The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-24
HE WAS A QUICK SHOOTER.
Dallas studemeyer, City Marshal Of
the Toughest Town in Texas.


the Toughest Town in Texas.
From the New York sun.
'of the famous quck-shooting city mar
shals who have held down the hard west
ern towns. Dallas studemeyer ranked
among the foremost" said a southwest
ern railroad man. "He was tall. thin and
wiry. a dead shot. and man OF great
courage and resolution. II was in 1882.
when. in the sudden boom following the
completion of the Southern Pacific rail-
road. El Paso was the toughest town in
Texas, that he held the marshalship of
the place and kept the lawless element
in check. Professional bad men who came
there to run the town didn't get along
very far in their undertaking while he
was marshal. He came to Eel Paso with
the reputation OF a man not to be trihed
with. but after he took charge OF the po-
Icing Of the town, he none the less found
plenty OF men eager to try Il on with
the new marshal and see for themselves
what stun he was made Of, Few of them
survived the experiment.
Ills first serious encounter after taking
office came close on the heels OF his ap-
pointment. A Southern Pacific employe,
a personal friend Of the marshal told me
that Studemeyer, meeting him In tho
street one day. asked for the loan of his
pistol for a short time.
why. you big, overgrown Dutchman.
said the friend, you've got two six-shoot-
ers strapped to you now. What do you
want of more pistols?
% That's all right returned the mar
shall The boys are In town to-day to do
me mp, and If we get to shooting, and 1
happen to want another pistol, 'twouldn't
be handy to have to 20 all over town to
find a man to lend me one.
so the pistol was borrowed, and Stude-
meyer walked down the street. He'd bare
ly turned the corner out OF sight. when
shooting began. and there was a lively
cracking away for a minute or two. When
things seemed to have Quilted down. the
friend went 10 the place to see what had
been going on. The marshal was standing
on the sidewalk with one or two of his
deputies about him, and three dead men
were lying In the street
Round the corner Studemeyer had
found the boys waiting for him. headed
by a particular enemy Of his, a former
city marshal. The buildings bordering the
street we're fronted. after the Mexican
fashion, by portales. sort OF piazza
roofs extending across the sidewalk and
supported by large wooden pillars at the
outer edge. This leader. stepping from
behind a pillar. pulled a double-barrelled
The marshall lodged the fiash--it sounds
strange TO say that a man could be so
quick as that, but I'm using the southwes-
tern term for what he did; he wasn't hit
anyhow-and the next instant his pistol
got I'm its deadly work on the man with
the shotgun. The gang. at the example
of their leader had set to shooting at
Studemeyer, who with his back against
the building faAed them and kept his piss
tolls going until the crowd broke and ran.
The wall of the house was pierced with
bullets all about the place where he stood,
but he received only one wound. a shot
in the heel.
but though order relgned In Eel Paso
while Dallas Studemeyer was city mar
shall, his position was a dangerous and
thankless one, and the attempts to assassi-
nate him were too numerous for safe and
comfortable living. Perhaps the closest
call that he had in this way in returning
home late one night. He had nearly
reached his house when some one secreted
behind low adobe wall let drive at him
with both barrels of a shotgun. The as
sassin's aim was bad and the marshal was
not hit, but In telling of the occurrence
afterward Studemeyer confessed that he
was startled.
" I reckon jumped six feet in the air,
and fetched yell that you could have
heard across the river he said. Then /
emptied my revolver al the place in the
wall where the shots came from. / pep
pered the spot pretty well, but, of course.
didn't get anybody, for the fellow had
fired and run.
I'm the death Of Doc Cummings, his
chief deputy, Studemeyer got his most Sc
rious set-b back in Ell Paso. Cummings was a
desperate man, whose private reputation
was none too good, but his nerve and
faithfulness to his chief could be depend
f..NH.
by marriage, I believe Cummings had
been across the river in Mexico on a
pleasure trip. and was keeping up his fes-
tivities in El Paso after his return. He
went into a saloon for drink of whisky
and was walking Que when some one be-
him fired a shotgun through a wicket
window opening from a rear room, per-
forating him with slugs, and Doc Cum
mings fell dead at the threshold. BY his
death Studemeyer lost his right-hand man,
leaving him an easier mark for his adver-
saries.
Later, about the middle Of the sum-
mer, Studemeyer fell at outs with the
city council His official downfall came
when, on a certain Saturday evening, he
walked into the weekly session of the
board with his pistols on, and, without
the Formally of an invitation, proceeded
to give his opinion of that assembly in
language forceful and unfavorable. He
ended by rendering his resignation and
marching out of the room. But he was
out for trouble that night and kept
the gait up. He held a grudge against
the three Manning brothers. and he went
from the council room down to their
dance and variety show hall and arrested
a man upon the stage In the midst OF a
performance, as a graceful closing act Of
his official career.
with the relentless enemies he had
made Eel Paso was a very unsafe place
for Studemeyer TO stay in after he ceased
to hold the city marshalship. After the
killing of Doc Cummings he had taken to
drinking a great DEAL which, with the
danger he constantly lived under, was
beginning to affect his nerves. Under
such conditions a shooting man makes
an easy mark for enemies. Realizing the
fact in time, he left El Paso the next
week and came TO New Mexico"
--Rawlinson, the famous Babylonlan au-
thority on cuneiform inscriptions was not
a graduate Of any college or university