Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-06-03

1Y1 III ~ Il tOdJJt OJtd oIOQt
u KARK TWAIN, in his "Roughing It.
NH which has to do with the expert
4v1 ences of the humorist in the West
tells of the fate OF a bartender who
had won the i'll will Of Captain j. A
Slade, the notorious member Of the Mon
tana Vigilance Committee who met fate
at the lands Of the ~Vigilantes. Slade en-
tered the saloon and asked the bartender
for brandy. Seeing the bartender reach
under the counter, "Slade smiled upon
him that peculiarly bland n satisfied
smile OF his, which neighbors had long
ago learned to recognize as a death war
rant in disguise, and old him, None OF
that. Pass out the high-priced article.
So the poor bartender had to turn his
back and get the high-priced brandy
from the shelf, and when he faced aroun
again, he was looking into the muzzle Of
SHADES pistol. And the ext instant,
added my informant, he was the dead
est man that ever lived"
Mark Twain further speaks OF Slade In
an account Of his stage trip across the
continent. The humorist met Slade al
Julesburg; and the agents reputation
was then at It's height. Mark Twain
and Slade had breakfast together, and
the writer thus describes his experience
I'm due time we ratified up to a stage
station. and sat down to breakfast with
a half-savage, half civilized company OF
armed and bearded mountaineers, ranch
men and station employees. The most
gentlemanly appearing, quiet and afable
officer we had yet found along the road
in the Overland company's service, wa
the person who sat at the head OF the
table, at my elbow. Meyer youth stared
and shivered as ! did when / heard them
call him SLADE.
Here was romance, and I was sitting
face to face with it-looking upon 1T
hobnobbing with 1t, as 1T We're. Here
right by my side, was the actual ogre
who. in fights and brawls and various
ways, had AIKEN the lives of twenty-six
human beings. or all men lied about him
/ suppose that I was the proudest strip
ling that ever travelled to see strange
lands and wonderful people.
Friendly and Gentle Spoken
HE was SO friendly and so gentle
spoken that I warmed to him in spite OF
his awful history. 1t was hardly possible
to realize that this pleasant person was
the pitiful scourge of the outlaws, the
Observation-Disclosures the nursing
mothers of the mountains terrified theti
children with. And, to this day, I car
remember nothing remarkable about
Slade, except hat his face was rather
broad across the ~cheekbones, M that
the cheekbones were low and the lips
peculiarly hin and straight; but that
WAC Ciioo6li v ~
effect Upon me, without fancying that
the owner of 1t was a dangerous man.
The coffee ran out, at least 1T was
reduced to n tin cupful. n Slade
was about to take it when he saw that
my cup was empty. He politely offered
to fill 1t, out although / wanted 1T, ! po-
litely declined. ] was afraid he had n o
killed anybody that morning n might
be needing diversion. But, still, with
firm politeness, he insisted on filling my
cup, n said / had travelled all night
and deserved it better than he; and
while he talked, he placidly poured the
fluid to the last drop. l hanked him
and drank it but 1t gave me no com
fort, for l could not feel sure that he
would not feel sorry presently, that he
had given 1t away, and proceed to Kill
me to distract his thoughts from the
loss. But nothing of the kind occurred
We left him with only 26 dead people
to account for. and ! felt O tranquil sat
isfaction In the thought that in SO judi
ciously taking care OF No. ! at the break
fast table, / had pleasantly escaped being
No. 81. Slade came out to the coach and
saw us off, first ordering certain rear
rangements of the mailbags for our com
fort, and we then took our leave OF
him, satisfied that we should hear OF
him again some day"
Having made travel safe on the Central
division, Slade was sent farther on west
to the Rocky Ridge division, which was
then in the thralldom of h~ighwaymen
there being absolutely no law; and he
was instructed to kill any that he ever
suspected. One by n he picked out
the desperadoes and killed them, some
times by a fair fight, and sometimes by
treachery. Business men OF the border
appreciated his work and he was given
every support.
dictator of the Frontier
Slade became dictator OF the frontier
with the power Of life and death. with
the business interests back OF him, he
would order lynchings. No n ques-
toned his authority, and his orders were
obeyed without hesitation. h was the
high-Water mark of his career. How
ever, about this time, the Illinois sheriff
came out into the west to arrest the man
for the murder he had committed years
before in his home state. When the
sheriff learned what Slade had done fol
the country and how he stood. he de-
cided not to modest him. 1t is a ques-
ton whether the sheriff acted in appre-
citation of SHADES good" work, or used
good Judgment; for SHADES standing al
that particular time was such that II
would have taken q young army to de-
liver him over to an officer.
fTWO-Gun" Slade
For q time Slade pasked in the SUM-
shine of pu5,tc favor; but finally the
adulation and attention he received went
to his head. His ability as a crack
marksman was never disputed, and 1T Is
said of him that he could handle a weap-
on equally accurately and with equal
speed with either han 1t was this abil-
ity which once gave him the name, Two
Gun Slade."
One day as he was standing In front
of the stage station at Rocky Ridge. 9
man who had offended him was seer
approaching down the trail.
Boys" said Slade, watch me clip the
third button from his coat" He free
and the button fell. The man drew his
revolver to defend himself, and Slade
shot him between the eyes. Slade at
tended III funeral the following day.
The Fate of Savaugh
hen occurred a series OF incidents