The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-07-29
WAS BRAVE CUSTER A SUICIDE?
y Pa1Unee Bill, Dead,OOOd Dick and Other Famous Old PI01nsn
u Ruunor, Started by Story IN a National Magazine; HeretOf

pioneers, we will present in closeup
"Deadwood Dick" whose legal name is
Robert w. Clark. His home is at Dead
wood, S. D., where he has lived since the
wild and woody days Of the Black Hills
country, a famous frontiersman, scout,
guide, pony express rider and Indian
fighter. o 70 years old, he still re-
members wildly the stirring days when
the Indians, gamblers n hard-riding,
quick shooting road agents constantly
helped the Wild West to live up to its
name.
Of course, the boys of a generation
ago will remember that "Deadwood Dick"
used to rage back and forth in h covers
of "Beadle's Dime Library" And Ed
ward l.. Wheeler was the author who
made him rage. Thirty or forty years
ago nearly all the boys in America knew
"Deadwood Dick" as a hero always on
the side of the weak protecting it against
shot unerringly to its mark. But most of
the valiant deeds, as was this daredevil
character of Wheeler, were creatures of
fiction. Dick Clark, in real life, was
as good a shot as wild Bill" Hickok,
Calamity jane" and others of the gold
rush days in the Black Hills, but he
never was in any n a desperate.
He could give a good account Of himself
in battle, but his fights were with In
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used to try to hold up the stage-coaches
he guarded with their treasures for the
express companies. He saw Wild Bill"
killed by the cowardly Jack" Mccall as
Hickok sat in a saloon in Deadwood
with his back toward the door playing
poker. He knew General Custer and his
associates we'll and fed the ragged n
starving troops of General Crook after
they had been routed by the Indians in
the campaign after the Battle Of Little
NJ - 49, Ig-za- L~-N- - nA~I-@>I
But the wild days finally passed and
"Deadwood Dick" seemed to pass out Of
the picture with them. The dime novels
Of Wheeler faded and were forgotten
and every now N then came the report
that Dick" was dead. But he has been
living on a ranch near Deadwood, after
having retired from his peace-time job
as Waterman at the railroad station,
and never asking for a pension from the
government he served so well as an In
dian scout On what finally became the
munificent pay Of S16.50 a month.
A lovable, genuine, picturesque char
acter is "Deadwood Dick" with piercing
black eyes and long dark hair, barely
grazing, held back from a high, classic
forehead, by al Impoverished bandeau OF
buckskin on a head that is handsomely
chiseled as that of Paderewski, whom
Dick with his hat off closely re-
sembles. His figure is erect and 1.-THE
and slenderly masculineac thae ,mcnww,
and slenderly muscular; his face is
powder SCARED; his hands are twisted
and gnarled like pine knots and his
right index fingure is missing-lost in q
gun fight, but just when and how Dick
will not say. One likes "Deadwood Dick
instantly. His disposition reminded us
of The portrayal of Jim Bridger" that
we saw in the movie called 1.-THE Gov
cred Wagon" for "Dick's'' bright eyes
frequently send off glints Of humor.
And Here Is DIR. Carver
Now we are meeting DR.. w. F. Carver
81 years old, but recalling the days wher
he was the champion rifle and pisto
shot of the world as wildly as IL they
were yesterday. Carver was the first
partner of Buffalo Bill, organizing frs
a Wild West show in 1888, while Co
w. F. Cody was appearing on the stage
and then getting Cody to join him II
what soon was to become the famou
Carver & Cody's Wild West" But lonl
before that DOC" Carver had been al
Indian fighter and killed not fewer thai
10000 buffalo on the plains. So deadl.
was his aim that the Indians called hin
"the Evil Spirit of the Plains" AS
wingshot he knew nc equal; being tn
greatest rifle hot from the back Of
l running horse he soon became know
2 also throughout the world as the NAL
who with either rifle or pistol could pen
/, citrate with a single shot any silver coli
2 tossed in the air.
After defeating all the crack shots il
America when shooting was shooting t
e boast Of, he appeared in public exhibi
E tons in 1879, and subsequently befOr
s the crowned heads Of Europe, and toda
treasures royal gifts from the late Ed
= ward VII Of England, ex-Kaiser Wilhelr
T and the late Franz Joseph, emperor c
Austria.
S Someone at Norfolk the other da
e asked Doc Carver's secretary, Charlie
n r. Nordin Of Omaha, how many notche
q | C1-r-o- I,oI IN hfc OT1 fEJo hoc1Sf onu
y was the quick reply, "for he only notche
'em when he missed-and he neve
: missed" doc" Carver still is a dom
nant figure in any assembly. He is
d feet 2 inches in height and weighs "a
pounds. He says he was born in 1874
but one would easily mistake him for
man of IS.
If DOC" Carver was Buffalo Bills fir
partner, "Pawnee Bill" maj. Gordon '
lie Lillie) Of Pawnee, Okla. was his last. tt