The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1923-03-23

then said, "If you will go, / shall go
too" He then walked to the three
men. One of them said, I'VE want
to see you back here" They crossed
the street, one man leading the way,
Colonel Sanders following him, the
other two following Sanders, and /
following them between the log
houses which were built a little
apart.
The first man and Colonel Sanders
had gotten out of the passageway in
the rear of the house and the rest of
us we're following, when, "bangI"
went a gun. The two men in front
of me jumped out behind the houses
and I rushed out as fast as l could,
expecting to find the colonel killed.
When / got out, however, I saw that
all three of the men were running
away; and Colonel Sanders was
standing there with his overcoat on
fire. asked him if he was hurt.
He said, NO"
The truth of it was that about the
time the killing was to have COM
menced, Colonel Sanders pistol was
discharged in his overcoat pocket, as
he was in the act of drawing the
weapon. This stampeded the assas-
sins, and saved his life and perhaps
mine. Colonel Sanders had taken, as
is known, fearless and active part
in the prosecution of Ives. 1t was be-
yond doubt the purpose of these men
to murder him as a matter of re-
venge.
Sanders Magnificent Effort
1t is great pity an irreparable
loss, amounting to a calamity
no copy of the great speech of Col
onel Sanders in the Ives trial was
ever taken or preserved. Colonel
Sanders was a great orator, and
thousands of our people have heard
and enjoyed his splendid speeches in
the courts and on the platform. But
those who did not hear his speech in
the Ives trial never heard the best
effort in the lifetime of this gifted
man. During its delivery on that
cold wintry day, there stood these
hundreds of miners in the street of
Nevada, motionless and spellbound
by the marvellous appeal on that oc-
casion by this wonderful man, to the
jury and the struggle for the pro-
lection of their homes, property and
lives in their new mountain land
And never did a great speech go
home with more directness and force
to the hearts of honest and deter
mined men.
This great speech, if we had it in
the archives and history of the state,
would constitute a monument to this
peerless pioneer that would stand in
g1ory's sky, hallowed with the golden
sunlight, when the bronze statue
being erected by a grateful people to
his memory, shall have crumbled into
dust. On the day George Ives was
hung a real democracy was estab-
lished in these mountains. It's foun-
dation was laid upon the bones of
the desperate and outlaw. And Col
onel Sanders is entitled to be called
its Pericles.
A generation has passed away
since those dreadful days with their
exciting events. And the influence
Of the miners courts, and especially
Of the Ives trial, upon the people of
Montana has not passed away, and
will not for generations to come.
These courts and the result of this
rial taught the people that life and
were worth defending at all
hazards, and that the enforcement
Of the law was the only hope of hu-
nan safety and liberty.
Since Montana has had a history,
he people have never forgotten the
essons they learned in those early
crucial days. The devotion of the
people to the law, the estimate they
early learned to place upon life, lib
,rty and property, have made our
tate palladium of safety to the
law-loving citizens, and
,lace to be avoided by the assassin
md the desperado. SO long as our
people keep in mind these lessons
ind teach them to their children will
Montana be worthy of the patriotic
devotion and pride of her sons and
daughters.