Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-08-26
TRUE FATE OF THE RENDERS.
How They Were Pursued Captured and
Disposed of

| How They Were Pursued Captured and
Disposed Of
a correspondent of the Chicago
Times, writing from Oswego, Labette
/ County, Kan, in reference to the arrest
of the McGregor tramps and their claim
to be members of the murderous Bender
family, says:
1.-The Blenders are dead. 1 speak thus de-
| eisvciy because L know whereof 1 speak. 1t
| is not customary Tor one to boast OF acts of
| laweesn ess, and it is not in that spirit that
| enter upon the recital OF the lass chapter OF
| 1T is not necessary to go into u detailed
| account of the murders. In point Of fact,
one in the land OF the living will have the hare
| mood TO say that he saw the deeds done, and
the Renders themselves never made cor, con.
| We're little off in their description Of the MUIR
deIs. They always had Kate, or Maggie, her
leoIsin, or John, cutting the heads OF the VIC
/ tins to pieces with hatchets, whereas they
were invariably Drained with hammer and
| their thrOatS cut.
/ :. The TENDERS, John and his wife, and their
two children, Kate and john kept wayside
tavern about mile and half southeast of
MoreEead Station on the road leading from In
| dependence to the Usage Mission. They were
there when moved into the county two years
| before the discovery of the butcher1es and
were well known then Kate was red-faced,
low-browed, square-shouldered amazon, str ing
efough to throw a bull by the tail. and every
| body stood in awe of her. She made pre-
| known far and wide as "spiritualistic
and her remedy was hammer. Decent
people avoided the Bender tavern. As the
country hereabouts harbored good many des-
peradoes 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 DIR. York, In April, 1873, sus-
| pciOn was directed against the Bendcrs and
| contrary to the general belief a close watch
have 5een On aware aEn of the sHrVeiance, for at
the first opportunity they decamped. The re-
| port that they took the train at Thayer, a sta
| to Humboldt. from which place they took
passage for Texas, is a mistake. They simply
ed for Indian Territory. They did not pro
coed at once to their destination, II, indeed,
crossed over into Montgomery County. and
squat cd near Verdigris River to await devel-
opments. The distance from their farm was
something like twenty miles. John, Jr., or
John, Sr., made daily trips back to the vicinity
of Cherryvale and took observations. 1t was
should blow over, but ii 1t continued warm
they would go on as originally planned. They
knew of the discovery OF their crime within
an hour after the bodies were dug out of their
shallow graves, and they lost no time in strik-
ing their tents. They struck out for the west
bank of the river and started sout Inward post
haste. Their flight soon became a panic, and
to add to their discontinue one of their
wagons broke down. Packing what they
could of the load on their horses they piled up
what was left. set fire to it, and hurried on.
I'm the meantime vigilance committee
the greatest secrecy, and none but trlstv men
were admitted to the organization. The ut
most circumspcction was used, for the reason
that in a new community like this the doubt
full assistance of suspicious characters was
thing to be dreaded. The vigilantes did not
number more than one hundred men all
told, but they meant business, as the sequel
proved. 1t was my good or bad fortune to be
one OF the elect. Scouts were sent out in all
directions, and within forty-eight hours of the
departure of the Renders from their camp In
the next county, the fact was duly reported
to us.
About forty of us organized into a pursu-
ing party and started after the butchers. Once
Oh their TRAIL we had no difficulty in following
1t. The murderOus quartet had taken to the
open country west of the river, but were keep
ing within convenient distance of the thick
timber that grows i'm the valley watered by the
stream. They were expecting pursuit. and
hoped TO escape 10y losing themselves in this
ceeded the trail trail freshened. and ere long we
came acres the ha f-consumed ruins of the
wagon left by the Blenders in their flight
From the direction they we're taking. it be-
came evident to the mind of those acquainted
with the country that they were pointing for
mouth of the Red fork of the Arkansas.
The country hereabouts is a bleak and
.half-bsccd Creeks, Pawnees and Cherokees
Once there they knew they would be safe from
pursuit Even the United States troops have
nitd. 1t Is safe retreat for the border rufians,
and is known to be such all through this sec
ed is distant about one hundred and forty
miles from the point where the Verdigris
River enters Indian Territory. me murder n
reaching the boundary of the Territory, and
they were probably twenty miles beyond
much cumbrous baggage. they had
speed Ss but they y'e used every possible effort to
put space behind the m 1t was about three |
o'c.ock on a hot, sultry May afternoon that we |
soon as we came from cover, and abandoning |
everything they broke for the forest. They |
were close upon their heels, however, and they |
did not succeed in eluding us long The old |
man and his wife and Kate were under arrest |
in less than an hour john Jr., was more for |
tunate than the other members Of the tribe,
for he contrived to evade us for an hour
longer, but he was at length run to cover and
forced to surrender.
"Having captured the nssassins the ques-
ton now arose. What are we to do with themT
Some were for taking them back and letting
the law take its course. The advocates of
this line of policy were largely in the minorf
tives had fallen victims to the deadly hammers
and knives of the wretches, and they would
not listen to the suggc stions OF the conserva-
killing then and there il their demands for in
slant vengeance were not regarded. No one
ton if they had carried out their threats, but
it was thought best to do the job up after the
inesd ipf over by Judge Lynch. " ' ' '
1.-The prisoners were acco rdingly arraigned
and asked what they had to say in their de- |
Tense. The old woman was sullen and ugly,
but the two men showed signs of faltcring.
Had they been left to themselves, they would
have made full confessions beyond doubt.
The amiable Kate perceived this, and, think
ing it would please the vigilants too much
to hear confessions, she fell to cursing her
brother and father for their cowardice. Foul
er language was never ut' cred than came from
the lips of this ficnd. No term was too vile
to apply to her relatives They took it sullen-
Iy at first, but soon something of her reckless
spirit infused them, and they too joined In
the TRADE. The chorus OF blasphemy that
went up from that hardened lot caused q
shudder to run through our party. With death
staring them in the lace. they united in ours.
ing us and lamenting their inability to do us
harm. Such malignty never saw equaled, |
Even the old woman chipped in occasionally,
and her appearance indicated that she wholly
approved of the fam'iy demonstration.
sour court went through with the form pre- |
scribed and then pronounced a sentence OF |
DEATH The announcement was received with |
jeers from the hardened criminals, who had
determined to brave it out to the last. It was
decided that the murderers should be shot, as
it would take too much time to hang them
The sun was already nearly down. and the
shadows of approaching night we're deepening;
There on the borders of the forest the cruel
killers were tied to saplings and told to pre-.