The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-07-22
TWO VERY BAD MEN
THEY WE'RE TYPES OF THE OLD
DEAD SHOTS IN WYOMING.
swOre vto Kill Each other on Sight
and Their Dead Bodies Found in
the Road Together.


You must remember, gentlemen. that
not one in fifty of the stories Of gun play
that came out of the West has any foun-
dation in fact. Most of them, very nearly
all Of them. are pure fancy"
1t was Col. George Barry started again
in his experiences on the frontier.
Now in all the time that I sta
toned in Wyoming Territory" he went
on, 81 met only two men who might real
ly be called bad men, that is, men who
were not only willing to shoot when they
got into trouble. but who rather preferred
trouble of that sort and were frequently
on the lookout for it. Both of them were
master hands with six-shooter, and
neither could quite comprehend what allied
a who was ever afraid of anything.
Each had done murder. Neither would ad-
nit it. of course. Both would contend that
they had shot in fair fight, and the dead
men had had just as good a chance as
themselves. But everybody knew that
wasn't so.
zone of these men, Ducello, bad
horse man. That is. it was his business
to break broncos He went about from
ranch TO ranch and tackled the ponies that
the cowboys didn't have time to work
made him reckless, and then again proba-
bly, it was his natural recklessness that led
him to adopt that business. Ducello was
the quickest man with a SiX-ShoOter / ever
saw, although Hyde-the other bad man
had the reputation of being the swiftest
manipulation of a gun in all Wyoming l
once saw Ducello do a little fancy shoot
ing. 1t was in the days before Cook had
taraShed tAe sioux several tlmes across
Nebraska and we were kept pretty busy.
l had only couple of bars my Shout
ders then, instead of these eagles y small
detachment was sent under my command
to do some scouting over toward the Big
Horn country DucellO went along as a
guide. He knew every foot of the country.
1t seemed If he could tell where he
in the dark.
PLUNKED A RATTLESNAKE.
''WeI, one day as we were riding along
we ran pretty close to a big rattlesnake.
The RATHER always fights fair, you know.
He never strikes until he has given warn
ing, unless you get so close before he sees
you that he hasn't time to do anything
but strike. This fellow coled himself up
and ratified. Ducello noticed him just as
We came even with him. Without checking
his horse in the least the bad horse break
er pulled his gun, and, with what seemed
TO be the same motion, shot. The bullet
his horse and pulled off the old fellows
rattles. There were twelve of them besides
But L started out to tell you of the
fight between DucellO and Hyde. AS |
said; each had done murder The first man
tween Sydney and the Black Hills. There
was dance one night at a road house
and Hyde went. He had some trouble with
another COWBOY, and the fellow threatened
TO shoot him. Hyde was a peaceabe enough
fellow then and didn't pay much attention
at first to the other cowboys threats. But
when they had been repeated several times
HYDE
of the road house and got a Winchester.
Why he didn't use his SiX-sh0oter | don't
the dining room, where they dancing.
and, walking up to the man who had
threatened him. he said
shooting all night, and you haven't done
= thing. Now Pm going to shoot
and shot the Cowboy squareiy through the
heart OF course, the other fellow had time
enough to PTi his gun wi while Hyde was
it quick enough. Hyde said he was white
liyered.
ferent sort of fight. a Michigan man named
Sandy Miller had located a claim in the
middle of one of the finest ranges of the
Sweetwater OF course he had a legal
right to do so, but you couldn't persuade
the ranchmen with anything but bullets
that he had any moral right where he was.
So they sent party of cowboys up to run
along. 1t happened that Miller didn't look
with favor on the running-out process and
he had a, man working for him who was
similarly minded. Ducello told me about
it afterward.
OLD SANDY MILLER.
"There was me- he said, AN a fellow
from Laramie with yellow chaps that
couldn't ride much, an another fellow,
forget his name. but his alias was Bull
whack Bill. L guess he'd been a freighter
! somewheres. Anyhow, they was us three
! an couple more felers, an was jest
goin' to fire Sandy Miller p. d. q. But we
didn't. He wouldn't fire. We cleaned him
out instead, and he and his hired man
nearly claned us out doin' it. We got up
home. He came out TO meet us with a
Winchester, an his hired man stood in
we was after Without our sayin' a word
You fellers," he says, don't run
none Of your :, = wizzies on me-; a.. he says.
| and let's silver. He took old Bullwhack
| Bill pretty fair. and it got plain there was
9 9Se to % W Wy "' ways. We'll when e7i he
| shot, of course l got out my gun an be-
gan to talk some myself They was con-
| Miller's hired man was pretty handy with
| a Winchester himself He worked her
Eastern any man 1 ever. seen. Somebody
| knocked Miller over, an 1 thought il
| wouldn't be just square not to save the
hired man trouble; so | gave him one that
A
| thing | did, too, for the Laramie man, with
| the yellow chaps, and Bullwhack Bill and
| one of the other fellows was done up
| 'Wen," said the Colonel, lighting a fresh
cigar that was the kind of men Hyde and
Ducello WERE and it was evident that if
| they ever crossed each other the shooting
| would not be as long drawn out as accu-
| rate. They crossed That seems to be the
| inevitable when two bad men really have
nerve So many bad men are just buffers
and DULLES, you know, that you can hard
| ly tell what any one of them really means
to do. L don't know as L ever heard Just
| exactly what did start the row between
| them. Professional jealousy, most likely.
| Maybe Ducello sneered about Hyde'S es-
cape from a mad steer 1t was at a round
| up and Hyde got off his pony TO throw a
| steer another cowboy had roped. He started
| in but the other fellows rope broke and
| the steer charged Hyde. Hyde dropped his
| own rope pulled his gun, shot once at the
! steer and dropped to the ground to avoid
| the steers rush if he missed But it don't
| that there would be some of the quickest
| and ceanest shooting when Hyde and Du-
| cello met that the world ever saw. Well,
| they met, and there was shooting. But no
| man alive is going to tell just exactly
| how il occurred.
THE FATAL SHOT.
"Ducello was breaking a bunch of broncos
for the OK outfit. Hyde was in Cheyenne.
| 1t happened that on the afternoon on which
| Hyde started for Little IVA, Ducello took
| ii into his head to ride TO Cheyenne. That
evening their ponies came up the lane to
the OK ranch together but without riders.