Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-08-21
BENDERS' BLOOD.
A vIGILANTE TELLS HOW THE BEND
Frs WERE BLoTTED OUT.
The Terrible Tale of the Death of the
Hardened Wretches, and the
She-Devil Kate.
Chicago Times, August 18TH

Chicago Times, August 12th.l
OswEGo (Labette county, Kan J, August
9th.-The attempt on the part of two
weather, beaten old tramps to palm them
selves off on credulous public as the only
and original Bender butchers, has occa-
stoned good deal of quiet amusement in
these parts, where the truth is very gener-
ally known or shrewdly surmised. Every
time the story of the Bender murders is re-
vived, and it has been revived a dozen
times almost within the last six or seven
years, am tempted to come forward and
tell what | know. Were it not for the en-
loyment that comes of watching the birth,
growth and sudden subsistence of each sue
cessive sensation | should long ago have
made a statement of facts, for the vindica.
ton of history if for no other reason. This
last sensation has proved "corker in its
way, and under the circumstances the
public can not be blamed for being taken
in by the imposture. The knowledge of
the Kansas tragedies displayed by
THE M'GREGoR TRAMPs
Was such as to deceive many who ought
to have known better than to listen for
moment to their talk. They displayed an
apparently intimate acquaintance with
many of the horrible details of the sicken-
ing butcheries, and glibly accused each
other of completely in the atrocious crimes.
Yet to one acquainted with the habits
and traits of character of the American
gypsies, there is nothing remarkable in
this. Professional tramps have nothing
else to do but to remember the tragedies
that come under their notice An excep-
tionally fiendsh atrocity marks an III
in their worthless lives, and you will fire.
quently, if you chance to be thrown in con-
tact with these nomads as | have been,
! come across one of them who is walking
encyclopedia of criminal information.
Their minds become a repository of knav-
ish knowledge, and the extent and scope of
their historical information is really anus
ing. Their minds seem to have a peculiar
bent in that direction, and mixing as they
do with the lower and brutal classes, their
very beings become saturated with crime.
They live in an atmosphere of wickedness
and they think of little else. Such crime
as the Bender murders must of necessity
have created profound sensation among
them at the time, and there are probably
hundreds of them to day who could person
ate these people as well, if not better, than
the McGregors. What influenced this
precious
BRACE OF DEBILrrATED vAGRANTS
To perpetrate such a sell at this time is
more than can imagine. They may have
been accidentally drawn into it, and then
with the instructive cunning humor some
times found in tramps, concluded to vary
the monotony of existence a little by car
rying it out to the limit, feeding their
he Of Coz bair
possession for something to confess. they
did not dip in very deep at first, but as
the magnitude of the joke grew on them
they cut loose and poured forth deluge
of horrors for the delectation of their audi
tors. They kept stock of confessions
g. on tap, and the supply was never ex.
hausted. In discussing the tramp ques-
ton find / have allowed myself to wan
to write you, and with your permission
will return to my mutton. i think it is
time the truth should be known and
widely circulated about the Bender bust
ness, and stop put to further foolishness.
that it is beyond the power of an officer of
They are outside the jurisdiction of the
the harm of telling it. If there is any de-
pendence to be placed on the teachings of
the holy book, they are sizzling and hiss.
ing somewhere beyond the mystic curtain
of life. There is no dou5t that
THE RENDERS ARE DEAD.
They are awfully dead, and their bones
are whitened by the processes of nature
ere this. | speak thus decisively because
know whereof | speak. 1t is not GUS
tomary for one to boast of acts of lawless-
ness, and it is not in that spirit that |
enter upon the recital of the last chapter
of the bloody career of the brutal Benders
| am prudent enough, too, to wish to
hedge myself against possible annoyance,
and had | not your solemn assurance that
you will not divulge my name, it is not I'M
likely | should leave the writing of this
scrap of history to other hands. | will !
not consume your valuable space by at
tempting to defend myself or my asso-
ciates for the part we took in purifying the |
atmosphere of Southern Kansas by aveng- |
ing the wholesale murders that were COM
mitted by the Blenders. Suffice it to say,
our consciences are not troubled in the |
least by recollections OF the exciting occur
rences which followed the discovery of the |
slaughter of ten human beings in that |
lonely tavern, and il we had it to do over |
again doubt if the programme would be
varied an iota. 1t is not necessary to 60 |
into detailed account of the murders
In point of fact very little is actually |
known on that point. No one in the land |
of the living will have the hardihood to
say that he saw the deeds done, and the
Blenders themselves
NEVER MADE A CONFESSION
That l know of. The McGregor liars
were little off in their description of the
murders. They always had Kate, or Mag
gie her cousin, or John, cutting the heads
whereas they were invariably Drained with
a hammer and their threats cut, The in
PRODUCTION of the girl Maggie into the plot
is something new, too, but with these little
matters l have nothing to do at this time.
There may have been Maggie, and there
may have been others implicated, but on
this point there is dearth of positive
knowledge. The Blenders, John and his
wife, and their two children, Kate and
John, kept a wayside tavern about mile
and half southeast of Morehead station,
on the road leading from Independence to
/ moved into the county, two years before
the discovery Of the butcheries, and were
well known then. Their place had hard
name, and it was understood to be the
headquarters of disreputable characters.
Still, as nothing was ever laid at their
doors, the Benders were not molested.
Kate and John
LIVED TOGETHER AS Man AND WIFE,
But the woman would smile upon the
horse-thief or cowboy when
dollar was to be made that way. She was
a red-faced, low-browed, quRre-shouldered
amazon, strong enough to throw bull by
the tail, and everybody stood in awe of
her. She made pretense of practicing
the healing art, and was known far and
wide as a "spiritualistic doctor" Her
cures were permanent, and her remedy was
a hammer. Decent people avoided the
Bender tavern. As the country herea-
bouts harbored a good many desperadoes
about this time, no one cared to raise
row, and the protest went no further than
avoidance. When search was instituted
for the body of DR.. York, in April, 1873,
suspicion was directed against the Benders,
and contrary to the general belief close
watch was kept on them for while. /.
They must have been aware of the suryeil-