Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1874-04-11
THE WESTERN zOwRxs.
From the New York wOrIdI

From the New York Worldl
APPLETON CITY, Mo, 1t is a quiet
Sabbath, and the land is fair with ear
" Spring. Beautiful prairies stretch
away to belts of forest, and on the
southwest the country swells and
breaks into little hills. The land is
a goodly land, and the railroad runs
through it, bringing civilization and
commerce to the doors of its dwelleFs.
But there is from almost immemorial
time a curse upon the country, and
on either hand of the two shining lines
of iron that vanish in the distance in
to shining needles there is hardly a
section of land that has not been wet
ted with the blood of a murdered man,
and the graves of the dead are more
numerous than the houses of the hv-
ing. The South west has been settled
by outlaws, who bequeathed their
names, feuds, and weapons to young
er outlaws. Civilization to them has
had no humaniZing mission; all that
it has meant was more deadly instru-
ments of offence. Coffins, guns. and
buckshot seem to be all that the rail-
road has brought into the country.
Men 90 armed to the teeth up and
down the roads, and acquire respect
and repute from their rufianism.
This is especially true, of course, of
the country lying back of the rail-
roads. Here the bands that laid waste
bleeding Kansas were organized, and
here Quantreu recruited for his raid
on Lawrence. Feuds are compara-
lively few, and all the homicidal and
criminal energies of the population
are bent upon "civilized folk who car
~ bawbees in their pouches and
wear breeks on their hinder ends"
There are organized bands of horse
thieves, train robbers and highway
men, each having IFS headquarters and
possessing q perfect chain of commu-
nication along the approaches thereto.
Three or four of these men VIII set
out on horseback with shot-guns and
revolverS, ditch train or rob a store
n couple of hundred miles away, and
then ride day and night back to their
fastnesses, where they lurk till in
stinct sends them out upon another
raid. Their disguises and the fact
that they commit their crimes far
away from home make it impossible
10 lAktALA4N LllNl1A Joy OA4NA AAAC -tkNb l4AeAL
they "comc from Southern Missouri
and are believed to be connected with
the James band" or the Younger
band" or some other band. They
are closely pursued; they rally REIN
forcementr and beat back their pur-
suers; if detectives venture out af-
ter them they have word of their
coming long ere the officers can ar
rive, and are prepared to run or fight,
as the exigencies of the case may
dictate. Between terror and sympa-
thy the local population befriends
them, and their reign of terror will
continue unchecked until they are
thinned out in brOils or ercounters,
or till q regiment is marched into
Clay, Cass, st. Clair, and the sur
rounding counties, and q regular bat
tie of bandits, proven and suspected,
is instituted.
There have been men pre-eminent
in crime IN the south of Missouri who
we're reared in the days of border ruff
fianism and passed their bloody bac-
calaureate in the rebellion. Anarchy
and lawlessness were then at a premi-
um. Deserters and stragglers from
either army and outlaws who made
war on both combined to write such a
history of blood as is rarely recorded
if such a history ever was, will, or
can be written, that is. Where mur-
der is matter of daily occurrence
people omit to take cognizance of
what in more civilized parts of the
country would thrill the world for
weeks with indignant horror, and
where the population is ignorant and
credulous the most distorted and eX-
aggerated tales of terror are sure to
be circulated, and in course Of time
to become current as truths which it
is as impossible to disprove as to be-
lieve. Besides, these desperadOes as
matter of policy set afioat the most
Munchausen-hke of these stories.
Each yam about cutting the throats
of prisoners or single-handed res ist-
ing and butchering q dozen pursuers
answers the purpose Of terrifying the
ueighborhOod into a healthy silence
or sympathy, and makes further ex-
ploits easy. The story of the "Tieer
of the Ozarks" might be told had |
space and time-the outlaw who made
his treasure-house, arsenal, and fort
in a cave of the hills and shot down