The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-05-23
TWO DUELS TO THE DEATH.
FOUGHT BY DEsPERADOES IN FIT.
BENTON's PALMY DAYS.
The Mexican HnIf-Breed Killed His
Man with His Teeth-GeOrge Ross
and "LittIe" Edgar Fought as Long
rs Life Remained and Died To-
gether.


In 1878. FIT. Benton. Mont. was a
nervous, sleepless, busy town. 1t was
playing to the limit 1t was the entrepot
for all the goods that came into and
went from an empire of unsettled terri
tory. 1t was at the head of navigation
on the Missouri river and it still holds
that geographical distinction, unimpor-
tant now because there is no more bust
ness for navigators. From it's hills were
dusty trails marked with flying coaches
and the canvas-covered wagons Of slow
moving bull trains. Its levees were piled
high with goods for waiting steamers
beneath; its streets were lined with min
ers, adventures. gamblers, traders. and
that restless society that seek new chimes
for reasons best known 10 itself. And
so it was until the iron march of the To-
connective crossed the valleys and tun-
nelled the hills and left new centers OF
commerce in it's wake
Now Fl. Benton is but a grim and
hopeless shadow Of its former glory.
Sand bars removed by the government
at the cost of millions again stretch their
muddy lines TO the sunshine The reign
of that autocrat, the river pilot, is lost
III the lONC u the Ol0 IlIneIS- A steam
boat is as rare. sight as one of the
dark and billowy herds of buffalo that
quenched their thirst at the river banks.
They-the few who are left where hun
dreds worked-will tell you that some
day the people, like the lost tribes of
israel viii return to FIT. Benton. You
will not believe it. You will see only
pitiful evidence of decay Along the
levee is FrOnt-st., once a real thorough
fare OF trade, and now a grass-grown
lane. At one end is the old Overland
hotel, two-story structure of logs split
and whitewashed to give color and finish
to the interior and rough hewn without
TO tell the passing tourist Of the common
architecture in the Overlands best days.
1t was a famous inn, and its dust-worn
walls were the background for startling
scenes. In the bar-rOOm, an apartment
that combined the hotel office, reading
room, and wash-room, took place many
gun fights between the best known des-
peradoes Of the country, political
speeches from early politicians, and such
gambling as would make the games now
adays seem as dull as jack straws or
dominoes.
1t was in this historic room of the
Overland that two famous dueIs were
started in one day between four men
as nervy and determined as ever drew
guns on the frontier. They were George
Ross, Little" Edgar Erwin, John T.
Roger, better known as Aces Up" and
half-breed Mexican monte dealer. Man
uel, or The California GreaseT." All
were gamblers and thoroughbred fighters
of class now fast disappearing. Ross
had come from Colorado a few years be-
fore with well-grounded reputation as
a bad man. He was known 10 have
turned several graveyards into business
centers, and was the friend Of under
takers and sections. Erwin was a man
of the same class, of quieter Opposition
a Hacr ar-ots H. fc1fr
build, extremely nervous and as quick
and active as a mountain lion. Rogers
and THE California Greaser'' We're rep
resentatives of two types of fighters,
common enough in the West, but dis
tinct from each other The former was
a clustering bully, who claimed to have
killed many men that never existed; the
greaser" was a cowardly, treacherous
fellow, who would fight, but like most
Spanish-American desperadOes preferred
to kill his men from behind in the seclu-
sion Of dark alley.
Ross and Little" Edgar were fine ex-
amples of men afflicted with a mania
for gun fighting, a mania which no stu
dent of mental disorders seems capable
of Analysing. They fought for the fun
of 1t, or for that underlined love of eX-
element which impels men to fight with
out such causes as sensible men would
deem sufficient. They were close friends
until that fatal day in the Overlands
bar-room, because they had been asso-
ciated for years as partners in faro
games from Arkansas to the Pacific
coast. They were, moreover, men of
keen perception and well versed in that
knowledge of humanity which successful
gamblers must acquire. They had little
in common with other gamblers of from
tier sports, aside from the exchange of
faro chips for gold dust. They were
sometimes accused of establishing a
gambling aristocracy, but they We're al
ways respected Each had almost super
human quickness with a gun. 1t was
said that Ross was once marked as a
victim by a gang of Texas cutthroats.
and that the plan Of attack seemed to
give him about as much chance as a
yellow dog would have fighting troop
of cavalry. An eX-ranger named Jack
Hosford was to have the first crack at
him, because he and Rose had a row
over the smiles of a Mexican donna The
fingers of the rangers left hand re-
manned as souvenirs of the occasion.
Women had caused many rows for Ross.
They were attracted by his tall. stalwart
figure and finely cut face, and as a mat
ter of course, trouble followed
One evening Ross was behind the bar
of his gambling house in San Antonio
chatting with friends when half dozen
of the rangers friends came in and
scattered about the room Five minutes
later HoSford came in unobserved. Sud
denly ne stepped from behind a screen
at the door, ind. without a word Of
warning. fired his six-shooter over the
bar pOint-blank at Ross. By a marvel
Gus scratch he missed, though the two
men were only three feet apart. Before
he could fire again Ross had snatched
two guns from the sink beneath the bar
and set them going in two directions. In
a flash he had read the plot to as
sassinate him. The ranger fell back dead
at the first shot, and then the guns were
Snorting fire and smoke at his friends,
who were shooting from all points of the
compass at the man behind the bar.
When the clouds of battle Were cleared
five men were lying dead on the floor
and Ross was sitting in chair tying a
handkerchief around a bleeding arm It
is small wonder that his word was law
afterward.
The friendship between Ross and
Little" Edgar was formed under cir
cumstances similar to this adventure.
Edgar was playing bank in ROss's
house one evening, when four drunken
Mexican vaqueros insisted on interrupt
ing the game by stealing Edgar's checks.
They protested when ordered out by
Ross, and when Edgar intimated that
the fight was his own they drew their
knives and started for him. Ross was
knocked down and would doubtless have
been killed if Edgar had not laid out his
Mexican assailants in one two, three
order
The real western gun fighter, man,
for instance, like Bat Masterson of Col
orado George Thomson of Billings