A Western Sheriff - part 2

 Seth Bullock was Typical Frontier Officer of the Law; Was Close Friend of Roosevelt

(Cont. from last week)

Knowing Roosevelt as he did, Seth held to a sort of proprietary interest in the hero of San Juan. So much so that when the train arrived in Butte and Teddy made shouted inquiry from the platform of the train as to the whereabouts of one Jack Willis of Glasgow, Seth became interested.

“Willis * * * was in the crowd and came forward; he was greeted with a Roosevelt handshake, yanked over the hack driven by ‘Fat Jack’ sat with Teddy and swapped stories of the old days during the parade, and never left Teddy’s side while the latter was in Butte. At the speaking, Mayor Mullins made his first and last flight into oratory, introducing the president as:
“‘The hero of San Dago Hill - Teddy Rosenfeld,’ Teddy talked, Jack Willis sat beside him, and the band played. Seth went out and ‘hoisted one.’

“That evening was the banquet, and looking backward it was some ‘humdinger’, a sort of Lucullus dining with Lucullus affair as to eats and with Noah deluge as to drinks. The state was not dry at that time, but Seth was.

“The banquet was held in the old McDermott Hotel, now the New Finlen, and the tables were literally packed with friends of Mr. Heinze and Mr. Scallon. They came from all parts of Montana and they came ready to express their friendship in an open-faced manner. It was a case of ‘armed neutrality’. The menu cards were of copper, the entrees being embossed thereon in silver, and it was whispered among the retainers that said menus cost $15 each in New York, and there were 1,000 of them. The menu itself - but what’s the use? It was in the days of real sport when eats were wide open and the only thing better than a drink of demon rum was another drink of the same. All of which Seth understood thoroughly and played both ways from the Jack. Abstentious as to eats and drinks under ordinary circumstances, Seth under any circumstances was a bad man to hand anything to except with full knowledge of the coroner and undertaker.

“F. Augustus Heinze, then in the heyday of his meteoric career, presided at the head of the table as the toastmaster. To his right sat the President of the United States, and next to him sat Jack Willis of Glasgow. Next to Heinze on the left sat Senator Thomas Carter; next to him the disgusted Mr. Bullock.

“The banquet started with a few assorted drinks, and everybody drank to the health of the president of the United States, and everything else which gave excuse for liquid consumption. Seth was there every time, but his brow grew more and more clouded, his manner more that of one at whose vitals a coyote was chewing.

“Teddy and Jack Willis discussed everything from Medora, South Dakota to Belknap, Montana, and both enjoyed it in boisterous laughter. Seth still mused in gloomy meditation. The president spoke and then sat down to talk with Jack Willis. Seth mused some more. The speakers grew more fervid and Teddy more interested in the fan from Glasgow.

“‘I guess,’ said Seth to Senator Carter, ‘I guess there is some____ ____ guys around here who need a little shootin’ up, so I think I’ll just start something,’ and he softly hoisted above the edge of the table a .45 Colt revolver, with a muzzle bore that looked like the end of a tunnel on the Great Northern.

“Senator Tom Carter was one of the best little oil-on-troubled-water fixers who ever graced the Treasure state, and he began to pour on Seth like a thousand-barrel gusher. Seth still insisted that there was some _______ _______ ______ present who needed a little shottin’ up and he was there to give it to them. The Senator argued that any artillery action on the part of Seth would spoil his speech. Seth admitted the justice of the observation, but still insisted that there were certain parties who needed shootin’. However, as Senator Tom Carter was a lifelong friend of his, and out of respect for him, he would postpone the killin, but _____
“‘Guess I’ll just shoot the lights out, then,’ observed Seth. * * *

“‘Tell you what we’ll do,’ compromised Senator Carter, ‘I’ll just keep this gat and you can shoot it out with your friend tomorrow,’ and he slipped the six-shooter across the table to Heinze, who, as quick as a flash, slipped it between his knees, and later sat upon it until the close of the banquet. Seth had by that time become overcome by the eloquence of Senator Carter and decided to postpone the fireworks until some later day. * * *”

