The San Juan County index. (Aztec, N.M.) 1890-19??, 1901-08-02
FOURTHOFT July RIDING AT GlLFNA

BROOKE an me a-bearin' av all the
divilment. same as twuz last year?
Wild the rlputashun av the camp, tool
In the name av lnnisince. have ye no
heads for m emergency"
Dillon was clearly in earnest, and
when a man OF his racial characters
tics Is in earnest things are likely to
happen. whether the scene Of action be
S%pitzbegen Of Timbuctoo. His indig-
nation az our st%upidity-at the
mayors, the sherih's, and mine-was
offensive; but we could offer no sug-
gestion that might stand for us as
combatant. There we're men in the
camp with official titles, and men
very prone to swift and accurate shoot
ing. but these collectively were as
naught before the breath Of Dillon.
Galena was like most other ofNorth-
western mining towns; II at all distin-
guishable from them, it was by a slight
~accentuation Of that air OF bonhomie
which is more or less apparent On the
visages Of all communities Of the
genus
Dillon owned and genially pre-
sided over one Of the biggest and
brightest and most bemirrOred OF the
combination saloons and gambling re-
sorts.
Conceive, then, his popularity. He
was the patron, the philanthropist, the
%benefactor of the town. And thus was
Il that we were called in conference,
to be assistants to him in one Of his
great humanitarian functions; the
mayor and the sheriff by reason Of
their political headship; I by some
small commercial standing, being at
that time the Galena manager Of the
M. mining and smelling company. The
Fourth Of July was hard upon us, and
Dillon was committee hunting that ac-
ton might be taken to prepare for the
advent Of this glorious day.
The mayor. the sheriff, and I sat in
a back room Of the saloon, listening in
tently to Dillon's h%arangue. After he
had given us every opportunity to sug-
gest ways and means for the day Of en-
tertainment, fruitlessly, he eiucidated
to u his own idea Of a program, which
was voted on and adopted by unani-
nous and immediate consent. This
narrative deals solely with the first
number Of the program, so you will be
compelled to surmise the others from
it.
We wull begin" says Dillon, "in
the morning, wild what ye might dis
hignate a toorymint. This is the way
av It: We wull have rounded up a
bunch av thin divils av bronehos, an
we wull also have rounded up a bunch
av jolly bhoys; we wull beguile the
bhoys to the backs av the broncos, an
we will give the best busther av thin a
foine fat purse-which he wull splnd
i%mmejutely. This, ye may understand
is legitimut, wild excitement enough
to kape an the raw idge av their tim
per. This we wull-" but this Is az
much as concerns us.
Galena was a busy little town. Ev-
cry man in Montana that could dis
tinguish pay stun from pyrites or iron
oatslsud Re, aud A. was IA aetual oonteI
Of a vast exranse Of stock country
billions was the extreme inner point
OF this c~entrality; the meeting house
and council chamber of prominent cit
liens, the rendezvous Of a wide assert
ment OF the erring human animal. Dill
Ion had need to be a splendid whip
and he was. Skittish leaders or sullen
wheelers, vicious or gentle, all alike
felt the strong hand on the box.
A goodly purse was collected against
the coming Of the popular event. Dill
Ions ANTE" (his word) was a hun
dred, and a number Of others came
down handsomely. But in the interval
between the statement OF the idea and
the day Of fulhllment there arose the
necessity for some modification in the
plans. Dillon had relied on procuring
a number Of bad and unbroken horses
and on having the many volunteer
riders break them on time, or some
thing Of that sort. When the trial was
made, however, it was found impos-
sible to bring together the required
number Of ~sure-enough bad horses;
that is, horses which could be depend.
ed on to make excitement under any
circumstances; so a big list Of Snapped
and sombreroed competitors could not
consequently, be accommodated.
It was decided that each Of the two
great COW valleys which ~converget
near Galena should set up its besI
man, the most s%uperlatively regal o.
it's king busters. This concentrates
interest, which, when the eve Of tn,
great day really arrived, was possibly
several degrees beyond blood tempera.
ture.
The morning Of the Fourth dawnet
In all the chaste radiance OF July IL
the foothills. such a day as recon.
penses a man for a year lived IN a hut
100 miles from the nearest railroad
artery, and, as they say in Montana
"only half a mile from hell"
Directly after breakfast those ranol
people from the rival valleys, an,
from all adjacent sections. who had no
been fortunate enough to get in thu
night before, began to concentrate IL
the camp.
Dillon drew me out to the veranda
by me sowl, twill be beautiful, +" say
he. 1--WE have a brace av the beasts
as Wud misharse the divil, an thu
bhoys are fOine M achin' for tn
sport. Yen see ut the day, me son.
He was In merriest spirits himself, ans
i should have enjoyed some Of the ef
~fervescence of his rollicking blarney.
but his answering sense Of duty to thu
day compelled him to drink more FIRE
quently that ] had reason TO believ,
my experience and capacity Woull
permit so / was forced to abiure hi
AALMnHa