Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-12-28
LIGHTNING GUN PLAY
One Time When Wild Bill Hickok
Was Too Rapid.
HE KILLED HIS BEST FRIEND.

HE KILLED HIS BEST FRIEND
The Pluc<y Marshal Had Settled the 4
Leader OF the Desperadoes Who Had Il
VI Started to Shoot Up the Town When
& He Made the Fatal Mistake.
5 In September, 1874. the good people
Of Dickinson county. Kan. had reach,
ed the definite conclusion that 1t was #
a farming country and proceeded te
emphasize this opinion BY giving an ID.
old fashioned county fair att Abilene
Six hundred thousand longhorns came
up from Texas that year, but theiI u;
owners took the hint and understood
that there would be no room for their
stock on tile prairies of that country
the following season. They had sold
their cattle and were ready to depart
Abilene was to be their stamping
ground no more.
1T was in order to celebrate the oc
casion Ia the old time way, and it was
generally ndepstood that the .ceremo
4 MES Of the evening were to conclude
by killing the town marshal, Wild BID
y Hickok and metaph orically taking his
scaip, back to Texas A few Of them
drew. lots as to which should have that I,
dangerous honor. and Phillip Coe got
the short straw.
b lit was beautiful autumn day, and
Il the county fair was "a great success
|. As the sun went down Pat McGonigaI
and his brother tied their bronchos in,
front Of the drovers cottage. strolled
down Texas street, met their cowboy
coWmen picked up Jake Karatosky.
the merchant. carried him down to the
Applejack and had him set up the.
drinks. a score of more or less prorni
nent citizens and cattlemen were used
in the same manner and in quick sue
cession vi ltS .
| The crowd increased, and the liquor
| and excitement spread. The cowb boys
were giving Abilene her last Roman
holiday. Wild Bill was dining at Mrs.
| Smiths restaurant, and the roisterers
went to drag him to the bar. Bill said
| they might so to the Novelty bar and
get a drink on him. but pointedly de-.
clined to accompany them and called
1 particular attention to the ordinance
against shooting in the city limits
BY 10 o'clock at night the mob surg.
4 ed from one end Of Texas street to the
other in reckless abandon. Every body,
who claimed to be civilized hunted
cover Marshal Hickok and Policeman
Williams were watching at the Novel
4 ty, where generally the most friction
occurred.
i It was about this time that big Phil
4 Coe, keeping faith with his comrades,
but with no eager avidity. leisurely
walked up in front Of the Alamo, them
packed with excited men, and fired his
gun at dog, as he claimed Wild
4 Bill told Williams to stay at the NoE
city, ran swiftly across to the rear door
and sprang into the crowded Alamo.
! roughly inquiring as to who was doing:
the shooting. -, -.
/ Coe stood at the well curb outside
and said that he had fred the shot.
Immediately he fired another. which
grazed Wild Bill's side as he stood
4 at the bar, With that wonderful swift
ness which stood him in good stead so
many times, Bill threw two guns on
/ Coe and shot him twice in the abdo-
men, eXclaiming, I've shot too iow!"'
At the same instant he turned and
fred twice at another man who came
running down the dark sidewalk and
burst on the scene, showing two guns
in front Of him.. Coe fired one. more,
shot and fell across the we'll curb. A
hundred guns clicked as Wild Bill
fired his first shot, but before the
fourth the place was cleared and not
one bad man was left to stand by
Coe +
The stranger, with two bullets with
in an inch of his heart, threw both
hands in the air, dropped his guns to
the floor and pitched forward stone
dead. 1t was Mike Williams, the dep
uty, brave fellow, who, despite his
chiefs instructions to remain at the
I Novelty, could not keep away from the
fight. s ~
Wild Bill cried out that he had killed
his best friend, gathered the little man
in his arms, and, with eyes fulla of
tears, laid him across a poker table.
/ The fury that burned in his veins
| when he whipped the McKandias gang
| sprang to life again at this accident,
and he proceeded to hold the Texas men
responsible. That night the desperate
heroes of border strife hid in cellars
and sunfiower patches or on swift 20
MES found their way to their cattle
camps, for they had made hzzle by
trying to shoot up the wrong town..
4 Denver Field and Farm.
4 ss5 a.. First Aid In Accidents.
A country boy knows that the fine
! f1Tlsf Of brown f,1nei no lis r,1ffiaiis