Was Called a “Killer”

At the time of this amusing and near tragic incident at Butte, Seth Bullock was 63 years of age. He had many friends in Montana, whom he had met during his early-day residence in the Territory. Most of his eventful career was played upon the stage of the Black Hills, where he lived on a fine ranch near Deadwood, and where he witnessed most of the stirring events which were a part of the story of that gold mining area during the palmy days.
Seth Bullock was truly a typical figure of the old West. In action and appearance he was a true portrayal of the much pictured sheriff of the frontier. It has been said of him that “he was a silent, cold man, and that at times he seemed to have lost his power of speech.” One writer referred to him as “man killer.” And, when this remark was called to his attention, Bullock broke silence only to remark:

“‘They say, I’ve killed forty-seven men. Son, I’ll tell you what. I’ve never killed but two, and I did not kill them soon enough.”

Seth and the “Bad Man”

Bullock, on one occasion, in his later years, related an incident which illustrated the turbulence of the early days at Deadwood gulch. It seems that one of the “bad men”, taking a dislike to Seth, gave orders that Bullock should leave the camp and never return. The desperado threatened to shoot Bullock on sight. Being warned by friends, Bullock borrowed a squirrel gun from an old hunter, and proceeded down the street to the saloon in which the “bad man” was awaiting his coming. Seeing this exhibition of nerve on the part of the man whom he believed he could easily drive from the camp, the desperado weakened and failed to appear, and Seth Bullock continued to be a resident of Deadwood gulch, maintaining his residence there up to the time of his death in 1919. This “bad man” soon took “French leave” of the camp.

Seth Bullock resided in old Deadwood at the time of the murder of “Wild Bill” Hickock in a saloon in that gulch, August 2, 1876; and was an eye witness to the tragedy. In relating his story of the sad affair, Bullock, a short time prior to his own death, disclosed some unwritten history of the period immediately following the death of this famous frontiersman.

The Death of “Wild Bill”

*”Wild Bill” was playing a friendly game of cards with some companions in the saloon in Deadwood, when one, Jack McCall, sneaked up and shot him in the back. McCall was afterward hanged at Yankton for the murder.

According to Bullock, McCall, after being tried and acquitted by a jury composed of friends, at once made preparations for a hasty departure and escape to Cheyenne, rather than face the possibility of having to settle matters according to western code with the friends of “Wild Bill.” A relay of horses was arranged in advance, and McCall started his flight out of the country.

McCall Escapes to Cheyenne

**”Texas Jack” and “California Joe” two famous frontiersmen, who at that time were residents of Deadwood and who were warm friends of “Wild Bill” left Deadwood on horseback at about the same time as did McCall. They had planned to intercept the criminal on the open prairie between Deadwood and Cheyenne and kill him in revenge for the death of their friend.

McCall, however, succeeded in eluding them and reached Cheyenne, being enabled to accomplish this feat because of the fact that fresh horses were ready for him at different points along the route, it thus being impossible for the jaded horses of the two pursuers to keep pace. Had they overtaken McCall, he would have been speedily dispatched “with his boots on.”

McCall Hanged

McCall was arrested in Cheyenne and taken to Yankton, then the capital of Dakota Territory, where he was tried, convicted and sentenced to be hanged.

As was true of his residence in old Montana Territory, Seth Bullock at all times, in Deadwood, was aligned with the orderly element.

In those days, conditions were pretty much the same in the Black Hills as they had been a few years previous in the camps of Montana. Road agents infested all of the trails to and from the “diggings, and as the camps grew, the desperadoes became bolder; holding up numerous expeditions carrying gold dust out of the Black Hills for shipment to the mint. Readers of fiction will vividly recall in this connection, Owen Wister’s graphic description of life along the trails that led to and from the Black Hills - his tales of life at old “Dry Bone”, and of the hangers-on and frontier characters who frequented these stations south from the “diggings” to Cheyenne and Denver.
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