"The trouble started when the cowboy endeavored to help himself to a quantity of peanuts which he refused to pay for."

In 1902, if you mixed cowboys, Indians, Cossacks and Italian peanut vendors, you were asking for trouble, as is proven in this trenchant piece of reporting from the May 6, 1902 Brooklyn Daily Eagle. An excerpt:

“Cowboys, Indians, Cossacks and Italian peanut vendors were mixed up this morning in a row which occurred near the entrance of the Wild West show on Halsey street. In the scrimmage one of the cowboys was cut in the face with a knife in the hands of one of the Italians. The trouble started when the cowboy endeavored to help himself to a quantity of peanuts which he refused to pay for. The vendor struck the cowboy with a stick, and when the latter rushed at him drew a knife and stabbed him. In the confusion that ensued a number of stands were overturned and their contents strewn over the street. The row ended when the injured cowboy was taken into the doctor’s tent and his wound dressed. No arrests were made.”