The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-05-19
LIBERAT0R BILL IN TOWN.
THE STORY TINT me TOOR TROUBLE
no TELL 4 REf'ORIER.
Floating Down the Yellowstone In nm from
cind OF hts own Construction. with Occn-
sionai stoppnges "a Scalp Indians go Some
surpri.ing Adventures ModestIy Related.

sionaI stoppngrs 90 scnip Indians - Some
Surprising Adventures ModestIy Related.
A short, compact, eagle-oycd man, dressed
in homcspun AMI having u bronacd face
and long blacl; hair flowing over his Shout
dcrs. stood ut Wall street and broadway.
just rs the clock Of Trinity Church chimcd
twelve. Under his arm was qdoer-looking
bundle with sharp edges. whllc from the nip
pocket on his left side protrudcd hump which
looked wonderfully like the butt Of navy re-
solycr. The man looked curiously UP at the
lofty roofs about him. and then down at tho
open mouthed attentive crowd Of bootblacks.
street Arabs and loungers who surrounded
him. Then he shifted his bundle. and said
Can any one tell me the way to The SUN
officer"
Yes. sir" screamed dozen voices at once.
Ton minutes ailcrward the travel-worn stranger
had clambcred to the Sun editorial rooms.
and was confronting n reporter.
"Liberatur Bill >" otherwise William Johnson
OF Big Horn and Powder river notoroty. Gov
eminent scout under Custer. is the last Of the
migratory Williams who have graccd the me-
tropolis with their presence. lie differs from
most OF his class In being extremely modest, so
much SO that considerable questioning is neces-
sary to elicit the rich store of border expert
ence with which lie is freightcd. Neither is he
tho giant. physically. TINT figures in the variety
stage and the dino novel. 1t is doubtful
whether Liberator Bill at his best weighs over
las pounds. aud If he ever reached feet
inches In height II was by standing on tip!oe
and stretching himself. He has very little OF
the rollicking. dcvil-may-caro manner So con-
genial to the other Bills with whom the public
are acquainted and above all. he has no de-
signs on the stage or the lecture platform. The
Liberator's sole ambition ut the present writing
is TO figure in the literary field. He wishes to
write the story Of his 1000 miles trip from
Montana to New York. and make enough money
to pay the expenses. He hopes that any defcrts
OF style will be overlooked. in view Of ito strictly
In December las; Bill started from the head
waters Of tho Yellowstone. determined to make
the whole journey to New York by water or die
In the attempt. For the first $50 miles he tray
elled in birch bark cnnoe. Moro than once he
stcmmed the current. but he always coniriyed
Custer he procured q wooden boat twenty
deckcd over with clapboaFas. leaving space
which TO eat and 'slccp. In tbs trim
he set sail down the Yellowstone, Before lcay-
ing ths fort he had plated the roof Of the cabin
wit! double thicknesses Of sheet iron, a, pre-
caution which the result amply justified. He
line HE river before The yciis Of the eNrted say-
ages told that he was discovered. Bills pulse
hopssured tho reporter hcatus evenly as though
be had been listening a. his mothers luinhy \
huilstOrm % bullets pclted aGniis; tho sides OF
MS little irNncuu. bAt me Indians were AZ lunk
range and did comparatively lltle damage. The
Liherator had two rifles with MIN, one Sharrs
and the other a winchester OF the pattern
which Osman pnshns men used So effectunlly
NJ Pevna. He lay low until the red devils had
swarined upon an ndJacent bank. aud thon
opensd on them with terrible effect, Three, Of
the savages dropped before ihey could get under
cover. while Bill tied mis- craft to the shore.
scalped the dead leisurcly, and proceeded on
his voyage. BY the time he reached the point
where the river emerged into the open prairie a
goodly fringe OF hair surrounded the caves Of
his little cnbin
At Kansas City. ST. Louis. Natchez-under-the-
Hill. and other points on his downward route.
the sailor plRinsmHn was received with uni
versal hospitality. Tho modest recital OF his
truly remarkable adventures astonlshcd and
cities along the Missouri and the Mississippi
We'd with each other in giving him friendly
book full. At every convenient point riparian
artists insisted on dCtalniug him until they had
The female and small boy population were 'st
In delight At the proInSTlohn "i his Indian
th through Which he had had passed At NV
Orleans the officers and crew - tie En-
,srprss gave him rssPSn On o9frG m
dritted down the river to the Southwest PISS
and steered 70 tho northeast. His original n
II possibe. and sail all the way unto New York
In his little craft. but the wind aud weather
cola Fla. n little over three weeks ngo Here u
cordial reception awaited him. By the advice
OF friends he decided TO sell his boat and 20 TO
schooner Francnu,A of Saco No offered him
his cabin, and BIZ accepted It. bringing his
Tho way in which Mr. johnson got the name
Liberator was this family q i've whites IN
Guiding one woman and a child. Bad been cap
tured by Indians. mud were Ia he uu' 70 death;
Bill. a lone ana 1.-THE risk OF his NE. followed
agem. set them free. killing and wpunding ihn
majority Of their captQrrs,, For mis- 10 WIS
chrlstened ldberator Bin and he has re-
:" But tito plains md plainsmen that You read
about all gone now. sir exclaimed the
scout. after he had got thus far in his story.
How IL that p
We'll. il was the Indian wars first. That
drove the hunters ana trappers from their old
stamping ground aud made them take "a the
nrGh6orho9d ol tRa forts nnd fe,t" ,,
II. As long rs the placer gold lasted they got
along well enough; but wi zen it came 20 Dig
iidn't have the capital. They couldn't afford "a
buy stamping mills. 20 they concluded % tax,
thcir share of the gold after other, had got il
ont. In plain English. they turned robbers
gangs that hang around Deadwood and Crook
Cily are terribly low lot. They call them
selves Texans but there ,ain't on" IN ten Of
, ZEN from IeEGs t ct, Of ,Rcm Toua Guy y9qi
There's the gang known rs jim Walls Hun.
dred; II would be- hard 10 say how many stages
What is the hardest place on the frontier to-
"Wen Deadwood used to be. hut It's Ind to
take back seat since Crook City's came up
You've heard OF the graveyard there. haven
mo"
There are $50 graves in it, Only three o
the folks went, of natural; the rest died will
their boots on"
Here the reporter asked Llberator BIZ whethe
he had read the works OF Mr.. Bret Harte. Tn,
Liberator replied that he had never seen them
and continued his graphic description OF iron
tier manners:
1t isn't long since that same Jim Walls
gang blockaded both the roads leading out %
Denver. Fifty OF EN- laid around the Chry
onne road and fifty more around th" North
western Bismarck,
send Company @ Of the Seventh Cavalry III
there 10 clean them ont they were so dangerous
There's no law out there Wncn you cnltur
one OF these fellows YOU have to shoot en- 81
let EN- go. When things get so bad that Peopl
CAN'T stand IL. the Nigiiuntcs turn ont and hans
hall dozen. In south AiQntHna last fall you''
como across n swinEip lni0n thief or a roa,
agent every dozen miles Tine and again w
seen notices like these tas.ed to their boo
heels:
Stranger don't you cut this man down afore sun
set unless you want 10 take his place.
oh. il was lively around there last soptem