El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-04-29

posing structures Of adobe. Saloons
dance halls, gambling halls, stores and
] lodglng houses rose, as If by magic or
each side OF the one street, which par
aueled the creek. Said street being
formerly the trail that led into the
camp and the great beyond.
Opulence and ReveIry.
Then followed a period OF opulence
and reverly common to all new mining
| camps of those days. Money found no
limit at faro bank, stack her to the
ceiling, was the inscription on a pla-
| card behind the layout And thousands
Of dollars changed hands every day and
| night Whisky straight" was the
slogan at all the bars, and the way il
| was drank left no doubt in the mind
Of the observer that it was sure the
stuff that cheers" The saloon doors
! never closed from the day they were
/ first opened until they were finally
! barred forever. The key. which was
] thrown away at the opening, never was
| found, and nobody ever worried.
The Hannibal saloon, owned by old
| John Hoffman, became one OF the finest
| in the territory and the most popular
in the camp. and the scene OF many o
! hilarious night.
The Popular "F1ddIer.-
The man who was fortunate enough
to be the owner Of a fiddle was WOr-
shipped as an orpheus, and escorted
with all pomp characteristic of the oc-
casion to a table in the saloon and made
play for the stag dances that took place
night after night. And how that dance
would hum. salute your partners, and
promenade TO the bar" was called more
often than anything else. And no
flirting with the ladies'" was tolerated,
If they were, fight would follow. amid
boisterous laughing and betting on the
outcome.
The gunner from Texas and the Rio
Grande we're there, also some of Billy
the Kids" bad men from Lincoln county,
New Mexico. But the picking wasn't
good enough for them II seemed, or
else they did not like the keen, pierre
ing eyes and the ugly forty-fours Of
the law and order committee. So after
lowering around a few days, they sad
died their cayuses and hit the trail back
for their old haunts.
Camps First Killing.
The first killing in camp was over
a mining claim. A man by the name
Of Jack Brown. the locator. claiming
the ownership by right Of said location,
but his claim was disputed by another.
who met Jack one night on Main street.
Both drew their guns at the same
time and began TO shoot. When the
smoke cleared away they lay feet to
feet, stone dead, and the claims in ques-
ton reverted to others. By the same
token, come to think OF II, most of the
great killings in the different mining
camps Of the west, have been over sim
liar disputes as that in which poor
Brown and his disputant lost their
lives
The next shooting scrape that oc-
Cured in the little camp was one OF
the most lauEhable ever pulled off in
the west Tom Boyd, a butcher, and
Billy Price, a saloon man, both game
men. by the way, had a dispute over the
quality Of some meat. Price declared
IL more fit for brakeblocl(s on an ore
wagon than IL was to be called a ten
derloin. Boyd took exceptions TO this
and told Billy he was 'liar." and to
go and heel himself" which Billy pro-
coeded to do.
Killing That Wasn't.
Boyd took down his trusty Winchester
and walked to the door and waited for
Billy to show up. figuring that they
would fight II out on the street. Price,
I'm the meanime. had entered the saloon.
which was across the street from the
butcher shop, and called up some OF the
men who were inside and asked them
to take a drink, remarking: "Fellers,
that long legged meat chopping son-of-
a-gun, Tom Boyd, called me a liar
awhile ago and told me to go and heel
myself and when we take this drink.
I'm going 10 do it. Then you will see
one Of the prettiest gun plays you ever
saw"
Having downed his drink. he grabbed
his faithful forty-five Colts and started
around the corner Of the bar. In the
patiently for Price to show up, at once
became suspicious, thinking that Billy
wasn't going to tote fair" so he
dropped behind large pine log close
by the shop. As he did so, Billy caught
glimpse Of him through the door
which was directly opposite the log
Raising his six shooter he commenced
to blaze away, the first shot tearing
close to Boyd's head. Then Tom retail
ated with vim. The first shot missed
- D. -ga.sr.
into a costly mirror behind the bar
Then the fusillade became general, and
continued until Price had emptied his
gun, and a bullet from Toms rifle
crashed through the middle Of the bag
and struck Billy i'm the leg above the ,
knee, SCATTERING "A bone.
The End Is Comical.
Then Price let out a yell that could
be heard all over town. following il
with these remarks: Hey, you dam
butcher you smashed all my bottles.
ruined my looking glass and shot me
in the knee. my gun is empty: ain'l
you satisfied YETI Boyd answered.
Billy, are you lying TO me ae you did
about the meatT'
mo, you darned fool I didn't lie
about the meat and I amt lying about
my knee either" and ne fell TO the floor
in agony of pain. BY this time a crowd
had gathered and rushed into the saloon
and found poor Billy down and out
BOYD came IN CAUTIOUSLY DIT seeing his
foe helpless, remarked: Boys, I guess
old Bill is sure done up; everybody
come and have a drink on me. It will
help pay expenses some. reckon
Then they shook hands and called II
square.
Apache Sguaw Killed.
The next killing in order was that of
an Apache squaw by her buck No one
knows Just what caused the shooting
but IL was generally believed that some
pale-face tried to buy his squaw with
bottle Of whisky; however, he got the
whisky and God got the squaw.
The first that was noticed by any
one Of the marital estrangement Of poor :
10 and his faithless wife was when she
came running down the street yelling
as only an Apache can, and him after
her with a Springfield rifle half pointed
1T her fleeing form, then he suddenly
stopped. gave vent to a hideou5 yell I
that chilled the marrow in the white
mems bone. then raised his rifle 20
evel and fired; the shot struck the poor
5quaw dead center in the back OF the
head, and without a groan she fell to
he ground and expired.
Numerous other shooting affairs took
place in the course Of human events In
Mcmillan. Some are not worth mention
ng, and some had better be left untold,
80 we will pass them up and go on to
)ther events.
The Camp Is Prosperous