"Down Memory Lane" spawns story of shooting

Some family research on the South Dakota State Archives website led Paula Schaeper of Dallas, Texas, to the Custer County Chronicle, and more specifically, “Down Memory Lane.”

In the Feb. 14, 2007, issue of the Chronicle, the 110 years ago portion said the following:â��“Frank Gentry, a saloon keeper at Camp Crook, shot and killed a cowboy named Frank Garrison over a difficulty occurring while playing a game of cards. Gentry went on to Belle Fourche immediately after the deed was committed and gave himself up to the authorities...”

The shooting took place around Jan. 30, 1897, and was widely reported in the Belle Fourche papers after it happened. Schaeper has clippings of the stories from the newspapers. Garrison was Schaeper’s great-uncle. She found the reference to the story in the Chronicle by using the Newspaper Surname Index on the state website.