A Man Of Few Words Ferd Patterson briefly summed up a shooting.

Ferd Patterson was a gambler and shootist who plied his trade on the West Coast in the 1850s and ‘60s.  In 1861, he and some friends were on a steamer going from San Francisco to Oregon.  The group was a bit too boisterous.  Other passengers complained to Captain G.W. Staples, who broke up the party—and angered Patterson, who threatened him.  When they got to Portland, Patterson tracked Stapes to a hotel lobby and shot him dead. The killer summed things up: “Guns were drawn, shots exchanged, he’s dead, I’m not – and the court found the killing justified.”