Dog shoot his own horse.

3

Doesn’t Doc Brown actually say something along the lines of ‘Now I wish I’d just paid him off’ after he finds out about all that? I do remember he makes his defiant stance before Marty tells him what’s going to happen.

4

There is nothing in the movie that suggests that’s why he shot his horse.

But back to the OP before the Mods move this to CS. I’m in 1885. I need $80. How hard is it to get? Was that an insanely high amount to borrow from your cousin Clark?

5

Horse prices just like now, would probably vary widely.

Sub-$100 isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

You can definitely buy a horse for $1500 right now. Just like in 1885, more money will generally give you a better horse.

Getting a small cash loan was probably immensely harder in 1885 than it was now.

6

There is an old song that gives us a hint about prices:

I’ve got a ten dollar horse
And a forty dollar saddle,
I’m off to Montana
To punch Texas cattle
Come-a ti-yii yippi
Yippi-yo, yippi-yaa
Come-a ti-yii yippi yaa

A private soldier was paid $13/ mo and a day laborer might make a dollar a day for ten or twelve hours of sweat labor.

For anyone below the merchant-professional class $80 might well be hard to come up with on short notice.

7

well they had pawn brokers back then. I’m not familiar with part 3, did Doc have anything worth more than $80 as collateral? If so then I’m guessing he could have a got a loan from a pawn shop.

You could get a $1500 loan from a pawn shop today if you had say an expensive tv worth $3000 (not that I’d recommend it…)

8

in 1893 my great grandfather bought the ranch in California for $10.00 US Gold coin. That was 120 acres with a house and some buildings. So the $80 would have been more than than a small farm was going for.