Old West Shootout–with a Rattlesnake
Old West Shootout–with a Rattlesnake
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An Old-West Shootout
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A fight to the death occurred near the Copper Queen Mine, to the south-west of a town called Salmon, Idaho. Who would survive? The owner of the Copper Queen Mine? Or his attacker–a six-foot rattlesnake sporting sixteen rattles?
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Identified (by Pinterest pinner) as Salmon, Idaho. My guess: turn of the century (circa 1900). Image: Pinterest.
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Where is Salmon, Idaho?
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The Copper Queen mine (identified by the red “mine building” in the center of the map), shows Salmon Idaho on the border with Montana. Image courtesy of mindat.org.
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Fighting a Rattlesnake
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The American Old West was fraught with dangers from predators. The two-legged kind as well as the four-legged kind. And others without limbs at all. Snakes.
Shudder.
Snakes are quite possibly the most hated of all reptiles. Especially the kind with fangs and poison.
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1) The Worthington Advance of Worthington, Minnesota on November 4, 1897.
2) The Worthington Advance of Worthington, Minnesota on November 4, 1897.
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A brief foray into a google search makes this story seem almost plausible. Diamondback rattlers can measure 8 to 10 feet in length. Yet according to those who know, it’s the Northern Pacific rattlesnake that inhabits the Salmon River valley. Pacific rattlers “often reach 39 inches in length.” Thirty-nine inches is a mere one foot and three inches total. Hardly a six-foot reptile.
True, nineteenth century American newspapers printed the news… and plenty of fiction, too.Â
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Invitation
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What do you think? Truth or fiction?
Please scroll down and comment.
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City with a View
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View of the Rockies outside Salmon, Idaho. Image: Pinterest.
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Salmon City, 1887. Image: Pinterest.
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Updated March 2021
Copyright © 2017 Kristin Holt LC
