The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1893-01-28
HATS OFF TO A rsNpeaeoor.


ne West Makes Doe Acknowledges
10 . M. Payne from the East.
One by one the roses fade. The
gentle tenderfoot from the distant
east, whose doings in our western
country have been subject for ridi-
cnle, exaggeration and entertain
ment, suddenly turns the tables on
his calumniators. We have all heard
Of his listening wide mouthed to the
startling stories concocted by the
wild westerner; of his being made to
dance to the music of the fretful
six shooter; Ut the innumerable Jokes
Of which he has been made the butt;
Of the joshing and joking he has ever
been subjected to; of the ridiculous
appearance he has made in the pres
ence Of the cowboys, the brawny
miner and the breezy denizens Of the
boundless prairie. Always q guy,
usually coward and generally .
nerveless dude. the tenderfoot from
east of the Mississippi has been the
plaything and the shuttlecock Of our
worthy and self reliant citizens.
But suddenly all this Il changed,
and the tenderfoot blossoms out to
be '''as mild a hammered man as ever
scuttled ship or cut throat" Short
ly after the witching hour of mid
night a train was held up on the
Union Pacific, between this city and
Cheyenne. Three masked robbers,
looking like the heavy villains in the
fourth act of the average melodrama,
suddenly entered the coaches with
glittering pistols cooked. and hoarsely
demanded that every passenger hold
up his hands. The train was filled
with cowboys, Indians, typical west
erners and blooded men from Mon
tana. They glanced at the murder
GUS guns Of the robbers, listened to
the fierce demand and sullenly
obeyed. All but one poor. lone ten
derfoot, from away back east, who
instead OF needing the call of the
thugs and thieves simply pulled his
pistol and began, alone and single
handed, such a murderous, steady
and lively fire on the three masked
holdups that one Of them fell before
the volley of cold lead, while his
companions amazed and mortified,
picked him up and FASTENED from
the scene.
Immediately following their de-
parture the valiant cowboys, In.
dams and bad men" from Butte
became intensely brave, grabbed
their pistols and talked losidly for an
hour or SO about following the
scoundrels and hanging them to the
nearest tree Meanwhile of course
the holdups escaped INTO the noun
tains. doubtless very wroth at the
white faced youth from the east
who had wounded unto death one Of
their fellows and prevented one of
the neatest and richest robberies Of
the age. it being understood that
several of the passengers had with
them at the time large amounts Of
what is known as the stuff"
We rather regret that the action
Of Mr.. Payne brushes to earth an
idol we long have cherished. That
be alone and single handed should
scatter the wild western robbers,
while his terrified fellow passengers
got under the seats and lodged out
Of sight of murderous muzzles, sets
at defiance our preconceived notion
Of the genus tenderfoot- He is clear.
ly an iconoclast. He violates all
western tradition. If he or his kind
repeats the instance related many
more times, we shall begin to cherish
a sneaking regard for the hopeful
and brainy young fellow who comes
out to our Rocky mountain region in
search of fame and fortune, and
glance somewhat askance at the loud
voiced. leather breeched and jaunty
native who alleges that he keeps his
own private graveyard, but who is
frequently behind a tree when the
bullets are thiclsest Colorado Sun.