Submitted by
Loyd Bishop

A shooting affair took place about 5 miles northwest of town Tuesday forenoon in which Mel Ransom was shot and fatally wounded, who by his rival claimant Frank Cooper. The shooting, it appears was not done on the impulse of the moment, but was pre-meditated on the part of Cooper and possibly expected by Ransom, as Cooper had threatened to kill him if he crossed a certain part of the claim, which he had done. Mrs. Cooper, it seems started the row by attacking Ransom with a club, beating him mercilessly and breaking one of the bones of the shoulder. Some parties who were near interfered at this juncture, and seeing that trouble between the two men was inevitable asked them to give up their guns and fight it out. To this they agreed and Ransom handed his gun to a friend whereupon Cooper took advantage of the situation and fired at Ransom, the ball taking effect in the lower part of the abdomen. After taking the gun away from Cooper, those who witnessed the shooting allowed him to make his escape and at the present writing he has not been arrested. Mrs. Cooper has been arrested and brought here, where she is under guard awaiting the results of the wounds Ransom is not expected to live.