Version 1 - 1991:  Late in May and early June 1908 there were several stories about a cowboy who tried to shoot up the town of Ambrose.  His nickname was “Bloody Knife”.  This was the name that he had adopted because of the knife he always wore on his belt.  George Zeglin (his real name) had been working as a cowboy for a rancher in northeastern Montana.  He had evidently gone to the “bad” and spent most of his time drinking, gambling and, it was suspected – horse stealing.

The story begins in Crosby on a Sunday where he was found drunk and had trouble with one of the citizens there.  On Monday east of Ambrose, Bloody Knife and a companion tried to get a farmer to drink with them.  He refused and they finally rode west.  Next they came upon a farmer planting seed.  Bloody Knife demanded the horses but the farmer refused.  Bloody Knife pulled his gun and began shooting at the farmer’s feet.  The farmer unhitched the six horses and gave them to the cowboy.

Nearby was a steam outfit.  Someone there fired a shotgun frightening the horses being lead by Zeglin.  They broke loose and headed for their barn.  Zeglin continued on west and arrived in Ambrose without his companion.  He was already drunk when he rode his horse into a saloon and demanded beer for himself, and his horse.  Getting no service, he pulled his gun and shot into the ceiling.  A number of townsmen heard the shooting and armed themselves.  Several men went into the saloon and tried to persuade Zeglin to leave.  He began to shoot at them and clipped off the end of one of the fingers of the editor of the Ambrose Newsman.  The men then began to throw billiard balls at Zeglin and his horse.  The horse became frightened and dashed out the doorway, which was not big enough for both a man and horse.  Zeglin was knocked off the horse and lost his gun.  He scrambled out the door, remounted his horse, and reached for his back pocket as if to draw a gun.  At the same time he started his horse down the street at a gallop.  Several shots rang out from the posse that had formed and he fell from the saddle, dead.

The body was placed in a carpenter shop and the coroner in Williston was called.  Days later an inquest was held and it was determined that Zeglin was “killed by a shot from a person or persons unknown”.  The coroner took the body to Williston and finally located his relatives in Minneapolis.  It seems that George Zeglin was the “black sheep” of the family.

The shooting developed into quite a controversy in Ambrose as some people thought the shooting was justified and others thought there was no reason to shoot the man.  Who killed him was never known, nor was any attempt made to find out.

An interesting sidelight to this shooting was that John Hugos, who had been an avid camera fan for a number of years, persuaded Bloody Knife to stop so he could snap his picture.

This grainy picture of a cowboy dressed in chaps and mounted on a horse was found in John’s old collection of pictures at the home of his daughter, Mrs. John Mulvahill.  On the back of the picture in John’s handwriting are the words, "Bloody Knife”.  It would be interesting to know just how John persuaded him to stop long enough to get the picture.

Above history and photo are displayed
 in the A. Miller and Sons building in the
Pioneer Village, Crosby, North Dakota
(Edited for content)

Version 2 - 1974:  In the early days, cowboys rode into Ambrose to have a "time" drinking and gambling, etc.  At times things really got wild . The wildest occasion being the time cowboy "Siegler", nicknamed "Bloody Knife", rode into Bowler's Pool Room and ordered beer for his horse. This he put into a scoop shovel and the horse drank it.  One thing lead to another - fights and gun shots followed.  The cowboy went out and rode about town shooting in the air.  Someone unknown shot him dead from ambush. This shooting was said to have been malicious and not really necessary.  Some people had knowledge of who fired the fatal shot but it was a well kept secret.

Above history taken from page 339 of the
Divide County History 1974, Crosby, North Dakota
Andrew N. Almos, Consultant and Margaret Roach, Writer and Composer
(Edited for content)

Version 3 - 1964:  In the spring of 1908, one of the final pages of the history of the Old West was enacted on the streets of Ambrose in the passing of "Bloody Knife".  Bloody Knife was a young cowboy by the name of George Zeigler.  The nickname was one he had picked up in Montana.  It was the custom of the young men of the range to tag each other with a wild and tough nickname, although it did not necessarily indicate the true character of the bearer.  The name Bloody Knife may have been given Mr. Seigler because of the fact that he generally carried a sheath knife.  There is nothing to indicate that he was a desperate character.  In this episode it is probably true that he was just a cowboy out for a good time who had imbibed a little too freely of hard liquor.

