St. Paul daily globe., 1885-12-16
POKER ON THE WENATCHEE.
The Guileless Little Trick of One
Eyed Butch.
A Rough Career Ended by the Wig
ilantes.

'eJ VI some passes through the CaScdQe
mountains and of the eastern approaches to
them. Ii early August, when the Columbia
plains were brow and the air dry and hot,
my business called me TO the Wenatchee
river At its mouth | met the butcher,
familiarly called Butch, red-haired, yellow
eyed ruffian from Virginia. l have for
gotten his real name, if L ever knew it,
which l greatly doubt, as it was not con-
sidered polite to inquisitiyely inquire into the
antecedents of the gentlemen one met III
mining camps or at isolated trading posts.
If YOU were introduced to a merry man who
gloried in the name of ''Buckskin" or
Arkansas" or 'SpraddleLeg Tom" 1t was
eminently proper and heaithtul 10 address
him as SUCH as it was considered hIgnly I'M
proper and vulgar to endeavOr 10 clInO Into
the genealogical tree of any gentleman VINO
might have sought solitude for the benefit OF
his health.
Butch was one-eyed man. The missing
eve, | afterward learned, had been dropped
in California mining camp one evening
when Butch was having little fun with the
bows. He was a merry, thOughtleSs man.
and incautiollsy raised an ace full, which
he had been at considerable trouble to
gather. directly after cold deck had been
rung in on the game. In the confusion that
followed the discovery that six or seven
aces were OH the table, Butch's eye had
been promptly extracted by another merry
man, and he had been awkwardly carved by
a third and bunglingly shot by fourth.
On his recovery Butch said that, though he
did not mind having little fun with the
boys, the boys of the camp played little
too roughly for him. So he left and es-
tablished himself at the mouth OF the
Wenatchee He traded for furS. He played
poker with the Indians. He raised cattle.
He sold whisky TO the Indians and PROVISIONS
to Chinese miners.
Butch was grand scamp, brave, reck-
less ruttian, but he had some very good
points. For instance, he could make eX-
cellent hoe cakes. and he was cheerful and
.ompanionahle. and could tell highly in
teresting lies. We became attached to each
1ther, and, though l knew he was a muir
derer and a thief, and that he was selling
whisky to the Indians and smuggling opium
across the line from British Columbia. | did
not care. | was young and careless and
besides, as | said, he could make excellent
noe cakes. One evening as we sat side by
side on the sandy soil, leaning against the
house and smoking our after-supper pipes,
and | was listening to q Remarkably good lie
about bear that frightened all the bears
E out of an extensive mountain range by
fraudulently using a long pole to mark his
height on the trees, group of Indians
driving cattle before them rode from behind
rocky point that was thrust into the waters
of the Columbia.
Instantly Butch sprang to his feet and
rushed into the cabin. He put on cunningly-
devised harness that held TWO navy six
shooters in handy position under his arms.
He put on his coat. He pulled at the pistols
TO see if they were loose, and that there
would be no hitch III the performance if any
thing more than a rehearsal should be re-
quired. In a few minutes the party of
hOrsemen drew rein in front of his cabin.
They were three young bucks from Moses
camp in the Grand Coulee. Butch greeted
them cheerfully, and helped to corral the
cattle. Then he told me that these men
were the selected er-players of the
Columbia plains Indians; that they had
been Staked Oy the tribe to play with him in
hope of winning 4 number of cattle. Yes
he said, the cattle were the stakes, Before
the first hand was dealt Butch quietly in
formed the Indians that English and
Chinook only could be spoken at the table.
and the first Indian who spoke in his own
land to Butch unknOwn) tongue wonld have
cheerfully agreed to this condition. Then
the relative value of cows, calves and steers
was agreed upon. They decided to play
table stakes. The checks were pistol and
musket balls. Ten pistol balls were equal
III value to a calf or to a musket ball. Three
musket balls equaled a COW in value.
A heavy California blanket was thrown
over rough table. A candle was thrust
into tomatO-can that was filled with beans.
aud the game began. The strong wind
ceased blowing. The silence of the plains
was broken only by the mysterious groaning
and signing of the mighty river as it swept
past the cabin to the sea. Hour after hour
passed, and not a word was spoken by the
players. With faces as interchangeable as
bronze the three Indians played, and,
favored by the din. light and the fact of
Butch'S having but one eye. how they did
cheat. The luck varied. as it always does
in a poker game. Now they would be
ahead. now Butch. l dropped asleep, and
when l awOke it was nearly morning.
Butch's back was toward me. l saw
some cards thrust under his coat collar. [
knew he was waiting for the end TO come.
One of the Indians dealt. Butch picked up
his cards. raised his right hand to scratch
the back of his neck, adroitly exchanged the
Z.
thrust the cards he had received below his
shirt-collar. Then he turned to me, expos
ing the back of his head to the Indians, and
he Winked wink of great sagacity at me-
He talked to me for an instant and then
turned to the table. He was an aged man.
The Indian TO his left bet calf. The next
one Straddled IT, The dealer went a COW
better, and Butch saw ii all and raised the
pot two COWS. All stood Pat. Then the
betting began in earnest. 1t went on until
all the cattle the Indians brought were
staked. Then came the showdown. Butch
had four queens and anace. The Indians
all had fours. which they had stolen, OF
course. They grunted loudly. They struck
their mouths with palms of open hands to
express surprise. Then they babe us good
by and mounted. and, singing as they rode.
disappeared in the faint gray light of early
morning. Butch had won thirty head of
cattle. As we got breakfast the king of
clubs fell out of Butch's right trousers leg.
What finally became of the butcher? He
was accused of stealing cattle-a lie. prob
ably. The vigilantes visited him and or
dered him to bring i'll his herder. He did
so. but owing TO some misunderstanding
brought him in dead. So the exasperated
vigilantes hung the butcher as murderer. a
cattle-thief, whisky-seller. and bad man
generally. What? Yes. believe they did
divide Butchs cattle and goods among
themselves. You see. Butch was dead and
did not need cattle or provisions, but they
did not hang him to obtain his herd and
goods, OF course not. He was a bad man,
and they hung him for tue good of the
rutiian community (he lived sixty miles from
his nearest neighbor) living on the frontier.
Ana they took charge of the ownerleSS cat
tie so that the poor creatures should not
suffer during the following winter.
AIdnsr In.