Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-12-24
A FIGHT TO THE DEATH
A FIERCE AND eLoooY KNIFE DUEL
IN A MOUNTAIN TOWN.

Ing Toud. and was rrecipliated by
Cur Dos saueulnary Results Of Tn.
bridisi rerarity.
Il was Saturday and Grading day.
and the little moun'uin town was hllod
with cores OF both white ard colorcd
people from up and down the valley
There WIS cons iorable drinking. but
everybody seemed good n1iurcd to me.
I conld not ere tho flightelt aign Of un.
caaincss. hut byaui hvthccaptain cHuo
to me as stood in front Of the postulllce
and wid;
"Lool,s mighty like thar was gwing
TO b. bloodshel yerc.'
"why, eycrybodyfcoms peaceful and
serene, so far ~ ] can See"
"Yo' dnau' know thosc folks. See that
ycro gathe.in over by the harness shop!
That's tho jackson crowd. See that
other gatherin over by the drug store.
That's the Berry crowd. They're jist
eyin each other like two bulldogs, and a
lcctle mo- whisky'll bring on q fout."
"ls there any feeling between The two
crowlsj ] asked.
Powerful bad. dun COOS ol'ar back
% tho wuh. The Jacksons was Union
and tho Berry'a was Confod. Thar was
houseburuin and robbin and shootin.
aud they doan forget It's the fust time
the two crowds hev bin In town together
fur more'n var, aud doun like the
looks of things"
Cant the officers Of the law keen
thom quictf
"Onccrs o. the lawl Why, man, n
them crowds were to break loose fifty
ohlccrloi tholaw couldn't prevent blood.
shcdg
The leaders Of tho respective factions
wcru men who must have boon mere boys
when the war broke ont. Each had
about dozen sdhtrcnts, who wuro all
more or lees closely related.
~ now TIE rIouf FlNuTrD.
They did not seem at all anxious for a
conflict and might have gone their ways
without a blow but for the action Of u
dog. lie was mean looking cur anil
belonged to the Jacksons. In wander.
ing around no got into tho Berry crowd
aud one IT the men sliced about six
inches Of his tail oa. Tho dog rushed
back TO his master, while the Berry
crowd Knocked his yelps Of pain and
flight
All Of q sudden Steve jackson stepped
10 the middle Of the street, flung down
his hat and shouted;
"Tom Berry, cf go hain't coward
come out yerc and fight mo!'
The challenge was instantly accepted
and within sixty seconds a ring was
formed and 800 people were looking on.
Tho men were pretty evenly matched Ms
TO height and weight and age. 1t was
not to be a battle with fists. but with
long, keen hunting knives, and you could
tell at glance that IL was TO be fight
TO the death. At first thtfc was much
iostling and moving about, accompanied
by shouts OF encouragement TO the men,
but after few moments ii was quiet
painfully quiet. think there were at
least thirty women among the onloOkera
and fully that number OF boys and girls
from ten to eighteen years OF age.
10Th DuEiIsrs KILLED.
II was the first aud ouly timc / ever
saw mon fight with knives, and it was q
horrible thing TO see. As soon Us their
friends fell back they rushed upon each
other with tho greatest fury. Each
gripcd the other with his loft hand aud
stabbed and thrust, aud each was
wounded four or five times before thoy
broke loose. Not n person In the crowd
spoke above a whisper. Every eye FOL.
lowed the men as thcy fcinted and
dodscd like prize iishtors, aud men aud
women shivcrcd and gaspod for breath
as one or the other Of the knives dranl,
blood.
Tho road was dry, but without dust.
Presently II waa dyed with blood. The
men slipped little now and then a.
they lodged about. Blood ran on their
finger tips, down their legs. trembled
like leaf | gelt q horrible disgust. md
yet could not move away. l folt 4
must see the end.
When the fight had lasted n quarter OF
an hour, and ono man had eight stab'
and Tho other niue they suddenly
clnched each other, az az frst. Neither
uttered a cheer, curse or groan.
They stood aqnare up 10 each other
and hacked and cut and thrust unti
both sank down from sheer weakness
jackson died within ten minutes; Berry
lived about thirty. The one had thirty
three wounds, tho other twenty-eight
As they were picked mp by their friend
and carried into the drugstore to breath
their last, tho hogs running about tn
village came and disputed with TN
dozen dogs over possession Of the bloo'
pools. Detroit FREQ Press.