The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-04
TRACY DESCRIBES HIS
DUEL WITH MERRILL

Seattle, Wash. July 5.-"No more
oyster fishing for me-, said Frank
Scott, this morning, in conversation
with a representative of the Associated
Press.
After this week I will be flying in
luxury at the expense of the taxpayers
OF Oregon" So confident is Scott of
the truth of the story which Tracy told
him in all of its lost minute details that
he is going to throw up his job on lis
arrival at Olympia today and. in corn
pany with a single companion. go TO
Chehalls. in Lewis county. to locate the
dead body of Merrill, and. If he sue
eeeds in locating it, to turn it over to
the authorities of Oregon for the re-
ard offered for il dead or alive.
Il shot him in the back" said Tracy,
but he was going to shoot me. We
quarreIed. The day before the quarrel
we found newspaper which contained
an account of our escape and the pur-
suit. That account gave Merrill equal
credit with myself for the deed which 1
alone committed. The newspapers since
we escaped have all along persisted
in giving him equal credit for the es-
cape ana the getaway with me The
fact of the case is that he didn't have
the nerve Of rabbit. He always want
ed to sneak through the country keep
ing under cover and preferred to go
hungry rainier IMAM SHOW 0lnlSSlI lot
the purpose of getting food.
That is not my style. No man can
take me alone. And IL had aNproper
travelling companion, a man of nerve.
i couldn't be taken by a regiment of
deputies. IL I am shot il will be from
behind. And. with another man to
guard the opposite direction, a man of
some nerve, who knows how to handle
a gun, we could get wherever we want
ed TO and not be compelled to keep I'M
der cover a portion of the time, as
am in travelling alone.
Says Merrill Was a Coward.
"But Merrill was N. CT. He would
never have been anything but an inn
out of the way 1 never could trust him
on guard. except in places where there
was no danger anyway. and then he
was so frightened that at times he
would wake me. up needlessly in the
fear that we were being surrounded.
$50 when I got the paper and saw
that the reporters and people thought
he had some nerve it made me hot 1
Thought at first would shake him and
travel alone, but before we agreed to
Separate I taunt~d him with his
cowardiSce and he got huffy- Then we
agreed 20 fight a duel. This WAS in
the woods lin Lewis county, not far
from Cflehdl1Ss
1--WE eigreed to start together from a
line ano walk ten steps each, in oppe-
site DIRECTIONS from each other, and
then turin simultaneously and begin
firing. from his manner in making ar
rangemehts l was convinced that he
was intending to turn before he had
taken the ten steps and 1 was deter
mined not TO let him get the drop on
me. So when had taken eight steps,
1 turned around and took q shot at
him. / hit him in the back The first
shot did mot finish him and / shot
again. I then concealed the body in the
brush and proceeded on my way.
Merrill only got what he deserved.
He Intended to turn and SHOOT me in
the back, then he would have speaked
out of the country through the big TIM
Der and would not have. been heard os
for months. 1 would not only have
been dead. but probably never have
been found. because he would have
been afraid to tell where my body
was"