“One time we were up at Fort Laramie, an’ it war there that I got the name ye talk about. There was a strappin’ big feller, a head taller than me, an’ he was reckoned more than a match for any feller in the fort, an’ there war some well-known Injin-fighters around at that time too. This feller war az big a bully az ever I seen, an’ the way he made soldiers, miners, hunters an’ reds obey him would have made any one believe that he war the kurnel that had command o’ the fort.
“He had a terrible fist on him, and was reckoned a dead fighter. I always had been a well-known wrestler an’ a very strong man, an’ the very minnit I set eyes on this ‘Red’ Lawson, I resolved that he wouldn’t come any o’ his tricks over ‘yours truly.’
“If he tried it on me, he’d find himself in hot water an’ there would be a fight, for I had made up my mind to go for him. Some of the hunters an’ trappers knew Buck an’ me, an’ we war not long in gettin’ rid o’ our pelts.
“The fort warn’t much then; a sorter tradin’-post, wid a few blue-coats in it, so ye see this ‘Red’ Lawson had it just his own way. I made up my mind that he had had his way long enough, an’ that I would be the one that was to polish him off.
“Buck Rawson war the feller that could give ye a good description o’ that fight, but, poor feller, he’s rubbed out. Got shot by a cussed Navajo, while we were rescuing a woman from ’em.
“Wal, the way the fight come about, war az follows:
“The second day after I arrived at the fort, I war goin’ along the street, where the log hut air, when I heerd a woman squeal. That is a sound I never could resist. If a woman yelled for help, an’ certain death stared me in the face, I would always run to the rescue. The sound came from a log hut, an’ I dashed open the door an’ rushed in. There, in the middle o’ the only room it contained, was that villain, ‘Red’ Lawson, a-tryin’ to kiss a pretty woman, while her husband, scared e’en’most out o’ his life, stood lookin’ on. That man war wuss nor a coward.
“A coward will always fight for one he loves, but this baby just stood an’ looked on, while the ruffian tried to kiss his wife, too scared to raise a hand in her behalf.
“Wid one blow I knocked the feller senseless, an’ ye may be sure that blow war a pretty hard one. It cum straight from the shoulder, an’ them kind o’ blows are generally killing.
“I dragged him out o’ the house and left him in the street, an’ wid the thanks o’ the pretty woman yet in my ears, I walked off. Thet arternoon Buck came rushin’ inter the hut we occupied.