fficer of the law. Each man was a law unto
himself, and settled his own quarrels. The wonder, under such
circumstances, is not that there was so much bloodshed, but that there
was so little. There was, after all, virtue in the anarchy of the
frontier. Personal responsibility was a powerful curb-bit.

In the Bad Lands, in June, 1884, there was a solid minority of
law-abiding citizens who could be depended on in any crisis. There was
a larger number who could be expected as a rule to stand with the
angels, but who had friendly dealings with the outlaws and were open
to suspicion. Then there was the indeterminate and increasing number
of men whose sources of revenue were secret, who toiled not, but were
known to make sudden journeys from which they returned with fat
"rolls" in their pockets. It was to curb this sinister third group
that Packard had attempted to organize the county. Failing in that
project, he issued a call for a "mass meeting."

The meeting was duly held, and, if it resembled the conference of a
committee more than a popular uprising, that was due mainly to the
fact that a careful census taken by the editor of the _Cowboy_
revealed that in the whole of Billings County, which included in its
limits at that time a territory the size of Massachusetts, there lived
exactly one hundred and twenty-two males and twenty-seven females.
There was a certain hesitancy on the part even of the law-abiding to
assert too loudly their opposition to the light-triggered elements
which were "frisking" their horses and cattle. The "mass meeting"
voted, in general, that order was preferable to disorder and
adjourned, after unanimously electing Packard chief of police (with no
police to be chief of) and the Marquis de Mores head of the fire
department (which did not exist).

"I have always felt there was something I did not know back of that
meeting," said Packard afterward. "I think Roosevelt started it, as he
and I were agreed the smaller ranches were losing enough cattle and
horses to make the difference between profit and loss. It was a
constant topic of conversation among the recognized law-and-order men
and all of us agreed the thieves must be checked. I don't even
remember how the decision came about to hold the meeting. It was
decided to hold it, however, and I gave the notice wide publicity in
the _Bad Lands Cowboy_. I was never more surprised than when
Merrifield nominated me for chief of police. Merrifield was a par