No. 713
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
September 19, 2023

A Duel on Horseback.

Two rivals for the affections of an Arkansas belle fight a desperate battle with knives.
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September 19, 2023
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JAMES McMAHON
alias:
BURGLAR, RIVER THIEF

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.comCalvin is among the literary cats who have been immortalized in prose.  Originally part of the household of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Calvin eventually made his home with author Charles Dudley Warner.  After the cat died, Warner wrote the following biographical essay, which was often republished in various late 19th century newspapers and periodicals.  This
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Amen.

Artifact #93: Soapy's son, hires attorney to stop the slurring of his father's name.

"As his son I am proud of hisefforts to succeed in life"Jefferson Randolph Smith IIIArtifact #93-2Jeff Smith collection(Click image to enlarge) oapy's son hires a legal firm to stop the defamation of his father's name. At age 30, Jefferson Randolph Smith III, Soapy and Mary's oldest son, was protecting his father's legacy and his mother's reputation from "libel" and scandal. He was also
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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 10/13/2025

Sadie and Clarence.

Sadie and Clarence.In April 1894, the murder of Montgomery Gibbs, a successful attorney, caused great excitement in Buffalo, New York. He was found shot to death in a driveway on Delaware Avenue with no clues to the killer’s identity. The police and newspapers investigated the crime, but they had no solid leads, and it remained unsolved. Then, in October, they received a tip that Clarence
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On the Russians.

1617: A miller of Manberna, the hangman’s last

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The Athletic Girl and the Millionaire | Time Works Many Changes.

A Duel on Horseback.

Duel on Horseback

Two rivals for the affections of an Arkansas belle fight a desperate battle with knives and are horribly mangled near Bear Creek. 

Two young men, cousins, named Austin Guthrie and Franklin Meyers, near Bear Creek, Ark., rivals for the affections of a young girl, quarreled and proceeded to blows. Both were on horseback, and drawing their knives they commenced a contest which lasted several minutes, both receiving fatal wounds. Meyers's arm was almost severed from the body and he was horribly about the face and breast. Guthrie was fearfully wounded in the head and body. Both fainted and fell from their horses. They were found unconscious in a pool of blood by the roadside.

Reprinted from National Police Gazette, October 27, 1883.

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