St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-04-08
daring than usual, and the booty amounted

would go into jail themselves the thieves
would be secured. There was good deal of
talk among the partisans on the streets and
about nine o'clock as one of the stars of the
variety stage at the Bird Cage was doing her
fine work the Behans applauded her. The
Earps on the other side of the hall, Kissed.
All of sudden shots were exchanged ana
the ball opened.
Johnny Behan and Jack Ringo were sitting
in box on the east side of the house. On
the knees of each sat one of the linnets of the
cage. The Earps were on the other side.
Dolly Adams, a new arrival from San Fran
cisco, whose reputation had preceded her,
was singing on the stage 1t happened that
the night before she had gone to supper with
a bosom friend of Jack Ringo's and of
course, this made her a foe of the Earps.
The rustlers cheered her efforts and the
stage robbers groaned her. The Behan peo-
pie made some remarks about the singer not
being on the inside of stage robberies, and
the carp people answered that the stage rob-
bers, with all their faults, were never mean
enough to be appreciated by Behan. While
these remarks were being exchanged Ned
Curtis, one of the carp faction, was leaning
back in his chair and his boots, spurred and
muddied, rested on the slender parapet. All
at once Curley Bill lost patience, pulled his
gun and bullet went through the foot of
Curtis. This was the signal for shooting.
The men in the boxes turned loose on each
other. The hail below was crowded, and as
the shooting began there was a rush for the
door. The actors who were aligned with the
factions according to their jealousies, took a
hand in the proceedings. Pistols kept pop
ping for twelve minutes, and then the rustlers
found themselves in possession of the house.
When the smoke cleared away twelve dead
men and seven badly wounded, representing
both sides, were found Among the wounded
was Barshall Williams, the agent of the ex-
press company.
Williams was badly wounded, and DIR. Nc
Sheedy told him he was going to die. Under
the shadow OF death, as he supposed, he
made full confession. He told that there
was a partnership between himself and the
Earps, and that as agent of the express COM
pany he gave away to the Earps all the big
consignments. The Earps ran Tombstone
and the stages. They were the thieves, and
they were chosen to capture the thieves. In
the fulfilment Of both positions they did their
duty well. Wyatt carp, when Williams made
his confession, was on a hunt for the robbers
in the surrounding hills. When he returned
he heard of Williams confession and imme-
diately prepared to defend himself. Behan,
the sheriff. was sustained by the Clantons
McLowrys and Ringo. leading spirits among
the rustlers, and the Earps, with their fol-
lowers, armed and prepared to resist. The
Earps were sustained by the Republicans and
the Republican Governor of the Territory and
by the Republican Administration at Wash
ington. The President was induced by Re-
publican representations in Arizona to issue
proclamation ordering the cowboys to dis
perse and go to their homes in peace. The
cowboys were in reality the posse the sheriff
had summoned to arrest the stage robbers.
The presidential proclamation, however, had
the effect of making the criminals the law
officers and the law officers the disturbers of
the peace, and Notwithstanding the revela-
ton of Williams the Earps continued to lord
it over Tombstone.
But only for time. One day the Mellow
rvs and Frank Stillwen rode into town and
put up their horses at a corral on Fremont
street. Just as they emerged from the corral
the Earps and Halliday confronted them, and
in a minute the two McLowrys, Billy Clanton
and Stillwell were dead. Word was sent to
their friends, who were camped in the Hua-
ehuca Mountains, and they prepared to march
to Tombstone in force to clean out the Earps
The Earps recruited and fortified in an adobe
building in the west end of the town. The
rustlers, thirty strong, under command of
Ike Clanton and Jack Ringo, marched to
town and took up headquarters in a corral
at the extreme end of the town. Here were
the honest people of Tombstone between the
hostile camps, but Tombstone went right
along about its business and rather enjoyed
the sensation. The saloons and gambling
houses did thriving business twenty-four
hours daily. The banks were open, and in
the evening, four mines were operated by
5000 hardy workman, and more than ! 900
men and 800 mules were engaged hauling ore
from the mines to the reduction mills at Con-
tention, eight miles distant The rustlers
circulated through the town, and the carp,
or stage robber faction, confined themselves
to their camp. Ike Clanton, the rustler
leader, sent several messages to Wyatt carp
the leader of that faction, daring him to come
out and show his nose. carp sent back in
vitations to Clanton to come and visit him.
This thing continued for three days, and at
last the Earps began to get tired in fact,
their liquor was exhausted and they were on
the verge of thirst famine. Warren carp
one of the brothers, heeled himself properly
with two revolvers and shotgun and walked
up town one evening about s o'clock. He
walked into saloon, took drink at the bar
and walked back to the faro department in
the rear. He hadn't bucked the tiger in FIVE
days and his appetite was whetted. He sat
down in front of the dealer, pulled out a
handful of $50 gold pieces and coppered the
queen. Just as he did so.a report was heard,
and Warren carp fell off his stool dead. A
bullet had penetrated his brain. When the
report of his death reached his friends they
rallied out in force. They were met by the
Clanton party on the street and an exchange
Of shots took place. The casualties were
meagre-only three killed and two wounded.
The Earps retreated and left the town. When
they had gone and there was no hope of
catching them the sheriff became energetic.
He organized posses to give pursuit that sub
sequently cost the taxpayers of the county
$1,000. The Earps being absent the sympa-
thy of course, was against them. The rust
lers then had supreme command of thetough
element of Tombstone.
The leader of the gang Ike Clanton, was
handsome fellow, six feet high, with yellow,
curling locks, and complexion, in spite of
the Arizona sun and regular exposure that
belle would envy. He was ready and straight
shooter. He faced death death hundred
times and met it at last. He hated the carp
brothers with all the intensity of an Ilnhri-