Except That Thousand Dollar Piano

An account of the McSween house fire and shootout, including a powder keg explosion and mention of Susan's piano. Taken from the Weekly New Mexican, Santa Fe, New Mexico, August 10th, 1878, page 2.

McSween said after a hard fight that they would surrender; Beckwith said as he was deputy sheriff he would go to the door that they could surrender to him and he would protect them; as he approached the door McSween and party jumped to the door and fired; it appeared they expected more than one was coming and that they would kill all that were with him, Bob’s gun failed to work, he received a ball in the corner of the left eye and fell dead; with a cry of revenge for Beckwith no time was lost by the sheriff’s posse in firing with effect; McSween said “Oh my God” and dropped dead, others also falling.

It appears McSween had a keg of powder under the parlor floor, touched it off with a fuse expecting to blow up some of the sheriff’s posse that he thought were in the room, but none were near the room at the time except a man named Sanders who was blowed heels over head, and picked up for dead, but after throwing water in his face and some work he came to not seriously hurt. Mrs. McSween had left early in the morning, after taking what things she wanted, except that $1000 piano.