Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1897-08-28
The STORY Telter.
TUCSON'S GAMEST man.
Exciting Career of Jim Dupree, a
Kentucky "Tenderfsot."
Special Correspondence of Globe-Democrat.

Special Correspondence of Globe-Democrat
"Speaking of bad men from Bite
Creek" said Colonel David Alston, o
Arizona, at the Holman House, las
night, 81 knew a young fellow in Tue
son in the early days of that towI
who was my ideal of bad man.
don't mean he was one of those fellow!
who are always locking for trouble
in fact, he was almost always trying
to keep out of trouble, but he was
chap who, when forced to fight, sho'
first, and never talked about it after
ward. He's dead now, poor fellow
His life has never been written, ano
there is no monument to his memory
but when he passed in his checks the
men of Tuscon gave him the biggest
funeral that town ever saw.
"Jim Dupree was the name OF this
particular bad man, and he came from
somewhere in Kentucky. The title o.
'Rattlesnake jim was conferred on
him shortly after his arrival in the
territory, owing to a circumstance
which I am going to relate, and the
name stuck to him to the end. 1t was
an appropriate one, too, for, like the
rattlesnake, he was harmless until
aroused, and then he was death to
anything that crossed his path.
"Tuscon was only frontier village
or camp when Dupree arrived there
Talk about tenderfeet ! He was the
greatest specimen of the class 1 ever
saw. He was about 20 years old al
the time, with face as smooth as
girls and blue eyes that look milo
enough until he was aroused, and then
they could fash blue fire. His whole
life until he left Kentucky had beer
passed on a farm, and, really, ne die
not know enough to 60 in when il
rained. He would accept any sort o
a wild yarn as gospel truth; in fact
he was too ignorant to distrust any
body.
"The fellow had left home with
few silver dollars in his pocket and {
change of clothing tied up in hand
kerchief, to seek his fortune in tht
west. 1t was accident, suppose, tina
led him to Tuscon, as he had no def
mite idea of where he wanted to 60 OF
what he was going to do when he go
there.
Gas soon as he struck town the boys
gathered him in. They had no end O
fun with him for a time. He appar
emily did not know enough to get II
out of a cyclone. Some of us were
sorry for him, and tried to help hin
out, but instead of appreciating oul
efforts he seemed to take kindly to ths
rough fellows who were all the time
playing pranks on him.
"He did not have gun, and such
thing as showing fight when the joke:
were rough apparently never entered
his head. For week the boys hao
fun with him, and then, as they were
getting tired of it, they decided to gel
rid of him. When Dupree finally
made up his mind that he would 60 te
work, and began to make inquiries
about places to prospect, the boys pu'
up a final job on him. They sent him
out to some wild hills about 80 miles
away, where no one had ever beer
able to find any paying ore, and tht
whole country was overrun with rat
tlesnakes and Apache Indians.
"Some of US tried to warn him, pu
he would not listen to our advice. W.
did induce him, however, to buy ois
tol and a rifle before he started out or
the foolhardy prospecting tour, from
which no one expected him to return
alive.
"The boys who induced him to g
out told him to come in at the end o
a week for a fresh supply of provi
sions and to report his success. Ther
they fred parting salute, and two o
the bullets from their pistols wen
through his hat brim but he did no
seem to mind that in the least.
"a week passed, and Jim did not re
turn. No word had come from him
and by the middle of the next week
the boys were sure that he had faller
a victim to the rattlesnakes or the In
dians. But at the suggestion OF Bill
Atkins, who remarked that luck rare
ly deserted fool, it was decided tt
send out searching party to make
sure of the fate of the young tender
foot. A score of the boys who were
loafing around town volunteered fo'
the expedition. A days ride brough
us to the hills, where we supposed
Dupree had started in to prospect
We camped for the night, and early
next morning started out to look TO-
the trail.
DEAD RATTLESNAKES.
"In an hour we began to find deac
rattlesnakes. There had been lon@
spell of dry hot weather, and that hac
brought the reptiles out of their den'
in swarms in search of water. 1t wa:
soon evident that snake destroyer
had been around there. The deao
reptiles lay around in heaps. In 6
distance of three miles or so we count
ed more than 400 of them. Some hac
been shot, but the great majority had
been killed with sticks or stones.
Say, boysr suddenly exclaimed
Atkins, who was in the lead, I'll bel