Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1875-02-12
The Man Who Captured the
Nebraska Penitentiary---
His Record.

| AVeNI68SBAtG II
His Record.
VIM. McWaters, the man who led the
evOlr in the Nebraska State Peni. cn'iary,
La one of the most startling records as a
cr .mnsl Of any man in this country
What he did at Lincoln the other day he
has done frequently b.f,re, and in such
acc lnplisl'ments rests his chief PRIDE A
brief review of the usn's career sl ih,s
time will be found Of interest.
McWaiers was born in Platte comfy.
No., in 1914 AT the early sge IF twelve
year, he took p .rt in he Kansas troubles
ard e~n acquired y love for blood Soon
after the rebellion broke out he r,ned 4
comp ny of Toys who burned the Platte
bridge and precipi'a ed the Hannibal q, j
ST. Joe railroad tr'in into The chas", kill.
ing mary Of the passengers. because Fed
erai soldiers w,r. amorg item. lie then
enlisted and fought for six months under
G. neral Price. On returning home he
found the family residence burned. his
father ard brother killed by the militia
and the rest of the family driven into
banislm Mt. He ihcr.upon associated
himself with Bill An 'e,son, John and
Fetch Taylor, and other desperate bush
whackers. and resolved npon .evenge: and
it is sa d that he d d pick off Capt. Chees-
man and thirty or forty of his men who
were q'artcred in the nei:hborhood But
the rising glory of Quan,rell drew these
men into ka, sas again, where McWater.
found cong. nlaI work in the burning and
sucking Of Lawrence. Quantre!l mi his
treebootcrs thence went to Kansas, and
there they fell Oh, am n, themselves over
woman, and And rson and McWaters
raid d back through Northern Missouri,
assisted in mary hairhreadth escapes Ivy a
woman ramed Jennie May.ic'd
Al the close Of III. war McWaters turned
upa saloon keeper in Platte City, where
he shut a man and where his friend John
Taylor was shot by the police He then
escaped 10 >t. Joe. where his friend Fetch
Taylor was shot dad by the police and
where he in turn shot the p,lieem.n. BY
the aid OF contet,era rs he got out OF Mis-
souri, d welt t. Wyoming. in Otoe
county, Ncbra-ka, where a romantic at
'achment sprung up leiw.en him and a
beautiful young lady named Miss Susie
Davis. whom he sub eluently we'd ed.
Two years a;o McWa,ers. in a row a.
Wyoming, shot dead Dr. Wolfe. but on
trial wa cleared. About q year aft. rwart|s
he was party 10 The sLuo'ing Of an limo
cent man in Dnld's sal, on in Nebraska
City lie. with his accomp'ce, was caugh,
aud shut up in al iron cage and one even
ing the two men possessed themselves of
arms and succeeded in transferring the
guards to the cage, when they escaped on
horses placed conveniently at hard by
friends. 4 large rev ard was offered for
McWa'ers, and he was recsp'ure,l at Hays
City, Kansas. While the Sheriff g posse
WIS making the prison safe for him, he
executed the Old mannuvre and suddenly
,ho! SIX Of them inside. ard then escaped
IN the Sheriff s horse He then made
his way northward among the Black Foot
Indians, where he shot dead one of that
tribe over bottle of whisky, while he
saved his scalp by run: ing tie gauntlet OF
the Whole tribe The desperate mex,
turned Up in the little town Of Sparta,
Baker county. Oregon, where be murdered
a man named George Weed, with whom
he had quarrcled in gambling Iousc
lie escaped to Sacramento City. and re-
ward of 81 0OO was offered FIR his arrest.
All this time the Sheriff Of O:oe county,
Nebraska, was on his track, and finally
his hiding place was discovered and he
was arrested and taken back t. Nebraska
City. to answer for his crimes in Otoe
G ,un,y. lis trial was concluded in the
al'er part of December. and Jud &c Gna,t
sentenced him to twenty one years IN the |
oen'ten'iary M Lincoln His devoted wife |
and two bean iful children were present |
It the time. and the scene was such as |
J" touch the s,outtsr hearts. McWaters
himself was completely broken down.
Bat on the 1lth of January, two or
hree weeks after his arrival ut Lincoln.
le is at his old business, and does the
lestest job of his life, in capturing the
.uard. taking full possession of the prison
nd holding it dtfiantly for many hours.
The stories Of his adventures would fill
book. He has dozen scars upon his
'ody where bullets have played. and a
ozen times or more he has escaped from
rispn. He is thoroughly educated in
eeds of violence, and talks of nothing
lee with SO much relish as "gc,ting the
rop" on some one. He sits hoise like a
and is as cool and willy as a
lodoc. He has clear steel eye, which
ever glows except in the excitement of
n affray He has fse figure, and might
ave been gentleman; but as it is. the
laces that have known him desire to know
iM no more forever.