The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1908-05-07
men OF THE FRONTIER
How They Brought Law and
Order to the UnruIy West.
THE RULE OF THE REVOLV YER,

Life In the Wild Days Whens Gun Plays
Oecasioned Little Comment, Ye&
When There Was Always Safety In
Leaving 1t to the Crowd"
The bold, reckless life Of the frontier
of the middle years Of the nineteenth
century and later has been often re-
called by the stories of desperadoes
and bad men, but in the birth and
growth of the frontier cities is unique
phase of American civic genius which
has been little dwelt upon.
Most of the cities of the far west
have lowered close about the gather
ings of hardy miners as they came or
went on feverish search for gold. In
forty-nine $4,000 men from all parts
Of the world reached the Ell Dorado
of California. Some travelled 1000
miles overland; others went far around
by Panama or Cape Horn. Lii fifty
nine 100000 gold seekers stampeded
wildly across the sunburnt plains of
Colorado. Only 10000 stayed the year
through. OF like kind, although OF
smaller proportions, We're all the pill
grimages that are more or less respon-
sible for the cities Of the west, the
finding Of streak of magic yellow,
the glimpse Of nuggets and speci-
mems and then the grand, senseless
rush to the Land of Get-Rich-Q Quick.
Thousands of daring spirits were
drawn by the yellow loadstone, intent
on nothing but the accumulation of
wealth. Then necessity produced some
weird assemblages of tents. shanties
and log cabins, many of which grew
into cities. Often full grown towns
sprang up in few months. Far from
any state Or territorial government and
composed of conglomerated herd Of
excited men, none of whom had time
for civic affairs, these embryo cities ex-
listed and grew under conditions that
were unique and extremely wild.
Our forefathers landed on the east
ern coast full Of religious zeal and a
desire for freedom of thought and life.
,rtAis ,e1f 1ea saeerr rntfeua anu uvvvrureu mru
a nation. But the gold discoveries OF
California, Nevada, Colorado and Mon
tana brought thousands Of independ-
ent men to the wilderness who were
full Of the hunger for gold, not homes;
who had no leaders, no laws to which
they could appeal and nothing to bind
! them together. Then the leaders came
0ut of the crowd, and the law grew as
Ut was needed. 1t was only after q
/ time that any of these men came to
consider remaining permanently in the
country, and it was these venturesome
builders who developed the newer part
OF our nation.
From the nature of things, with so
much at stake among such hard living
men, there were plenty of fights anu
disputes There being no authority to
which to appeal, differences were set
tied between man and man. A SIX
shooter was the greatest help man
could get toward physical superior
ity over other men, and so everybody
carried ''gun" and knew how to use
it. The trigger finger grew nimble
with practice, and there developed a
condition where frequent killings and
shootings occasioned little comment OF
criticism, where men were almost in-
different to the spilling Of blood and
looked death square in the face with
a nonchalance that is hardly conceiv.
| able now. Shooting affrays were the
froth of very strong brew Of the Dor
der life, and they put settlement tc
| questions quickly and definitely. Il
when the smoke cleared away some
good man lay biting the dust, his ligh1
had gone out according to the code o1
the time, fierce and barbarous as codes
must be when man first struggles will
nature.
And yet there was always safety IL
| sleaving it to the crowd" The gener
al sentiment of the community wa'
very partial to fairness and honestl
during the early days of most borde
towns. There were no locks or keys
almost any mans credit was good t
i any amount, and stores and provision
could lay untouched for months Il
wholly unguarded places. 1t was tn
natural, frank honesty of the virgil
west and veritable paradise TO
thieves and criminals.
And they came, hordes OF numbering
plundering adventurers who knew n
code of morals or chivalry, and resorte
to anything to accomplish their ends
They found plunder rich. crime cas-
and escape still easier and drifting a
over the country, levied tribute froI
each new camp as it sprang into being
Often these men were in such m;
iority that a man who believed in hoI
esty and justice was man indeed
he had the courage to back his ideal
But there were such men, men as Go
meant men to be, full of the sense {
! right and the fitness of things and III
afraid. They stepped right into tt
opening and tackled some Of the Gus
edest crowds in Christendom, teachin
a wholesome respect for ''life. libert
and the pursuit Of happiness
punches Of drinking, blasphemous ar
embarrassed tempers. The gun figh
ings, lynchings and wanton spillings
blood that spiced the histories Of Il
time may have been very close to sa
agery, but they serve now to deep
t the respect we must have for men W
: harnessed law and order on such con'
: tions.-Outing Magazine.