Arizona republican., 1907-05-31

have carried him far. When the
 drums struck their first grim battle
 note no man in all Arizona had the
 promise of a brighter future. Any
 question as to that fades away If you
 but mix with cowboys. miners. section
 haiids or other useful citizens who
 showed elbows with Bucky in the old
 days.
 | Arizona is facing the dawn of a new
 era. The old began when the over
 flow from California diggings and stragglers from the Santa Fe trail set their wits against Apache cunning for | the possession of water hole and silver
 lode. The final page in this era was turned when the last legislature passed an act abolishing gambling. The days when the first shot was all that count ed. the days of stage coach and mule whacker. of treasure-quests when death lurked in every wash and chap arral. of green-cloth gentry and cattle king have drifted into the shadow
 Nothing of them all is left save stray notes in minor key on the Edge of Things. They were good old days in way. About them fingers tue rare fragrance of old romance, and a vague regret stirs at their passing. The stern conditions of that period bred giants. Perhaps we will miss in the dispensation certain robust, deep-ton- ed qualities that distinguished the old. But the unfolding of the destined or der compelled the coming of night and the flush of another dawn.
 Now the sands are running on days of breeding peace. The Men of the Mist Hills" are bringing to life the sleeping princess of Desert land. Farm and mine are being linked with bands of steel. The brains and sinew and wealth of older communities are join ing hands with the pioneers in the creation of a new empire.
 Between the heroic days of individ- ual prowess and these of communal enterprise lay a brief period which was composite of both. And of this tram sition time Bucky O'Neill was the most eminent protagonist The range Of his activities covered almost every phase of both new and old. And by nature and inclination he was blood germane to both.
 Of his stirring exploits while sheriff
 
 written. When the toughest jobs were on Bucky generally struck out alone, ana II IS a common saying that he would follow his man into a gopher hole if there was a fighting chance. We have sheriffs yet who have not forgot the old time traditions. And when the call comes they will strap on their shooting-irons and set forth on a mustang into mountain fastness or across glaring sands on perilous em- prise. But the time hears apace when the typewriter and hello-girl and will loom largest in the shrieval paraphernalia. So we treasure the memory of Sheriff O'Neill Who scrawled his name in the open.
 Bucky was a youth of nineteen when ne first landed in Arizona. He worked for time as comDositor on the Phoe- nix Herald, then owned by J. F.. Me- Clintock. brother of the present post master of Phoenix. Then with some other adventurous spirits he drifted to Santa Fe. After spending some time there and in Albuquerque he swung back to Phoenix, by way of Fl Paso. tombstone and Tucson, plying his trade at the chance offered. On his return trip he narrowly missed leav- ing his bones on the desert, as SO many men. enamored of the long chance. have done before and since When he and his travelling companion reached Tucson they made a discovery; they Were both broke, In this emergency they decided to strike the hoof-trail | for Phoenix. When they reached Casa Grande they parted, Bucky taking a | straight shoot across the desert and l his partner keeping to the railroad. | When the latter reached Phoenix he | found that Bucky had not yet arrived | and gave the alarm. Searching par lies were sent out and some of Henry Morgan's Pima trailers found Bucky )n the edge of the Big Range with his Ongue hanging out
 Into the robust. untrammeled life of hose early times Bucky entered with III the zest and abandon ot his Celtic nature. He would leave the trail any ime for fly at a game and stake lis last dollar. It was his fondness for 'bucking the tiger" an expression peculiar to faro. that gained him the obriquet that stuck as cholla to a Let It be said in pass ng that gambling in the old regime vas a thing apart from gambling to- lay. It seemed somehow to match the pirit of those days of breathless hange and unplanned events. And for his full-blooded youth 1t was by way f prophecy and revelation. From the irst to the last Bucky played the 'arne of life for the hazard of it. was no morbid or et-rich-quick notive that drew ilim to the whirring {; wheel and the dealers sing-song. It Tas simply the fascination of the |, anne. And this was only a passing hase of natural unfolding. Soon is aim was set for higher stakes. He aid goodbye to gambling years before { is marriage. ( Like those storied knights of King -rthur. the restless spirit of Bucky yer stirred for fresh adventure. In all ' IS enterprises he showed the bold ! cart and dash of the paIadins of { harlemagne with a tinge of Don i uixote. He organized and directed { ne operations of several mining com anies in exploiting the copper fields ' ear the Grand Canyon. While en- I aged in this work he built the Bright ( ngel trail into the canon. at the head !