New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-07-14


,.povIs,.sy coRRkspoSpssT or THE TRfBuSsl
Copyright; 1883. BY The Ne''- fo'@ 1''''''''
Virginia City, Mon. July 1.
~, ... - ,ho ,v;ldness of Rocky Mountain
rto IN tho carly DAYS of Bannack and Virginia
City however far it might depart from historian
aocuracv could be an eXaggeratlon. For all tnat
is tragic and terrible, for stormy passions swllt
,.,orcss reckless devltry. hideous brutality. con-
scienccless cruelty, for all that is lawlesS ana
vicious and desperate. the annals oil early mining
do,s IN the Rosky Mountains are unapproachable
To bear these Old-Timers," as the men of the
.;v.ios are called telling their actual experiences
events which their own eyes have seen and IN
,,hicb their own hands have participated, one uD-
consciously finds his hair lifting itself upon his
had while the creeps7 chase up and down ms
hack 1t is not hard, however. 10 picture from
what he sees to-day the conditions that must
then have been. Take away the railroads. the
GOOD women and the little children. and leave
only hard grained men and harder courteSans, turn
loose a few choice demons. and the reign Of terror
would quickly start in again There rs something
in the dry. ouick-moving, electric air of these
mountain heights, something about the fierce
nine trees and the rugged rocky cliffs, something
about the wild csnons and the roaring streams,
leaning over lodges and churning their own waters.
something all around that brings out all that Is
orim and dreadful in the human heart.
Montana naturally secured among IFS first in
habitants the moral refuse of the older mining
States All the desperadoes who had reached the
end of their tether in California and Nevada col
lected around Bannack, Helena and Virginia.
They gave themselves new names and, for time
new manners In almost every case they had
some pretended occupation Some were miners
some were ranchers Everything i'll and about
a mining camp was of course, IN the crudest state
imaginable. VirGinias nearest points OF supply
were Fort Benton and Salt Lake City. All that
the people wore, and pretty much all that they
ate, came across the plains in wagons from Sait
Lake or up the Missouri 10 Benton and then 200
miles overland The miners lived IN tents ana
dug-ou,s Such as were capitalists owned log
cabins OF greater or less dimensions. These were
grouped together on the precipitous mountain sides
above the gulch IN which they worked Every
other cabin was a gin-mill or hurdy-gurdy.'
Women Of the " toughest type had Hooked III
from the brothels OF San Francisco and Chicago.
The gamblers were the ariSocralS OF the pace
For a long while there was no such thing as
law. nor any machinery through which law could
he administered. Everybody had to depend on
everybody else's sense of justice and Oh his own
six-shooter. Pistols and knives hung numerously
the slightest provocation No attention was paid
IN ordinary duels brought about by a sense OF
vronr between the involved parties retaliation
was considered not only natural, but the only
thing possible Affairs of this kind went on con-
stantly and scarcely excited remark. The victor
was congratulated the victim buried and the thing
promptly forgotten. 1t only when cold
blooded and unprovOi,ed murder was
committed or when man was shot
down without fair chance 10 defend
himself that anything like shock was given to
the community Fragrant outrage became 50 fre-
ouent that miners court was finally established
"A sheriff was elected, whose duty was TO arrest
and hold alleged offenders, and Judge was chosen
10 preside at trials But small respect was paid
10 these feeble efforts at law and order 1t was
only when the community was fully aroused ana
the criminal easily caught that punishment fol-
lowed even the darkest crimes.
And dark crimes many of them were, too {;
crimes so lurid and causeless that one wonders
how reople could have been willing to live where
the hidden pistol and the unseen knife were liable
az any moment to do their deadly work. The
robbery of stage-coaches was a nightly occurrence
Men known TO be carrying money started away
and were never heard Of again. Every body was
IN danger. for everybody possessed more or less
cold. 1t was nothing for $1,000 in gold dust 10
he washed out at days work Gold dust stood
around on cabin floors in milk pans. IL was
Skinned out by the ton. The price of everything
was an ounce of dust-siS IN gold--and the
poorest man in the camp carried with HIM his
bag of dust, worth from $500 TO $1,000. IL
was hard TO tell who was r0bber and who
wasn't Everybody drank, almOs; everybody
oambled, everybody swore like Texan; and yet
the vast majority were men Of honor, as honor
was measured there and then.
Certain characters soon came TO be marked by
the miners generally. They were the fellows who
GOT drunk and bullied, who called themselves
the chief" and boosted how many men they had
killed These fellows were continually IN scrapes
One of them shot man who dunned MN lor
debt Another, meeting person against whom
be cherished grievance, coolly observed Bill
don't like YOU very WE'LL and put bullet
through the object e his mahgnity Some Others
endeayoring 10 capture an Indian squaw whom
one Of the party had bought, and who "elng
cruelty treated, had returned to her tribe opened
fusilLAde on the Indians killing several oil them
and two or three white people too lhey were
demonstrated with for killing the WHITES ana
they cheerfully replied, Damn EN- they uluh
have no business 10 be in the tepeeS.'
They fought among themselves more or less
killing each other with the utmost c0mplaceny
That these fellows were connected With the secret
murders and robberies became settled
conviction in the camps, but deep-sishted
men were by no means satisfied that they were
the worst or the most dangerous OF the gang
There gang-that WAS evident--a regularly
organized band Of desperadoes with spies IN every
camp They always seemed 10 know when and
where 10 strike. and such talterine and fearful
efforts as made 10 discover them amounted
10 nothing Men who dared 10 engage in that
enterprise would find significant warnings IN their
paths, a sheath-knife suck in their front door
posts. or other cheerff, suggestive marks and
signs placed where they could not fail 10 be seen.
II any man was supposed TO know too much, &C
oujred however accidentally and preserved how