The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-08-22
IN THE GOLD COUNTRY.
AN OLD MINER TALKS OF THE EARL v
DAYS IN THE BLACK HILLS.

An interesting Talk Over a Camp Fire.
Buckskin Jacks Hunt for the Indian.
How Wild Dan Brought in a Coach
Load of Dead Passengers.
AS | was travelling through Colorado
ana Montana on trip for my health
struck the town of Big Sandy, NJ. T.
The little city was all excitement over
the reported discovery of gold and silver
In the Sweet Grass hills, distance of
sixty miles northwest of Big Sandy, and
the town was filled with prospectors of
all descriptions, from the old timer of
40 to the youth fresh from the east in
search of his fortune, all bound for the
new gold and silver fields.
As had plenty of time on nv hands
and wanted a little excitement, Joined
a prospecting party. We started for the
promised land the next day. and on the
second day out we were in sight of the
East Buttes. | rode on in advance of
the party, and as it was getting dark |
was looking for some shelter in which to
pass the night After riding haphazard
for nearly an hour | saw the welcome
light OF prospectors' camp fire and rode
toward it.
TRAILING A PESKY INDIAN.
The camp proved to be a party of
bluff, good natured miners, who had
been in this section and the Black Hills
for number of years. In answer to nv
inquiries as to securing place to put up
with them, one of them said:
"Wal, stranger, our Communications
are purity poor, but reckon if you kin
stan it we kim
After eating supper of jerked beef.
hard tack and coffee the boys began to
tell stories of their experiences in the
days OF the frontier. One of them. who
went by the uame of Buckskin Jack.
said:
oval, boys, this ere rush makes fel,
Ter think of the early days of the Black
Hills. The Indians wur purity COLL
burned mad and wur maxim it middlin'
lively for the boys. Their wuz eight in
our party when we struck camp in a
gulch in the west part of the Hills. The
first night we thot it would be a purity
good plan to set guard We drew cuts
ter see who would be lected. an of
course wuz Their lucky man.
"As we wur not bothered that night
an had saw no signs of any of the pesky
Indians we did not set any guard the
next night We all turned in purity
early an as we wuz all purity tired wuz
soon asleep. Bout 10 o'clock, as near as
l could reckon, | wuz walked by a noise
as if some one wuz movin' bout Their
camp. got up purity easy an took a
look round At last thot | seed some
thin movin'. thot wouldn't sturb
the boys until foun' out what the rack
ct wuz An takin' my rifle, walked
toards the place whur l seed the thing
movin'. an as ther wuz only one,
thot would foller him an fine out whar
Their camp wuz, SO that we could come
down on them an sterminate Their whole
outfit.
oval, ter make long story short,
follored Their pesky Indian, as l thot, fur
bout an hour, an found myself in the
'cinity of our camp again, an I'll be COLL
burned if | won't be kicked into the
middle of next summer if my Indian
didn't turn out to be one of our boys
who wuz a-walkin' in his sleep wuz
purity mad, but sneaked inter my blan-
ket, an hev never sed a word bout it
until ter-night."
DAN DRIVES THE OLD SHEBANG.
oval, gass it wuz purity good thing
that you didn't say anything bout it or
else you'd never heard the last of it., .
said Wild Dan, "but CESS I'll tell yer a
little 'sperience l had in Cheyenne in 49,
"a lot of us boys came in from the
range ter blow oursel's an paint the town
red. al gass we did it in fine style.
was paralyzed fur bout two days. an
when finly tumbled ter myself found
wuz busted an didn't hev penny an
that l would hev ter go back on the
range fur six months, an wuz kickin
myself fur bein' such chump Just
then saw crowd of fellers goin' to'ards
Their Cheynne and Deadwood stage orfce
an joined Their crowd The stage wuz
drawn up before the orfice an the six
broncos were a chawing Their bit an a
wantin' ter be Off The driver of the
stage he'd refused ter go, as Their road
agents an Inguns he'd stopped an robbed
every stage fur a week, an not a driver
ever turned up ter tell how it wuz done.
Their stage agent wuz wild. AS ther
wuz the Wells Fargo treasure box an six
passengers tibet wanted ter 90 thro' to
Deadwood he offered $500 ter the man
that would drive the stage thro' to Dead
wood
81 tho't ter myself, Dan, old boy,
| from Their crowd and seq, Say, mister,
Wild Dams the man tibet kin take yer
old shebang thro' ter Deadwood. With
that jumped inter the boot and yelled.
Get in here, you fellers thet's going
with me, an the agent an six fellers
| jumped inter the coach. picked up
ther lines, cracked the whip an we wuz
off on our journey. Just as we started
some one hollered, Three cheers for
brave Dan. an they wuz given with a
will.
"Things went all right until we struck
| Deadman's Gulch, when out from be-
hind some trees twelve men jumped
with rifles pointed at us, an ordered me
ter halt.
"sNot by burned site, sez I.
"An' gave ther horses a cut with
ther whip, an pickin' up my repeating
rifle | opened up on them, an in less
time than it takes ter tell it six road
agents he'd bit the dust. | he'd not been
hurt, but my hat he'd been shot off'n my
he'd.
81 picked up my lines an tried ter
stop Their horses, but there wuz no stop
ter them. an they run until they pulled
up in front of Their orfice in Deadwood
They opened Their stage door, an ther
stage agent stepped out, an looked in
ter see if Their passengers wer safe, an
Their they wuz. every one of EN- dead
killed by the road agents bullets.
.sThe stage agent SEE: 'Three cheers