Vigilante Days and Ways: The pioneers of the Rockies; the makers and making of Montana and IdahoLangford, Nathaniel Pitt
History
Vigilante Days and Ways: The pioneers of the Rockies; the makers and making of Montana and Idaho
Langford, Nathaniel Pitt
Frontier and pioneer life -- Northwestern States; Northwestern States -- History; Vigilance committees; West (U.S.) -- History
In a few minutes five or six men, armed with revolvers, entered the
saloon, followed by Plummer. He had remained long enough outside to
deposit a double-barrelled gun over the door. “Deaf Dick,” who
accompanied the crowd, was unarmed.
“Come on, boys,” said Phleger, “let’s take a drink.”
All stepped back in refusal of the invitation.
“Well, Dick,” said Crawford, addressing him in a key that he could hear,
“you’ll drink anyhow.”
“Not I,” said Dick with an oath. “I drink with no coward such as you
have proved yourself to be by refusing to fight Plummer.”
“You’re the wrong man to brand me as a coward, at any rate,” said
Crawford, advancing toward him as if with the intention of striking.
Plummer at once stepped up and handed Dick his revolver, and the crowd
gathered around him and Crawford. Phleger drew his pistol, and Crawford
said to him,
“Harry, I suppose these men have come to kill me. You are my only
friend, and I’ll make you a present of my six-shooter. I suppose I’ve
got to die.”
“Who will kill you?” asked Phleger.
“Plummer, I suppose. He threatened it,” was the reply.
“Not a man here dare shoot you,” said Phleger, at the same time looking
around upon the crowd, and characterizing it by a degrading epithet.
Plummer at this jumped forward, and seizing Phleger’s revolver, tried to
wrest it from him. In the grapple Plummer was thrown, when Phleger
drawing another pistol from his belt, presented both ready cocked to the
crowd, which was now pressing threateningly towards him, and calling to
Crawford, said,
“Come on, Hank, let’s get out of this,” and both backed out into the
street facing their assailants, who did not follow them.
Phleger and Crawford started for the lodgings of the latter, passing on
the way the meat market, where they were joined by Johnny Shepard and
another man, who, taking all the arms they could find, went with them.
As soon as they arrived at the room, Crawford, completely unnerved, lay
down and cried himself to sleep. Phleger was made of sterner stuff, and
watched all night. Some one rapped at the door at midnight, but was told
by Phleger that if he attempted to enter, he would shoot him “on sight.”
On the morning of the second day after this occurrence, Plummer came up
the street, gun in hand, peeping by the way into the saloons and market
for Crawford. Not finding him, he assumed a watchful attitude, and stood
leaning on his gun, twenty steps distant from the door of the market.
Crawford not appearing, after half an hour he walked on with “Deaf Dick”
to Phleger’s room. Phleger met him at the door, and invited him in.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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