Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-12-21
Lee CrOnlund.

1t was the oath of December, 1863. Vir
season of prosperity and the cosmopoli-
tan population of hat unparalleled camp
elated with the orm cleanup of the
first summer, was devoting itself to the
perfecting of plans for the following veal
and incidentally to the evolvement of en-
tertainments and amusements for the
ensuing winter. which promised to be a
severe and dreary one.
Henry Plummer and his mi of semi
legalized cutthroats and freebooters and
come over to Virginia City from Ban
mack and launched upon that career OF
lawlessness and indiscriminate murder
which marked the early history of Mon
tana with a crimson stain Of shame that
was erased only by the strong arm of
the vigilants and the extirpation of the
r%uffianly band. George Ives had already
but Plummer, as yet. held sway without
the shadow of suspicion.
The roads between Virginia and Ban
mack and the former place and He'll Gate
hal become so unsafe that only heavily
armed parties attempted their passage,
as, in addition to the bandits who infest-
ed them. large parties of Crow Indians,
returning from the southern buffalo
hunt, now menaced the settlers of the
territory.
PLANS FOR A FEAST.
Viewed from this condition Of affairs,
1t looked as if the party of miners as
sembled in the sitting-room of Barrett's
hotel would be restricted to the usual
buffalo hump and whatever else the
genius of the presiding chef could devise
for a Christmas dinner, the conversation
of the company having taken a reminis-
cent turn and centered upon the menus
OF former Christmas feasts the MEM
beers had participated in.
well. boys said AL Smith, Il know
where there are both turkeys and pump
kins in Montana; if we only had some
way of securing the luXuries without the
danger attendant upon the undertake
Ing"
"Where?" came the eager inquiry from
the Others.
why, at old Baumgartner's He'll Gate
ranch" said Smith.
The most imminent danger to any Of
this party making the trip tina l can
apprehend lies in the fact that we have
all been prominent in the taking off Of
Ives and open in our suspicion of Plum
mer, and thus incurred the latter's NOR
tai entity, which only awaits an oppor-
tunity for its expression said George
Brown.
Hall, Sanders and Beidler all agreed
that Brown was right, but maintained
that fear of the desperadoes should not
deter them from carrying out any plans
they might adopt for the celebration Of
Christmas, and the party speedily
resolved itself into a club, having for it's
purpose the provision of a feast on
Christmas Gay.
An assessment Of two ounces was lev
led uDon each member of the club and
Beidler volunteered to make the trip to
Hell Gate to procure the chief articles
of the menu
b careful, Beidler." said Sanders.
and don't let any Of our cncmies know
the route you take. or We may miss you
and the turkeys, as we'll, at the feast"
That's all right said Beidler. when
I'm once mounted on Grey Eagle and in
the lead, Til defy any of them to over
take me-"
The arrangements having been thus
satisfactorily nrade, the men dispersed
for the night.
BEIDLFR STARTS FOR TURKEY.
At an early hour the lex morning
a few early risers saw Beidler, mounted
on a splendid gray stallion. leave Viz
ginia and strike off into the waste of
snow in a northwesterly direction.
Two days passed and the fact of Beid-
ler's absence from the camp became
known to Plummer and his agents, and
their conJectures as to the purpose Of his
trip rapidly resolved into a fixed belief
ahat 1T boded them i'll, and they decided
to Waylay the traveller in the mountains
and remove him from their path.
Beidler's companions noticed that a
number of the desperadoes had surrep-
titiously left Virginia. and, surmising
their intentions, concluded that a rescue
party alone could save Beidler from
the vengeance of the rufians. So. arm
ing themselves and securing mounts, the
four friends took the trail of the bandits
and hurried forward, eager to be in at
the scene of encounter between the lat
ter and Beidler.
Meanwhile, Beidler had ACCOMPLISHED
the outgoing journey, secured two fine
turkeys from the old German, Baum
Sartner, at a cost of fifty dollars each,
also a couple of squashes. at the modest
price Of five dollars each, and started
on the return trip to the mining camp.
He had journeyed as far as the south
ern end of the Deer Lodge valley with
out any incident of interest occurring to
break the monotony of the snow-clad
scene, and had been saving Gray Eagle
foCu whatever emergency might arise.
~Aen, suddenly from the pass, through
which he would have to pass to reach the
Jefferson valley, there emerged a band
OF fourteen Crow Indians. Beidler had
hardly time to grasp the situation when
the Indians, less than a mile distant.
observed the solitary white man, and,
with hideous yells of e%xultation, piled
whip and quirt to their horses and start
ed for their intended victim.
A DESPERATE ENCOUNTER.
Beidler was as quick to act and as
fertile in eNpedient as the foremost war