Intermit

Many of the details of the Westport Fight were still clear in my memory (1), after these long years; yet it is rarely possible ever to ascertain a thoroughly complete account of any complicated affray, even directly after its occurrence. Fifty years after, the task is multiplied a thousand fold. In the minds of some of the witnesses there has even been the question as to the year in which the Westport Fight occurred. Some of the participants have claimed ’81; some ’82. But this has been conclusively settled by reference to the inscriptions on the grave stones of the victims which all read “1882,”(2) and by the fact also, that the Christmas Eve of 1882 fell on Sunday. In such a melee as the Westport Fight, none of the eye witnesses and least of all the combatants ever remembers just what occurred. All accounts will differ as to the sequence of events, number of shots fired, and the relative positions of the antagonists. The mind is unable to concentrate on the various details of the complex situations and the rapidly shifting and simultaneous views, each with high spots of interest, so crowd upon the centers of vision and hearing as to make the entire scene kaleidoscopic. Whether the first account a witness gives is better than any subsequent construction, as has often been contended, I shall seriously question. Such an account, given before the witness has had time to correlate and properly arrange the order of events, is likely to contain much that is conflicting. Although it is doubtless true that a fresh account will more often give the better view of what was apparent to the observer’s mind, however variant with reality.

1 let the reader bear in mind that Frank’s observations were through beer goggles, though others’ accounts attest to his accuracy
2 several cemeteries in the area confirm the writer’s conclusion of the year 1882