The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1876-07-27

the Special Committee on Louisiana At
fairs for the purpose of inquiring into
the circumstances of the Coushatta MUIR
der in May, prepared its report sometime
aso and submitted it to the full Commit
tee. The number of witnesses examined
in the town of Coushatta, in Red River
parish, was thirty-three, including prom
inent men of both political parties. The
story as told by the report of the Com
mittee, is substantially as follows;
On the morning of the I'd of May last,
a stranger mounted on peculiarly col
ored pony entered the town of Coushatta,
He was disguised, wearing a coat made
of rubber or oilCloth, reaching nearly to
his feet, and his face was partially con-
cealed by a heavy beard, apparently
false. His eyes also were covered by
pair of goggles, and he wore his hat
drawn down over his face. Before dis
mounting he went to blacksmith's
shop at the upper end of the village,
where he had a good view of the oppo-
site side of the river and requested the
blacksmith to shoe his horse. Subse-
quently he said that "his brother" would
soon be there and give directions as to
the manner in which the shoeing should
be done. He remained in the shop un-
til he saw Mr.. Twitchell approaching
the ferry-landing in buggy on the op-
poaite side of the river. He then rode
to the landing, dismounted, hitched his
horse, and went to the top of the bank.
By that time the ferry-skif, in which
were David King, NJ. II. Twitchell, and
the ferryman Ia colored mani, ap-
preached the landing. The stranger
fred upon them, wounding Mr.. witch
ell in the leg. He at once jumped into
the river, and caught the edge of the
sklff with his hand. Mr.. King fired at
the assassin with revolver, when he
turned his gun upon King and shot him,
killing him instantly. He then fired
fred again upon Twitchell and shot him
through both arms. and finally, as the
ferryman attempted to rescue TwitChell
from the water, he too was fired upon
and wounded in one of his hands. Ap.
parently supposing that his victim was
dead, the assassin mounted and rode
away. Several persons, including two
ladies, approached the assassin during
the progress of the firing and begged
him to stop. He pointed his gun at one
man and ordered him away. The ladies
he paid no attention to.
Numerous volunteers at once offered
to pursue and endeavor to capture the
murderer, and after some delay, caused
by the indecision and cowardiCe of the
sheriff, a posse, under command of the
Deputy Sheriff, an old man, started in
pursuit, but after following his trail for
several miles they lest it, and were
obliged to return without success. The
testimony of all the witnesses is to the
effect that the man who did the shoot
ing was unknown, and that the horse he
rode was not recognized as belonging in
that part of the country.
The resolution of the House directed
the Committee to inquire particularly
whether the murder was "of a political
character" or not. On this point the
Committee say that the testimony Of
gentlemen representing both political
parties, white men and colored, shows
that Mr.. TwitChell took an active part in
the organization of Red River Parish,
and that when he was candidate upon
the Republican ticket for State Senator,
was supported by prominent Democrats
ofCoushatta and its neighborhood, Since
the organization of the parish; he has
controlled the appointment Of it's officer,
and has had almost unlimited di, ection
of its affairs. Besides being State Sena-
tor he filled several other offices, and, on
the I'd of May last, according to his own
testimony, he was State SeRator, mem
Der of the Police Jury of the Parish,
member ofthe School Board, and United
States Commissioner. He had control
of all moneys collectC d from taxpayers
of the Parish. The testimony also shows
that parochal affairs had been loosely
and extravagantly managed, and that
Mr.. Twitchell was responsible for 1t.
The lands of the parish were assessed
at figures greatly in access of their value
and of the assessment in the neighbor-
ing parishes; and the taxes levied by
reason of this exorbitant assessment fell
very little short of Contiscation. Gross
frauds were perpetrated in the building
of court house, in the construction OF
levees, in the management of school af-
fairs, and in many other ways, and the
committee say they have no hesitation
in reporting that they were unprepared
and greatly surprised to find such la
mentable condition of affairs existing.
The committee also find that notwith-
standing the condition of affairs which
they have described, there has been no
political excitement for nearly two years
past, and no threats or attempts at in
timidation had been heard or made
The most prominent men in both parties
testified that no one was in danger on
account of his political views, and that
men could as safely express their polit-
ical opinions in Red River Parish, on the
stump or elsewhere, as in any part ofthe
country.
The committee conclude that the test
imony of leading men of the two polit-
ical parties is explicit in establishing the
fact that the shooting of King and
Twitchell was not caused by reason of
their political opinions, and that the af-
fair was not of a political character. The
evidence on the other hand shows that
Mr.. Twitchell had made a number of
personal enemies within his own polit-
ical party, and that threats against his
life had been made by one or more of
these persons, but this evidence was not
Of a character to create reasonable
ground of suspicion against any particu-
lar person even among Mr. Twitchell's
personal enemies. The committee closes
its report by an expression of the opin-
ion that the people of Red River parish,
irrespective of party, are desrous of po-
litical quiet, and are prepared to wei
come among them men of all parties who
are disposed to conduct themselves as
law-abiding, peaceful citizens. The re-
port is unanimous. and signed both by
Mr.. Vance the Democrat, and Mr.. Wood
burn the Republican.
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HOW CUSTER WAS KILLED.