The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1875-05-20
oED TIMES.
Sketches "a sEic Early History vi
JacstsOh County Continued.
TFsom the Maquoketa Sentinel !
1t GAIT. w. A. WARREN.

PROM Inc Maquoketa sentinel.
The loafers and other suspicion.
Characters who usually hung around
Browns hotel, spent their time il
the winter gambling and drinking, ce
casionally passing counterfeit money
When spring op ned they disappear
ed, but made Gee ,sioael calls wit
their stolen plunlef.
During the ear : part Of May
happened to be absent from t0wn fof
several days. Upon my return aus
evening, | found stranger and Tut
Baker, from freeport, Illinois, await
ing my arrival. They were in pursuit
of four stolen horses which tley hal
tracked as far is Elizabeth. The sto-
len animals had passed through that
place the day before, and were sup.
posed to be driving in this direction
Mr.. Baker knowing this town to be .
rendezvous for thieves, and being an
acquaintance of mine, concluded to
visit and consult me as to the direc-
tlon the thieves would be most likeIY
to take. i went around that evening
to see if | could obtain anly clue q
their whereabouts. Lyman Wells
who was known to be one Of Brown
gang, and 10 have his full confidence
was not SO true to him as some of his
followers. ] had ingratiated myseli
into his good graees, and when any
information was needed eaald gen
orally depend upon him FOR it. On
this occasion | went TO his house, and
after spending an hour with his fam.
lily went out, giving him the wink as
| did SO. He followed me saying ii
know what you want you are after
stolen horses. They have not crossed
the river yet; they are hidden ON the
other side, and will not be brought
over until Tut Baker gives up the
chase. That's all | can tell you. /
will keep you posted | returned Ia
the hotel and informed Baker Of the
information | had gained. After talk.
ing the matter over, he concluded to
return and direct the gentlemen who
was with him to stop at Baty's, on
the opposite side of the river, until
notified him that the stolen horses
had crossed the river. This man,
whose name | have now forgotten,
owned two Of the stolen animals OF
which we were in pursuit. Next
morning Mr.. Baker and his friend left,
after telling Brown to keep a sharp
lookout for his horses, and If he re.
covered them he would be rewarded
for his trouble. This was promised
to allay any suspicion that Brown
might have entertained that he was
under surveillance or in any way i'm :
plicated.
About three days after this Wells
called to see me early in the morning,
and said the horses had crossed the
river at twelve o'clock the night be-
fore, in Browns wood boat, and had
been taken West. He thought they
would be kept for time in the tim
Der at the forks Of the EVspsi5 and
Buffalo. This Intelligence deiermed
me to start in pursuit without delay,
Notifying the gentlemen across the
river, we started together about ten
o'clock and Travelled that evening to
Canton. Here we ascertainel that the
thieves had arrived at that place al
eight o'clock and disposed Of one span
of horses to Mr.. Rankin, one of the
proprietors Of the. Canton mills, for
which they received seventy-five dol
lars and his note for one hundred
more. After dinner they left NJ.
Rankin's, taking westerly direction.
The latter gentlemap, on finding how
the matter stood, concluded to go
with me in pursuit of the thieves,
leaving the owners Of the horses al
Canton until our return. This ar
rangement pleased me, as Mr.. Rank
in was knowE to DO man of courage
and determination, especially where
dollars and cents were concerned. He
knew if he failed to catch the thieves,
he would loose the amount paid for
the stolen horses, SO entered into the
search with hearty good will. We
remained over night with Mr.. Rankin
who entertained us in hcspitabla
manner, feasting us upon choice fish,
taken out below the mill dam where
the gravel bed of the river was liter
ally lined with them.
Our arrangements for the jurney
were complete early in the morning
and mounting the two stolen horses
Mr.. Rankin with an extra pistol in his
pocket, (Which he deemed of grea'
importance in case of diHiculty), and
both of us supplied with "Dutcf
courage" we made brave departure
In crossing the river Mr.. Rankin met
with an accident which detained Us
several hours, and came very near de
priving me of his company for tht
rest of the journey, it was with diff
Guilty we could fetch our horset
across, the fish being so plentiful tina
the animals could scarcely put thei
feet down without stepping upol
them. This SO alarmed Rankin