DEFEATED BY COWBOYS
New York Times / March 22, 1886
BISMARCK, Dakota, March 22. -- A desperate struggle between cowboys and horse thieves is reported from the Upper Missouri River country, and it is believed the former are on a general raid in search of men who have robbed them of ponies and cattle. A report which reached here today is to the effect that a party of cowboys came upon a number of horse thieves in the timber on the river bank, about 100 miles north of Bismarck, and after the exchange of several shots the thieves gave up the fight and attempted to escape. Charles Braddock and Jack O'Brien, two of the outlaws, were killed in the fight on the river bank. Four of the horse thieves reached the river and rode out on the ice, hoping to escape in that way. Two of the horses broke through the ice, and, with their riders, were swept away. The two other thieves returned to the river bank, where the cowboys were waiting. There they were bound on the backs of ponies and taken away to parts unknown. Probably for an old-fashioned, but picturesque, cowboy trial.
