The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-22
A TARGET FOR BAD MEN,
RUT NEVER A BULLET HAD HIT THE
SHERIFF. or OURAY.
Dealings That the sheriff Had with
DeSperadOes I'm the Early Days

Dealings That the Sheriff Had With
DeSperadOes I'm the Early Days.
Denver Correspondence Chicago News.
Sheriff Jesse Benton of Ouray was in
town last week. and 1t was thought that
he had como to secure assistance in case
the striking miners attempted to make
trouble for the Mssourians imported by
the managers of the Vlrginus mine to
take the places of the men who had cult
work. But Sheriff Benton soon set that
| matter straight.
There will be no trouble in our county,"
said he in his quiet. easy way, FOR l told
| the boys l didn't want no fuss and they
| know l mean what l say. One day l got
| telephone message from the foreman uf
| at the mine that the men had gone cut
| and he wanted me to bring up all the dep
| uties / could gather to prevent trouble. /
| saddled up my horse, took a couple of
| deputies along for company, and went
up on the side of Mount Sneffles. The
| miners had gone to their lodging houses
| and were quiet enough when l arrived.
| Next morning the foreman sent word to
the lodging houses for the miners to line
| up in front of the office, a he wanted to
| make them a speech, The men came down
| and | stood alongside while the talk was
| going on. The foreman told the men that
| of the property in Denver TO tell the men
| to go back to work again, and that all
| would be lovely, or as many as wanted
| TO quit might call for their time. Their
| grievance was that the two shift bosses
| had Cussed them too much, and they
| struck to obtain the discharge of those
| two men. After the speech they asked for
| htteen minutes 20 discuss the matter,
| which was granted. Then they sent Up
from the lodging houses committee Of
three who reported that everybody would
| go out on strike, and that they would hit
the trail for Ouray shortly; but they want
| ed TO take the two shift bosses along
with them. Then l spoke up. 1 told
the committee to tell the miners that the
two shift bosses were with me at the Of
| flee and for them TO come and get the
men: But suggested that all who came
| would not get away again; and so they
dropped the idea of taking the shift
bosses along. They went down to Ouray
| and organized a union, and then most OF
| them got out of the camp They had
lived too long IN Ouray, anyway, and had
good"
No one to look at sheriff Benton and
hear him talk with a slight drawl would
imagine him to be man of extraordinary
| courage. But he has a reputation for
nerve and accuracy in the use Of firearms
| and cool judgment in times of excitement
| equalled by few men In the west.
! II don't find any difference in my shoot
ing" said he in response to question, Il
| can shoot pretty straight yet, though
| there are not so many occasions now to
| exercise my skill as when / drst came
west. Game is not so plentiful, and there
are not so many bad men ready to dis
| play their nerve. In the early days, be-
| fore a man could be recognized as a des-
perado, he had to be pretty, quick with
had twenty-one bullets fired at me at very
close range by bad men In my time, but
l don't carry a single lead mark to show
| or course, that is not all the bullets that
have been fired at me, but all the rest
came at long range and don't count.
but never gave them more show than
| was absolutely necessary. Singularly
enough, too, l have always had plenty
of witnesses TO my shooting scrapes-
sometimes as many as several hundred at
| a time-and / never shot a man except
was justified in killing him.
MY father trained all his boys to ham
| die guns in our home in Chenango county,
| New York. We were taught how TO load
and how 20 fire, and he always accompa-
| MED us or sent an older brother along I'M
| III he was certain that we knew how to
| do IT, After one of us Boys could bring
down squirrel every time we aimed at
| one, then we were permitted TO shoot at
mark and go II alone. | came to Colo
RADIO in 1860, and was in the mines until
the war broke out, when came to Denver
| and enlisted with the Colorado volunteers
| / didn't go to the front, but was put to
| work TO recruit men to I'LL the regiment
| that was forming to march against the
| Indians out on the plains. Recruits came
| in too slowly to suit the colonel, and mar
tial law was declared so as to get more
soldiers. l went out on the street with
| six deputies, armed with twelve guns, and
| whenever we met man walking along,
| no matter who he was, we swore him
right in gave him gun and made him
| fall into line. As soon as the six guns
had been distributed to new recruits we
! marched them TO headquarters, got six
more guns. and went out again. In a
| short time we had enough men to fill
| the regiment, and there was no more DIFF
! ficulty in keeping the ranks filed after
! that.
After the war I held a post on the Dem
| yer police force and had plenty Of fighting
| scrapes with tough citizens. When the
| Kansas Pacific railroad was building west
| II was pretty difficult 10 find a quiet town
| along the road. So many men had a pre-
/ JUDGE against dying I'M bed that IL kept
| the peace officers busy trying to plea se
| them. one day a message came from the
| town Of KIT Carson asking for a man to
| take the place Of town marshal, which had
/ been suddenly made vacant and 1 took
the Job. After had been there but a short
| time I discovered that the leader of trou-
| BILE was the county judge and very soon
| had him quiet IN jail. Then ] found that
| the justice of the peace was the next man
| ! needed He lived a short way out of
| town, and armed with a warrant. went
| there alone TO arrest him. He was eating
breakfast when called, but told him not
| 20 hurry, as / could wait, and | sat down.
| When he had finished his meal he got up
and went 20 small stand, but before he
| could get out his gun / had the drop on
| him, and suggested that II he wanted his
gun TO 60 along would carry II for him;
| He consented 20 that arrangement and
went to fail without any fuss. or course
| 1 had 20 do some shooting, Just to prove
| that / meant business; but quiet was soon
restored.
II followed along the Union Pacific 20
| all the tough towns and kept things quiet
| for the people who wanted TO sleep nights.
| / had a mob 10 handle at Piedmont one
| day who wanted TO lynch man, but when
| they saw that l was not IN the game they
| took me az my word and did not try 70
/ argue the matter long. IL seems that n
/ wagon-master Of q freighting train got
| into a quarrel with a tie chopper over a
| game OF cards, and the wagon-master
| the side Of the head with a six-shooter,
| cutting a small vein, which bed SO profuse-
~ lnut WI eiy ~ " .oau t,idt VI ~
| men from the camp In town that day, and
| they started out TO lynch, the wagon-frias-
| ter Come on, Benton they called to me-.
| La I a