, 1877-11-10
4 LOVELY REGION.
SENTIMENTAL STORIES OF LIFE IN THE
BLACK HILLS

time and a bit Of sentiment, till the NOR
ais Of our small town had at last become
as bad as those Of Chicago.
Thomas y Shoals, who has friends at
Green Bay, Wis, and who has been lu
Nevada himself for some years past, en-
tered cur town abou, tn days ago. lie
was a whiskey- drinking, trouble-maS
rough He brought several gambling de
vices with him to - wax our hardwork-
ina people out Of their dust, and he
hadn't been in camp more than two days
when most OF his bad points came out
AT the end Of five days he was ordered to
leave, bnt he boldly refused to obey the
| warning Thereupon. on the morning OF
the sixth day, he was waited upon by ten
revolvers, backed by ten men, and was
notified that fifteen minutes, City Hall
time, would be gwen him to set beyond
shooting distance He got. No one cared
what became of him or whittier he went,
and as he passed from sight no one eA-
pccted to see him again. According to
rule, we confiscated all his personal prop
erty except mule, and mule and man
went away together. Somewhere outside
of camp, Shoals fell in with some Texans
who were on the make, and as ugly as
himself, and the gang entered our camp,
armed to the teeth, two days after Shoals
left 1t.
The four lambs came III on gallop,
whooping and yelling, and as they halted
ON the public square Shoals sang oct 4:
"Trot out my goods, you white-livered
dust-disgers OF wen cut every d-throat
in camp"
That means us, you see. Some were
digging, some washing, and some under
ground, and while we were walking up to
the station, one Of the Texans PET IN:
Hurry up, now, for it all we kin do
to hold on to the triggers Of these
shooters -
And another yelled;
Somebody hold me, for I'm the worst
c.tamount this side of Mexico
Our old boss didn't like their style for
one He Was fitting a new handle to a
pick, and was at the doo- of shanty No. 3,
when they rode up. Reaching into the
house for his revolvers, he rose up and
walked out upon the gang just as the rest
Of US were making rush for orr shooters.
"There's the old devil - kill him,
yelled Shoals, and the four at once began
firing 1t was a case of the Lord being
on the side Of the upright and innocent.
They all had shot III before the old man
got ready for business. He put his first
bullet between one OF the Texans two
eyes, his second into anothers shoulder,
and by that time We We're all pegging
away How on earth fifty or sixty bullets
could be fired at close range and only
one man killed and another wounded, il
a,ccnundrm fer mathematicians. The
dead man fell in 2 heap, Shoals was dis
mounted, and the other two got out o!
camp under cover of the smoke, one oi
them cert"inl, 1T IN the shoulder. We
pursued them Oh foot for half mile
and the wounded one had hard work t.
keep his saddle. Mt miner had beer
hurt, brit nearly dozen of them haG
bullet holes through hats and clothing
and a camp kettle was struck no less than
four times.
After dinner the men gathered and
Shoals Was put on trial II had beer
necessary to bind him haEG and foot, and
when he was brought oct and laid on The
gra;s LIS fury rose to the highest pitch
He cursed everybody and every thirg, Gnd
uttered threats that made some If thu
men grow pale. When asked if he did
notknow the penalty attached to such con,
duct rs his, he ~ried ont
"Ill dare you IL harm one hair of my
head You are set Of towards "a pack
Of coyotes gang of white faced babies,
L WAS our busy day, and We couldn't
fool way any time. A aOosed rope vas
thrown over limb, the free end manned
and when lie noose had been passed over
the fellows head he vas asked if ne WANT.
ed to leave any Message for his riead..
81 want 70 tel you his, he Missed, as
his snaAish e es lro':e | from face to face
" If you hang ne my friends will dig the
hetrt out OF every one of the crowd -
J He might have gone o,f decently, and
perhaps added something origi;I;l to the
literature OF his last words. but he refus.
ed the chance His feet we're united and
he was hftedup. There wasn't minrte
between HIM and eternity, but yet he
kicked right and left like 4 twi1mule, and
was curslng God and man Wen pulled of
his feet. It's tough business this choking
a human being 10 death, bnt it takes care
OF them forever after This Shoals thought
no more of king man than some folks
would OF taking . chew CT aire-cut, AMI i
was (. bad day for him when he cane
.r'2nS the Buckeye.
! last a->rii = man r5 med Roberts, who
cane oat helc from Delaware. was cap.
ture', by the Indians near Geadwood.
When they he'd robbed him of everything
except shirt and pants, six If the seven
red skins we're IN favor OF turning him
loose ard letting him get back to the city.
The seventh savage protested against this
action, and when he lad to submit to the
majority he struck Roberts IN the mouth
with the head OF his topahawk, smashing
oIt several teeth and iIfllctlng other IN
Jlrles. Roberts took coed look at the
warrior, and as ne was turned loose VOW
ed 20 get even # he had to stay opt there
urtll Darwin turned back into a 5aboon
The mills of the Gods grind fer the
savage as well as for white men Roberts
and others have camp about two niles
above us. Indian beggars and loafers
come into all the camps almost daily, and
the otner day the old top-kaot who play
ed smash with the Delaware mans teeth
entered the camp and wanted to trade a
lot of fresh venison .or bar lead Roberts
identified him Ill an instant, and the veni-
sol ana the savage were "jerked' at once
and the same motion.
All the men in the camp knew how