William “Bill” Cummings
A miners meeting was called at Forty Mile when Bill Cummings accused some local First Nations men of stealing from a cache he had hidden at Brown Creek. George Snow relates that there were a number of First Nation men in the store as Cummings told his tale. One of them was known as Big Jim and he was a very big, strong man. He stepped forward and called Cummings a liar. Cummings grabbed a pick handle and started toward Big Jim. Matlock had been sitting on a counter but he jumped to the ground and grabbing Cummings, pinned his arms to his side. Jack McQuesten came over to plead with Cummings, saying the Indigenous code of an eye for an eye did not include whose eye would suffer if Cummings killed Big Jim and that all miners on the creeks would be put at risk. Cummings had been a Union Scout during the Civil War and the lower part of his face had been blown away at the Battle of Shilo. He had also served as a scout under General Miles during the Indian Wars. Cummings backed down and peace was restored.1)