Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1877-12-20
Our Selected StO17/.
OUR FOOL" I"

IN Quad, In Der. il Free Press
Wien the Medina Party" rs we wer
called. were mining in Nevada. in 1859.
the redskins made it their business not
only TO hunt for scalps. but to find them
There we're twen!y-foIr of lis in the party.
and in August we We're in il camp called
"Old Tom Jones'" Tie digyings were
to insure the Indians warm reception
whenever they took notion to visit us.
A sentinel was posted during the day to
watch for the enemy. and at night we ali
retired under q shelving rock in the face OF
the cliff fifty feet high. This cave RS it might
be called, could only be approached by one
path, as we thought. and as there were
three dogs in camp, none of the miners
were asked 10 stand watch. Running par
allcl with this path TO Il point within thirty
feet OF the cave was Il g,ilc!l. down which
ran stream of water in the spring and
tall. 1t was dry at this time. and the bed
of gravel was Il foot thick. Anyone sneak
ing down this glllch could come within
thirty feet of the cave. but would he sepa-
rated from it by IA wall Of rock about twen-
ty feet high. This wall could easily be
scaled from the g,,lc',. ans! a party gainin.
the crest Of it coull look down into the
cave. :lmost-could at least s.:oot down all
who attempted TO leave it.
Sllcl, was tire general situation on the
9Th day OF August. when ''Our Fool mde
his appearance. lie was man about thir-
ty years of age. poorly dressed. even for
that country and lis face wore the silly
look OF born IDIOT. As he came into The
di.tei,iys he carried lis hat in his hand and
.-lii.ned Ike baboon over big stick OF
c;.iIy.
"WEo a!'' ye and what do ye want 2
uroNi"i "ng Office men, rs the stranger
t,l.ed befpre hllH
.Te-hc. i'e-ne laughed the fool In rs
silly way.
..Eoys. here's regular born fo"l =,
s'o,.tetl tie miner. and as the men gtt-
cred around. The fellow swung Lis hat by "A
string. and called out:
The COW jumped over the moon-:e-l.e. G.
te-le!''
1t was plain that he was Il fool. Where
he came from and how he had reached Us
no one could guess. but after a talk among
themselves. the miners decided to LET him
stay around until he got ready to 20.
| Our Fool was soon at home. He had
the appetite Of Il wolf. and we couldn't get
a stroke of work oat of him The very
first night Of his arrival. however. he arm
Ell himself with Il club and paced up and
down the path like asentinci, and we heard
him muttering:
Il see Injllns-they can't see me-"
He paced up and down all night long.
and next night he took the post agair,
without word being said. No one thought
him any protection to the camp. and vet
think we all felt a little safer in knowing
that some one was moving about and keep
ing the dogs active and vigilant. After
Our Fool had been in the camp week the
Indians became unusually numerous. The
day sentinel reported seeing them on tho
hills around us. and one night they certain
lv came close enough to our cave to give
the alarm to the dogs. Up to this tim.
Our Fool. AS everybody called him. had
slept most Of the da.. and had been very
quiet. Next day after the alarm he was
noticed on the ridge dividing the gulcll
from the path. and he was up there and in
the gl,lch SO much of the time during the
next three or four days that one of the men
remarked:
IL guess our fool has discovered rich
thing up there"
One morning it was discovered that our
| key OF powder was missing. We all had
-e-,ims and personal supply Of powder
=, Nur horns. but this twenty-five pound
ke. whicI, had been bought with company
funds to fall back Oh in case of necessity.
had been taken from the cave by some one.
and there WAS deep mystery about it,.
None of the men could be charged with
the theft. as no one wanted to leave. or
could carry it down the mountain and sell
it. The dogs couldn't take it, it couldn't
carry itself of. and the only thing lett was
to declare that Our Fool had stolen it. lie
WAS cutfed and shaken around. and some
Of the men wanted him whipped, but all he
could or would say was:
"Injuns coming-lnjuns blow way up
high"
We searched all around tor two hours,