View source for Elijah Strode

Elijah Strode was shot by another soldier, Thomas J. Whalen, at a Sturgis, S.D., saloon in February 1881.

Newspaper accounts from the Black Hills say the pair had tuned up on trader whiskey at nearby Fort Meade before wandering into Miller's Saloon early that morning to kick back a few more. Deputy Sheriff Justis Schnell stopped by, and Strode invited him and Whalen to join him in a drink, the deputy testified.

Schnell said he and Strode stepped to the end of the counter to talk, when Whalen went behind the bar and came out with a revolver. Whalen ordered Strode to drop his gun, then ordered Schnell to disarm Strode.

When the deputy came up empty, Strode stepped back from the counter and opened his coat saying, "If you want to shoot, damn you, shoot," and Whalen did.

Accounts vary as to who was the bad guy - Strode or Whalen - and jurors had no better luck. Whalen's two murder trials ended with hung juries.

Whalen claimed self-defense, and the owner of the saloon testified that, when Strode fell back dead, he had a gun in his hand.

Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/features/magazine/cavalry-men-s-lives-come-to-troubled-ends/article_4d4ad79d-d267-5179-bea7-e34702a8b972.html#ixzz2lcvbN2Rm