A Sportsman 377 



augmented by numerous ruffians from the surround- 

 ing region, among whom were many bushwhackers 

 from Missouri, rehcs of the Civil War who had been 

 scattered and driven west by the successful Union 

 army, and who largely infested Colorado and Montana, 

 where many were shot or strung up for their misdeeds. 

 The night I came into Cheyenne at the terminus of the 

 railroad, to remain over night and take a conveyance 

 for Denver the following morning, something over a 

 hundred miles distant, a most unusual affair occurred. 

 A crisis had arrived. The "Hellers" had become so ag- 

 gressive and arrogant, that a secret action had been 

 determined upon by the peaceful and law-abiding 

 residents of the town, to get rid of the turbvilent 

 element, which had become so powerful as to seri- 

 ously threaten their safety. 



Boasts had been made by the Hellers that they 

 proposed to run the town, and if they were interfered 

 with they would bum it up. A fire among the then 

 existing rows of wooden buildings, with the prevailing 

 high winds, was a subject to consider seriously. From 

 a conflagration the Hellers were comparatively safe, 

 as their array of tents, booths and vehicles were 

 on one side of the town, before which they paraded 

 in force well armed every day. The plan of the towns- 

 men was well carried out that night, when a hundred 

 men with repeating rifles at midnight appeared in 

 front of "Hell Town," calling for the surrender of the 

 most prominent Hellers who had boasted of their 

 ability to regulate and bum the town if they chose. 



A few defiantly stepped out from the tents in re- 

 sponse, who were instantly shot down in their tracks. 

 Ample notice had been given for the Hellers to 



