The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1882-10-28
COWBOY DUEL.
An Account OF One OF tho Most
H0markable Fights on
Record.

John Kelly. one Of the participants
In the famous ''cDw('Oy duel" arriv-
ed here yesterday. He Is remark
able man. Born II. Butli,lO about
thirty years ago, he came West ut an
early age. and l,ssame pretty we'll
known ~ kid Frank" After lead
ing an adventurous life he married a
well-tl,-(lO Mexican woman, and Ivy
her secured = fine ranch forty milk
square In old Mexico. on the san
PeslrO River, close IL the line. II"
l,acan,e known iar and wide by his
skill In shooting, and was generally
avoided by men desir"us OF killing
one for the sake O6 notUriety. His
herd grew rapidly, until aln'ut four
months ago. when he found his brand
on 300 head Of cattle. w"rt!, nearly
1lNO, mn. lie determined to sell ::..:TA'
head, and gathering ny ,:ts' head
more, he started to drive tO Denver.
q distance Of nearly l,;IW miles. His
outfit consisted " thir: y-tw" cow
boys, aud Frank t.Ok command "
the * petition. The trip WAS long
and severe Que. Lui hy using great
carr the Losses were small. The party
MAY I'D, and made a slow Iiarrl,
scrtns the burning plains and trick
less wastes Of Arizona and New
MexicO. until September 81, found
them fifty miles north NJ Trinidad.
and an equal distance east Of ('ucIsar-
~. The Kelly outfit went int" camp
for q day near the camp II George
Howard, a large cattle grower. The
latter had herd Of ;,annD cattle, and
commanded twenty-right cowboys.
The two herds lxcallle mixed up
while travelling close Together. and
How ,rd made claim f'r cattle.
which Kelly considered unjust. ami
refused Il. This angeresi Howard.
aud words followed. Kelly claimed
Howard had some Of his cattle. anil
Offered to exchange: but the latter
refused, anil the quarrel became very
DANGEROUS. The cOwlUys "n each
side gathered around, and l~xam I"
handle their weapons In = manner
which indicated that they meant
business.
Kelly saw the danger. He knew
n 4 fixht should occur l'etween such
deadly n,arksn,em, there would hard
" he man left tn tell the tale; and,
In addition to the llAss Of human life,
the hu. herbs Of cattle wesllsj IN.
scattered. and all hands ruined.
Just n the cloud VI war was alm'ut lO
burst. he conceived = plan Ia avoid
l,loo<lsl,s<l, and brGacl,tsl It t. How
arl, WIN agrce,l tO II. The plan WAS
~ follows: Each WAS I" select FIX
cOwLOyx, the lwst shots In their out
ITS, anil placing them IN line. nifty
! yarsls distant an ln'rss.l''.s'k. 1" Civ"
! the word Fire" AMI let them settle
the dispute. This novel method ~!
settling u difference was hailed with
| delight l.y the ,rm "M each side. AMI
! volunteers were ul,Ii..rU,i>. Kelly
! s1.l.,.t.1l six ,n.u WHO i.:,.l been Wit.
him a long time, and i'ccn tried AMI
prov.~l IN many II desperate situation.
: Howard sela..tesl six III his best men.
i There wa. 10 time lost IN pref airing
; for the duel. wl.irl wa, I" IT, tL'
greatest affair vi tl" kind ever
! known. THE m,.n ~ thu. "pi"~ir.
sid. = retired IL their camp, and 'r"'y
made rrr,nsr.atinlls fer the feast -!
death. They GRAINED their h''>.'s.
: oil<1l aud cleaned their rcvoIvcIs. AMI
! putting their saddles ~ with care:
rude out IL the tight. Kid Frank =
r,cm wcrr armed with Winchester
. reyolvcrs. ~ and ~ Cslil'cr, long 'ar-
! relied. and unwari's six r:I:i.sICc :
improye<l. E:,cl, man knew his wc;s'
non and his horse, and all were fully
aware VI the fact that the men ~'A'"l-
ing 50 gri,nly III front :" then: wei"
tx,,lally well Z ,ilipyt,l.
The opposing duc:l'>:s were drawn
nm IN line. facing c;rh other ri three
Oi.kn.k in the Afternoon. tn: ,*t!
was one whicl, lew men have booked
upon. Fifty yards apart >''""' ''kt
statues two lines ut hen, t"r-'' anu
rider almost one. every duclle'.t grasp
ing u huge. g'iucvin. revolver ~
each hand, witt, the rrin~ III hs'
teeth. ar hanging l"c:ly. f"i these
,lnre. devil riders 0i thu south Gu''ie
their horses with their knees. as thu
scarcely more savage Indian d's>
Around about, cAreltssly in the range
Ut stray bullets, war" the ffit"t> i"
both ,s.rticx. I,,un,+st on Ill. IL horses
wa. ching the fight and t" 81" 'l'ai :"
advantage should IT, token. Al
either side was the ril;"i. VIII" hi'
scnt these men Oit H. dic. Over a:
brs,Otlssl u .icMthiike silence. while ~
the swelling. rolling, siicm, r:ai'
*l,one the gold OF the bright >''ltc'''
ier SUI. The nlau VIII" VA. detailed
IT, give the word which was destined
u cre,ate u whirlwin.i"; deaf >tart''
forward. ut the first move there wa
| u silver Of life along both lines. tn
il was not sl,iver III fear. t.ari. n'ai
.trxixl,tene.l himself, %r'sl"-s his P':'
tol. the tif,,;cr. AMI singled out ~
opponent. The umpire lifted III!
hand, and suddenly "n ~" stu III
came the cry II .ltr'il'. Fire: -
the word twelve h":-c> l"..n.i.'l ter
war,l, and twelve pistol >h";> r::':'
out. THREE. ri Howard me" TUE y
up their hands. AMI fell from 'I.r'
horses. while. only "nr"l ke''H> mel
fell. kelIy'> n"n, not needing ti;t'
comrades death. sped straight tow
ar.l the three, :,,.n in front ri them
The latter dropped their pistols u
their bride hands AMI P"slt" ih"'
horses up, while their tive cs'c'n'r
came riding swiftly on. pouring