The events leading up to the duel started out with something akin to a playground spat. Broderick had recently won a narrow election victory over Terry, a hot-headed member of the Democratic Party's pro-South "Chivalry" wing. Terry's campaign rhetoric, which had portrayed Broderick as a politician beholden to the abolitionists, had incensed Broderick to the point of calling Terry a "dishonest miserable wretch of a judge."

Gossip spreads, and one of Terry's supporters overheard Broderick's remarks. Word of them got quickly back to Terry, who ultimately challenged Broderick to a gun duel.

The two men met in the morning mists, steps from Lake Merced on September 13, 1859. More than 75 spectators watched as the duel's terms were negotiated.

Broderick won the toss for position, and chose to face West, so that the rising sun might obscure Terry's vision. Terry's advantage was the choice of weapons; two single-shot Belgian .58-caliber pistols. The two men stood back-to-back and paced ten steps before turning to aim and shoot.

Broderick lost his single opportunity to fire when his gun suddenly discharged into the ground nine feet in front of him. While he looked perplexedly at the spot where the ball had landed, Terry pulled his own trigger and shot Broderick in the right shoulder.

The Senator fell on one knee, clutching his breast before collapsing to the ground. He was quickly carried off to a house in the Presidio where he died three days later.

A visit to the site is an ironic trip back in time from a walk, run, or ride around Lake Merrit. To get there, follow the brown historic marker that points into the club entrance of the Lake Merced Hill Apartments at 1100 Lake Merced Drive, just short of John Muir Boulevard. Noise and traffic will fade away as you walk along the wooded dell that separates the golf course from the lake.

When you get to the end of the public drive, you will see the granite marker and plaque that announces the site and history of the duel. Stroll through the gate behind the plaque and down a bicycle path past a lovely manicured park. You will pass a second monument to the duel here. 150 yards further, around a corner obscured by pine and fir, sit two unassuming granite markers in a cypress grove. These are the spots where Broderick and Terry stood facing each other.

A view beyond the branches on the site's south side offers a stark contrast to the sobering place where Broderick fell. There, sparkling attired golfers stroll the greens and line up putts, oblivious of the fatal shot that was fired 150 years ago just behind the trees.



Cece Blase, June 2001
Copyright Cece Blase 2003