Quite a different sort of man was
Yellowstone Kelley, government scout, hunter and trapper. He was one of
the men who helped to make frontier history and open up the pathless wilds
to the march of civilization. He was in the employ of the government as a
scout and guide when I first met him, and thereafter during our many
wanderings over the country, I with my cattle, he with Uncle Sam's
soldiers or on a lone scout, we often bumped up against each other, and
these meetings are among my treasured memories. He was a man who knew the
country better than he knew his own mother, absolutely fearless, kind and
generous to a fault. He was the sort of a man that once you meet him you
could never forget him, and us boys who knew him well considered him the
chief of all the government scouts of that day. I also had the pleasure of
meeting Kit Carson in Arizona and nearly all the government scouts,
hunters and trappers of the western country, and they can all be described
in one sentence, they were men whom it was a pleasure and an honor to
know.
"Billie the Kid" was another sort of a man and there has never been
another man like him and I don't think there ever will be again. Writers
claim that he was a man all bad. This I doubt as I knew him well and I
have known him to do deeds of kindness. He had many traits that go to make
a good man, but fate and circumstances were against the kid,
yet I know he always remembered a kindness done him and he never forgave
an enemy. I have rode by his side many a long mile, and it is hard to
believe he was as bad as he is pictured to be, but the facts are against
him, and when his career was ended by the bullet from Sheriff Garrett's
colt, the world was better off, likewise were some men who stood in mortal
fear of the kid, and I suppose they had good reason to be afraid as the
kid always kept his word.
During my employment with the Duval outfit and Pete Gallingan I often made
trips on the trail with herds of cattle and horses belonging to other
ranch owners, and on these trips many incidents occurred, amusing and sad.
The following incident happened in the fall of 1878, when I went up the
trail with the half circle box brand outfit, belonging to Arthur Gorman
and company.
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© Excerpts from the electronic edition of
The Life and Adventures of Nat Love Better Known in the Cattle Country as
"Deadwood Dick" by Himself; a True History of Slavery Days, Life on the Great
Cattle Ranges and on the Plains of the "Wild and Woolly" West, Based on Facts,
and Personal Experiences of the Author, are the property of the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill.
The full electronic edition, which also includes original illustrations of this
text may be viewed here.
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http://www.natlove.com
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Last modified:
October 18, 2002
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