Rocky Ford enterprise., 1901-06-28

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"Howly mother. gintlemin!" argued
Dillon. "'tis matther av importance.
Wud ye have another shootin' Donny-
brook? an me a-bearin' av all the
divilment. same as twuz last year?
Wild the riputashun nv the camp. too!
In the name nv innlsince. have ye no
heads for an emergency"
Dillon was clearly in earnest, and
when man OF his facial characters
tics is In earnest things are likely to
happen. whether the scene OF action be
Spitzbegen or Timbuctoo. His indig-
nation ut our stupidity-at the
mayors. the sherifr's. and mine-was
offensive: but We could offer no sug-
sestion that might stand for us as
combatant. There were men In the
camp with official titles. and men
very prone to swift and accurate shoot
ing. but these collectively were rs
naught before the breath OF Dillon.
Galena was like most other ofNorth-
western mining towns; II at all dlstin-
suishable from them. It was by slight
accentuation OF that air OF bonhomie
which is more or less apparent on the
v!sages OF all communities of the
genus.
Dillon owned and seniaily pre-
sided over one OF the biggest and
brightest and most bemirrored of the
combination saloons and gambling re-
sorts.
The mayor. the sheriff. and sat In
back room Of the saloon. listening In
ten,ly to p!ilon's haransue. After he
had given US every opportunity to sus-
Scst ways and means for the day OF en-
testainment. fruiticssiy. he ciueida;ci
to US his own idea Of program. W hIch
was voted on ard adopted by unani-
nous and immediate consent This
narrative deals solely with tho mrs,
number OF the program. so you will be
compelled to surmise the others from
IL.
We wuii begin" says Dillon. "in
the morning. wid what yc might dis
hisna;c a toorym!nt. This Ia the way
nv IL: We wali have rounded up
bunch av Thin divIls nv bronehos. an
wo wull also have rounded up bunch
ar jolly bhoys: VIC wuii bc.uilc the
hhoys to tho backs av tho broncos. an
~e will give the best busthcr nv thin
foinc fat purse-whieh he wuii sp!nd
isnfncjutciy. This. ye may understand.
IL icsitinu'. ~id cseoitcmcns enough
TO kapc az the raw idkc nv their tim
PEI. This wc ~ull-" but this Ia As
much as concerns Us.
A koodly purse was collected against
the coming OF the popular event. Dill
Ions ante this own wortj was a hun
drei. and a number OF others came
down Handsomely. pu; in tho interval
between the Statement; of the idea ana
the day of faialimea, there arose the
necessity for some modification In III.
plans. Dillon had relied on procuring
a number of bad and uabrskcn horses.
and on having tho many volunteer
riders break them on time. or some
thing of tina; sort. when tho trial was
made. however. it vas found impos-
sibie TO bring together the required
number OF sure-cnoush bad horses:
tha; IL. horses which could be depend
I'd on to make excitement under any
circumstances: so big list of Snapped
and sombreTocd competitors could not.
consequently. be accommodated.
The morning Of the Fourth dawned
In all the ehas,e radiance of July In
the foothills. such dsy as recon.
pcnses a man foF year lived In a hut.
40 miles from ;ss aeaTcst railroad
artery. and. as they say in Montana.
only half mile from hell"
Directly after breakfast ,hose ranch
people from the rival valleys. and
from all adjacent sections. who had no;
been fortunate enough to get in the
night before, began to concentrate In
the camp.
Dillon drew me out to the vcrands.
by mo sowi. 't~uil be beautiful" says
he. We have a brace av the beasts
as wud misharse the divil. an the
bhoys are foinc an schin' for the
sport. Yell see ut the day. me SON.
He was In merriest spirits himself. ani
I should have enjoyed some OF the eff
feryescenee Of hia roilicking blarney:
but his answering sense of duty to tho
day compelled him TO drink more fire.
auently that I had reason to believe
my experience and capacity would
permit. SO I was forced to sbjure his
society.
About 10 he got on table somehow.
and announced the riding. and invited
the contssting busters up to throw dice
for choice of horse. This called forth
uproarious yells of applause. One OF
the contestants. the North Valley rep
resentative. was not present. but his
mentor was. with full power to act.
This latter. however. an old ranch fore
man. with badly bowed legs and a
crooked back. called out renewed cheers
by remarking that he ''reckoned it
didn't make much difference about the
throwin'. as Curlew war satisfied with
Almost any hoss."
But the South Valley contingent de-
INJURED at this. and Dillon routed IL as
unparliamentary. SO old Joe and the