Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1851-02-04

oid1o vi otulNy STRAIGHTFORWARD EN-
grants, who, attracted solely by th
beauty of the cou untry, had come int
it, settled themselves down whereve
they took a fancy with character
isticreckless4 less neither caringnorir
/, curing who were their neighbors, bu
trusting in their own strong arms an
hearts to keep a footing. OF cours
all such Wer re very soon engaged i
desperate feuHs vii th the horse thieye
and plunde derers around them; and a
they were not yet Strong enough t
make headway effieiently-were on
after another finally ousted or shot
1t was I'd e3terminate this homes
class that the more lawless and bruta
of the other associated themselve
and assunl he'd the name of Regula
tors, They mum mbered from eigh
to twelve --and u hder the organiza
ton of rangers, commanded by ;
beastly WI etch named Hinch, they
'professed to undertake the task O
purifying the county limits of al
bad and suspic cious characters; or il
fother words, Of all men who dared
refuse to be as vile as they we're
or if they were. who chose to act in
Fdependently Of them and theil
schemes. This precious brotherhood
soon became the s$ourge of all that
region. Wheheven an individual was
unfortunate enough to make himself
obnoxious to them, whether by sue
cessful yillainy, the proceeds of which
he refused to share with them, or by
the hateful contrast Of the propriety
of his eouf se--he was forthwith sur
rounded threatened had his stock
driven off or killed wa ntonly-and
if these an noyances and hints were
not sufficient to drive him away,
they would publicly warn him to
leave the county in a-d certain number
of days, under the penalty Of being
scotrged or shot, The common pre-
text for this was the accusation of
having committed some crime, which
they then nlselyes had perpetrated
with a view of fu FINISHING charge to
bring against him. Their hate was
entirely ruthless and never Stopped
short Of accomplishing it's pur-
poses; and in many a bloody fray and
cruel outrage had the question of
their SUPREMACY been lnooted, until
at last there were few left to dis
pute with them, a nd they tyrannised
at will.
Amonglthcse few was Jack Long,
as he was called, who Meth her recog-
nized nor denied their pow er, and in
deed never troubled hima aelf about
them one way or the other. He kept
himself to himself, hunted incessant-
ly, and nobody knew much about
him. Jack had come of aIswild-tur-
key breed, as the western. term is
for rowing family; and though still
young man, had pushed on ahead of
the settlement of two territories, and
had at last followed the game to-
wards the south, and finding it abun-
liant in Shelby county had stopped
here, just as he would have stopped |
lt the foot of he.Roeky Mountains,
bad it been necessary to pursue it so
Elr. He had never been ia the habit
# asking leave Of any power where
ie should settle, and of course scarce
y thought of the necessity of doing
b, now; but quietly set to work
Iuilt himself a nice log-eabin, as far
IF from everybody as he could get.
ind the first thing that was known
f him, he had his pretty young wife
nd two little ones snugly slowed
way ip it, and was Staying the deer
nd the bears right and left
The honest brotherhood had made
dvdral attempts at feeling Jacks
lPlse and ascertaining his availability;
ut he had always seemed Sd impas-
iYely good-natured, and put them '
# 50 pleasantly, that they could find
d ground for either disturbing or
dafrellingwith him. Whatwas more 1
q vas physically rather an ugly S
,$king customer with his six feet
,9r inches Of Drawn and bone; Though !
he inclination, just discoyerabla in I
IS figure, to corpulency, together e
ithIa broad, full, good-hunlored face, t
aye an air of sluggishness to his S
n@rgies, and an expression IN Of easy
to his temper, which of |
red neither invitation to gratuitous T
IS bit nor provocationi to dislike Il
e was the very impersonation of u