Elliott McButcher hastily threw a saddle over his horse. He was not going to let Benjamin Dale escape this time. For what seemed like his whole life, Elliott had put up with the Dale brothers’ shenanigans. They had killed his father, set fire to his crops multiple times, and killed cattle. This was the end. Elliott McButcher could not take it any more. He mounted his steed and began to pursue them.

The Dales and McButchers had been competitive with each other since their farms were erected, but violence had never been involved until five years ago. Their ranches were adjacent and each family felt as if the other were intruding on their land, trying to get money off of one another’s crops. None of this was true; they were merely paranoid. Elliott was the same age as Gerald and Maggie Dale’s twin sons, Michael and Benjamin. Around the time that Elliott was fifteen years old, a series of events occurred that led to death and a lust for vengeance.
On the morning of June 24th, 1855, Gerald Dale woke up to find seven cattle dead. His first thought was that some sort of predator had killed them in their sleep, but then Gerald saw the shotgun shells in the dirt. “A person must’ve done this,” he thought to himself. Just then, a shot rung out from the tall grass south of his farm. Before he could react, a bullet whizzed past his cheek. Startled, Gerald dove for cover behind the side of the barn. Meanwhile, Thomas McButcher, the father of Elliott, heard the shots and grabbed his rifle. Fearing for the lives of his family, Thomas sprinted out the door and toward the gunfire. The Dales and McButchers may have been unfriendly, but if bandits were involved, they were willing to help each other out.
By the time Thomas reached the Dale’s land, the shots had ceased. Gerald Dale was dead, shot on his own farm. Several horses had been stolen. Thomas McButcher crouched over the body of his neighbor. Just then, Michael and Benjamin Dale emerged from where they had been hiding in the house, each holding a repeater. They locked eyes with their deceased father’s rival, who had a gun in his hands. Assuming that Thomas McButcher murdered Gerald Dale, the twins opened fire and Thomas was no more.
For the next five years, Elliott endured many attacks by the Dales. Elliott tried explaining that his father was innocent, and that everything was merely a misunderstanding. Unfortunately, the Dale twins would not listen. He could not get within ten acres of the Dale ranch without being shot at. Elliott couldn’t attack them himself, because he was outnumbered. He didn’t have enough money to move, because his crops and animals died by Michael and Benjamin’s hands. Since Elliott’s father died, he and his mother had barely managed to stay alive.
On June 24th, 1860, exactly five years since the deaths of Thomas McButcher and Gerald Dale, there was yet another incident. Elliott’s mother, Katherine, was walking around outside. She was reminiscing about the memories she had of Thomas, on the anniversary of his death. She didn’t notice the Dale twins sneaking up behind her. They planned to dispose of the last of the McButchers, for good this time. Elliott was stacking lumber when he felt a peculiar sensation, as if something horrible were about to happen. He quietly snuck over to the side of the barn and peeked over. He saw his mother standing there, looking over the prairie. Directly behind her was Michael, holding a knife. Michael got ready to stab Katherine McButcher. He was interrupted when Elliott whipped out his revolver and, with deadly accuracy, stopped one of the twins from ever attacking his family again.
Benjamin Dale, startled, rushed for his horse and rode off. Elliott was right behind, closing in on him, as their horses sped away from the McButcher’s farm. “Killing my father was one thing, but you’re not going to take my mother away from me as well!” shouted Elliott. The gap between the two men and their horses decreased. Elliott took his revolver and aimed it at Benjamin, one of the sources of the horrible things that had happened to the McButchers over the past five years. Elliott held his breath and got ready to end his troubles.