Are there golden streets, or is it the winding trail over beautiful fresh prairies that are like these were when the west was new?

HISTORY OF WESTERN NEBRASKA

One time in the early eighties, when Doc. Middleton "went wrong," (or shall we say that what he did was wrong?) Chris Streeks was riding in the usual duties of the range, when a tall spare man with keen eyes, came "fogging up the trail" from the direction of Sidney.

Chris had never met him prior to that time, but this was the redoubtable Doc.

"Fine horse you got, let's trade," said he.

The horse the doctor was riding was pretty well winded and did not show up well with the fresh animal that Chris was riding.

"How much boot?" asked Chris, "about a hundred ?"

"Strip off your saddle," answered Doc, "I just killed a couple soldiers down at Sidney, and they are after me."

Streeks made no further reference to the boot. To dispute under such circumstances would have been useless, and possibly fatal for some one. A few weeks later a rider came past the ranch and left a package for Chris. "Tell him Doc. Middleton sent it," he said. When Streeks opened the package he found it contained one hundred dollars. That was a big price for the common horse of the range in those days.

That is the way Doc. Middleton did things. And while he was an outlaw according to the statutes, there were extenuating circumstances, and the civilians of the west generally assisted him in his efforts to keep out of the clutches of that tiresome tyrant called "law."