Wild Goose Bill Meets His End in a Cattle Dispute
The famed Big Bend pioneer and his assailant both die in a shootout at Condon's Ferry, twelve miles north of Wilbur.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Spokane, Jan. 24.—A special to the Spokesman-Review from Sprague says: News of a fatal shooting affair yesterday at Condon's Ferry, on the Columbia river, twelve miles north of Wilbur, has been received. William Condon, better known as Wild Goose Bill, became involved in a dispute with a man regarding some cattle. Both men pulled their revolvers and began shooting. Wild Goose Bill fell dead at the first shot; his assailant was fatally wounded, dying soon after. The coroner has been notified and will proceed to Wilbur at once.
Condon was a pioneer, possessed of considerable property, and was one of the most noted characters of the Northwest. He took his name because, long ago, while he was a packer in Idaho, he went hunting one day and killed a flock of tame geese, mistaking them for wild birds. The owner pointed out the mistake, and forced Bill to pay for it. Condon was the best known man in the Big Bend country.
“Wild Goose Bill fell dead at the first shot; his assailant was fatally wounded, dying soon after.”
Wild Goose Bill Condon was a legendary figure in the Big Bend country, known for his colorful past and his violent end. Today, his story survives in local histories, a reminder of the rough-and-tumble frontier that shaped Washington's rural communities.
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