Old West Lifestyle & Stories

A Horse Thief That Was Caught

Little is known of William Arnett prior to his arriving with a couple of buddies in Goldcreek, Montana on August 21, 1862. The trio had a string of six good horses. However, there was something strange about the men. Although they looked as if they had done some hard traveling, they had no saddlebags or other evidence of men who would own fine horseflesh.

The men put the horses in a local corral and put out the word that they were for sale. In a short time, they found a buyer. The three men split up the proceeds from the sale, and Arnett’s buddies left town. But William Arnett decided to stick around Goldcreek, have a few drinks and play some cards.
 
On August 25, two strangers arrived from Elk City, Idaho. They started asking around town if three men had come through with a half dozen horses. They said the men had stolen the horses. The strangers were told three men had come through town, sold the horses, and one was still in town, at the saloon.
 
The men went to the saloon and found Arnett playing cards. When they confronted Arnett, he said he wasn’t going to surrender and end up being hanged… That he would rather shoot it out right now. With his cards in one hand, Arnett went for his gun. Unfortunately, for him, the two men shot faster than Arnett, and killed him on the spot.
 
When the smoke cleared, Arnett was laying on the floor, cards still clutched in one hand and gun in the other. In fact, his hands clutched the cards and gun so tightly they couldn’t be pried open, and William Arnett was buried with two full hands. 

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