The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-27
INTERESTING SETH BULLOCK.
The Man Who Succeeded sitting Bull
in DeadwOOd.
From the Chicago Times-Heraid.)

Curtis Guild. jr., of Boston, accompany
ing Governor Roosevelt on his Western
trip, accidentally heard mentioned one
day the name of Seth Bullock. Mr. Guild
asked afterward:
Who is Seth Bullock
Mr.. Bullock's own answer to that ques-
ton is most fitting:
Il am the man who succeeded Sitting
Bull in the Deadwood country"
If you can imagine sparse. lean man
with the nose of an eagle the eye of a
hawk, the parchment skin of one who
knows more of the plains than the pave
ment, an unwilling tongue, and an indomi-
table scorn of fear or death, you Will have
in your minds eye the portrait OF one oil
the few survivors of the Original West
ern pioneers" Mr.. Bullock is unique not
alone for what he has been or is, but be-
cause in his class he is almost alone in
the country which stretches from the Mis-
souri, to the basin of the Snake River. He
is man Of standing and property owner
of Deadwood, but civilization has taken
from him his real occupation, and the days
of knight errantry are ended under the
skies which arch above the grave Of Gus
ter and the Clipped monument ofa"Wild
Bill
Here is the man who was the first sher-
if of Lewis and Clarke county, Montana,
a man that every desperate in the Terri
/ tory laughed at one morning, and the next
was fleeing before. Not a laxative man,
not a man inclined to beast. sure on the
trigger. enduring all things in heat and
cold, tireless. relentless friend to all in
nature. but friend to few OF men.
They quote Seth Bullock as having said
once upon a time:
THE only men l like is these that does
things
And in his vocabulary doing things
does not consist in following pursuits, in
trading and bartering, In capitalizin3
great corporations or mastering the Sc
crets Of ''pinching' dollar. His kind of
| action was trailing big game, rounding up
cattle. mastering wild horses, defying
lawbreakers riding with the mountain
wind and defeating the mountain storm.
This is the action which calls not only for
enormous physical strength and courage.
but moral quality suspected by few
novelists, analysed by still less.
Riding down into Deadwood Gulch your
guide points to clum of trees. Perhaps
I he is bill" Fraser-"Bill'' Fraser who
| glibly introduces himself as:
The original axle grease which creased
the way for Seth Bullock to get into this
I ere town.
| Mr.. Fraser waves his hands mildly to-
ward this clump of trees and says:
That's where he did it. and over
there" pointing in another direction, rs
BY allowing Mr. Fraser all the time he
desires you finally ascertain that the spots
are where MIR. Bullock faced the famous
road agents, shot them down in their
tracks, captured them, and sent some to
their just deserts.
But" says Mr.. Fraser. reassuringly.
Seth wouldn't hurt anybody what was
right. He was just doing his duty
Doing ones duty in primevai ways ap-
pears to be the keynote to the character
of this silent man. who twenty-five :ea-s
ago made il possible for a law-abiding
man to live in Deadwood without having
to fight for hisflife What he accomplish
ed was in quiet way.
He was the most persuasive man ever
in these parts says Bill Fraser You
can readily believe that when from well
authenticated sources you learn of how
he gave the lawless element every oppor-
tunity to get away from him. kindly
warned them of their danger, left loop
holes for them 10 escape through. but
when all these chances were despised and
tossed aside, shot down the ringleaders
with as little compunction as one would
dispose of a worm.
He would wait until the last minute"
says the irrepressible Bill, and then he'd
sort of shift his hand around as though |
it were jerked lightnin', and the next |
thing you knew he was shootin'-shoot- |
in to Kill. He didn't miss. he didn't"
The bad men fled from Lewis and |
Clarke county after he became sheriff to |
the Deadwood country and took possession |
OF the mining camps. Deadwood sent for |
him. In time he came a shadow Of a man |
in physique but why, nervy enduring. |
He made himself known in tone of vol |
as low and soft as a woman's. He said
he desired the law TO be observed. When
ii wasn't he proposed to arrest the iran
,fYa mr. i'm
very short order his commands were obey
ed. For months and years he stood as the
law of the camps. Things had
ito be square" or the indictments must |
settle with him. Railroads. Statehood
legislative enactments, pettifoggging law |,
yers. and new population took his occupa-
ton from him. There has been nothing
left to him but memories.
His idea of humor-the pioneers idea of
humor-is found in the story he tells of !
Y. Y q. Beilder. They were building A
Jail in one of the Montana towns and the
new cells were just in position. No pris-
oners had yet been planced in them.
lone day" says Mr.. Bullock az Y.
who was a long-winded story teller.
started out on one Of his yarns. He had
two or three fellows listening but one
and another left him. until only one was
left. This fellow finally quit before the
story was ended. Y. Y. was mad but he
didn't say anything. Two or three days
later he meets the man who was last lis
tenng to him, and he invites him over
to look at the new Jail He takes him
inside and shows him everything and
finally the fellow steps into one of the
new cells. Quick as a flash X Y snapped |
the door on him and he was locked in
HI you, says the fellow, let me out |
But X Y. is gone Pretty soon he |
comes back with stool in his hand and
his pipe. He sets down, fills his pipe, |
and makes himself comfortable
- Let me out. says the fellow.
No says KY. You're going to stay
n there until l get my story finished You
wouldn't listen the other day Now you've
got to-
He never let the fellow out until the {
tory was all told" |
Seth Bullock is gentleman to the t
arth born. but he Is lonesome. The great '
intrammeled sweep of the country once so :
lear to him is gone. The fence man. /
las come in. the summer tourist. the peo- v
lie who gawk and cape at tales of olden f
lays. the men who tremble at the sight of i
revolver's but; and rush for a peace bond | c
they see its muzzle. This is the order d
f things, this is commerce rising above a
he pioneers level. but. 1t is weak disap- t
ointing to the men who once ruled in the 8
ountry of the Sioux. There comes to their il
yes. as there has come to those of Seth /
bullock. the sign of regret that they too D
I'D not passed away when the last tepee o
yas struck on the Rosebud and the Sioux h
assed from the pages of history to the n
are of the keepers of legends. fables. and n
he things that are no more. L