Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, D.T. [N.D.]) 1878-1884, 1879-04-19
MYSTERY OF The CANNON BAIL.
Il NAV FOUND WITH A.BULLETf
/ THROUGH HIS BhAIN.iah saf;
He Flonts Down tho Missouri in a
Skin. Stops for Lunch, Builds Fire
and. Apparently DisSusted with
Frontier Life,s Embarks fer the
.sHappy Hunting Grounds f4f5
rs (By Special Courier to The lT,i0une.) i9f

Frontier Life, ,Em mOafK8 Ter the
Happy Hunting Grounds.n
.R3 (By Special Courier to The lT,i6une.) iol
sBai THE DISCOVERY. lat sas
Last Tuesday morning man was found
dead just below tlleiwood yard of R. M
Johnston, about half mile below the 8
mouth Of the Cannon Ball river on the ln-s
dian reservation. The body was found
by two men, John NJ. Heron, known as
Mule Heron, and Johnny Oliver, who 4
were. stopping over night at the woofll
yard camp on their way down the river
in skiff to Beaver Creek, where they re.f
side They saw . boat at the shore half
sunk in the mud and sand and started to-
get it out In front of the boat lay two
U. S. California blankets, one Of them
nearly new The boat was tied to some
willows and tue bank had caved some q
what showing that it must have landed
during the rise Up on the bank they
found traces Of man leading into the
woods. They followed them and found
what they supposed to be
A NAN SLEEPING.
The called to him, but the voice Of the
dead could not be heard. They ran to the
camp and told one Of wood choppers the. :
circumstances, who Immediately impaired
the information to Johnston. He in COM
pany with another man proceeded to the
place, q distance of about two miles and q
half from the Ferry. The man was found
lying partially on his right side, his head
resting on a seamless sack which had
clothing in it. a Colts army revolver
1928 was laying on his left arm and side.
A little way from him was a gunny sack !, /
which had in it loaf of army bread,
some boiled, pork. coffee, sugar etc. He
had built small fire behind a ciump Of
willows and was lying with his feet to it. !
as if in the act of drying or warming them,
his boots having been wet Just above
I and d little to the ri gilt of the right eye
was large hole where $ {. s. !,
BULLET HAD ENTERED HIS HEAD, l,.,
coming out through the back Of his neck. icy
He was man of medium size, light com
plexion light hair, and very thin on top;
had large scar over the left eye, and
looked to be about twenty four years old. .
He had on blanket coat with a fur collar
and wore an aid white slouch hat, new
pair of dark broad corded pants, new vest.
a new dark ,woolen shirt and pair Of
new cotton flannel drawers and a pair ot5
government boots. In his pocket was
found match box, the, walls Of two gatlin
gun Shells, a three hladed horse starrler: 5 (
knife, new pipe, a tin tObabcO box, several
cartridges, (45 calihre), and $3 in money
No letters or papers were found on the
body. The boat was taken out OF the river
and was painted green on the outside and
brownish red on the inside. On the bow
is the name "Custer'' in yellow and on he :
stern IN. w. S. & T. Cos" in same collor
which had been smered over with black.
In the bottom Of the boat was a frying
pan and soldiers quart cup. From gel-
cral appearances the man had come On
shore with the intentions of warming him.
self and taking lunch and while there
either accidentally or intentionally Ii; 5sapl}
{, SHOT HIMSELF. va ssY,
The latter is most probable as the. BALI
went in downward direction. There erie"S
were no tracks but his own near the spot,
and from the size Of the hole in his hcad
the 1nuzzle must have been against HIS :,
it as the rim Of the hat had to be.ralseaA
up to make the shot as it was. The re-
volyer had but one load left in it, and The
shell which tile hammer was resting Oh
had been fired. 5a5g
Up to the time when The TRIBUNE
obtained the above facts the inquest had
not been held and the body was lying just
as it was found. He had been dead three
or four days and was probably deserter1
from Fort Lincoln or some post above. III