The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1897-02-24
ORIGINAL BUFFALO BILL
n,ua1t In St. Louis and Was a
Tough Citizen,
he WAS KILLED IN A BRAWL.

T,fp
whose Title Was Taken by Colonel Cody.
Tho Fate of Handsome Johnson" q
Murderer Whom the Women AdOred.
And now it appears that it is not alone
!, his prowess, exhibited in encounters
nth the bison that roamed along the
chores of the Platte, but to long haired,
rri1d eyed stony hearted desperate, who
orproted in this city in the early half of
the closing century, that William F. Cody
of Wild West show fame, owes his pictur-
esque title
Dennis Dewey of st. Louis is a man with
o memory, according to The Republic of
that city. 1t is he who from the dusty
rioeonhoIes of musty remembrance has
drawn forth the time yellowed document
laheled Memoirs OF the Original Buffalo
Bill"
at was in 1912 that Buffalo Bill dawned
unop the horizon of St. Louis, says Mr..
navov. He appeared here in the role of
avcIl digger. He had two pals, man
,o,ned Johnson and another whose name
have forgotten The three dug we'll for
Major Floyd, who lived in the old Prairie
House. When the work was finished, there
~ros an alteration about the amount of
+bn 1avment, and the trio, or certain mem
hers Of it, killed the major in the presence
Of his wife. They were .apprehended soon
after and brought to trial. Buffalo Bill
was acquitted but johnson and the other
man were sentenced to death.
johnson was u remarkably handsome
man. and I remember that the women
went wild over him, showing that maud
lin rradilectiGn for criminals in durance
that the women Of the present day are not
free from The consequence was that
Johnson got flowers and tooths0me dishe2
and historical notes by the gross l be-
lieva there was petition for mercy going
thcrounds, stccrod by some mistaken fe-
males. hut they couldn't save him. l can
SCI the procession on the way to the place
OF execution at Duncans island as plainly
as though it We're yesterday. Handsome
johnson sat on his coffin in the cart that
headed the procession from the jail, on the
site occupied by the Laclede hotel.
AS to the original Buffalo Bill, there
was good deal Of feeling in town against
him, Notwithstanding the fact that there
was no actual proof against him, and be
wisely left town He did not return until
1854 Mrs. Floyd, the only witness to the
murder, had died a few months before,
and there was 10 longer any one to fear
But the first Buffalo Bill was not so
constituted as to enjoy peace and tran
u QulIlity. TGmult was more to his liking,
ana he found an opportunity to give his
qumrcLomc disposition play At that
time there was fierce rivalry between the
companies Of volunteer firemen stationed
at the two engine houses, one known as
the Washington engine house, on Third
near Elm street, the other on Spruce be-
tween Second and Third 1t is hard to re-
allie the bitterness engendered by that
rivalry unless you have witnessed it. 1t
was the occasion of the death of nine men
at htngsland & Ferguson S foundry, which
stood at the corner of Washington avenue
and Broadway in the fifties
Buffalo Bill took sides when the rela-
tive merits of the companies were discuss
ed and on one Of such occasions he gave
odenSe to a man named Middleton. The
dispute took place on Almond street.
ton putting an everlasting quietus upon
blatant Buffalo Bill Middleton's case
came up for trial before Judge Lakeland,
with Henry A. Glover as prosecuting at
tornoy.
hat was kind of golden age in the
legal history of st. Louis Richard Blen-
herhasset was a member of the bar at that
Clme, So were Uriah Wright, man that
Ioyed with juries at will, "a veritable nine
Veenth century Demosthenes; the man who
was afterWard famous as United States
senator Geyer; Edward Bates, attorney
general under Lincoln; Samuel 7. Glover
ana Myron Leslie. John w. Noble, who
TgVaIne secretary of the interior under
44LoIFlSon, was an obscure young lawyer at
1l"O OHne. lie had recently come from Co
4~Ho0s o., and had yet to carve his name
vi One walls OF the temple of fame This
young man sat in the courtroom the morn
Wy middleton was brought before Judge
Lakeland. Have you chosen an attorney?'
eue Judge said to Middleton. 4 have not,
ia,,dl I nohor' said Middleton. Judge Lack
1,,l,sI LOOK IN the personnel of the court
t,r;n ,'O glance. Mr.. Noble, he said,
v ,Ill you 90 your best for this mani?
alacri+-- -,o'le- accepted the charge with
hn,,naSy II was his first criminal case. He
nm Many 5a[ly morning oil in working it
up nv, Middleton was acquitted
nal B ~ peICer know known although not origi-
beforo - Bill was married in this CITY
NJ ne ne became scout under sheridan
h. Coay was Louisa Fredor rj,.e1 the the
To, '$1'ef OF policeman and - ra .1 Of
49, a. Steber. She was as syToot and
sn' Vogy young woman as COMA he fo' md
--'0ns Mlssouri's lovely daugb lt y -'''--N
BlDOmers IT.: -