So, what made Otto cut loose on his fishing partners on that beautiful summer day?
Well, fishing on the Russian was tough on the nerves, even in 1912. Bill Abbott was very particular about how to fillet a salmon, and was watching Otto like a hawk. Otto just couldn’t fillet by “the book according to Bill.” Bill had had enough, and just couldn’t resist making a snide remark about Otto’s ability to carve fish. Otto responded in German with a remark that had to do with the ancestry of Bill. Otto was so angry, he put down his knife and retired to his tent, hoping to calm down. At noon, when the partners knocked off for lunch, the conversation heated back up regarding the proper method of cleaning fish. That’s when Otto had all he could take, picked up his 30-40 rifle and fired the shot. Barney begged and begged Otto to put down the gun before someone became seriously injured. That provided a diversion for Bill, and he ran upstream to the Kenai Dredging Company to get his arm bandaged. Otto soon realized that Bill was gone, and he figured Bill had headed to Seward to get t
