Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-08-29
MONTE PETE'S BOLD ESCAPE,
Ali Incident in the History Of 0gala-
lee i'll Which Cowboys Took
a Hand.
Two Gamblers Lynehed After a DeS-
perate Fight-Pete'S Bold Ride
for Freedom.

Ike reputation which the small town of
Ogalalee on the Union Pacific Railroad
bore some years ago was not calculated to
induce quiet and law-abiding citizens to
go there in search Of home comforts. 1t
was well-known as TOWN where the big
herds of cattle were driven from Kansas
and Texas. 1t was well-known as place
toward which the homeSick hearts Of the
cowboy turned with longing, but it was
never known as a peaceful town.
For several months at a time 0galalee
would remain quiet little frontier Village.
Then one day big herd of cattle would
be driven into the pens near the railroad
The cowboys would be paid off and Ocala-
lee would put on its most festive appear
ance. The sound of pistols would be heard
IN the streets and everybody was happy.
When. as occasionally happened. several
herds arrived at the same time. the fun in
creased IN proportion and the few citizens
who thought more of their lives than they
did of securing share of the COWBOYS
dollars, generally made it convenient to
visit some neighboring town for awhile.
W hen found that business required me
to visit Ogalalee and pass a few DAYS
says writer in the Atlanta Constitution,
then | PRAYED devuotly that | might find
the vii ag' In its dormant state. andJ not
crowded with cowboys full of bad whisky.
armed with pistols and looking for an
opportunity to use them as the acme of
felicity.
arrived. and even before left the cars
realized that my prayers had been quite
useless. | saw at glance that the town
was being painted a deep vermilion color.
and Tor a moment | half determined to re-
mann on the train and be taken to Laramie
City. After seconds thought, however.
concluded that my business was too
urgent to be delayed for any fancied dam
ger, and | allghted half reluctantly on the
platform. As | watched the red LIGHT on
the last car rapidly disappearing in
the darkness, i feeling of terror came
over me. and | felt that if lived to get
| out of Ogalalee no power should ever
bring me west of the Missouri river again.
The to vn was too busily engaged with
the cowboys to nay any attention to a
| stray visitor. | therefore took my grin in
my hand and went in search of "a hotel.
| There was not much choice. as every
| place along the main street seemed crowd
| ed with half-drunken men, all of whom
| appeared greatly excited over some event
which had recently occurred. Finally
| chose Il resting place, and before | had
time to register was told that | had ar
rived Just IN time to take part in IA first
class lynchlng. | pretended to be glad.
| but | was not.
was told that the night before. while
some cowboys were playing Mexican
| monte, IN saloon at the end of the main
| street, difficulty arose between the deal
err who was known as Monte Pete, and
| the players. A few hot words PASSED.
then the revolvers flashed in the dim light
! of the oil lamps. and the loud reports
| echoed from the door of the lor. one
| story tavern. As the crowd rushed into
| the street Pete and his assistant gambler
| stood IN the center of the room with their
smoking reyOlverS in their hands and on
the floor lag the bodies of two dead cow
| boys.
Soon the news of the shooting spread
through the town, ana the friends and
companions of the dead men gathered in
force and returned to the saloon to seek
vengeance on the men who had done the
| killing.
They found the place closed and BARR.
caded and the two bodies lying III the
road where they had been thrown. A
voliey was fired at the saloon. but the onl,
answer was a derisive laugh from the in.
side and warning shouted through {
chlnk In Il heavy board shutter that the
| first man who came near the door woulG
be lynched.
All that night the crowd remained out
side the place firing sometimes and de.
yising means to drive the TWO men from
their refuge. When daylight came 1t was
| evident that nothing could be done unit
dark. as the gamblers could see any one
approaching from either side. and the
person making the attempt would surely
be killed
! was informed that an attempt to dis
lodge the men was about to be made and
| was invited to take part Ny refusal
was met with so many Scowls that | i'm.
mediately altered my mind and accepted
the invitation, determined in my mind
| however, to remain in the background as
much as possible
The street outside the hotel was RAPIDLY
| filling with men. Some were On horse.
back. and some were on foot, bearing
torches. and all were wild with excite.
ment and determined to drag the men
who had murdered their companions from
their hiding place and execute what they
! deemed justice on them
| With wild yells the crowd moved down
! u
| leaguered house. For moment there was
quiet as man on horseback rode for
ward and demanded an unconditional sur
render. His only answer was a shot 50
well aimed that he reeled in his saddle and
| fell to the ground, while his frightened
poney dashed down the street. A great
shout arose as the cowboys saw their leader
| fall, and from that moment the fate of the
| gamblers was settled.
| While the crowd in front and behind
the house were firing at the doors and
windows | noticed several dark shadows
| appear at the sides Each shadow was
carrying something. Cautiously crawling
| alOn., the ground they approached nearer
| and nearer the beleaguered building For
a few minutes they fingered, then they
| stole back and joined their comrades. A
moment later and red glow appeared at
| the sides of the building. The dense
| black smoke of burning oil rose and
! formed an lmprenetrable cloud above the
retreat of the gamblers Great tongues
Of fame Illuminated the night, and sud
! denly the building burst into blaze. As
the flames rent the boarding the two men
could be seen running up and down seek
ing some means of extinguishing the fire.
Finally they could stand the heat no more.
and, half burned, half sufocated, they
dashed from the building into the waiting
arms of their foes.
A cheer of triumph greeted them.
Quickly their hands were tied behind their
backs and a rope passed about the neck of
each. They were lead to the outskirts Of
the town where a huge tree spread limb
across the road. The cowboys gave the
two gamblers few minutes to prepare for
death and the younger of the two was led
under the tree and the rope he wore round
his neck was thrown over the limb. the
crowd seized hold of 1t. and a moment
later | turned my eyes away from the
struggling. twitching figure suspended in
the air. For several minutes the attention
of the cowboys was riveteC on the dying
gambler. Then they turned to mete out
the same justice to Monte Pete. As
they approached him the mans body
seemed to swell with an almost superhu-
man effort, and he burst the bonds that
hold him With q, y.1JrIa ey,ri,1, h,