The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1921-12-29
,-e M THE coEUR D'ALENEs
s5 YEARS AGO.
lContinued from page a


nat the big fight took place between
sorr gamblers on one side and foul
80 holders on the other, which, strang,
cav resulted in the death of only
ono man. and he had no hand in the
cobt The fight came about in this
,,ov. Some of the leading gamblers
:, the town possessed considerable
ronertv. some of which they had pur-
chased. some they had located and
some they had deliberately and forci-
NV taken from rightful owners So
strong was the gambling element at
Eagle that peaceful citizens. or rather
those in the minority did not care to
antagonize any of the gambling fra
ternity. knowing full well that an in
i,rv to one was the concern of all
and when Wyatt carp, Jack Enright
mot the meek little fellow who was
murdered by Bernard) and other bad
men ordered a man off his own lot the
man generally went and allowed the
gang to take full possession.
The Enright Buzzard Battle.
one day in the spring of 1885 Big
John Enright ran across a lot owned
by a man named Bill Buzzard, who
prior to that time. had been a resident
of Butte. Enright Immediately be-
came imbued with the idea that he
wanted the lot as it frOnted on the
main street He went to Buzzard and
informed him that he must vacate i'm
mediately and without ceremony. Buzz
zard objected to this mode of preced-
ure. but Enright was obdurate, and in
language more forcible than polite, |
commanded Buzzard that he was to |
get off and damned quick at that |
Enrights boisterous talk didn't seem |
to brighten Buzzard and he informed |
Enright that the ground was his and |
that he calculated to hold it.
"Pll see about that" said Enright, as
he turned and walked down the street
in the direction of the saloon. Buzzard
expected trouble from the gamblers
and made arrangements to give them
a warm reception. Four persons, in
Guiding Buzzard were interested in
the property, and they all concluded
tc fight for what they thought belong
ed to them. On the back part of the ;
lot stood a log cabin, which was occu- l
pied by the four men. Into this the
men went and waited developments. {
Enright soon returned from his
downtown trip. accompanied by three
other fighters named AL Holman, Bill I
Payne and one Ferguson, all of whom
were armed to the teeth. Payne and I
Enright having Winchester rifles and {
revolvers, Holman having a double /
barreled shotg and a revolver and {
Ferguson having two large navy re- /
volvers When the gamblers arrived at '
the battlefield the Buzzard party was c
still in the cabin, which stood about 40 S
yards from the street. In front of the r
cabin was a pile of logs which were to S
be used in the erection of a house on S
the land under dispute. These logs {
served as breastworks for the Buzzard
party, On the other side along the
lineof the street, the snow. which was
at that time very deep, had been
thrown up to a height of about four
feet it having been shoveled from a
piece of ground on which log cabin c
was built. The gamblers got behind
the snowbank' Enright however, who Z
was the leader of the party, stepped p
cut toward the center of the lot and C
called for Buzzard. who Immediately o
came forward with a Winchester rifle b
in his hand. Both men stood about 10 L
feet apart and did what talking was h
to be done The men behind the a.
silently watched the pro- o.
Suddenly, and before the
had become monotonous W
between Buzzard and Enright, both fC
aised their guns and fired at each p
other, the bullet from Enrights gun p
passing through Buzzard's hat, and the "
ball from Buzzard's grazing Enrights Il
cheek Then they began to back away 81
from each other, firing as they went, p
The guns in the hands of the men be- OF
hind the breastworks joining in the II
fusilade The men were soon under nj
cover, however, and from that time 81
until the expiration of Is minutes, II
regular battle ragged between the two 81
parties Finally a bullet from a gam In
)ler's gun struck a disinterested party w
named Burdette, a Black Hills man. m
n the groin and laid him out. Then M
a long legged fellow. whose face was az
seen on the streets of this city only 81
ew days ago. rushed to about the cen =
er of the lot and threw up both his
lands and commanded the cessation of
he hostilities. While the fight was In
Going on storekeepers and others who r
iesired peace in the community, could
De seen shouldering their guns and
;oing in the direction of the fight with 81
look of determination on their faces. V 9a
t was afterwards whispered around hf
hat they intended to kill the gamblers &c
md thus stop the bulldozing business ne
nut as the fight did not result in the ~ ~
eath of more than one innocent par f.
y, they allowed things to move along Sc
n the even tenor of their way. At III
asst accounts the Buzzard party was
till holding fhp LOT though il is not f.