The semi-weekly messenger., 1906-03-30
DESPERATE Battles with knife and Gun
Fought by "Bad Men" Of the Far West

tried to induce him 10 enter the Con-
federate service and turn over the
companys horses TO him. Wild Bill
promptly bade him go where it is hot
ter than western Kansas, and added
that if he did any fighting 1t would be
on the side of the union. McCandlas
! ordered him to have the horses ready
for delivery upon his return, adding
that If he failed TO do so there would
be dead agent at Rock Creek and the
j company would want another man.
McCandlas rode away and Bill thought
no more of the matter until about
o'clock in the afternoon, when he saw
McCandlas returning with his brother
and eight other men. AS they came
riding up the road Bill withdrew to
the house, or dugout, occupied by
himself and his single partner. Doc"
Mills, who had gone down the creek
TO shoot some quail. The dugout was
built against the side of hill and had
but one door and one small window.
The interior was long, low room, di-
vided into kitchen and sleeping room
by an army blanket.
One Against Ten Fight to Death.
McCandIas rode UP to the door and
ordered Bill to come out and turn over
the horses. Receiving an insulting re-
ply, the party left their horses and be-
gan an onslaught on the door with
log, which they used as a battering
ram. Bill stood behind the blanket,
rifle in hand, with a revolver and large
bowie knife lying on the table in front
Of him. 1t required but few strokes
to break down the door. and the gang
headed by Jim McCandlas, rushed in.
The old Yager rife cracked and the
leader fell with a hole the size of sill
Yer dollar through his body. Bill then
Dlcked the revolver and knife
shooting three of his assailants before
the party reached him, when ensued
a scene beyond description. The pack
rushed the lone fighter and bore him
to the table. where he cut down two
more men, when Jack McCandlas leap
ed upon him with dirk. but before he
could use it Bill by a rare stroke of
luck brought the muZZle of his pistol
over the desperadOs heart and fired.
The knife in his hand dropped and he
fell forward over Bill and then to the
floor. There was but little light in
the room, and the number of Bills en-
emies protected him in a measure. Six
Of them were now killed and two 9TH
ers. badly wounded, began to retreat.
Although bleeding from a score of
wounds. wild BilP' now pressed the
fighting. Two unhurt men sprang into
their saddles and fed, while the two
wounded men ran down the hill. One,
so badly cut that he could go no fur
ther fell at the roots of large tree,
when Dock Mills came running up
and was met by BILL who grabbed
his shotgun and blew the fallen mans
brains out. The other man eluded
him and reached Manhattan, small
, station, where he died a few days later,
| but not until he had related the story
| of the fight as told here.
| wild Bill'' tainted from loss of
| blood when the overland stage arrived
| and he was carried into the house,
where he was treated by Dock Mills
and Captain E. W. Kingsberry, of the
| United States army, a passenger on the
| coach, who. with the other passengers,
saw the bodies of the men "BilT' had
| killed. and. with the other witnesses,
vouches for a story more like the ex-
J ploits Of one Of Alexander Dumas he
roes than what might be expected on
our western plains
"Wild Bill's' Score of Wounds.
wild Bill' was found to be suffer-
ing from seven gunshot wounds, a
dozen knife cuts. and fractured skull,
but he recovered fully: and as scout,
marshal, and guard killed more than
100 of the worst characters of those
troublous times, only to be shot in the
back by a coWardly ruffian at Dead
wood on August 2, 1875.
Many other bad men have ever been
, considered the greatest civilizing
agents of the tough camps they ruled
and held in check the desperadoes who
/ feared their deadly aim and iron nerve
Dead shots called bad men were en-
ployed in the early days as treasure
riders, express guards, and messengers,
mine posses and guards and in other
posts Of great danger where only men
of reputation as killers could succeed
even for short time. Fighting was
their trade, and many of them fell rid
died with the bullets of those who
sought to rob or kill their employers
or their agents.
The step from the bad man who was
| bad for the good Of his fellow-man to
the bad man who is. in the parlance Of
the scene Of his exploits, Just nachly
bad is short one. and the deperado
against whom every hand is raised,
when the owner dare raise it, outnum-
bers the good of the community bad
| man one hundred to one. In the early
days in the far and middle west he was
everywhere, and the greatest safety
the country enjoyed and the real rea-
son he did not thrive and multiply was
his inordinate vanity, which almost
invariably led to his undoing as he
would brook no rival, and the i'm
promptu duels of the early camps re-
duced the numerical strength of the
| bad man whenever and wherever they
occurred.
Among the first if not the first, of
the desperadoes of the Golden state
was Joaquin Murieta, often called the
Mexican Bandit" who by historians
has been described as a brave and
handsome youth. in the year so, and
who eloped with a beautiful Mexican
girl and found refuge in Los Angeles.
where he was driven to outlawry by
American miners on account of his
being a Mexican. This is vigorously
denied by early Californians. The real
cause of his evil career is unknown.
but, once begun. he was as merciless
as hyena. He tied men to trees and
I left them to perish in the then unfre-
Quented forests: he raided towns and
spared neither age nor sex; he raided
Chinese mining camps and on one oc-
casion cut the throats of eleven China