The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-04-05
THE MARQUIS DE MoREs.
The Daring Career OF the celebrat
ed DueIlst.
'[st. Louis Globe-Demodrat.l |

list. Louis GloDe-Demodratl
The duel between the MARQUIS dc
Mores and NJ. Camille Dreyfus, in Eu.
rope, recalls the many famous exploits
and deeds of De Mores few years age
in our country. The marquis was Ger.
tainly most wonderful man, and de.
served better treatment from the com.
munity in which he moved than he re-
ceived.
He was passengeraboard Northern
Pacific train one day that was shooting
along from st. Paul, Mimi, toward the
setting sun. He was bound for the Bad
Lands, where he was about to put into
operation his gigantic, though unsuc-
cessful, schemes of sheep raising and
beef slahghtering.
For some reason or other the country
was down Ion him. At every station we
stopped report would be received that
at the Bad Lands station hundreds Of
cowboys and other tough citizens were
waiting for the marquis, and that he
would be riddled with bullets the mo-
ment he stepped from the train. The
train pulled into the depot at the Bad
Lands, and De Mores, with each hand
carelessly laid, but ready for quick use,
on pair of handsome silver mounted
repeaters, stepped out on the platform.
Bad men galore crowded around him,
but when they saw the plucky nerve of
the young aristocrat they honored and
respected lEim for it, and not a single
arm in all that vast crowd was raised to
do him the least harm.
The story of his life in this country is
quite interesting, He first landed at New
York in August, 1882. Before long he
became attracted by the stories of the
new country along the line of the North
ern Pacific railroad in Dakota and Mon
tana, and soon afterward he came out in
person to investigate for himself. With
a sombrero on his head "a red shirt on his
back, corduroy trousers tucked into yery
long legged boots, and with plenty of
silver mounted jewelry in his belt, he
pursued his investigation far and wide
on horseback, and finally decided to
found a city. He bought outright six
square miles of land on the Little Mis-
souri, river, which was then considered
to be, by the wise men of the northwest.
about the very worst bit of earth on the
whole North American continent. Hence
the knowing ones shook their heads
gravely and predicted ruin.
He built rude shack of logs and mud
which he furnished luxuriantly for his
wife, secured large tracts of government
lox
tie. AT first the herders and roaming
cowboys of the Bad Lands looked upon
him to be an adventurous crank, who
would surely leave the country after he
had secured a few hunting trophies to
carry back to Paris. They hated him be-
cause he had servant and wore clean
clothes. He was 'monopolist," they
said, who was going to fence in the coun-
try. They tried to scare him away, but
they found he had been soldier once
and would not scare. The cowboys said
he had come to drive them all off their
ranches. The hunters declared he was
going to buy up their buffalo grounds;
and, to own the truth, the young man
did really act as if he were going to buy
the earth.
Before many days he won the respect
of his western neighbors in more ways
than one, but still they took him to be a
well plumed bird that ought to be pluck
ed and who could be easily swindled.
Their ire was raised to the highest pitch
when the Marquis gained control Of
about sc, 10000 acres Of land in Montana,
which took in the three principal trails
through which the cattle were driven to
the east, south and west.
The cowboys began to shoot the French
mans cattle wholesale and menaced bis
herders when the latter wero Off duty.
Appeals to the sheriff proved useless; SO
finding himself in bad fix the Marquis
determined to take the matter into his
own hands and stop the matter himself.
He declared if he found a man killing
his animals he would shoot the rascals
like he would steer. In six months he
was shot at by an unseen enemy no less
than eighteen times. His most bitter foes
were man named Mitchell and an old
buffalo hunter called Luffrey.
One day while riding over the prairie,
accompanied by one of his most faithful
followers, a man named Paddock, bull
let whistled by his head, the smoke curl
ing from little bunch of sage brush
about 200 yards in front. Without a
moments hesitation the marquis dug his
spurs into his horses TANKS and dashed
head foremost directly toward the am
bush. The ringleader of the gang jumped
to his feet and leveled Winchester at
the marquis; but the latter like flash,
and while going at full speed, drew his
little silver mounted repeater, and the
would be assassin fell in his tracks, to
rise no more.
Another of the band was badly wound
ed, and the rest quickly leaping to their
horses, sought safety in flight. The
Frenchman was very popular after this
little incident, for his craftsmanship in
stilled great deal of respect into the
minds of the bloodthirsty herders, and
there was peace in the Bad Lands from
that time thenceforth. Nevertheless, he
had three trials before justices of the
peace for the so-called offense, and was
three times acquitted; yet he was again
indicted by Dakota jury for murder,
and languished in the Bismarck Jail
many days before he finally gained his
freedom.
The Marquise de Mores is lovely wo-
man. She is an American, but thorough
ly devoted to her brave husband. She
is handsome little brunette, one of the
best lady rife shots in the world, and
she rides as well as she shoots.
Canine Endurance.