The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1874-09-05
MURDER OF THE COUsHArTA
PRISONERS.

them except with hard CUSTOMERS.
MURDER OF rHE C~OUsHATTA
PRISONERS.
The account published in the HER.
AID yesterday morning showed that
the conflict between the whites and
blacks, in Red river parish, had been
brought to an end 10y the capture ofthe
leaders of the black forces. These lead.
ers agreed to leave the state to save
themselves from the punishment due
to their crimes, selected themselves
the escort that was to accompany them
TO Shreveport, and wrote out resigna-
tons of the various public offices held
by them-one being sheriff Of the par
ish, another tax collector, and another
deputy clerk of the court. In accord
ance with their agreement, they start
ed for Shreveport under an escort OF
sixteen armed men. The Shreveport
Times or Tuesday has the following
dispatch, showing the cruel and bloody
end of this most unfortunate affair:
MINDEN, August 3l.-A gentleman
just up from Red river says that the
company of men who started TO Shreve-
port with the Coushatta prisoners were
Overtaken twenty-five miles below
Shreveport, yesterday evening (Sun-
day., about three o'clock, by forty or
fifty armed men, supposed to be Tex
ans from beyond the Sabine, who
took the prisoners out of the hands of
the guard and killed Homer Twitchell,
Bob Devices and Frank tidgerton on
the spot. The other three, Howell,
Holland and Willis, escaped, but were
afterwards captured and are supposed to
have shared the same fate. The pris-
oners requested to be taken to Shreve-
port and selected the nan t0 take
charge of the company that was to
guard them. Every precautiOn was
! taken that was believed to be necessa-
nv to insure their safety to Shreveport.
The citizens were satisfied with assur-
ances made that they would leave the
state and did not desire to take harsh
measures. The Texans swOre that they
did not intend to have such id
scoundrels hunting homes in their
state. The gentleman from whom we
gather this information says that he
saw the dead bodies of the three first
named parties.
This is a sad days work for Louis
lana and for the whole south. Woes
unnumbered will spring from this
bloody and indefensible act. Lam
guage fails us to express the indigna-
ton that this fearful outrage eYcites.
There is no shadow Of excuse that can
be urged in its defense. The men muir
dered were unarmed; they were priso-
ners; they were under a safeguard, all
of which should have operated to stay
the hand of their murderers, no mat
ter what their offense may have been.
That they were bad men, that they
had, for years, been engagedin robbing
and plundering the people of Louisiana
and that they were the instigators of
the troubles that ended so disastrously
for themselves, there can be no ques-
ton. That they had availed them
selves of the power they had over the
negroes to infiame their minds to such
a pitch of hostility against the whites
that they were ready and anxious to
slaughter them Unfortunately, old
and young, male and female, there
can be no doubt. All this, however,
does not furnish any justification for
the name of their taking off. This
is Il country governed by laws. The
fact that the laws do not prescribe the
death penalty for those who incite
conflicts between the races furnishes
no pretext of an excuse for parties TAX
ing matters into own hands and in
fiicting punishment according to their
own crude notions of justice and right.
Viewing it then in whatever aspect it
may be viewed, we regard it as a
cruel, uncalled for and totally mex
cusablc outrage, and fear that it may
Lrove to be the source from which dire
calamities may flow in upon the south.
But it is said that the murderers
were Texans from west of the Sabine.
The object of this is apparent enough.
1t was the declaration of those engag-
ed in the bloody work, and was made
for two purposes: First, to throw the
officers of the law on the wrong track,
and thus secure escape for themselves,
and second, to relieve Louisiana Of the
odium of this bloody..deed and fasten it
upon Texas. We protest against this
outrageous act of injustice. 1t is false,
utterly, shamefully false. The deed
was done by L~ouisianians, Oh L.oulsi-
ana soil, and we demand that the fair
name of Texas be not dragged in the
mire 10y the allegation that it was her
citizens who went forth voluntarily
and without pr%ovocation to commit
this horrible crime.
Every feeling that we have is in
earnest sympathy with the robbed, in
suited and oppressed people of Louis
lana. We realise all they have suf-
fered we know that they have drunk
to the dregs the bitter cup Of bumilia-
ton and oppression ; We feel that their
provocation has been great enough to
justify almost any blow they might
strike at their Prosecutors and slander-
ers but we cannot think that there is
anything, even in the extremity in
which they find tbelaselvcs that will
furnish II shadow of Justification for
the murder of these unarmed men, |
who were leaving the state i'm pursu-
ance of terms made with their captors.
|