Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1884-03-07
,JERE DUNN.
His Graphic Recital of the Death
Struggle with EllIot-The Story of
the Fight Told for the First Time by
Ono of tho Participants.
Cincinnati ENQUIRER

Cincinnati Enquirer.
One cold night about three months
ago Jere Dunn told me the story of
his killing of Jimmy Elliot, detailing
the terrible incidents in a most graph
ic manner. The next day l said to
him Il wish you would let me tell
that story just as you told 1t to me.
1t would make very interesting read
| ing for the boys who knew you
both" He replied; Let me think
over the matter a week or two. Ny
complete story of the affair has never
been published, and if | ever consent
to its being put in print l will let you
know" The eve of his departure for
New Orleans l reminded him of his
promise, and he replied: II will
write it up myself and send it to
you"
l have been East for the last six
weeks. and on my return | found IN
my accumulated mail, the following
account of the killing in his own
handwriting which l reproduce al
most verbatim.
| THE STORY OF THE KILLING.
[ had never seen Elliott until l made
the match between him and Sullivan.
"Parson" Davies and Elliott looked
| after their interests, and [ acted for
lsfactory to Sullivan and myself. Ell
lott played sick, and, although | did
not feel very well toward him, | did
not punish him until he attacked me
most unwarrantably through the col
umns of the Chicago Times.
Elliott was interviewed by one of
its staff in reply to Harry Hills re-
marks of the pr 9vious day in the same
paper. After literally berating Hill,
he applied an oppobrious remark to
me in his interview, which brought
enterprislng reporters around to see
me and take down what | had to say
upon the subject. | gave him my re-
ply IN writing at some length, and IN
no measured terms, and having a long
way the best of the paper tilt, it sent
| Elliott to the bottle, thence, In COM
pany with Davies. to gun store, and
later Ia the evening ON The rampage
after me with A cahber, double-ac
ton revolver. That was the night he
lay in wait behind Clayton's door,
| Will Ills du III lis SotG-GGtlI
to kill me unawares as entered.
was duly notified of his move
ments, and prepared to defend myself
| whenever we met [ continued my
usual routine and frequented my
usual haunts, but [ never saw Elliott
from few days before his newspaper
assault until the night we squared our
accounts in the "Tivoh."
heard o him on several occasions
visiting bar-rooms on the "levee" in a
half-drunken condition vowing venge-
ance against me and displaying a re
v9lver, sometimes two of them. L
was constantly warned by my friends
to beware of him, aud heard his re
plies to good advice from Plnkerton
and others, who were friends of mine,
and tried to dsSuade him from his
purpose, but to no avail. Consequent
| ~, when some of his friends called
upon me to advise me to pay no atten
ton to what [ had beard of Elliott,
and to let the matter drop. coupled
with The assurance that eff you come
down with us and see him we can get
him to shake hands with you and fix
the matter up, " it will notseem strange
that fatty refused to ''shake hands"
with a man who had laid in ambush
to murder me without the slightest
warning, even if he were willing. |
further told them to say to him that,
although | was not looking for him,
I'VE should never meet but once" and
that 81 hoped we would not meet at
all"
| ALWAYS PFAnV
| Several times after that heard the
same thing about him that had heard
before, and even the night before he
left for the West he was out looking
for me" By the way, even a stranger
could have found me. day or night,
IN thirty minutes. Although his alb
| sence relieved me of considerable an
noyance, yet the constant illusion TO
the sabiect by friends and acqualnt-
anceS kept it ever present, and there
was not moment in the whole six
weeks from the time the trouble began
| until it ended that could have been
taken unaware by him for | knew his
treachery and low cuGning); so that
when he returned | was not at all sur
| prised. | heard almost as soon as he
got to town that he had sulked at
Dodge City and broken up the com
pany in order to return to Chicago,
and, by doing me up" removed the
stigma which was placed upon him
IN TIE eyes of Western men for turn
ing his back upon Chicago with fl ght
of his own making upon his hands.
andthe other party in possession of
the field
The day of the homicide | heard
that he was standing, in company
with flaisted, on the corner near
| Clayton's store, where | did not see
him. SO | left my gun at Thomas
! gun-store to be fixed. and went out
driving, taking another gun with me-
| When [ returned in the evening |
again exchanged guns, and finally
found one that suited me at NJ. G
| McDonald's Then l went to Boyle's
to supper Knowing that he was in
town, | expected to meet him any
moment within twenty-four hours,
aud therefore wished to be alone; in
| fact, | wanted it over, but without my
seeing. After dinner | walked into
the Tivoli C'Appetite Bill's'O wholly
unconscious of his (Elliott's) presence
there until within six feet of him.
When | first discovered him he was
looking at me and in the act of max
ing several rapid movements stimuli
taneously His right hand was
thrust into his coat-pocket, his left
hand was pushing back the chair
upon which he had been sitting, and
his body was in the act of moving to
| the left, as if to reach the aisle in
which was. This is what l took in
at glance.
| THE FIGHT.
As | said before, l was ever on my
guard from the first, and wherever |
went l had my hand on my gun,
which | carried in my outside coat
pocket. 1t was so on this occasion,
[ immediately fired, without taking
aim. His body moved so rapidly that
[ missed it and the bullet took effect
in his right arm, the shock causing
him to drop his pistol, which be had
just got out of his pocket 1t fell to
the floor under the table and he called
to Plaisted to ''pick it up" while he
grasped a char and held it up before
him as a shield; but when Plaisted's
movements attracted my attention