Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-09-19
JosEPHus SAVED OUR scALPs.
A Wild West Goat ON the warpath-some
of His Franks.

of His Franks.
''Josephus" was a character. Now,
although Josephus was a character,
the innocence of his expression and
the subdued manner in which he
walked about among the tents and
cabins Of Hard Pan Bottom" contin.
ually got hIm into trouble, as well as
those temporarily associated with him.
Hard Pan Bottom was Il rough mining
camp in the Black Hills, and the com
panions Of Josephus were for the most
part a reflex of the landscape, hard
looking and rocky" How Joscphus
received his name no n in camp
knew, il was said TO have come
nat'ral." He had n long grayish
beard. exceedingly prominent ears
aud great curved horns. In fact, Jo-
sephus was a well developed Rocky
Mountain goat.
The boys all liked Josephus, that
is, after they had made his acquaint-
ance and introduced their friends.
This latter operation was always pro
ductive Of much mirth to the mutual
friend, and consisted in enticing some
new conner TO meet The Judge"
The meeting usually took place in
front Of Buckeye" Smiths ''pizen"
shop. Josephus entered into the spirit
of the affair with great gusto, and
never failed to make a hit with the
public. The operation consisted in es,
corting the victim to Buckeyes"
shanty and engaging him in CONVEX
satiou. while the Judge" as he was
nicknamed, was sent for. During the
conversation process a piece Of red
flannel was pinned to the waistband
of the new boy"
One or two shrill whistles generally
brought Josephus on the double quick,
and il was without in the least slack.
ening his pace that lie made a bee line
for the red rag, and the consequence
vas that the new acquaintance inva-
riably measured his length on the
ground, and as he scrambled upon his
hands and knees, was again laid low;
and so il continued until the rag was
removed or Josephus asked TO have a
drink. During the ceremony Of in
PRODUCTION, cries of Here's the iudgel"
Mr.. Jones, Nh. Josephus!' Shake
hands with him, pardi' BE respect
full, strangerl' and similar remarks,
accompanied by shouts of laughter,
were banded about by the delighted
spectators, while the yells and pistol
shots helped TO bring the surprised
stranger 10 a demoralized condition of
abject fear. He then stood treat tothe
crowd.
The beard Of Josephus was a contin-
ual source of annoyance to him, as the
miners enjoyed pulling it to provoke
its owner to fight.
During the early morning, before
daylight, in the tent of yellow
Mike" the boys first realized the value
of ~Josephus. A party had all the night
been devoting their energies 10 the
noble game Of poker and 10 discus
sing the Indian outbreak, when sud
denly, Just outside, there was q dull
thud, a blood curdling yell, another
thud, another shrek and through the
side Of the tent in all the hideousness
OF his war paint, tumbled full fedged
Indian brave, while close behind came
Josephus. All hands sprang to their
feet, revolvers were drawn, the Indian
was killed and the camp aroused, just
in time, for already were the war
whoops sounding and rifles cracking.
1t was only after three hours of hard
fighting hat the attack was repulsed,
when the surprise having failed the
savages drew off. AS for ~Josephus, he
received the rank of colonel, although
more often spoken Of as The Spy
Killer" But Josephus did not long
live 10 enjoy his honors. Unlimited
red eye whisky was too much for
his constitution and he died fighting
imaginary Indians. The entire camp
attended the funeral. which was pro.
]nounccd 10 be the most high toned on
record in the county. New York
Tribune.