People traveling through the west by train in the 1800s expected shootouts and danger and cowboys. The citizens of Palisade gave it to them. 

Sources:
"Westward Hoax: The Secret History of Palisade, Nevada," Very Special Episodes.
Fakes, Frauds & Other Malarkey by Kathryn Lindskoog.
"Mark Twain's Nevada Newspaper Hoaxes" Andrew R. Giarrelli.
Mark Twain's writing for the Territorial Enterprise (1851-1865)

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