Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, D.T. [N.D.]) 1875-1878, 1876-12-27

Lincoln Again Raid the Town 10
AyengeJthe DeaSh ef a Murdered
COmrade, hat Law and Order
now prevails and NO Harm done
-.The Murdered Soldier.-Sheriff
Mckenzie. n &..af
In 1879 Bsm arck was one. of the most
lawless towns on the face OF the earta.
Gamblers, thieves, cut-throats and pros:
titutes had aockea here in advance ;ret
the building of. the railroad aad bad
taken possession. There was no county
or town organization, no law and little
dispositi@n to enforce or respect law
after the town was placed under its pro
tection., Men were shot down on the
streets xsv robbed in the law doggeries
aud geRerally no arrests were made
aud oossv victiens rarely had. Dave Null.
len prsbaby never missed seening
good opportunity to shoot OF rob q SOL!
der. Jack o. Neil was little if any bet
Ger. Others were equally bad and equal
iy desperate. After the 3rganrzation
OF the County some Of the leading peace
officers seeaed TO be ia ooalusion with
the worst.elements ot society.
Not a aIfew outrages, uaprovoked, on.
soldiers had occurred and the peepetra-'. :.
tors of these outrages were untaolestedl
by che civil authorities. "A soldier was
| shst at stase Point by SPotty " ha en- ).
| Whalen was not arrested by the civil
! auth orities, and the soldsers.at Lincoln
. determined to take the Jaw lnto their
. own hands and see If they .coald not
punish .ttae murderer of their seotnrade.
1 a squad of them came to Bismarck in
searched Whalen. They visited the es-
tsblishment Of Mullen.& D,Neal in their
! search. Mullen came to the door and
&ring into the squad killed one of the
/ party. His shot was answered by a
4 vslley ,aad Mullen lay dead at sheir feet.
Several shots from needle guns had en-
l,tsred bis brain. -.-. .4..-.-.,. 4, /
I The soldiers returned to their quar- :
tiers one man. short, but they haG.kllied
| the .woset ruffian ia Bisa arck and crea'
tod condemnation among the 'roughs.
1 At this time the TRIBEIE was calling
4 fer Reorganization of a vigilance com
raittce. tthough it was as much tke edi-
tors life was worth to oppose this ele
! .naant. ="
4 The result was that most ofthe rsughs
1 left town; changes were pade IN the
\ peace. officers and law and @rdassEt tegail-
I'd. Since then, though Bismarck has
! borne the name earned .foa it in its law
/ less days, the town has beeu one OF the
4 most orderly in the west. Offenders
have been punished promptly and severe
ly. Recently some new eomers, roughs,
! seem to have been trying TO restore the
days of 1878. &c., s .........,.
Last week soldier was shot by a
gambkar without provocatlon; Monday:
evening" Peter Brannigan, the keeper OF
house Of i'll fame, provoked a quarrel
with soldier and Killed him. la both
Of these instances the would be murder
ecs were arrested and will he dealt with
according tolaw. I ~ #
The comrades Of the murdered soldier,
remembering the. days of 1878, came
over in force FROM Lincoln Monday nighI
to avenge the death OF poor Massingale.
The sheriff being warned Of their com-
ing was prepared to meet them. They
catne at midnight, about forty strong,
armed with needle guns and determined
to do something desperate = ~
A posse had been organized by the
sheriff; Capt. Howe Of Camp Hancock,
had placed detachment under charge
OF Lieut.. Chubb with instructions to aid
the sheriff, and Capt. Sanger, to whose
company the murdered soldier belonged,
being in the city, he was called upon
aud met the excited soldiers as they
came into town, and did much toward
qu,eting them. They were informed
that the murderer was in Jail and would
be punished; they were reminded OF tne
position they were in and Of the punish
ment, civil and military, liable to follow |
and they finally determined to return to
their post without carrying out their
designs. s,@
Every man in town engaged in any
kind Of business has an interest in see
ing this lawlessness checked and all ex.
cept the lawless realize it. The soldiers
have no occasion to undertake tho pun
ishment of our offenders. The days Of
1873 have passed and Bismarck is to-day
noted for the severity Of the punishment
meted out to it's criminals as in 1873 i,
was noted for its lawlessness.
Nasslngale, the murdered soldier, be |
.onged to Capt, Sanger's company Of the
l7.h Infantry, which had but few days
Sago returned from the Yellowstone. He
vas one Of the best soldiers in the com.
pany. quiet and inoffensive. No man
could quarrel with him unless they were
wholly to blame. He never provoked q