The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-12-02
Saturday. December ,. 1898.
l.

The man from the states" who comes
out to Montuna. on a visit. feels it Il
bounden duty to bring back a few hard
stories. not with the intention of mali
ciously misrepresenting the community
he has been in. but more probably to
bear witness to the fact that he has been
in a aead tough place and lives TO tell of
it. These remarks are induced by IA
racy item found in the St. Paul Dispatch
which we reproduce below. Dur read
ers who are familiar with the details of
both incidents referred to will note how
skillfully they have been dressed up to
convey the impression that the people of
the muzzles of guns and that well
known citizens" are in the habit Of max
ing periodical raids for stuff" We
have our share of this sort of lawless.
ness. we will admit, but no more. Not
withstanding that Miles City is on the
frontier and naturally the resort for
'.ba-a-d men," We believe hat it will size
up favorably on a years clean up OF
wlckedness with the best and most moral
Of them.
We do not feel hostile to the gentle
tleman who gave these stories to the st.
Paul paper. because We feel that they
were not told in a malicious way, but
simply to add to the glamour OF their
trip out west And here is what they
say:
r. A. Austin. one of the proprietors of
the Ross hotel in Chicago. is at the
Sherman today on his way home from
Montana. where he has been enjoying a
deer hunt with a party of friends. -Four
Of them left Miles City with a four
horse team and two saddle horses and
plenty provisions and ammunition and
went out across the Yellowstone river to
Lodge Pole. where in three days they
killed thirty-one deer and two antelopes.
They happened to strike a local ty where
the Indians had not been limiting and
where the game was thick. Mr.. Austin
says that the old ranchmen all over
Montana predict an open winter, on ac-
count of it having set in so early. They
N2k IudI NltIe d "lhtCl oCSlu III W.
vember il is not apt to be SO cold. nor is
there likely TO be nearly so much
as when winter does not set in until at
ter the holidays. While he was stopping
in Miles City. Mr.. Austin saw several
illustrations of the desperate straits to
which some men have been driven out
there to obtain money. and the foolish
methods they employed when they
started out as highwaymen. One man
who had been in Miles City for three
months walked into a saloon. and. call
ing the proprietor into II of the prl-
yate rooms. presented a gun to his head
and told him he wanted money. The
proprietor had zone on his person. so
the bartender was called in aud required
to produce what he could find. Then
the man put his gun in his pocket and
started to walk out IT the store. lie
had not gone ten steps before the bar
tender knocked him on tie head aud
when he came 10 his Senses two hours
later he was safely lodged III jail and af
ter a very short trial was sentenced to
five years in the peniteGtlary. \ short
time after a well known resident Of the
city who bad his family there walked
into a hardware store where he was we'll
acquainted and asked 10 see SOME resol-
yers Of a certain make. He selected one
and asked for enough ammunition TO
load it. He quietly loaded the gun and
then presenting the muzzle TO the pro.
prietor told him tohand out what money
be had on hand. All that could be
mustered was So. The woula-be rob
Der remarked that this WAS hardly
enough to justify a haul of this kind.
and. taking the cartridges out Of the
gun. laid if and the money down on the
and walked out. He got four
years.