| Show 9 CLEANING OUT THE TOWN bovers OVERS OF PEACE IN IK A FRONTIER village DECIDE TO FIGHT FOR FOK IT thirty or forty cowboys were assem led in a frontier town the spring aprin roundup round up I 1 had just been finished 3 lie e cattlemen having amazed them il ives elves during durina g the day da I in various sports bd d pastimes we 1 about to make B night bight of it to in true cowboy style A J iree number of the more daring and reedy eedy gamblers and outlaws who al ays aya precede the westward march of civilization or at least of law and aad D ader were there beat on filling their i bets even at the risk of their hides bides V hese men gathered in the saloons and k abling rooms with such of the cow r ys as they could persuade to join B hem em the wheels wese were sopa soon turning II 11 were ere being dealt the rattling if I chips and the clin dinning aing of glasses siere ere heard here and there through I 1 ipen en door sand above the din of the dis voices of dealers and players lithe he atmosphere ot these places was K loathsome oaths oath some with the smoke of cheap ii i ars rs and foul pipes with the fames f times i it 1 stale beer and vile whiskey A few belear lear eyed bloated repulsive looking moaier omen mingled with the men inen in the I 1 ble games or drank with the noisy awas at time bar in the streets dinall parties were lounging here and abere here talking loudly sad and incoherently lad ad other parties were moving aimless from orl place a e e to place apparently jn arch of t the b e strongest attraction or creates test excitement X c occasionally a i out ads few oaths were heard kitove bove the general hum and clatter de tine that the firewater was taking effect on some victim and there were rious indications that serious b rouble reuble was liable to te begin at any moment the town hiis was in the transitory stage nearly every frontier railroad d own wn must pass through at some time kimta 4 its history wrestling itself from the I 1 despotism ism of outlaws and passing into ilie he hands bands of goon citizens A village rn i nation tion had lately been effected aner oder the territorial law officers bid bad en elected and a vigilance commit wee ee organized notices had been waved elvedt on many of the more les Oes parate hamsters ha meters thai it was time for them to ove on and several of them had bad alidy aidy taken the hint and moved but woe he majority inal wity of them remained remal ned and t wu plain that they were not horog itell the town should get too hot to hold hem several of them had bad replied to tanese bese notifications to the effect eff act that plans his was waa a tree free country especially this western estern part ot it that they had as eford a right to live in that town as any one ne else that they had bad been bee a there long r than many of the vigilantes that bocy bey had come to stay sad and proposed to make nake it exceedingly inhere bling tor for any aby lank outfit that mittit attempt to rive them out peaceably disposed ci citizens as well ps a the other class wore their six I 1 in plain raight and their coun t ena acea as well as ans their declared licy bes e a determination to have bave bonce ace if like the quaker in the late far ar they had bad to flicht for it un estion ably the greatest yrea test amount of anre ure nerve was on the side of the law taid 1 I oi anler tier leagues lea Knes but bin the toughs were m t in the majority add many of them df I 1 v def ilat raifa hey were f iiii ii ii iv from justice who knew not at what moment they might be apprehended ironed and taken east to answer for their crimes others had already dw amie ell time in prison being a stranger in the place I 1 had bad cultivated the good will and friendship of the cowboys and cattle cattlemen meb knowing them to behonest be honest well meaning and alid in all respects the kind of men it would be well to stand in with in ia case of ef trouble their sympathies were with the officers of the law and against the toughs buttrey butt bey had bad as already stated come to town to have some f fun un and must have it before returning to their dren dreary isolated shacks on the great flat fiat several of them had bad already taken seats at the gambling tables and had bad besought me to join them nit fortunately I 1 had been able to decline their invitations without offending them the rounds of the baloc us and gamb gambling ing rooms with another party of my new friends and was compel compelled ed in order to maintain my standing with theato imbibe much oftener of t the e liquid poisons dealt out there than I 1 would have wished As often of tea as possible I 1 compromised on plain seltzer or soda and when compelled to drink the alleged whiskey homeopathic took doses of it and allopathic lo doses ot water in this way I 1 was able to keep my head clear when several of my companions were nearly blind it was drawing near midnight the din of voices had aid grown louder and more boisterous until now it was a very bedlam broke loose several ugh figh s had bad taken place and the Marshal aided by his bis three deputies depati eshad had made several daring arrests more than once in fin open riot bad seemed imminent but bad baci been averted by