We will take up the story on a homestead southeast of Ambrose where Bloody Knife and a companion pestered Mr. Hans Hougland for a time, trying to get him to drink with them.  Hans refused, and after a while they rode off.  Hans stated that they were drinking freely.  They then rode on to where Mr. Kjetl Hougland, a brother of Hans, was seeding.  Here they made Kjetl unhitch his horses from the drill and unharness them.  When Kjetl tried to stall for time in hopes help would come, Bloody Knife fired a few shots at his feet and instructed him to hurry up.  Needless to say, Kjetl complied.  Bloody Knife tied Kjetl’s horses to his saddle and rode off toward a group of men who were operating a breaking outfit some distance to the south.  As he drew near the group, someone fired a shotgun and the stolen horses broke loose and ran to their stable.

The two cowboys disappeared over the hills.  Bloody Knife next appeared in Ambrose without his partner.  He rode his pony into a pool hall on the west side of Main Street where he proceeded to buy drinks and make merry, occasionally firing a shot into the ceiling for excitement.

A town character by the name of Rush Langton stepped into the scene at this time.  Mr. Langton was a large gentleman, given to imbibing freely and quite frequently.  He wore a blue serge suit and made a good appearance.  Striding toward the cowboy, he reached out his hand and shouted, “Hello Old Timer”. Bloody Knife evidently mistook him for an officer and dashed for the rear door, while Rush threw pool balls at him.  However, the door was not big enough for both pony and rider to get through at the same time, and Bloody Knife was knocked from his horse.  His lariat came loose and as he coiled it up he remarked that he was going to use the rope to hang every Norwegian he could find.

As he stepped out of the door, Mr. W. W. Todd and Mr. O. A. Ness approached him.  Mr. Todd requested that he surrender his gun.  Bloody Knife started to draw his gun, at the same time threatening Mr. Todd.  A struggle ensued, but when Mr. Ness hit Bloody Knife with a 2 x 4 he dropped his gun.  Mr. Todd picked up the gun, and Bloody Knife mounted his pony.

As he rode off he reached toward his hip pocket. A volley of shots greeted this gesture but the rider appeared unhurt and swung his pony toward Main Street.  The crowd rushed through an alley and came out on the street at the same time as the rider.  Bloody Knife waved his hand at the crowd and swung up the street.  A shot rang out and the rider slumped in his saddle, his shirt stained red.  The pony continued up the street, swinging west and picking his way past an excavation that was to be the basement of the drug store.  The pony was caught in the alley and Mr. G. Bailard held the animal as deputy sheriff Austenson lifted the rider and lowered him to the ground.  Bloody Knife was dead.  The body was taken to McKoane's undertaking room.

Papers on the person of the cowboy identified Mr. Charles West, a rancher from Montana.  West was called and he identified the body as George Ziegler.  An inquest was held in Miller’s Hall and a coroner’s jury found that Ziegler came to his death from a shot from a gun in the hands of an unknown person.  No person was ever charged with the shooting, although many of the old timers claim to know who did it.

Mr. Ziegler’s parents, from Minnesota, claimed the body.  He was taken home for burial.  His parents were refined and cultured people.  Bloody Knife was the black sheep of the family.

Above history from
The Stories and Histories of Divide County 1964
(Edited for content)

Zeglin,  Ziegler, Siegler?  Does anyone know Bloody Knife's real name?

Thanks to Joni Zeglin, we finally have an answer to this question!

Your feedback:   Merle Parsley remembers the stories of Bloody Knife.  While he doesn't claim to know the identity of the shooter or the correct name of the victim, he was told that the shot came from an upper window in one of the buildings destroyed in the 1959 fire.