Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1897-11-29
How A Duel Ended.

WE had come down off the noun
+aina near FremOnt'S peak-Cne slA
.of ,ls who had been prospecting LII
three months-and we had scarcely
,.trlck the trail when we ran upon q
mountain outfit There were Chree
white men, two half-breeds. a Mexican
and a negro, and the party mad SIX
nack mules with them. They nan
iuezt gone into camp for the night, ana
after hearty greetings all around we
mitchell our tents alongside ana COOK
al onr Shippers at the same campnre'
THE strangers were bound up to LII
tie Souaw mountain, on hanI loi
sold The leader was Jim WllIlams.
There would have been no trouble
1,otmaen, the two outfits but for the
cards which were introduced AFTER sup
ner And as it was, only a portion OF
the men cared to play, as the day mad
beer a tiresome one to all. Our cnleI'
Frank Johnson of Nevada, sat DOWN
with Williams, and both were III greaS
GOOD nature as / wrapped mysell up
in blanket and fell asleep. | mad slept
for two hours when aroused by the
sounds of a quarrel. was the last
man of the thirteen to roll out, and
found every one of the twelve with
xrIn in his hand 1t seemed that Une
two leaders had begun playing TOT
money, and luck being with our man
he had won heavily. Then there
came a dispute as to some point, the
lie was passed, and the men OF both
outfits were ready to open ire on each
other. 1t was the other crowd whlcn
haci,pa down. Williams realized that
he could not depend upon the Mexican
and the negro, and was therefore over
matched. After moment he flung
down his gun and said to Johnson:
s.The crowd has nothing to do with
this row, and 1 reckon we are men
enough to settle it between ourselves.
TN any way you choose replied
johnson.
''Well, then, I'll tell you my plan in
the morning One of us has got to go
under for what has passed, but to-
morrow will be a long day. Let's call
it off for tonight"
The two leaders shook hands, and
I for one believed that would be the
end of the quarrel. I said as much
to one of our men as we lay down
again, but he whisperingly replied:
you don't know the men. There
is an old grudge between them. They
will fight tomorrow for sure, and they
q - SC
"a duel with rifles, pistols, or
kniveS?" I asked.
II can't say. Both are square men,
and it will be square fight. Jim
Williams is one of the gamest men in
the West, and as he has found his
match therell be fight worth talking
about for the next twenty years
The men of both camps slept peace
fully during the remainder OF the
night, and as we prepared and ate
breakfast nobody had a word to say
about the trouble of the night before.
The two leaders gave each other good
morning" and chatted about the
weather, and would have wagered
my all that the hard words had been
forgotten and forgiven I was looking
for the order to pack up and move on
as soon as breakfast was over when
Williams took a seat beside johnson
and quietly Observed:
"You are in no great hurry, take
it. and day or two will make NO diff
ference to our men,"
I'VE can stop here a week as well
as not" was the reply.
<'Just ahead of us, to the north, is
Jackson's basin.
"Aye!, I've passed through it."
said Johnson. It's a natural sink,
which was once the bed of a lake, but
is now grown up with a perfect tangle.
What's your plan?"
Zone of us is to leave here at 9
o'clock. 1t will take him an hour to
reach the far side" At 10 o'clock the
other will leave. We will hunt for
each other in the basin. The one who
lives to get out will return here and
notify the camps. Do you under
stand?"
Perfectly. We are to hunt for each
other in the basin, and shoot on sight !
One of us will be left there The one
who goes first turns ON his trail and
returns. We can stick to the trail or
take to the woods. We may be hunt |
ing each other for half day or half
week"
fThat's the idea. and now we'll toss
p to see who goes first Is it heads /
tails?''
"Heads." said the leader.
The coin which Williams tossed in