The shooting of 'Cowboy' Mitchell, still not totally explained
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Steve Edwards
Jim Halseth, an 83-year old cowboy from Chinook, was able to recall the story of the shooting of Frank Mitchell. Halseth, a virtual encyclopedia of cowboy lore and stories, said, "The story is the way it was told to me."
Reporter's note: Don Berger, the sexton at Kuper Memorial Cemetery north of Chinook, told me about a headstone from a burial in 1889 that caught my interest. On the headstone of Frank M. Mitchell was the message "wantonly shot by a companion in roundup camp near Snake Butte, Oct 17, 1898." 'Wantonly' is not a term used much nowadays and it suggested 'evil intent.' Several locals had heard varying stories of the shooting: a mercy killing when the injured cowboy knew he was doomed and begged to be put out of his pain (didn't sound 'wantonly') and another version, a random group of riders rode...
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