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NEWS AND DUELS Covering the news in mining camps often required dueling skills History article by Harold Hough Feb/March 2007 It took grit to be a newsman in a mining town over a hundred years ago. In his book Roughing It, writer Mark Twain tells of the time as temporary Editor of the Territorial Enterprise in Virginia City he wrote six editorials in a week - which elicited six challenges to duels (all arriving after he had resigned the position). He also commented that a journalist who libels someone in print deserves to be thrashed by the offended party (though he did say that a generous man should do it in the street so the offending journalist would at least have a chance to run for it). Today's mainstream journalist has it easy – usually only having to suffer a tongue lashing from a blogger if they overstep the lines of decency. However, mining camp tradition had a rougher punishment for the journalist who challenged the character of someone; as the editor of the Arizona Miner discovered when he called a secessionist a liar. The offended party, Lou Thrift proposed settling the issue by using "Colonel Colt" as the arbiter. The scared editor claimed he wasn't armed and refused to pick up a revolver that was offered to him. Thrift finally defused the situation by picking up his Colt and saying, "No credit to kill a cur like that." The editor soon decided to find a job opportunity back east. Not all editors went about unarmed. When the Weekly Arizonan went out of business, its editor T. M. Turner decided to sell his pocket derringers because he would no longer need them. Editors also had another advantage. Usually the offended party was so drunk that he could hardly stand up, much less take careful aim. But, lest you think the fight wasn't fair, the editor was usually pretty soused too. Of course, not all offended parties were willing to give the offending editor a fair chance. Ambushing the journalist was just as satisfying and incurred much less risk. C. S. Bagg, editor of the Tombstone Epitaph had that occur when someone fired a load of buckshot through the window at the spot where his cot was usually placed. Fortunately, Bagg and his cot were elsewhere. As he later wrote, "We haven't' slept twice in the same spot for the last 12 weeks. We have learned the ways of this community at considerable cost and trouble, and we don't propose to plant ourselves as a midnight target. We feel sorry for the gent who wasted his energies and ammunition. He doubtless went away from the window feeling he was entitled to credit for doing the smart thing. Come again, old chap." Bagg wasn't the only editor who made light of an attack. When Adjutant General Edward Gill attacked Phoenix Republican Editor Vail with a knife, the response wasn't with a knife, but the printed word. The Republic voiced concern that a man so incompetent at killing should be in charge of the territorial militia. Sometimes the dispute went so far that the only way to settle the differences was with a duel. That happened in 1859, when the Editor of the Arizonian, Edward Cross had a duel with mine owner Sylvester Mowry. It was a windy day and the distance was 40 paces, which was much farther than most duels. As a result, neither hit the opponent after several attempts. Since they couldn't damage each other, they called off the duel and went to a local bar where they did serious damage to a barrel of whiskey. If there wasn't a miner or politician to insult, editors were more than willing to turn on themselves. That's why Epitaph editor Sam Purdy and Independent Editor Patrick Hamilton traveled over the border into Mexico to hold a duel. Unfortunately they couldn't even agree on the pistols to use and where they were to stand. After hours of bickering, they decided to call the duel off and go home. Looking back at his career as a mining town editor, Rollin Brown, a former editor of the Arizona Citizen noted, "I've been shot at and attacked with a six-shooter and with a cane…But that was part of an editor's life. A man had to be a good fighter to be a good editor." | |||
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