The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1882-11-04
THE ARIZONA COWBOYS.

wild Dance.-a Trial and an Execr-
tion-kiiiing Man Because He
Made Poor Shot.
Tombs tone Letter to Philadelphia Press.
Arizona is full of cowboys. Some Of
them are outlaws of the worst descrip-
ton. During the month of June lastthe
president of the United States issued g
proclamation, calling upon certain law
less persons in the Territory Of Arizona
to digperse and threatening to call the
military power Of the government into
reoaisition to aid the local authorities IN
the maintenance Of law and order. The
necessity for the issuance of such pro-
cIamation had its origin in the depreda-
tons of certain gang Of outlaws under
| the leadership Of the famous cowboy
| f.1niIiary known in the territory as Cur
| Iv Bill. but whose real ma ne was Will
| liam If. Broscion. These desperate
characters had taken up their abode IN
| The san Simon Valley, beautiful section
of country Ia the extreme southern part
. Of the Territory, in what is now por-
! ton Of Cociiise count. These despera-
! does built themselves houses and claimed
/ to be "ranchers" or cattle men. Al the
| northern end Of the San simon Faiey l.
| the mining town Of California olty,s
| r'ar- Of several hundred population. Ii
| contained three stores, a greater NUMBER
of saloons and some honest and respecta-
! bic citizens. The town, however, was
! o},en in the hands of the cowboys, aao
! w., t. tie "tender-fo0t term appl-
! ed to all new Corners in border towns
who happened in California City on such
| occasions.
| ;. was a common thing for eight or ten
Of these cut-throats to ride into Cailtor-
MIA city, enter Il salooo, present pistol
TO the barkeepers head and demand
| that the liquors be set out. AS the hery
! element warmed them up they would of
ten secure a violin or banjo and improvise
a regular "stag dance" Each fellow would
get q partner from among the crowd, the
| musician would start up the Arkansas
| Try eIer" or some other familiar time
and the leader would call out Forward
four" and the dance commenced. When
the fgure 'balance 10 your partners
| was reached, many a fellow would 'cnt
the pigeon wing" and his partner, MOI
to be outdone. WouId lnouige III so1te
| fantastic steps, which would do ered1i
TO the most famed clogged-dancer Oh
the minstrel boards. In the height Of
| this revelrv would begin fusilade from
revolyers. Bang! Bang! Bang and
above the din the leader would be heard
| calling out: turn out your partners;
| promenade ALL" The first figure being
finished every fellow would hegln to
look at the heels Of hls boot
10 see where the bullets went. The re
suit would disclose that large majority
had been hit about the heels with bull
let. This practice Of shooting at the
heels Of ones boots is common among
COW bows, and SO accurate are they Il;
their aim that an accident seldom occurs
Shooting the heels OF one anothers
| boots is common recreation with Them.
| On the occasion Of one OF these stag
dances cowboy who had recently
Joined the gang participated in THE fusi-
| idle On an examination IL the cl0Se OF
the fist figure one OF the members was
| found 10 be shot through the foot The
| The leader announced that All investiga-
ton would at once begin 20 ascertain the
| guilty party mock court was CON
Yened. Curly BilI' was selected for
Judge. Crone was made Sheriff. Tom
Harper was chosen clerk. The sheriff
arrested the new member as the guilty
party 4 prosecuting attorney was
chosen and the court assigned counsel
II defend the prisoner.
In a few moments the prosecuting at
and the court ordered the clerk TO read
il to the prisoner, who was commanded
to stand up. The clerk did as he WIS Or
3erca ana tits Was the document he
read:
We, the undersigned, grand jurors for
the county Of Cochise, III the terri
tory OF Arizona, DO find joe Pal mer
guilty Of felony in having wounded Abe
| Saunders in the foot in attempting to
u ~ S4.-s7 FS.4r-- IN
while said Saunders "cut the pigeon
wing" in figure next to the last, IN the
first set, ut the ''stag dance held In
California City, III said territory, on sat
urdav night, June 20. 1881.
The court. Guilty or not guilty?
Prisoner. Not guilty.
Court The trial will proceed. Sheriff,
cali the jury.
! All the formality of selecting jury,
the taking Of testimony and the cross
examination by counsel was gone through
with. No detail of an ordinary trial at
law was omitted. Finally the ease was
submitted TO the jury, who, after few
minutes consultation, announced that
they had agreed upon a verdict.
The Court. Gentleman, have you
agreed upon verdict
Foreman of the Jury. We have, your
Honor.
The Court. Clerk, read the verdict.
| The foreman of the jury hands the
clerk paper. Clerk reads:
We, the undersigned jurors, do find
the prisoner guilty, as charged.
Joe Palmer" said the Judge, STAND
up. Joe Palmer, the jury Of your peers
having found you guilty of a beinous
ohense, 1t becomes the duty OF this Court
to pronounce sentence upon you. Ion
have had a fair and impartial trial.
Able counsel defended you. There is
nothing left but for the Court to pro-
nounce sentence. The sentence of the
Court Is that you be taken to the San
Simon Valley and between daybreak
and sunrise be executed. Sheriff, take
charge of the prisoner"
The next morning the sentence was
carried into execution and Palmer was
shot. "Curiy Bill, in speaking Of this
afterward, remarked that no man was
worthy to associate with residents of san
Simon who could not shoot the heel of
Of q fellows boot while he danced.
The true inwardness of the killing of
Palmer TRANSFERRED afterwards to be this:
He had but a short time before joined
the gang and they became convinced
that he was 'stool pigeon" or in 9TH
er words, an iniormer. So they deter
mined to kill him. The method above
related was selected for their amuse-
ment. The few respectable and law
abiding people in the section of Arizona
where this occurred dare not open their
mouths or resist the desperadoes. So
terrorized was the country that TO have
done SO would have been certain death,
coupled with the stealing or destruction
OF whatever property they might pos
sess.