The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-08-19
DAMS PRIVATE MARK
FOUND Or A MOSQUITO, 1T SAVED
HARDIN'S LIFE.

Neither Knife Nor Branding Iron Was
Used ON That Ranch, as the Owner Was
Pretty Fair Shot and Always Kept In
Practice.
Them was pretty good Shots" said |
the old sheep raiser when the boys had |
finished telling about some glass ball |
shooting they had done at the gun club |
tournament, "but folks nowadays don't
do no shootin like they did few years
ago. There was Dan Hardin now, who
run a sheep ranch in west Texas in
1881; he could shoot. "
Pretty good shot was he?" asked
the boys, to draw the old man out.
"Well, he was a good, fair shot for
them times and locality. A Colts 45
was Dams fayorite He run about 6, 900
sheep and good many cattle and
horses. The ranchers all marked the
ears of their stock, each man in diff
ferent way, to distinguish their proper
ty. Dams mark was hole in the left
ear and an underbit in the right, and
he never allowed knife to be used on
his ranch. He marked every animal
himself with his six shooter, and he
never made a mistake. 1t was a sight
to see him gallopin across the prairie
on his mustang after bunch of lambs
or a round up of spring calves, a-placin
his marks with his 40 and never varyin
Il sixteenth of an inch from where they
belonged. Dan marked more mavericks
than anybody else in the country put
together.
''From practicin so much Dan got to
be a first rate shot. He used to ride
along in his pasture and put his mark
on the coyotes and jack rabbits just TO
keep his hand in. 1t got so that nine
times out of ten when man killed "a
deer with his winchester he would find
hole in its left and an underbit in its
right ear, and he'd always send Dan
over quarter of venison when he got
| it home / seen Dan win bet of $50
one day from Il tenderfOot. We was
ridin along the road and we seen the
| ground a-humpin up where mole was
sEOyiu along out of sight under the
Garth. Dan made his proposition, the
tenderfoot took him up, and Dams old
40 went off "a couple of times We dug
the mole up, and there was the marks
in his ears right where they belonged.
After awhile | don't think there was a
living thing on Dams ranch except his
wife's that didn't have his mark in its
ears.
"This habit of Dams got him out OF
a pretty bad scrape one time. Along
about 1882, when free range commenced
gettin scarce, the fence cutters got tt
cuttin the wire fences around the pas
lures and give the sheep men lots O
trouble. Dams had been cut half
! dozen times, and he was mad. One da.
he rode out without his gun and saw
low down rustler named Tompkin
slicin his wires like fiddlestrings witt
/, a pair Of nippers. Tompkins got on hi
horse and let out, and Dan rode back t
his ranch and got his gun. He struc
: out on Tompkins' trail and overhaule
him about SHUTDOWN in the little tow
that was the county seat. Dan shot hlr
| quietly and was about to get cup
I coffee and start back home when h
was surprised by the sheriff's arrestl
him. You see, that was about the tim
h the law and order gang got to ralsl
|. Cain in the west and tryin to set dow
9 on promiscuous shootin and persona
liberty. They scared up judge and
If Jury somewhere and held kind OF cou
! right away to try Dan. Tompkins Ia
! a lot of friends in town, among the no
thieves and free grassers, and the
- come in by the dozen and swore tn
Tompkins hadn't been out OF town Il
49, a week, and that Dams story about
n cuttin the fence didn't 60 Dan had !
0: witnesses, and it began to look KIND
funny for him. They had Tompkil
s. laid out on table in the courtroom.
lg Directly Dan went over and look'
pretty sharp at Tompkins, and then
IN asked one of the deputies to 60 out 10
N little iewelry store across the street al
De bring a magnifying glass. The depu
" went and got it, and Dan handed IL
the Judge and asked him to step dow
and look az something minute. The
n was mosquito with his bill fast
r. Tompkins' ear, and Dan asked the Jud
40 to take good look at it with the gia'
% o. The Judge did so, and blest If that me
-, quito didn't have hole in its left al
no an underbit in its right ear, as shore
gh I'm sitting here. Everybody kn'
Dams mark, and the court was &C
WINGED that Tompkins must have be
prowlin round his ranch. 1t was WI
n, YOU would call good circumstantial e
ea dence, and ten minutes afterward u
of was OH his way home. B."
There was a little silence among I
boys, and then the one who had broS
As glass balls out of possible OF 81
yer pested that some Lemonade be hant
M around at his expense. - Washing'
ly- Star.