The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, August 6, 1899, Page 21

for their ir rly flogged for the urchins took i cent. Bach have been boys that it aintain the temper de- ore peaceably teacher was R to let the r of the other 50 the mat- was quite ® , but the fatl ter was finally Board of Trustees, wWho. after due de- Bustain the The arguments on either side and were on in a moment the real battle began fleld proved to be The new ar f their names. e side were M in one short curred. a news terest witne at the there in eport for the busi had gone up see about money some of the t a hot, uncor were all seated on th tel trying to keep coc 3 nd we ch of the ho- Of course, we were on the lookout, and anxious for anything to relieve the dull monotony of the situatio W had exhausted every amusement we c think of, and were waiting patiently for any- thing that might turn up. It was too warm to play cards any longer, so we concluded to sit under the shade of the overhanging awning and calmly awalt the cool of the evening. We had been there but & short time when we noticed a cloud of dust down the road which meant that somebody was coming to town. This was a relief, for in those days news from the outer world was gearce, and every stranger was at least able to tell us something we bhad not heard befors. We little thought, any of us, that we were about to witness one of the most speedy fights that ever took place in this or any other country. Coates, Thc act that he never was s this was the day for the electionit was just possible some apons in that to the three osts and Dun gave every he did no shooting ade a whole u were going I want you which was rifled A b you fellows have had no idea that it meant death for so 5 many people. alsc had a knife understand the spot where 1 further that welinadiue D that it is almc in this fight you will the men rush is back to his back circumstances 4 man who 1 to dine with @ them had his weapon drawn, had received an inv punctuated firecrackers improvident turned his ed him as Wes Duncan_to the brother-in-law of one of the Frosts, concluded that over the famlly trouble and could not that we had any right to Interfere, At this juncture Duncan said: ‘C you did say it.’ ore that you may go I am sure to told you once & too far with get mad in a minute.’ lon't think up fire enough to smo & hollow tree if you do,” was Duncan's sneering reply. shut. up!’ velled Coates. know what you are up to an get it in a minute. to talk, you fellows have said enough about our family to land you all in jail other part of the world ; »f the neighbors your brags that whole Coates charged by Fourth of July, fall at the first volley; he was mortally wounded, but he laid his revolver over his arm and kept that he killed three men after he was practically dead, but some of the men who were present say four. it may he certainly never gave up his fusillade till the breath was well out was a wonderful exhibi- tion of grit and proved to us how hard it is to kill a man who is full of fight ey Coates wielding his head and we recogni ou would kick a coon out of PR like the devil, too. “But I had made up my mind to g0 I knew that my hus- band was good and kind and would not I had been trained to ride in my youth, and knew I could stand any line, so I told the stableman to saddle a horse for me, as I intended to ride with the doctor. ‘Our horses were brought to the door and our guide was ready to start back dusty road ute six men were called to settle ac- counts with their Maker. ‘““We carried the dead and dying into the public hall, cently as possible ir sorrowing relatives and the Coro- d when it comes I know d—a4 well was Duncan's reply. this talk co: refuse my request. es from a lot of le who want to see a fight,’ ‘“We saw We knife, but it w Presumably ot a physi- who resided at Mendocino . gives a most graphic description of the scene at the funeral of the this awful traged he used it on Duncan, as he was dangerously stab- bed and the bloody weapon which be- longed to Wesle; answered Duncan, depend upon such fellows ag you they will be disappointed.” Duncan, don’t be a fool,” ‘I can fight making & mis er be any more trouble to anybody. Do you suppose we are going to ove a bluff as You needn’t get too anxious, for it's a sure shot you will get all the fight you was found here Duncan fell. in connection this wonderful battle is that from the time the two families met in full force words were This lady was re- lated to the Coates family, and her tale liberally punc- tuated with tears and sob: was difficult to get anything like con- tinuity out of her disjointed statement: “I was informed of this awful thing,” said, “by a man night on horseback Lake to Mendocino City. mark was, ‘Mrs. Folsome, your whole family has been wiped off the face of I am very sorry to bring . but it is true. which he had just this time the whole town had exciting news of the awful ers that had occurred in the val- Many of the people saddled thelr s and declared their intention to s to the scene. man of wonderful nerve, and as cool as they make them. He decided in a moment 1" at we make He realized that least one half of the men were anxious to go out of pure curiosity were allowed to do so make our trip all the more uncomfort= able on account of the dust. have ever ridden over a country road in the heat of summer you will recog- “‘Oh, T don’t know,” was the taunt- ing reply of Duncan. : s “ “Well, I do, and I advise you to keep I'll get mad pretty soon,” said 111 right,” said Duncan. that we did ‘not make that bet .your last dollar on one thing, if one of the Frost boys made that remark we will stay with the game till there is not one of the Coates breed left to blow about. the I don't believe there is a fight- ing man in the whole family.’ This was an unfortunate remark, for Coates made a lunge at his tormentor and before there was any chance to draw weapons the men had grappled with each other and were at it in good manly style. We made up our minds te let the men fight it out and were Intensely fray, so much &0, When Elisha Frost was exam- who had ridden ined it was found that he had received at least four mortal wounds, and how he ever managed to keep on firing is a mystery that will never be explained. but still it is a His first re- pyspand - “The last remark of Duncan’s seemed to provoke Coates almost to the fight- ing pitch, and we could see that he was using every endeavor to control him- self, which he managed to do by sheer 1 am sure I never a "man who had himself under guch perfect control, when one considers his parentage and rearing. For your edification I will tell you that most of the people who lved in Little Lake Valley belonged to that branch of the Confederate army that -~ wonderful, remarkable which twenty shots were fired, occu- pied just a quarter of a minute in time. There can be no mistake on this point, for a man who saw none of the fight- ing, as he was too far up the road at the time, looked at his watch when he heard the first shot and kept his watch An his hand unt{l the whole thing was In that short quarter of & min- the trip alone. you such bad new: your husband mount his horse at once, v be able to save at least one asked if I could not ac- company my husband, and if he could not give me some detalls of the affair. He sald he had no time to give any de- tails, and that I certainly could not accompany the doctor, as it would be necessary to ride all night, and ride and that if force of character. before saw human life.’ interested in the in fact, that we Continued on Page T\wenty-thres