the coolness and nerve of the officers we entered one ol of the th largest saloons where thirty or forty men were playing various games at the tables and a dozen or fifteen more were hanging about the bar drinking smoking sm or talking hot words were spoken en at one of the tables and before we had time to really locate the dispute one of the worst and most desperate of the gamblers milers drew a revolver and fired at his bis adversary the man a popular young cowboy rose to his feet staggered backward uttered a groan and tell fell dead no sooner was his fate realized b by Y the spectators than halt half a dozen revolvers aers trained on the thug cracked almost at once and he be fell to the floor with several bullets in his body this was the signal tor for bloody work As it if at command the blacklegs huddled together at one side of the room with their backs against the wall and several of them shouted a challenge to the other party to fire at this moment the officers and several al members of the vigilance committee entered ant and the thugs were ordered to throw up their hands bands the order of the marshal was responded to by a bullet that broze broke his left arm below the elbow then a vigilante dropped the man who had maimed the officer A gambler shouted put out the lights and an effort was made to carry this abia plan into effect one lamp was knocked down and broken one ne of the toughs sprung sprang toward another lamp that stood near me I 1 struck him a terrible blow on the bend bead with my six shooter that doubled him up under a table and the subsequent proceed logo ings interested him no more MOM A bullet from one of his f friends w was my reward and I 1 felt a burning sensation in my right arm near th the shoulder but I 1 staid in the tight fight until it was over the bl marshal arshal and a posse then poured a volley of lead into the ranks of the outlaws that sent several of them groaning and howling floor this arwas followed by a general revolver matinee in which every matt man who retained the be use of either hand band took a lively part one after another the lights were extinguished until only one flickered dimly through the dense sut sul fo catine smoke it stood on a shelf near the door the cowboys and vigilantes defended this but a bullet finally exploded it the oil ignited and flamed flamel up to the ceiling A cry of fire was raised and then a general rush was made for the door the rho law and order party were out first and received the other gang as they came with bul ets and clubbed revolvers finally the building was emptied but none too soon for it was now enveloped in flames the firing ceased about the same time simpy simply because the ammu amm u wa exhausted and the toughs boughs seeming to admit defeat fled bed into the darkness at least each of them as we were reable able to walk they had fought desperately and with an utter disregard for danger that in a just cause would have won them undying honor the attention idu of the victors was now turned tamed to saving the wounded irom the burning building and all these were safely carried out but the bodies of several dead were burned up it was never known exactly how many of the hoodlums were killed tor for the bodies were bunched and were so nearly consumed viat it was impossible to count them it was learned however that three cowboys and two vigilantes vigilante 8 were killed and a large number of each class clasa wounded te several veral of those ar rested were hurried away to the morral v which r served for a jail and there carded e by men armed with winchester rifles the injuries of the wounded wire were attended to as best they could be under the circumstances I 1 was one of the unfortunates for the time A stranger to the officers and vigilantes I 1 was peremptorily pad adjudged judged one of the gamblers an opportunity to prove my identity my innocence or my sympathy with the cause of the good people I 1 suffered ered hitt bitterly erIv from the cold as lu iti fact did all of those in the corral for no shelf shelter er or blaness blank ss s were provided for any of us my wound proved but a slight one however and beine able to walk about I 1 put in the few remaining hours of the ight much more comfortably than did many mady of the others soon after sunrise the citizens assembled at the rude jail I 1 was recognized of the cowboys and my release was at once secured three of the worst of the prisoners men who were known to th have been guilty of former crimes were summarily aTily strung up op en cn the cottonwood trees the others other s with several of the worst saloon keepers were es escorted out of town at the muzzles ziles of rifles and informed that the atmosphere of that place would never more be healthy for them or any of their like that was a bloody nights work but it brought peace and order to a crime ridden bloodstained blood stained town which has since been as quiet and orderly as any ank eastern village of its size and this tragedy was no more ferriole ter this action on the pa part t of the law and order people no more harsh than that which has been resorted to in many another fron tir town when decent men inen have decided that the outlaws must justko go oti cayo 0 tribune |
