Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-10-01
BISHOP TUTTLE'S GRIT.
A STIRRING STORY OF THE MON
TENA or TWENTY YEARS AGO.
How Bitter Root Bill " and Gentle
man Joe" Were His Partners In q
Fight with Fire and snow-winnIng
Host of Rough Friends.

"a Host of Rough Friends.
About a score Of years ago, before the rail
road had crossed the Rocky mountains. Bish-
op Tuttle was sent u missionary to the
northwestern territories. The good bishop
might well have been appalled, at the first
view of his diocese Ii was an empire in ex-
tent, but it barely afforded him a single con-
gregation. Aftarward when he had planted
the church in few of the chief centers of
population, be had congregations 1000
miles apart, requiring weeks of painful and
dangerous travel to reach them, for the hos
tile savageS held sway on the plains, while
bandits more daring than the savages and no
less bloodthirsty infested every mountain pass
through which the lines of travel led.
But never was man better fitted by ma
ture and grace for his high mission OF heroic
stature, in every physical senSe a man among
men, he had heart for every fate and
courage and resolution equal TO any demand.
His hand, strong As a giants, was soft and
white rs a woman's, and more than once he
had made some insOent and sacrilegous brute
feel its might, bu: far Oftener it has wrought
sweet charity and tenderly nursed the sick
and brought comfort to the dying, to rough
men in lonely cabins in the wili mountain
gOrges, bereft of womRn's care. He entered
into the lives of the people and made at
least, their troubles his own, and when the
rude mountaineers, as they presently did,
came to know this strong, brave and gentle
man, his fame went through the mountains
and he became the beloved bishop.
The city of Helena, if it could he called a
city, with its rabhle of houses, huts, novels
and tents crOwding gulch between two high
shoulders of giant peak and climbing up the
steep slopes To perch on rocky ledges and
/ platforms, was the metropolis of the northern
mountains One winter morning, soon after
midnight, fire broke out among some shanties
| in the upper end Of the gulch- The noun
tains We're white with snow; small rivulet
which meandered among the rocks was locked
| i'll ice, while a biting blast blew down from
| the mountains, and sweeping through the
| gorge, soon famed the fire into a confiagra-
ton. Men rushed to the scene with buckets
| and blankets. There was no fire brigade and
no other apparatus for fighting the flames
| Everything was confusion, and the raving of
| the gale, the roar of the fire and the shout
ings of men supplemented the frantic exer-
! tiOns of the people to save their property,
and, in many cases, to escape with their
lives from the fiery furnaces into which the
narrow canyon that held the fated town had
been converted.
Finally, when many residences, hotels and
shops of all sorts had been swept away, and
the fire had invaded that quarter where were
situated the large warehouses in which were
stored the chief stocks of provisions and neces-
saries, the bulk, indeed, of the supply for the
entire territory, the situation seemed des-
perate enough. The people realized that here
was the last hope, and here the last rally for
deliverance was to be made A thousand
miles of plain and mountain, buried deep IN
snow, lay between the people of that burning
town and any other source whence the neces-
saries of life could be drawn In one moment
these people were confronted with the present
horrors of conhagration, 20 be inevitably sue
ceeded by starvation, amid the rigors Of
northern winter.
When it had been realized that TO save the
town was impossible, every energy was bent
70 the work of saving the magazines of pro
visions, and few leading spirits had organ
lied defense and had gathered the populace
for the last struggle. The plan of operations
vas simple enough. 1t was to cover the
precious houses with blankets and keep them
wet A few daring men were TO maintain
themselves on the housetops, while the others
were to pass up increasingly water in buckets,
masses of ice cut from the streams, and huge
balls Of snow. The men on the roof must
brave fire, smoke and the freezing wind. To
falter was defeat; to retreat was ruin. There
was no faltering in that desperate struggle,
and finally the battle was won.
Morning had come, and with it the sun,
which, as it rose over a shoulder of the
mountain, gilded the forms of three men
who stood high on the parapet Of the build
ing where the fire had been stopped. They
were the chiefs, self-chosen, to lead in the
conflict, but acknowledged and obeyed by the
populace, who inStinctiyely recognized their
supremacy. These three men, with their
visages grimed and black with smoke, their
hair and boards singed. their hands torn and
bloody, their hats blown away by the wind
and their clothing ragged and awry, and
with the fire of battle in their eyes and grim
and stern lines of resolution on their faces |
were terrible, almost ferociOus. They looked |
abroad at the smoking ruins, then at the
houseles people below; then they turned and
saluted each other, the two at the extremes
regarding their companion in the center As
il in some sort he was their superior. 1t
was at this moment that the rising sun
shOne upon the trio, gliding and glorifying
them, while the multitude below gave
great shout, recognizing, as it were, their de
liverers.
Who were these menl They were well
known in tn mountains if not Immediately
recognized in the disfigurement Of battle.
The one on the right was Bitter Root Bill"
otherwise William Bunkerly, a noted des-
perado, who got his cognomen from daring
adventure with the Indians in the Bitter Root
mountains. The man on the left was Gentle
man Joe" leading gambler His real name
was Joseph Floweree, said to be from an
aristOcratic Virginia family. He was a hand
some fellow of 80, well educated and so well
known for his courteous department that the
public appreciation had crystalized into a
title The figure in the center taller, more
erect and heroic looking than the others, who
had greeted him as their chief, was no less
than Bishop Tuttle. In the desperate turmoil
these three men had gravitated to each other
and had risen TO leadership.
The good bishop was soon at the height of
popularity The mountaineers had tested
his manhood and they were ready to love
and trust him for the friend and counselor he
proved to be, and the popular verdict was
solemnly announced by Mr.. William Bun
kefly when he declared:
He's full jeweled and eighteen karats fine.
He's a better gentleman than Joe Floweree;
he's the biggest and best bishop that ever
wore a black gown, and he's the whitest man
in these mountains He's fire fighter from
way back and whenever he chooses to go on |
birthstone raid among the sinners in this !
gulch he can do it, and I'll back him with my
pile He is the boss bishop, and you hear me |
howl Cor. GlObe-Democrat
The Professors Memory.
James Syme, the eminent Scotch surgeon |
and professor in the University OF Edinburgh, |
was once consulted by well known public |
character about some affection of the lungs.
Years afterward tine patient returned on the
same errand- On being announced he was
nettled to observe that Mr.. Syme had
neither any recollection of his face nor