Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1892-09-08
HOW BOB FORD WAS BURIED.
Curious Assembly at the Grave and
Speedy Resumption of Mining Life.
aWho de devils yer plantin'pn

"Who de devils yer planting"
The speaker was a small boy, saws
the Creole Chronicle, driving before
him two burros and dragging behind
him a pair of tattered and ragged
trousers which he had picked up on
the mesa.
"We're plantin' Bob Ford" said the
man on horseback, and then began to
chant under his breath the poem of
Danny Deever," which somehow
seemed to harmonize with the sur
roundings. At the tabernacle there
was an m crowd which com
pletely surrounded the little church.
Charity covereth n multitude of SINS"
were the last words thas Ford wrote
before he turned to face the fatal shot.
They headed a subscription taken to
bury Nellie Russell. Charity cover
eth a multitude of sins" were the first
words the reporter heard when he
worked his way into the tabernacle.
Every seat was taken. 1t was a Curl
Gus assemblage-a mixture of the god
ly and the ungodly-and they met in
this common place and prayed that
the charity which covereth sin might
be melted out to them when they, too,
should go over the crest of the great
divide. Before us as we rode stretched
the winding trail over the mountains
and below lay the black. and CHASTITY
ruins of the town. just ahead, lying
brown in the glare of the sunlight,
were the mounds which lie above the
bodies of Joe Simmons and Billy Wall
and Jessie Lester and the others who
have found a resting place at the end
of a life that was none too bright. A
little white fence around a baby's
grave glared in startling contrast to
the neutral colors.
As the horses toiled up the hill they
stopped at times to rest, and the
mourners braced the wheels with their
feet, lest their carriages run backward.
So the end came and at last we reached
the rave. Around it were already
gathered the people who had walked
up ahead. The pine box stood u on
its rests over a yawning hole. lp a
minute the bearers had taken the wal
nut casket from the wagon and placed
it in the outer covering, and as the
undertaken screwed down the
the woman who stood by Bob through
InlCh anu lulu SaNc u pittiui hseiO
moan. Then the box grated down the
sides of the grave, and the voice of the
minister rose up in the great silence,
reading frsm the verse which says:
@But now is Christ risen from the
dead"
From their wagons coming down the
hill had come the miners in their shirt
sleeves and o~veralls, and they stood
with uncovered heads and listened to
the first prayer they had heard in
many days. So we buried him there
on the mesa and we all came down to
the town and each called for his favor
lite drink. Within fifteen minutes after
the clods ha4fallen into the grave the
roulette wheel and the bank which had
for the time been deserted, were again
in operation.
"Yes, that came king, seven, you
lose," and then turning to the lookout:
This Teller gave us a good talk, didn't
hep God Almighty, but this packs
full of sevens."
And from the other side of the room:
"Twenty-one, black, high, odd" IN
a monotonous chant-and to a player
ayes, I'd like TO have the opal BOD
wore"
So the day went By. And the trag-
edv was ended.