Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1883-02-20

womankind who made the place thei
haunt. And such women as they were
bloated. dissipated and desperate--the
one who had the foulest tongue and the
most shameless mien was the favorite OF
all.
The railroad cut the town in half, and
on one side stood the dance hall kept by
"Rowdy Joe" Lowe now running sa-
loon in Denver, Col, and his mistress,
"Rowdy Kate" The other side was
called Hyde Park for some occult reason,
and in the center of
CLUSTER OF SALOONS
and dance halls, was one known as the
Alamo. and run by Perry Tuttle and
"his woman" Lyd Howell.
There were two grades Of society-if ii
might so be termed-in Newton then,
known as the "short" and "long horns.
The latter were the COW boys and the
former the gamblers, and deadly enmity
existed between them. The short horns
were notoriously the coolest in fight.
and in the spring Of II their ready re-
volvers had caused several Of the long
horns to be gathered to their fathers.
This stirred the whole COW boy commun-
ity and the most desperate Of them swore
to have revenge in driving out every man
who ever pulled card from faro box.
Others were in favor of letting them
stay, but all were of the opinion that the
cemetery was the proper place for them
to stay in.
THE SHORT HORNS
and gamblers Of high and low degree
congregated there every night to dance.
Near by was the then celebrated Gold
Room run by Doc. Thayer, a gambler.
now in business in Kansas City, kas..
and at certain hour its habitues were
wont to drop over to Tuttle's.
On the night Of July Is, 1871, a
frightful thing took place. 1t was IL
o'clock and the Alamo vas crowded. At
least 300 people were on the floor, about
80 of them women and the rest gamblers
and lockers on. Jack McClusky, faro
dealer who had sent two long horns to
their eternal home and was willing to
send plenty more the same way, was
master of ceremonies and leader OF as
wild baccanallian revel as Newton had
ever seen. Almost everyone was drunk
and the lamps shone down upon a sway
ing, shrieking, laughing, cursing, hui
mani,y. Every man had
SIX SHOOTER.
strapped to his hip and every woman
was decked in tawdy tinery. A dance
was Just over-a wild frantic can-can
that nigh, have been led by Mephisto-
pheles with burning brand, and Nc
Clusky and three or four boon compan-
ions staggering to seat aginst the wall.
An instant later the crash Of score
of pistols and the simultaneous splinter
ing of balls through the pine partition
was heard. McClusky sprang to his feet,
reeled to the center of the floor, leaving a
trail of blood behind and tearing at his
breast shrieked out:
Pull your guns boys! They've kill.
ed me ~
As the last word passed his lips, he
dropped dead in his tracks. Instantly
there was q scene of horrible confusion.
Women screamed and men yelled like
demons, fighting for the door with the
sole idea that they were penned
UP TO BIZ SLAUGHTERED.
This movement had been anticipated,
and outside in the shadow Of the build
ing, stood long line Of COW boys, each
holding cooked revolver. AS the first
rushed out dozen fired and he fell rid.
died with bullets and his brains spatter'
ed over the door jam.
Another and another followed to meet
the same fate. Inside was a hell on
earth. Men went mad with terror and
struck one another down. Women, all
cut and bloody were trampled on and the
babel of yells and curses, the wild pray
ers, the howls of pain, the darkness-ior
the lights were shattered out--combined
to form a picture that no words can
paint.
In less than twenty seconds eleven
dead men were piled across the thresh
old of the door, while the wounded were
leaving CORY trails throug h the tall buf'
falo grass.
| THE CARNAGE
thus far complete, the cowboys feared al
attack from the rear, and turned to re
treat. By this time large number o
the gamblers were outside and fired
scattering volley into their ranks. How
many cow boys were killed was neve
known, Next morning five were foun'
stiff and stark in the grass where the.
had fallen. Several still clenched cookies
reyolyers in their hands, and doubles
many bodies were removed by the surviv
ors.
The outside fight lasted but a momen
and then there was a sudden hush saw
for the cries of the desperately wound
ed men. From the time McClusky wa
killed to this climax was about thre
minutes. In all between % and 2
men were murdered. Such was the ia
nous Alamo massacre, an event whic
marked the pinnacle of lawlessness
Newton, which, ever afterward, main
.a;nad q steady decline. Outside {