The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-16
END OF A SOCIAL 0UTCAST:
AN OLD FRoYTIERsuAN's STORY or
TWO LETTERS.
Bravery and Kindness Of the stranger Who
visited Him In the Far His Death
That Of n Hero-Proof. Though. That lie
Was q EnIEer. Thief and MnrdereI.

years Of age, and fully entitled to the designa-
ton he bears. for he crossed the Missouri in
1855. and has lived ever since on these north
western plains. There Is not a tributary OF the
Yellowstone. the Missouri. or the Saskat-
chewan which he has not explored; more forts,
river crossings and buttes throughout this
vast territory bear his name than can well
be enumerated here. For a time he hunted
and trapped for the American Fur Company;
then he went into the Indian trade on his own
account, building and abandoning forts every
season or two, a. he followed the bufaloes and
their red hunters from place to place. Then.
after many years, came the end OF that Wild.
free life; the buffaloes were exterminated. and
there seemed nothing left for him 20 do but 10
settle down on a ranch.
He owns a model one: a commodious and
comfortable dwelling, large barns and sheds.
surrounded by hundreds OF well-irrigated
acres, and out on the hills beyond his cattle
and horses Craze In evcr-increasing herds. The
Old Timer. however. takes but little interest
In the raising of stock; q trusted and hard
working married couple have entire charge Of
the estate. leaving him free to 40 and to come
whittier and when he will. But usually. and
especially during the long winter. the old man
loves to remain at home, and Ill the great house
with old friends. Here. in the southwest cor
ner room. where a pile Of cottonwood logs IL
always blazing in the broad fireplace. these old
cronies sit In their easy chairs. OF lounge on
the buffalo robe couches. and talk over the
scenes and adventures Of other days.
This room itself is deserving Of more than
passing notice. for II has been fitted up In exact
Imitation Of an old frontier cabin, presenting
a striking contrast to the rest Of the house.
which is well furnished and has all the con-
veniences Of a city home. The windows OF
this room are very small and glazed with d.
minutive panes Of glass; the inner walls are Of
peeled logs. neatly laid up and chinked. The
chairs, table. couches and other furniture have
all been made with the axe. saw and drawing
knife; pegs stuck in the wall support plain
board shelves. A dozen different kinds Of
rifles and pistols, each with a history. hang
above the fireplace, and scattered about here
and there, suspended from pegs. littering the
shelves. corners and floor, are all sorts Of curl
Gus weapons, implements, articles Of dress.
ornaments and scalps, long ago used and worn
by the red men. Last, but not least, there is
the sideboard. which occupies a prominent
position near the door: 1t Is simply one-half Of
a log, shaved smooth and fiat. standing on
our pegs driven into its under side. Two
kegs with wooden spigots. containing old and
mellow rye and bourbon, rest upon 1t, and
beside them stands a bucket Of spring water:
from a row Of nails driven into the face of the
log are suspended a number of shining tin cups.
on the wan above this unique sideboard hangs
this familiar verse, painted In large letters
and neatly framed:
Come on the Cup. and IN the Gre Of spring
Your Winter garment OF Repentance Ming:
r. as Bhd Of Tine z. mas hss put a iil!le way
Lucky. indeed, Is the story writer. the stu
dent Of frontier history and the ancient Gus
stirring tale Of adventure who has the privi-
leges OF this room; for, WITHOUT asking any
he can hear ali hat he wishes to know. Soms.
how or other. these old plainsmen are natural
and artistic stoTy-tellers: what they have seen
and experienced they can vtvi lily relate. bring
ing out skilully the main points of the tale.
one evening when we were all sitting before
usually good dinner, the oldtimer began TO
presently drew ieTth a slender packet Of faded
look In his eyes as he turned the little package
over and over. which betokened a coming story.
These letters were the property OF a man
who once lived with me in close and familiar
ec3pmpanionship for many months During
his character, his mind and thoughts. like
an open book. But one day he met an unex-
pected and sudden death by the arrows OF a
Sioux; then ! came across these letters and
they revealed much that / wish | had never
Away back In the sixties ! owned a trading post
on the upper Missouri. about 800 miles below
Fort Benton, the head OF navigation. Prom
NlNN uDAu OilbDfI elfdIlDOdlS WE'RE fOnIlnlNIY
passing up and down the river. and nearly every
one Of them stopped at my place for fuel Late
in september. one season. the last up boat of the
year brought a passenger whom the captain in
troduced 10 me as Charles q. r. Lee Of New York.
l took a fancy TO the stranger at once. He was a
OF age IL had a frank, firm intelligent Soun.
tenance, and clear, honest brown eyes, which |
thought indicated that he was a person 70 be
trusted. When ! learned that he had come West
to shoot some big game, ana see something Of
our, wild frontier life. ] asked him forthwith to
or as, long as he chose % remain in the country.
He gladly accepted the invitation. with the pro-
yiso that he should be allowed to pay for his
AS l had surmised. I found that Mr. Ice was
q broad minded man OF the world; He was
highly EDUCATED spcke half a dozen languages.
Interested In anthropology and lis different
branches Another thing ! soon learned about
We were out shooting one day In tho river bot
tom below the port and saw a large grizzly bear
", Wo ,6G SSyS Fl r. = had S589 f6TSo1try ~ t5i SEins ANS As luck
munition. and had fred my only cartridge at a
deer some time before. Lee carried a Henry
rife made. He.vas a couple Of hundred yards
10 my right WHEN the bear was sighted, and
about the same distance from the cherry patch.
cautiously up to a point not more than
seventy or eighty yards from the bear, he fired,
striking the ANNA. in the flank; the beast let out
2 r9ar o. pain and rage. and started for him as
shoot shoot I cried, before its too late
nut Leo STOOD perfectly sun until the bear
was. within eight or ten steps OF him: then he
fired two shots in quick succession, and the
animal FELL dead almost az his feet.
" Great Scott j exclaimed, running up TO
where he stood, what do you mean by taking
chances az that? Why didn't you begin
pumping lead into him as soon AS he started?
Suppose YOU had missed: there would be moth
Ing left OF you now but torn flesh and broken
bones
My dear friend he replied, 1t is the taking
OF the chances you mention that constitutes the
true pleasure OF shooting. The thrill of excite
lnent, the, uncertainty as TO how such an affair
rs this will Terminate, exceeds any other scnsa-
ton n man can experience. 4 minute of IL is
worth years OF humdrIm existence
Not long after this occurrence / had
an opportunity TO learn another phase Of
this strange mans nature. One of
my Ir~cnch-Cree half-breed employees
suddenly taken i'll with brain fever.
and Lee at once constituted himself the sick
physician and nurse. He had an assort-
ment OF medicines and was fairly well versed i'm
lore. If that half breed had been a dear
he could not have taken better care Of
him. Day and night he was always beside the
patients bed. and would not leave except when
] found leisure TO take his place for an hour or
during the day. But IN spite Of his cease
care the sick man died. Then Lee made n
coffin OF such rough material as could be found,
1t with black cloth and lined IL with soft
blankets, and gave the corpse n decent burial.
After the funeral he went 20 bed and remained