T here was an article about Pioche in reference to how wild some towns back in those days really were. Pioche was the real thing. The boys there were tough.

S eventy-five men in Pioche had been killed in gun fights before even one person got sick enough to die naturally which raised the town’s reputation for respectability.

B ack in those days, it was customary for the residents of the town to maintain a sort of bookie shop. This was where the men of town could wager bets on just who would, or would not, survive each day.

T his form of local sport gained great popularity and endured until one ill-starred day when a low-down cuss, entirely lacking in civic pride, killed the bookie, and there was nobody left to pay off bets for that day.

N ow this would never happen today, they would wait until after he had paid all bets.

A ugust 16,1864

T he Reese River Reveille seemed to have its belle full of the sport of dueling. The impromptu shootings, how ever long they may have lasted, usually ended in somebody being killed. However, the formal meetings more or less in accordance with the “code” were considered a nuisance. The Reveille stated its case very clear in the following story:

''Jerry Kincaid and Ed Herrick had a falling out for some cause not explained, and agreed to meet at sunrise this morning in a duel. Everybody knew about it, and a hundred or so people, including a sprinkling of women, came out to see it. The weapons were revolvers at ten paces, each opponent to advance as he pleased after the first shot. Both fired and then advanced. Both fired six shots. Kincaid received a crease along his left ear. No other casualties. The Reveille serves notice that it will write the story of no other duel from now on unless it is fought toe to toe with hatchets.''

A ugust 29,1864

L ike Austin and the Reese River Reveille, Virginia City just about the same time began to disregard all shootings and ruckuses unless they were completely out of the ordinary. Here was one such affray described by the Virginia City Union:

''Big Jake and Frank Farrington shot it out on C Street this morning. Jake drew his pistol first, but Frank was the quicker and fired the first shot. He continued to fire until all the chambers were empty. Then he threw his pistol away and started to walk off. Jake got in a couple of shots before Dr. Bryarly took his pistol away from him. Jake was hit twice, both comparatively minor, and one by-stander was wounded slightly.''

D ue to many other articles having the same ring to them, I would say that Virginia City did not consider a gunfight successful unless at least one by-stander was hit. The safest place to hide during a gunfight seemed to be right behind one of the shooters.

O ctober 17, 1864

A s if the earlier statement made by the Reese River Reveille about so-called duels were not bad enough, they may have found a new category for shootings all together. This would be posted more likely in the Drunk and disorderly columns. Even though they announced they would no longer clutter up the paper with such unimportant news, they have broke down to carry the following:

''George Ennis, A. C. Yoachum, Mr. Alexander and another person whose name we could not ascertain, were arrested last night for enjoying the sport of shooting at each other. They were all deplorably poor shots and nobody was hit.''

D ecember 14, 1864

N o better way to end a year, but to post an article on marriage, or I should say divorce. It seemed that at the end of the year, Storey County probate court had twenty-four applications for divorce. The editor of the Enterprise had this to say about it:

''Two dozen ready to quit! What a waste of vows. What protestations squandered. What kisses thrown away. What useless expenditure of goods, square courting. What surprise when the blundering and love-blind male discovered that instead of the cuddly and admiring little creature he led so fondly to the altar, what he has now is a termagant ready to polish his head with a rolling pin at any moment. In addition, the sweet young thing that joined herself to the manly hero of her romance has become tired of taking care of him when he is drunk. Such is romance boiled down to its essence.''