The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-12-08
TALE OF A 'BOOMv TOWN.
The Indiana TenderfOOt Who Danced
and Lived to Dance Again.

c. NJ. Bailey, a former Marion man who
is now interested in the oil and gas busi-
ness in Coffeyville, Kan, was talking to a
group of men at the Denison last night
about the Kansas boom town. and in the
course of the conversation he told story
of how an Indiana tenderfoot drove a cow
boy to involuntary suicide.
Il had the story secondhand" said Mr..
Bailey. "but it was vouched for by num-
Der of reliable men, so 1 believe it is re-
liable. Shortly after l arrived in Coffey-
vile l was seated in the office of a man
named Brown one day, when he pointed out
the window to a large stone that lay under
passes through the town. You see that
stone?' he said. We'll, that stone saved
the life of a tenderfoot from your State
and killed the most notorious bad man in
these parts
1.-THE story he told was. in substance,
that young man from Indiana went out
to Coffeyville, and the first night he was
there went to a public dance that was at
tended by all the cowboys for miles around.
The Hoosier, who was big, comedy, good
natured fellow. fell readily into the free
long until he was having more fun than
any one else at the dance. He was at
tracted In particular to one girl and danced
with her half dozen times. He did not
know that the girl had lover who was
the bad man of that section until about
midnight, when the cowboy called him to
one side and told him that he did not in
tend 10 let any BANKED Indiana tender
foot come out there and dance all night
with his girl. He warned the Hoosier to
leave the girl alone.
KNOCKED HIM DOWN.
1.-THE tenderfoot took the calling down,
and when it was finished shot out his good
right arm and knocked the bad man down.
He followed this up by giving the cowboy
the worst whipping a Kansas man ever
got. They were finally separated by the
cowboys friends and the friends the
Hoosier had won by his nerve and fighting
ability. and the cowboy skunk out of the
ballroom. As soon he had gone some
of the men there volunteered to advise the
tenderfoot to leave. They told him that the
cowboy had a bad reputation and that he
would certainly return to the dance as soon
as he could get his guns and kill him. The
tenderfoot was unarmed and said that he
did not know how to handle a revolver
but he was not inclined to run away How
ever. the advice of his newly made friends
finally prevailed and he left the dance. The
cowboy did return with his war paint on,
but his victim was out of the way.
But the cowboy was of the sort that
never forgets an injury, and he swore that
he would not leave town until he had killed
his man. The next day he started out to
look for the tenderfoot. He got TO thinking
the matter over, however, and he began to
a gun as heIwas with his fists, and he con-
Guided that he would see that his own hand
had not lost its cunning. Accordingly he
went down under the bridge, fixed up a
target and began practicing He stood on
the stone Brown pointed out to me, and
after a few shots he commenced twirling
his revolver around his finger between
| shots, practicing all his grand-stand tricks
/ He did this successfully two or three times
| and then his finger slipped, the revolver
| fell the hammer struck the rock and there
shot no ted on
| The bullet struck him squarely between the
| eyes and he dropped dead in his tracks
The Hoosier, whom the bad man would
| undoubtedly have killed on sight. IS still
| in Coffeyville and he numbers as his
| friends every man who knows him or knows
| OF him. He is credited with Kidding the
! country of an altogether undesirable citi-
zen. and he has not found il necessary to
| have another fight or 10 take to the re-
/ volver as means of maintaining his repu-
| tation as a man without fear and a bad
/ man TO tackle