The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1904-01-02
DIETRICH'S MANY =. ...>
NARROW ESCAPES.
HAS BEEN MANY TIMES TARGET
FOR BULLETS,
IF Federal Grand Jury Downs the Soma i.
tor It WILDE His, First Stroke
Of Bad Luck.

-
tor It WILDE His First Stroke
Of Bad Luck. i
From the New York World.
HASTINGS, Neb.-Friends Of Senator
Dietrich are wondering if the remark
able good fortune which has followed
him through his entire life will desert
him in his trouble with the federal
grand jury.
Forced to depend upon his own re-
sources since eight years old, roughing
it with frontiersmen for the nucleus of
his fortune, wrestling his first property
from competitors who sought to de-
stroy him with bombs and powder
mines. looking calmly into gun barrels
Of enemies, luck at all times backed
him and he won every time. The same
luck that started him toward wealth
and made him a thriving banker at
tended him when he forced his way
into political prominence at precisely
the time when a compromise candi-
date was needed to break a deadlock in
a senatorial election.
Dietrich is not learned man, be-
cause when he was eight years of age,
just after he came West from Aurora,
ILL.,, he hired out to farmers for his
living. He did chores, weeded fields,
did alomst mans work, snatching
few weeks schooling in midwinter. His
hardy physique suggested blacksmith
ing, as men of that trade were In de-
mand in this new country. He worked
over the anvil till he had accumulated
$3.50, and in 1875 he paid his way to
Cheyenne, Wyo. With the good fortune
hr{ - h;~,, 1I1 f.a
| had found his way to the West just as
| the discovery Of gold in the Black Hills
! had opened a rich field for fortune
hunters. He hadn't enough money to
! pay his way by stage, so he hired the
transportation of his provisions. load
| ed blankets and clothing on his back
| and trudged beside the provision Wag-
| on to Deadwood. It was in winter and
many dangers awaited any one who
| would brave the blizzard and the In
dams. He walked unprotected 400
miles and passed through Red Canyon.
! Before and after his trip few whites
had come out of the canyon alive, but
Dietrich went through untouched.
He had no more money and it took
| money to prospect. So he opened the
| first store in Deadwood, "The Pioneer"
| and stocked it with his provisions. His
goods brought high prices from those
! who had come with money but with
out food. Dietrich disregarded the eau
| tions Of his friends and peddled food
| through the Deadwood country, travel
| ing on foot. That winter he was one
| Of party that helped to lay out the
| town OF Spearfish. 1t was in an unset
| tied country, claimed by the Indians,
| and others had not ventured so far.
| The Indians swooped down upon the
| town-builders and stampeded their po-
MES. The party gave chase, recovered
! their ponies and resumed work without
the loss of a man.
| Dietrich now had sufficient capital to
| open q mine, and with two partners To-
Gated the Aurora, made famous not
only by it's value, but, also because of
the determined attempts of rivals to
! Dust the three prOspectOrs.
| There was no law at that time in the
| Black Hills; there was no system of eE-
| tablishing property rights; all men were
! trespassers, and title meant possession.
! Dietrich and his partners had seen
enough Of the Hills life to know the
price they must pay. So they fortified
themselves on their claim and sent out
word that any unwelcome visitors
would not be given the privilege of
leaving. The rest knew what this meant
and did not attempt open attack
The Aurora owners attributed their
| trouble to the men who held the near
| by Hidden Treasure and Keats mines.
| One of the three guarded the Aurora
sodhouse all the time. One night the
! guards attention was attracted by the
| falling of a pebble from above. Look
! ing up, he discerned the sl<ulking fig
! ure of a man. A challenge brought no
answer, but precipitate flight. A giant
! powder bomb had been dropped by the
! visitor It was learned afterward that
! it was the mans intention to light the
| bomb, drop it upon the sodhouse, and
| next morning take possession of what
was left.
Dietrich's luck was discomforting to
| his rivals, and now he was offered
| $4,000 for the mine, 1T being UNDER
! stood that refusal meant a resumption
| of hostilities. Dietrich refused the
offer.
| Not long after, Cephus futile, of the
! Aurora mine, was shot from ambush
and killed. Two bullets hit Dietrich,
| one grazing his forehead. Then Diet
| rich discovered that the Hidden Treas
! ure people had stealthily dug tunnels
| into the Aurora property, and were
! planning to blow it up from below
| Dietrich said nothing, but put his men
| at work digging counter tunnels, and
| laid powder mines in such d. way as to
! blow up the men working in the Hid
| den Treasure.
Just as the night shift went into the
| Hidden Treasure to relieve the day
force, Dietrich and his crowd sailed
boldly to the mouth of the mine and
| covered the exit with their guns. The
! Hidden Treasure people were told that
a refusal to capitulate would result in
destruction of the Hidden Treasure, so