Omaha daily bee., 1902-08-31

k4$0R years ago when that country
- was FIRST being settled" said Il.
X. Sowders of Montana, now visiting
the capital, to a Washington Post
reporter. "A man not only had to have
courage, but the physical strength to
back 1t up, and whenever he under
took to make a blum he had to decide
in advance to sustain II. making good all
his assertions and acts. When you did a
thing In those days and in that country
you had to do II to a finish. II you started
to rob q train you had to rob It right; IL you
undertook any gunplay you had to get the
drop on your man and be certain that his
hands were far enough away from his gun
to warrant pulling your slx-shooter down
on him.
'In short, the people and the commune
ties OF the northwest, Of the period Of
which l speak, had no respect for a man
whose actions and talk showed that he was
f~aint-hearted or that he did things by
halves. I remember one very striking ex-
ample Of this curious state Of affairs, in
which I. in one sense, was the victim.
along in the year 1885 l was in wyo-
ming dabbling in mining. Late that year
I struck what l considered a very fair pros
pect in the northern part of Wyoming, just
across the border from Montana, and deter
hAAhC4 ~ 1Nay W ~ \ 0bAPlOJO0 . blE
Manxman of the name Of Barry to sink the
shaft. do assessment work and hold the
claim, as It was impossible for me to re-
main on the place In person and look after
other interests. Besides, l happened, at the
time, to be living at a considerable dis
tance from the scene of my mining opera
lions.
Barry was an excellent miner, but he
had certain habits that rendered him I'M
popular among the people Of that section,
which was about one Of the most desolate
and unsettled sections Of the west. He
would not pay his debts. He obtained his
supplies from a small village near what
is now Dayton, Wyo., in which the only
store was a sort Of combination saloon.
grocery, dry goods and hardware emporium.
"I had sent Barry 5i5ley for mis- wages
and for a grub stake, and he had built a
cabin on the claim. in which be and his
wife lived and kept house. The proprietors
Of this combination saloon and store were
three men, Horr, Butler and Thomas, and,
as usual with storekeepers of that period
and place, they were believers In prompt
payment. Barry ran up quite a large bill
at their store, which he refused to pay and,
after trying in various ways to secure their
dues from my Manxman, they finally de-
cided TO take payment out Of his hide
Accordingly, they repaired to Barry's
cabin one evening and, calling him out,
they proceeded to give him the worst
thrashing that ever a human being endured.
His wife came running out to interfere, but
received such a rough reception that she
was more than glad to return to the cabin,
leaving her husband to the tender mercies
of the creditors. Finally, after they had
about used him up. they told him to go back
to his cabin and not to leave II. This he
did, hoping that the thing was over with,
but, as a matter OF fact, the fun had Just
begun. The three men remained on the
spot all night long, giving Barry a night of
terror that made his hair curl
The trio sho at random through the
windows Of the cabin. One would step up
: to one Of the windows and say, I think
! he's over in that corner yonder, boys fol-
I lowing up the remark by blazing away in
: the direction indicated In his observation
! to the others. Then one Of the others would
step up and declare that the first was wrong
4 and that he knew that Barry must be In
some other quarter OF the cabin, blazing
away in some other direction. They KEEP
this up until dawn. Barry, instead Of try
ing to show night. turned the bed upside
down, made his wife lie down behind II
where she was most Table TO be shot, while
he crawled In behind her. In other words
he used his wife as a barricade to stop am
bullets that might come In that direction
II is a great wonder they were not shot
but as the case stood. they escaped unhurt
lying paralyxed with fright all night behin'
the rampant Of bedclothes and chairs.
After the thing was over with Barr
FASTENED up to where ! was living in Mon
tana ana told me what had happened.
asked him whether or not he put up an,
aoht - wuhfah ha Ranlfa0s tQura n
couldn't. Win they lift an batin' me Their
wuz me whiskers The had a pair Of her!
red Burnsides. which the boys pulled on
during the melee) layin' In the mood. m
ribs wuz bruk and bushted; In foine, scr
OF wuz a total collapse That 'queered
Barry WITH me. and / let him 90.
1.-THE storekeeper knew that Barry wa
. working for me and that I owned the claim
They also knew that the proper and NOR
4 civilized way of collecting the debt du'
! them from Barry would have been for then