Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-11-03
EARLYwEsTERN BANDITS
Mason and the Harps, and their Den
in the Cave-in-the-ROckS
on the Ohio.

! Mason and the Harps, and their Del
in the Cave-in-tile-ROckS
on the Ohio.
A writer who is contributing seriet
/ of interesting sketches of early scene
/ in the Southwest to the Natchez C0u
rier, thus tells something about som'
/ famous robbers who We're the terror 0
the country about sixty years ago:
In those early times the Western
men brought their produce down thu
river in tiatboats, and when they sole
out their cargOes they would return IL
! large companies together by land.
once noticed that three men made
their appearance here, one of whom
4 was remarkable for his very ferOciou;
appearance. He had scar of a deer
! saber cut across his brow. They were
/ dressed like backwoods farmers, anc
mingled freely with the boatmen
They " chartered" good deal about
/ the price of a great many articles, bui
nothing seemed to satisfy them. Hav
/ ing made themselves acquainted with
ali the bOatmen and carOused will
them a good deal, they at last disap'
/ peared. AS they were walking up the
hill heard something like the follow.
/ ing conversation, though it was in Q
suppressed whisper: II say, Captain
said the smallest of'the three, " there's
geese worth picking down there. .
"Hold your jaw, Little Harp, replied
/ the other, "yOu are everlasting biab-
bing; IN have to mash your mouth iOl
you yet, before l get you broken in,
you internal villain, you"
About two months after these ruf'
fans had disappeared, the whole conn-
try was startled by the news that d
large company OF Kentuckians mad
been robbed by a band Of robbers upon
the Nashville trace. Shortly after,
three gentlemen, a father and his two
sons, started to Kentucky, and when
they had got pretty well into the
/ wilderness they, too, were met and
robbed of everything they had. This
excited the community TO the highest
pitch of Indignation. They besOught
Gov. Claib0urne to bring the power
of the Government to bear and arrest
the robbers. He accordingly offered a
large reward for them, dead or alive,
Great was the merTiment made by
Mason-that was the bandits name
and his men when they read the Gov
ernor's proclamation. They laughed
at and ridiculed it. How long he
could have defied the authorities nc
one knows, if there had not been
treachery in the band. The old adage
that there is honor among thieves did
not hold good in this case. One night
they were sitting around their blazing
camp fires. They had just made a
successful raid upon the settlements,
and Mason was distributing the
booty. Little Harp crept up behind
him and buried tOmahawk in MS
head. Mason fell dead and his guilty
soul was ushered into the presence OF
his Maker. The conspiratOrs then
chopped OF his he2d ana brought il to
Washington, the seat of Government,
and claimed the reward. When il
was noised about that the great rob-
ber, Mason, was killed, and that his
head was in Washington for identiii-
cation, all the people in the settlement
faF and near fiOcked TO see il. Many
who had beeH gictims recognized it at
once and sWofe to it; there was no
mistaking those ghastly grim features,
with the terrible scar. The men who
had done the deed were hailed at first
as ynblic banefaCtors, tor they had rid
the world OF a monster.
Now, although the EDyernOr had
promised a large reward, yer nhfOFs
tunately when he called for the money
it was found that the treasury was
empty (this seems 10 he g chronic
complaint with my dear Old State. }
OF course the captOrs Of Mason We're
delayed il getting their pay. This
led TO the detection of the cOnspiFa-
tors, and it so happened tisst The Old
gentleman apd his two. sons, who
had been Robbed, were among the
number who came to look al the
robbers head. The moment they laid
their eyes on Little Harp they eX-
changed glances. The father slipped
out, and in a little while appeared
with IN officer. Raising his voice and
pointing his finger at Little Harp,
he said, ~ charge you. cir, as being
one of Mason's band of Fobbsrs,"
Little Harp was seized, and his ac-
complies also. This was almost as
startling to the crowd as was the sight
of MasOn's head.
At that time there was q little town
in Jefferson county, near the Chab-
ley's fork of Cole Creek, named Green
vile, in honor of Gen. Nathaniel
Green. The original site was bought
from the estate of OdOm, was after
wafd sdded to form the estates of
Abijah Hunt and Ferdinand Clai-
borne, and the following named men
were its trustees: ID. w. Brazeale, II,
Downs, A. Ellis, R.. Mckay, and
Robert Cox.
This little town, which has since
passed into the things that were,"
was then the county seat; thither
Little Harp was conveyed, and was
regularly tEied and convicted. He
was hung, and the pan5 Of Mason
being deprived of its leader and ii3
most skilliul lieutenant, dispersed,
and was never alterWard heard of.
All OF you have, DO doubt, heard OF
Robin Hood, OF Sherwood Forrest,
but / doubt whether many of you
ever heard before OF this Knight of
the "Cave in the Rock" This bold,
bad man had once held high carnival
ia e hollow cave that lies in the bank
OF the OniO Eiyer.
The only approach t. i was by
boats. In this cave Mason ana las
men, in that then sparsely settled re-
giol., could hold mt bay any officers Of
the law that could be sent against
them. AS population increased around
him, his situation became more pre-
earious, and he fled with his band to
H. tjts South. Here he hOYered on the
S0rders o. Lk6 Indian nation, and
would attack VhereEsE booty was to
be found, Powerful in frame, always
on the ai2rt. he swept from one end OF
our Territory to the other with amaz-
ing rapidity. If his companions had
not proved treaclleFOHs in all f"Aba-
DilitV he could have bid naughty de-
lance to our Government for a'ioEg
Tine, bat by law of Providence the
wicked are often turned to destruction
by the vipers they nourish.
The story Of Little Harp has
llready been written in little book
allied "Hall's Legends of the West"
[t Seens that there We're two brothers
u Liidd kaSAlllC " 4tO NNAN AIfNf AAp7t Nt'ti~
ng robbers that ever infested Ken
ucky. They wes6 called, by way Of
distinction Big Harp and little Harp,
,n account OF the difference III their
ize. The people of Kentucky had /
exaspeTated at their outrages,
md determined 70 hunt them to the
leath. The pursuit was carried on |
With the patience of the slot hound, /
lntil at last they we're 0yertaken. /
Big Harp was pursued by q gigantic 4
[entuckian; they had a running tight 1
or hours ON horseback, until at last /
Iarp's horse fell then came hand |
o-hand fight. 1t was tremendous /
traggle between these two Western /
rants, but ut last Harp fell mortally 1
wounded. He died, his head was sev- I
red from his body, and @as stuck or /
pole in the crossroads in Kentucky, |
nd the spot was for long time called /
he "Harp's Head" While the big /
.er brother was being thus hotly pur-
ued, the little Harp escaped and !
anne down and joined Mason's band. I
KOdeIing from Memory.
Danton, the celebrated caricaturist
yho died recently Mt Baden Baden,