The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-10-04
BLAIR AND MONK.
i Joaquin Miller. in Philadelphia Press.l

Now. we of the wes, and me southwes; had just as well accept this first as last, for it is a cold, clear fact. ind another kind of people Fere ai their homes from those who cas1s out 10 run for ofri1e, 70 pre- ach. to teach, and to steal, 10 do every thiGg generally, and orc thing particu- larly, steal, steal and steal. True, they have skinned and will 10 aoabt continue 10 skin each other, now aId then bu: these examples are only the black spots on very bright sun.
 But want 10 put it upon record, for the benefit of my own people far away tha; there is more real happiness 10 the square mile r.gh; here among these Yankees than any place l have seen this side of the Atlantic.
 Ah, ba. they were grasping lot among us ouI there in the far vest. remember wheu both the senators of Oregon were Yankee: The governor WAS d Yankee. the state officers and the county of! -ers were aiElos; 10 man Of the same breed of cattle. hard, cunning and keen, grasp ing and ungrate,ul. Even wher my newspaper was suppressed fo, denouncing the invading of the south, the n an who procured he order was Yankee. the of hoeT who serve4 II WAS q Yankee. and when ven, with my arm full of six by ten papers 10 the pos;-off1e the man who put h..s long nose through lhe windo.s arG ioIo.d E2e ;..e rnalis v $ Yankee SD fresh rom aofa: that ..e "ds a-.ua.iy scaly. ba; lt $ ia b= a1taaiec t.eY rc- manned taeEe, bu!, ap homes anu E-.oec to make me counIy, j1s' s.s these AeAS Beciogd ie.k bes .r ione n An1 h-.e done tere Yes, thst eere sntarie: thar @e. .Ane. shy: Hes.s! your asswei in .ae .a.Umersblc hea.nou:es aEa chur-Ees s5wn -y ard C.psn al. over ,his stony. sEos, 5ieAk aLl lrren fan<ee lanG
 ,r..a ..,y mn. reves,ias ;o Jhc west. carno: aeip ;,.tnk1ns 5 and telling yeu ot ;n,s man shom we named, @I:n N2p5.eon NeY, ",he eF4vss, q. me brare. And s.e was :. iankee from Name. No, exactly ,he p.ace for CA, iforI!an 70 turn for any sort of example of physical courage, am sure. But ns man. f we excep, Hank Monk, was wider known for his absoiu,e fearlessncs. and integrity Ill defending he property of others, or mole dearly loved by the brave men of the far west. than this Eugene Biair. of Maine, who has just died in Cl!- ifovn.a. His business was 10 ride with the treasure over inc Sierras and defend ii from robbers. The story of his many deeds of fearlessness would fill book Only think of his twice having skot and vanqc.shec all the robbers and then. picking up the dead and dying, ,umbling them into the stage and dashing on 10 get doctors and help for the de.peradoes Ne, he was young man, and, as saiC before, from Maine But he had churcoes and schoolhouses behind him. After all, educated courage is the kinG to have around.
 Long before Horace Greedy had m .de him famous Hank Monk was hero among the heroes of the Pacifi- coast. He was, perhaps, the first man 10 use ,he short double-oarreled shotgun, which Wells argos messengers made famous in their bloody battles with stage robbers. The facts are Hank MonE was such reckless dr.ver, that, while every one was proud of the honor of having once crossed the Sierras with him, no ,reasCre messenger was willing 10 make regular thing ot i'. For 1t was universally coa- ceced iha, II was only } question of time when Hank Monk and h,s now famous Tally-ho" sage, along with his six horses. would be ;umbied from the heights into one of the lnnumerab!e gorges that lay yawning under his narrow span oi road around the moun'ain peaks. And 50 the daring driver h .d 10 sit on his box alone, save when the member of congress or judge of his circuit, in order to show his valor and win votes, took rosseision cs the perilous post.
 II was the ingenuity of Monk that in- troduced the short doubie-barrel shot gun. But he did not carry i, under his cloak with cock lifted and finger on trigger. Nothing ofthat sort :: his hands were tco full of the ten or a dozen reins for that. He simply had the gun pointed down on the side of his leg, with the muzzle just peeping through the sole ef his heavy boots. And no one was per mitted to know of the presence of this arm at all. It was known that he carried his bowie knife down the back of his neck so as to be in easy reach when he rlshed back his broad ha, to ge, good look at his enemy but the nov famous sho; gun no one knew anything abou, no, not even after he had twice been a,- tackled and had thrice beaten of the
 
 robbers.
 am told that the first time he usea this weapon he stopped the stage and WAS slowly handing down the treasure box to the leader, when getting his leg in range, he emptied load ot bucksho, ia,o the robbers heart. A second shot into the crowd of surprised robbers, and he dashed away with all his desperate speed dowru the mountain And eveo the, no one lnew who fired the shots. The robbers believed it was all the work of the passengers inside the stage. A repe- tition of this same feat drew some sus- picion on Monk and his life was now ID great peril. Once he handed in a bill for a new hat, saying the one he had was so full of bullet holes that it wouldn't hold shucks." The amount of gold that this man carried out ot the mines mount cd far up into the mill .ons, and never q AnYfov sv.a al1 ks~ rr-