The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-03-28
THE STORY TELLER.
THE BROTHERS. REVENGE,

A correspondent of the Philadelphia
Press writes the history of tragedy on
the Plains in the Far West
Riding out above Julesburg, rock
was pointed out to me, at the foot of
which had been enacted tragedy, the
mere recital of which made my blood run
cold. The place was in q deep canyon,
surrounded by high bluffs, and there
was II loneliness and silence in the frown-
ing rocks that oppressed every visitor,
and made them glad to hasten their de-
parture from the gloomy dell. Many
years ago two young men came from the
East, and ascending the Missouri, en-
gagged in the fur business They were
bosom friends, and prospered in all their
undertakings; money flowed into their
Golfers and they became wealthy still
they stayed in the West that had been
so generous TO them, and finally deter
mined to make it their permanent
home. One of the young men had
sister, who lived at st. Louis, where the
partners went annually to sell their furs
and divide the profits Of their business.
The girl, infatuated by the tales of ad-
venture told her by her brother, longed
to visit the great West, and begged so
ltTu IudI lltI DIOIntI llldllN
For II whole wear she lived at the hun
ters rancho on the head waters of the
Missouri, and when the time came for
the partners to go down the river and
sell their furs, the brother was sick and
could not go. The girl was 10th to
leave her brother, but he urged her to
go home and see their mother saying he
would soon be well and follow after her.
Intrusting his darling to his friend and
partner, the two set out i'll a Macllinaw
boat, well manned and provided with
every comfort. The brother grew worse
and the summer wore away before he
was able to travel. In the meantime,
the partner returned, bringing him news
from home and a division of the annual
profits, which were larger than ever be-
fore. The brother, pleased with the
manner in which their business had
been managed, readily yielded to the
suggestion of his partner to delay his
visit home, devote the winter to active
operations, and go down in the spring
with furs. All went well until mid
winter, when the brother received a let
ter from his home that nearly crazed
him. The letter was from his mother,
and gave long, circumstantial account
of the ruin and seduction of his beloved
Nina by his partner. The girl had con-
tessed every thing, and told how he had
seduced her while bringing her home
down the Missouri, and then abandoned
her. The poor girl, unable to bear her
shame, had become a maniac, and soon
would be a mother. The first impulse
of the brother on reading this letter
was to seek out at once and kill the
villain who had ruined his family, but
he thought the momentary suffering in
tiicted by ball not enough punishment
for such scoundrel, and so devised
plan for revenge that no Indian could
have outdone for cruelty. Keeping the
receipt of his letter a profound secret,
he went on with his business as usual,
and every day met his partner on the
same terms of friendly intimacy as for
merly. When the skins were packed
and all in readiness to go down the
river the brother went to Fort Benton
and there had executed Il will, leaving
the name of the person VINO made it
blank, after which he returned to his
camp on the jefferson Fork. He then
represented that on the Platte great
Hprohts were to be made in the fur trade
I'D proposed to his partner that instead
ling down the Missouri they should
Hland to old Fort Kearney and
their boats at the mouth of the
the Missouri. The induce
hat if they found all as re-
ley would establish branch
ness at Fort Laramie and
their profits. The part
assented to proposals so
or the advantage of both,
key set out, taking with them
nule to carry the flour and
used on the journey. They
many days, and finally came
e, down which they follow
eerland trail to Bernard's
Under some pretense or other
ker induced his partner to ac-
1y him into the lonely pass,
6e, disarming him, he securely tied
III hand and foot, and then bound him
20 the rock. AT first the partner thought
it was some cruel joke, but when the
brother produced the letter and read it,
the poor man knew but too well his time
had come. He confessed all and asked
% be shot, but the brother had another
fate in store for his victim. Coolly en-
camping by the rock, he sat down to see
his partner starve to death. On the
third day the ill-fated man signed the
deed hequeathing all his property to the
injured girl, and the brother attached a
fictitious name as witness to the instru-
ment, by the terms of which he was
made the executor of his partner $ estate.
He then wrote letters saying he had
fallen very i'll of fever on the plains, and
if he did not recover these letters would
be delivered by his beloved partner. All
this the infuriated brother compelled
the poor man to do, and then quietly
awaited the end. Day by day the part