Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1899-09-23
FOUGHT WITH ROPES
THE LAsso AS ADEADLY WEAPON IN
A COWBOY DUEL.

| How Two Desperadnes Who Were
Skilled in Eorsc:aanship and
Adopts In F;inviI:r tine Lnriat Shuf-
fed oG This Marital Coil.
Il on..s witnessed u duel with lasso
ropes be'wecn Mexican and an Amer
lean" said ice Hampton III hap
pened al ont ~ years ago. and il was
about As exciting Il piece OF work as
ever saw was foreman at that time
for the Seven Up q | p horse ranch
in Wyoming. and we were on our way
from Sydr y Neb.. with & band of
mares that had been shipped from the
Missouri t. sydney We had to drive
the animals overland to the home
ranch
.WelI. ! picked up an outfit OF men
around Sydney. sevcu Americans and
three MeAicans, IL tough lot We start
ed out aId when we got to the Big
Cheyenne river. south of the Black
Hills, we stopped to let the horses rest
for few days. There was one Mex
can, Pedro Gonzales. about the most
Ill natured and most qUarrelsome man
ever saw. He fell ont with an Amer
lean by the name of Dick McAn. an
all around bad man. | knew Dick by
reputation. and he had a bad record.
"Well, one day at dinner time Dick
made some remarks about roping a
Greaser down in Texas and hauling
him across the prairie until he was
worn out The Mexican answered by
saying that man must have been
asleep or dead, for you could not rope
a live man and do that Dick jumped
to his feet and pulled his gun. and Pc
dro did the same. I rushed between
them and ordered them to put up their
guns. The Meyicans black eyes shone
like a rattlesnaka's when about to
strike, but he put the gun back in his
belt, and Dick did the same.
81 knew there would be trouble. and
how to avoid it was Il question not
easily solved ordered the horse
wrangler TO fetch up the saddle horses.
for l Intended TO move on that after
noon. The Mexican spoke to Dick,
and they walked off to one side and
talked in low tone fer few minutes.
When the horses came up, | noticed
both men saddled up their best horses.
"They both unwound their lasso
ropes and stretched them out side by
side. Dicks rope was about 4J feet
long and Pedro's about GO feet. Pedro
drew his knife from his belt and cut
his rope the exact length of Dicks
Then they coiled up their ropes care
fully, and each man led his horse in
opposite directions until they were
about 100 yards apart. Then they
mounted like fash and rode toward
each other.
81 stood holding my horse BY the
bride and watched every move. / Will
never forget the look of hate and mur-
der on the MeXican's face. His lips
were apart, showing his white teeth,
and wicked smile seemed to play
about his mouth. Dicks jaws were set
tight, and a look OF mingled fear and
rage combined on his savage face.
''They rode slowly toward each 9TH
er for about 80 yards, watching each
other like a couple of Gagged panthers.
Then they made Il dash. and both ropes
shot out ike Il streak of lightning.
Both men lodged and escaped. In an
instant they had gathered up their
ropes and begun to circle around and
around.
81 could hear the swish of their
ropes as they swung them around their
heads. each man trying to get some
advantage. They charged back and
forth. and finally both threw their
ropes again. 1t was close call for