Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-07-23
By D. J. OnEALLEY CN-N KID

by Os D. OHAAA4REG I'M ADD
@ HE many herds Of range castKI
that were driven into MOntana
from Texas In the SOS, br0ughI
n. with them an army Of cowboys
Of varied characteristics END
ambitions from the great ranges OF the
south. Many came mp the trail just 70
see the country from Texas TO Mon
eana. Many came for the purpose Of
securing work on the northern range
and making q home theres some were
men who were seeking 8 change OF
quick with q gun, or too handy with q
running iron i'm changing brands on
range cattle.
Among the last mentioned was
Henry Thompson, better known all over
the Montana range as Long Henry"
He came to Montana with herd Of
Rocking H cattle owned by the Home
Land & Cattle Co., known in Montana
as the Nm. This cattle company
owned many cattle on the Staked
Plains in Texas and also ran many
thousands of cattle in eastern Mon
tana. It was owned by the Niedring-
haus brothers of ST. Louis, Mo.
Thompson, at the time Of his arrival
In Montana was man Of about 50
years Of age. He was tall and OF a
slender build, dark complexion with
black hair and eyes. He admitted being
part Cherokee Indian. He was very
faeiturn, talking very little of other
people and very rarely of himself. He
drank very little and rarely smoked 81
cigar. pine, or cigaret. He was never
seen by anyone without a Colts As
caliber revolver belted around his waist.
(Some of the cowboys averred that he
slept with the gun on). The gun he
carried had the trigger and trigger
guard removed and the sight filed off. |
The holster in which the gun was
carried, instead of being hung on the |
cartridge belt by the latter passing /
through a loop made of the holster
flap, was swtveled to the belt which /
allowed the gun to be revolved to any
angle without being pulled free Of the
holster. This style Of holster was
known as the ben Thompson Holster"
named after one Ben Thompson. a
noted desperate Of the southern ranges
in early cattle days. It was used by
men who fired from the hip. The
method Of firing was to depress the
butt of the six shooter, at the same
time cooking the gun with the thumb.
When the hammer was released, there
being no trigger to hold it up it fell
on the cartridge head and the charge
exploded.
Quick on Draw
Long Henry was an adept in firing
from the hip On several occasions he
gave an exhibition of his accuracy in
this style Of shooting, by standing IN
the center Of a room facing the door
and breaking the knob on the door lock
without drawing the revolver from its
holster. He rarely missed his mark. He
was often seen to fire two shots In
this manner before a man Of ordinary
ulIickneSs in drawing gun and firing
1t could discharge his first shot. He
relied on his remarkable quickneSs In
firing as his defense, when tried for
his several killings, as he always al
lowed his opponent to go for his gun
first and his plea was invariably self
defense. 1t was well known that Long
Henry had killed three men before he
came to Montana and In that state he !
added two more notches on his gun
before he was killed by saloon keeper.
Friends Were Numerous
Thompson made large number Of ,
friends on the range as well as many {
enemies. He was q man who never
courted trouble, nor did he ever run
used lot Of Judgment when IN any !
difficulty. 1t was often said Of him !
that he had never learned the defini- !
ton Of the word fear" !
He showed his GOODNESS on several :
occasions, one in particular, when
Frank Flanagan, rider Tor the Nm, y
had his revolver full cooked and pressed
against ThompSon's stomach. Flanna- 1
gan was q Miles City boy and was I
known as q 'Would-be Badman." He 9
seemed to have only one ambition and 1
that was to kill man. He and Thomp- 2
son we're very warm friends and in the =
minds OF many that fact alone kept 2
Henry from killing him. :
One night in the fall of 1892, one 4
Of the Nm wagons was camped at the ~
DID Nm ranch on the Little Dry. One n
Miles City and had brought with him si
! couple Of quarts Of whisky. Flanna- :,
gan was rather fond Of whisky and had n
AIKEN several drinks and had begun =.
20 feel the effects Of it and was already r
beginning to make big fight talk. 4
Among the riders who were In the n
amp we're Tom Lowe CTom L,oad-em), b
Henry Thompson Oong Henry, DOM n
nick White M-N Kid, Malcolm b
Mac Hunter, and Harry Northrup N
Re Load-em). Several of them under p,
ook to quiet Kid Flanagan but he .
seemed to be bent on making gun W
,lay. Finally Thompson said, kid, II "
7ou don't go to bed I'll take you over Of
ny knee" Flanagan, who was at that ia
ime very close to Thompson, jerked Al
lis gun and cooked 1t and showed the w
nuzzle against Thompson's stomach pl
With the remark, Dam you, Thompson, n
leither you nor any other man can z
10 that I've a good notion to let your m
nsides out on the floor" We all felt 70
ure that Flanagan was as good as W
lead. Thompson never batted an eye
n raised his voice. and looking Elan D.
lagan fair In the eye said, kid you Sc
int goin' to pull that trigger and you W