Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1897-07-14
MUILIGAN'SLASTD
A TERROR OF THE WEST WHO MADE
HIS TAKING OFF MEMORABLE.

~ GnnSn Vt WA06
HIS TAKING OFF MEMORABLE.
Re Killed q Friend Who Tried to Per-
suatic Him to SurrenGer-BroughtD Down
by Bullet From Asilitiaman's Rifle.
One of Mark Twain's Desperadoes.
"His name was included in the little
list of Nevada desperadoes made by
Mark Twain in 'Roughing 1t, =" said
the Nevada pioneer. He did not say
"Mark Twain" by the way, but ''Sam
Clemens" tho name by which all old
Nevadans aud Californians knew the
famous humorist. The pioneer was talk
ing of men of his time who had died
with their boots on, and Billy Mulligan
was the character who just now was to
the front. Some of the hostile mix ups
and shooting matches in which that
young Irishman had taken hand had
been related, and now the narrator had
come to the day of his taking of.
BILLY Mulligan had run long
string ami lasted good while for man
Of his temper and practices. for he was
tough ont and out" continued the pio-
neer His neck was in danger In the
days of the San Francisco vigilance
committee, and lie ran some narrow
chances with the law and lynchers aft
erward. He was q brave, desperate man,
handy with weapons, and would fight
at the drop of the hat But he pulled
through all trouble until the time came,
which seems sooner or later to befall al
most every desperado, when the strain
of danger and the effect of constant
drinking and excitement got the better
Of his nerves and Judgment. When u
desperado gets that way, there are two
courses that he may take-quit tho
country. quit drinking and get to work
at an honest calling or stay and get
killed. The last was what Mulligan
chose, but he kept the business in his
own hands and forced tho pace to the
end
"It was at Carson City that the end
came to Billy Mulligan. The cards had
gone against him all night. The liquor
he had drunk had made him ugly rs iie
walked out Of the Esneralda saloon one
morning. Next door was laundry, and
a Chinaman. ironing clothes, lifted his
face to the window just as Mulligan
was passing. Without word the des-
perado drew his pistol and fired through
the glass, blowing the Chinaman' S
brains out, then went on to the hotel
where he was staying, and up stairs to
his room i'll the top story. The door OF
his room opened near the head of the
stairway, and when the sheriff's Off
GERS came to arrest him for killing the
Chinaman he stood them off with his
revolvcrs. They knew it meant certain
death TO scne Of them to try to rush up
the stairway, and they stopped ut the
foot to consider. John Coleman, a par
ticular friend Of Mulligan, who was
with them, tried to persuade him to
surrender.
mo use, john, said Mulligan. L
shan't be taken alive. This is my last
day, and the game'l end right here.
You keep away and don't Sc: mixed up
in the trouble
Coleman was working along mp the
stairway as lie talked, with the object.
perhaps, CT getting near enough to the
desperate to disarm him.
1tOp soa SACs Ccuhp eatio
Mulli2an. One step nearer and I'll kill
you
Coleman made another step forward,
and Muliisan shot him through the
heart He permitted the others to take
the body away, keeping them covered
with his pistols all the time. A crowd
gathered III the hotel and the public
square which it faced, and plans were
discussed for capturing Iullican, Int
his l:::-::cter for deadly desperation
was suc!. that volunteers were scarce.
At last il YVES decided to call out tho
militia company and take the desperate
in his stronghold by regular assault.
1.-The troops were mustered i'll double
lire in the public square, facing the ho-
tel and waiting the order to advance.
Through the window Of his room i'll the
third story Mulligan could be seen Low
and then as he walked to and fro be-
tween the stairway ard the window,
keeping watch against surprise in
either direction. Then, as the face of
the desperado appeared once more at the
window, one of the soldiers fired with
his rifle. killing him instantly. 1t was
an unexpected shot which undoubtedly
saved several lives that would almost
certainly have been sacrificed in carry.
ing the room by storm.
BILLY Mulligan was u New Yorker
by birth and was typical representa-
tive of the old time California tough
gambler class which got its tone and
manners from the New York of the vol
untcer firemen and Dead Rabbit days
Quick Of motion-gome of them could
pick fly from the wall with the thumb
and finger four times out of five-stern
and short spoken except where it was
part Of their garle to be sueve. rough
and tumble fighters, fashionably
dressed, with more of ornaments than
southern gamblers often wear and dis
tinsrished by heavy black mus;uches.
they ran their course il San Francisco,
which was headquarters from which
they went to the new mining communi.
ties, to stay while these fourishcd or
until they were driven out. They had
their day-most of them were shot or
hanged, or they died in want. Here
and there, stranded in some cut of the
way western community, some decrepit
survivor is found of the old gambler
desperate class of which Billy Mulligan
was a shining example. New York
Sun.
Fully Cared For.