The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-10-09
IT'S CREDITED TO QUINN
A Yarn OF Virginia City in the
Early Days.
LUCK OF THE BLACKSMITH
How It Turned to Gold When He
Whipped Dragging Blowhard and
Showed He Had the Right
Stuff in Him.

John M. Quinn is credited with the
following yarn by the New York Morn
ing Telegraph:
There were, a good many years ago,
two Virginia Citys, while now there is
but one.
Both were mining towns, one in Ne
vada, the other in Montana, near the
Bitter Root. While tales of strange,
wild happenings were carried north
ward by the prospectors to Virginia
City, Mont, Virginia Citv New, was
haven of rest, filled with peace and
good WILL compared to the camp of bad
men, tumultuous gathering of persons
of every class, that composed the Pop
ulation of Montana's VIRGINIA City.
And there were women among these
gold-hungry men; not all were the reg
ular women of the camps, for there
We're some there still canable of human
feeling, and with perhaps some
thoughts outside of the general greed
for gold.
Senator Sanders, whose name is still
remembered by men who walk now in
far different naths than they trod in
those days. dispensed justice in Virgin
pearance, this man held down the law
| less element and prevented complete
assassination of one half Of the popula-
ton by the other. which was more than
any one else could have done
Virginia City was built in a rocky
| canyon sheltered from the fierce winds
of winter.
Further up the canyon there grew
from the rocks a large tree, bare Of
limbs and foliage, jutting straight out
for some 10 feet, approached only by a
steep and dangerous -ath that wound
its way from the base of the rocky wall
at this spot to the top. far above.
Upon this tree, during the winter of
1885, SO men were hanged, and Senator
Sanders was the judge who had pro-
nounced their sentence.
This tree and Senator Sanders were
the terror, whether it was admitted or
not, of the bad men who made the
camp their stamping ground.
"A lifeless figure swung drearily in
the wind at almost any time that win
ter, for when one was hanged his body
remained dangling from the tree, a
menace to all men, until it was re-
moved to make way for another.
with the rush of prospectors in the
summer had been a blacksmith. pleas
ant and honest of countenance. big and
strong, with hope high in his heart.
I1e Was u CHEERFUL SOIL, ana COulN
sing a jolly song or one that told of
home and those who were far away.
He brought with him his blacksm tn S
kit of tools and when luck passed by
him in his efforts to stake a paying
claim he had recourse to his trade, set
| up his anvil, and shod the feet of the
bronchos of the camp.
when the bitter winter weather
came and all work was discontinued
the men and the few women huddled
together about the roaring stoves in the
dance halls and the Blacksmith was
among them. Fortune had been unkind
to him; little by little the few dollars
he had saved in the summer dwindlcd
away, for provisions We're high in win
ter, until he went broke COMPLETELY
and finally lived as best he could by do
ing odd jobs about the dance halls.
'He was such a good natured honest
| chap that everybody liked him, and
when the crowd found that he was liv-
| ing on short commons, many We're the
| invitations to supper and breakfast,
| just for company issued by the bar
tenders in the dance halls, and often
the money of some kind hearted wo-
man paid for it, all unknown to the
blacksmith.
zone by one he had sold the imple-
ments of his trade. and the kit of tools
was gone, with the exception of the
great rasp used by blacksmiths for
pairing down horses hoofs.
For this he had made a sort of bark
CULVER, and he carried it, his one re-
naming possession, slung across his
| back.
! Zone gloomy evening the blacksmith
| sat moodily alone by the window of
one of the dance halls, evidently think
ing bitter thoughts as he watched the
splitting flakes of snow falling upon the
| ia nd =
men stood in a groun near the bar,
while others were seated about the
room at rough tables, shaking dice for
the drinks, while the music kept up a
monotonous tune
Suddenly the door flew open, driving
the snow inside, chilling every one and
admitting a man, who slammed the
door violently shut. then turned to face
| the occupants of the dance hall, who.
startled out of their lethargy, gazed at
! him in surprise.
He wore long leather leggins over
| buckskin trousers. a heavy red shirt
with a belt filled with cartridges. a
| stuck through it; a cap was pulled over
his ears and a Navajo blanket huns
from his shoulders
Ills long. black hair and dropping
mustache We're matted with ice.
For moment he looked about him
then threw a Saddle which he carried
to the floor and shouted:
"'Yere I am, and I'm a-whoopin'! Tn
| Rattlesnake Dick. from Dead Mans
Gulch, an I eat bar meat. Whoopee,
There amt no cowpuncher baddern'
me, Whoop! Now, then, you pack o.
prairie docs, mosey to the bar an name
yer pizen!'
Some accented the invitation. or
| command. with alacrity, while others
We're slower in joining the procession.
"The blacksmith made no effort to
rise from his comfortable seat. Rattle
snake Dick looked toward him; then,
with a wild yell, he snatched revol-
Yer from his belt, and shouted:
"Dance you measly coyote, dance.
| Promenade to the bar punctuating
these remarks with several shots close
to the blacksmiths feet and hands un.
you imitation of a prairie dog! You'll
drink a quart of red Ticker that'll blast
the rocks in the canyon! I'll give you
suthin' to ventilate yer inards! Get UP