State

A Bizarre Shootout On The Beach ll was a day w lion livestock roamed u li¬ cenced, and tlic*neby hand's a tale never coinplelidy told. By ВИЛЛ ARTHUR Today it’s difficult to believe that there ever was a time on Bogue Banks when there were no condominiums, year-round residences, motels, hotels, marinas, house trailers and hardly a travelable road in the 30 miles between Fort Macon and the Swansboro Coast Guard Station. It's equally difficult to visualize that on November 23. 1917. occurred an al¬ most unbelievable simultaneous double slaying in which Charles Salter and John Wheeler Glover were killed by each other's gunshots at the same time along Hoop Hole Creek on the strand. I first heard the story more than 40 years ago from Henry Л. Tolson. a Carteret County lawyer, self-styled historian and raconteur who lived on the mainland near Swansboro. Know¬ ing that he had a knack for embroider¬ ing stories to make them more appeal¬ ing. I solicited the help of the Carteret County Register of Deeds office, and they found and copied the two aecom- paning death certificates. Then I learned from Charles A. Pitts, a Carteret historian, of Kay Holt Stephens' book about the Bogue Banks people, titled "Judgment Land." Com¬ bining her and the Tolson versions we found: Charles Salter— about 31. a descen¬ dant of the Sailers who settled and named Salter Path; a fisherman, hard¬ working and strong. As his neighbors, in addition to fishing and hunting he kept cows and hogs that roamed at large, feeding on the natural growth and what they could find on or root out of the beach sand, marshes and shallow sound waters. John Wheeler Glover— 53 years plus, native New Yorker who hail come to Carteret County in 1912. Evidently a man of some wealth, he had acquired approximately 7(№ acres on the Banks, much in the vicinity of Hoop Hole Creek, and built a hunting and fishing lodge where he spent most of his time. THE STATE. МАЙСН 1987 though married to a Morehead City resident. Lean and muscular, he was also possessive and aggressive, espe¬ cially as to unwanted cattle, hogs and dogs on his property. No Fences Animals roaming at large were then a problem— both to keep track of and to keep from tracking and trumping dmvn the growth and driving out the native w ild, which was essential to a man who kept a hunting lodge. Fencing was vir¬ tually unheard of because of the ex¬ pense. and because animals could walk around it when the tide went out. Charles Salter was missing a cow and $Ъ> a calf, according to "Judgment Land." According to Tolson, hogs were miss¬ ing. The Salters suspected that if the missing animals reached Glover's land, they were either slain or impounded. So. Charles set out to find his stock; and he had his shotgun, as did all males when working or walking ashore, to shoot game for the table. And J. W. Glover had his as he walked his prop¬ erty to chase off or rid it of unwanted animals. It will never be known whether Charles Salter found that his cow had been killed by J. W. Glover or whether Glover came upon Salter among some animals that had strayed on his land. Nevertheless, they met and doubtless argued, because both guns were ac- euraiely aimed before firing. The two guns blazed. Salter was hit in the heart and Glover in the lower abdomen. The next day. N слет her 24. Coroner P B. Lupion. summoned by boat, found them lying about 30 yards apart, their guns beside their bodies. "I saw him dead." the coroner reported on each death certificate. On Glover's, he added. "I never saw him alive." The gist of both certificates was that they came to their deaths by gunshot wounds inflicted by each other. (Continued on page 31) <_ C/O . . . flortb Carolina *uir Во.гв ot fcrattb #V*OU Of r*fAU »V*n»flC* С 1ИППС1Т1 or DKAT1I . Ъ sJLtj&L _ AJ80 tTIfltbCA. i «ч( • ccvo* <* ма » vbui • МП Of о*ги i I I OIUIIIK, l II №«r»«X*C« TV vi- >-..r-.r,i T\ CL к Г»4 OVd II 1ИЛ ГО THt MIT Of «V ■■OfUOOC « - CLyJi^j 3-wilb ■мм-ИгАЛ «' 1 i. I T* «и» «mncMl a H>I> Ju "Y\*o X Д *U*#i . я 8 — l\ow л ...I 7. _ _ _ . I. at , list A.»- to (Л W.alli S. ■ w— ~P. В ... iL. •• «V* U 'AW "В . . .« «1М1ГИ Of МММ •« фт% II-JS .<* 1 C-tOV-Cl ■ ютши I -ifclP ~Р .'р* Death certificates lor Sailer and Glover similarly indicated death» by gunshot. Intlleted by each other. On Glover's the Coroner added. "I never saw him alive.'' 15