When I crossed the river there in 1889, there was no one living there but the little old man. He had an old hand ferry boat that he took people across the river with. The night I stayed with him, he told me he had some fine gin and gave me a drink, which I found out was straight alcohol and the one drink nearly strangled me, but old Uncle Jim, as he was called, drank it like water and seemed to do quite well on it. Every little while he would go to the bank of the river and holler at the top of his voice, “Do you want to bring your wagon4 over?” There would not be anybody in sight, but he seemed to get a great kick out of make-believe.
I worked with Kid Curry5 that summer on the roundup. He worked for the Diamond outfit2 and I worked for the DHS. Both outfits worked the range together. Kid was a fine fellow at that time and a good cowboy—that was before he became an outlaw6. I have read where some writers told what a cold-blooded killer7 he was and where he had held up banks and so forth8, and I know from some of the dates given that he was blamed for a great many things he did not do.
I am not trying to make a hero out of the Kid or say that I approve of some things he done, but the public at large does not know all the circumstances leading up to where he first got into trouble.
Charlie Russell knew Kid Curry and has given me his analysis of his character (and he seldom made a mistake in the reading of human nature). Charlie figured any normal man might have went the route the Kid did.
I am going to set down some of the facts regarding the Kid’s becoming an outlaw. His name was Harvey Curry. He had an older brother, Henry Curry. They had a little ranch9 in the Badlands of the Missouri River and ran a few cattle and horses. Both the brothers were fine boys at that time and would give anyone the shirt off their back if they were in need.
Now there was a little mining town sprung up in the Little Rockies not far from the Curry Ranch. The outstanding character in that town was a man by the name of Pike Landusky, a prospector10 who had found some fairly rich prospects11, and as there was some excitement about the find quite a lot of people went to the mining camp and Pike being about the first one on the ground, the town was named Landusky.
The town was about fifty miles from the railroad and farther from the Sheriff’s office, so Pike was appointed a Deputy Sheriff. Now Pike was not a bad sort of a fellow as a rule, but had a reputation as somewhat of a gun-fighter and was rather proud of it—he didn’t have much education and very little intelligence—but was proud of his authority as a Deputy Sheriff.
The Kid was in town one night with some friends, having a few drinks and celebrating in the ways of the early West, when Pike decided12 Harvey had violated some law and arrested him, and not having any jail in the camp, handcuffed him for safekeeping. During the time he was handcuffed, the Kid said Pike abused him shamefully13 and cast reflections even on his mother, who was dead and whom Pike had never known or seen, which burned very deeply into the Kid. During the abuse the Kid told Pike, “I won’t always be handcuffed, Pike, and when I get out of this trouble, you are going to get a licking you will remember.” Pike said, “I will be ready.”
Some time after this incident Pike and the Kid met in the saloon in Landusky and had a fist fight. Of course the Kid started it and Pike got a bad licking. When the fight started both men had guns on. Neither one knew the other had a gun. Pike’s gun was in a holster under his arm. Kid’s gun was fastened to his pants. In the fight, the Kid’s gun fell on the floor. A friend of the Kid’s picked it up and when the fight was over handed it to him. Both Pike’s eyes were pretty well closed, but he raised up on his knees and was trying to get a bead14 on the Kid—so he shot Pike and killed him.
Of course this was a very serious offense15 as he had killed an officer of the law, and the sentiment of the people was divided—and the Kid did not know whether to give himself up or not. Anyway, he and a few of his friends went to the ranch and talked the matter over and decided it would be best for the Kid to cache himself in the Badlands for a while. And his friends would bring him food—and, of course, the longer he stayed a fugitive16, the less chance he had of getting acquitted17 if he did give himself up. So after dodging18 around for a while and having lost his older brother, Hank, as he was known, who had died and was always the leader and adviser19, the Kid and a couple of his friends held up the Great Northern Railroad train which had a shipment of currency—they got away with it all right and got the money, but it was new money and had not been officially signed, so of course it was not much good to them. However, they did pass some of it. The Kid had two half brothers who come to Montana from Missouri. Their names was Lannie and Johnny Logan, and they tried to pass some of the money without much success. Lannie was caught in Kansas City and killed with $10,000 of it on his person. Johnny was killed in the Little Rocky country in a gun fight with another cowboy.
The Kid was caught in Tennessee after several years and sent to the Knoxville pen—I believe for life. However, he didn’t stay there very long. The papers said he roped a guard and tied him up and got away. My personal opinion is he got help in some other way. I was told by a very reliable party that he went to the Argentine country. Anyway he has never been heard of since. If he is alive now, he would be about 70 years old.
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1
outfits
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| n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 ) | |
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2
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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3
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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4
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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5
curry
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| n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革 | |
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6
outlaw
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| n.歹徒，亡命之徒；vt.宣布…为不合法 | |
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7
killer
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| n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者 | |
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8
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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9
ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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10
prospector
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| n.探矿者 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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12
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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13
shamefully
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| 可耻地； 丢脸地； 不体面地； 羞耻地 | |
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14
bead
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| n.念珠；(pl.)珠子项链；水珠 | |
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15
offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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16
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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17
acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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18
dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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19
adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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