Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-06-14
ENDS HIS LIFE
WITH A RIFLE
Enoch Lake, Who Was Employed at
the Hatch Ranch, Blows Top Of
His Head of.
A VICTIM OF DEsPoNpENcY
Was Very Religious and Led Blame
less Life, But Imagined He Was
Lost-The Inquest.

Enoch Lake, single man, "a years
of age, who was employed at the
ranch of w. L. Hatch, on Beaver
creek, 18 miles from this city, commit. |
ted suicide last Wednesday morning,
although the body was not found un-
til the afternoon. He left note, ad-
dressed to his friend, Ray Edison, of
Courtland, Mich, which read:
mo use, Ray; am lost. Goodbye
all. Mother forgive me-"
Overcome by Dependence.
1t appears that for a long time past,
Lake had been very despondent. He
was of deeply religious nature, and
while he lived model life, seemed to
think that he did not measure up to
what is required of Christian, and
this thought constantly preyed on his
mind. Lake had worked on the Hatch
ranch last year, but spent part Of the
winter at his old home in Iowa, re.
turning some weeks ago. At supper
Tuesday night he received a letter
from his friend, Ray Edison, which
throws much light on the singular
case He looked over this letter
while at the table, and soon left, 60
ing to his room. He was last seen
at 6:3O Wednesday morning, when he
LOFT %ho 1>fo OF 70 h1n IN on, {nfN tho
field. At that time he was visibly
depressed, but as he was never cheer
full, little attention was paid to it.
| Mr.. and Mrs. Hatch came to Lewis.
| town in the morning, returning be-
tween / and 2 o'clock in the after.
noon. Lake had not been seen around
the place, but it was supposed he was
in the field until he failed to respond
to the dinner bell. A visit was then
made to the field, where he had gone
to work, but there was no trace of
the man except the water bottle he
had taken with him in the morning
Mrs. Hatch had, meanwhile, joined in
the search, and thinking the man
might be in the house, went into a
sort of store room.
A Horrible Spectacle.
When she entered, a horrible sight
met her gaze. The body of Lake was
lying on the floor, with the entire tor
of the head blown away, and a Win
chester rifle at his side told the story
He had evidently put his head ovel
the muzzle of the gun, and used 9
stick in discharging it. The bullet
was of the explosive character, ant
the walls of the room were crimson
ed with the mans blood. The spec
tacle was such a frightful one tha
Mrs. Hatch was overcome by it, ant
is still suffering from the shock.
The men were at once notified, an(
messenger was sent to this city tt
inform Coroner Attix and secure F.;
coffin. The coroner, accompanied b!
Deputy Sheriff Martin, went out to tn
ranch Wednesday evening, and late
an inquest was held, the jurors bein,
A. e. Hatch, Robert Deffenbaugh, Ez
ra Deffenbaugh, Thomas Kelly, J. E
: Irish and Harry Spence. The evl
dence offered was in line with wha
, has been stated, and the jurors foun'
that Lake came to his death from
: gunshot wound inflicted by himself
with suicidal intent, while laborin
!, under fit of dependency.
The interment took place on Bea,
!, er creek Thursday, two brothers O
the deceased having ranch in tn
! vicinity.
Letter From Lakes Friend.
: The letter from Ray Edison, Lake
r friend at Courtland. Michigan, in RI
sponse to which the deceased's las
l. note was written, shows that LAX
had lost all interest in life. Ediso1
J in reply to a letter from the decea!
o ed, urged him in the strongest term
to try and overcome the feeling {
7. dependency which had settled upo
him. He told him that the little sin
5, with which Lake reproached himse
amounted to nothing. and that h
t, was simply allowing his imaginatio
to wreck his life. The Michiga
IS mans letter is full of good advic
and the effort to cheer up his frien
II is manifest in every line. Lake ha
stated, evidently, that he was su
n fering from the blues, and Ediso
urged him to play mans part an
S. not yield to these things. In CO
8. clusion, he said:
q, For Gods sake and your own sal
and everybody else's sake that know
S. you. shake off the blues and ket
them or
b. Unequal to the Effort.
But Lake was not equal to the {
S, fort. In his own words, written
response to this letter. he said: 1T
Is no use; l am lost" In that frame
mind he came in from the field We
st nesday morning and ended it all wi
the Winchester. Lake is spoken
ic as a man of high character and re-
ly blameless life, although in his
s. spondency, he imagined himself los
IN At WHIPPING POST.