River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-12-16
A BORDER RUFFIAN.
The Life and Death of Noted Des-
peradO = Singular and Thrilling
Duel ia the Indian Nation.
Chicago times.


The Life and Death of Noted Des
peradO = singular and Thrilling
Duel in the Indian Nation.
Chicago times
There died, day or two since, a
Peach Orchard, Clay county, this state
a man who was by all odds the mos
daring and desperate desperate thai
ever lived. He was known and dread
ed all over the southwestern borde r
where the news of his death will be re
ceiyed with general satisfaction, His
name was E. A. Gray, but he was
familiarly known as Keteh Gray. His
deeds would fill volume, and his his.
tory IS full of romance and mystery
He was born in Tennessee, where his
parents, wealthy and respectable people
are yet living. At an early age he de.
veloped hayward propensities, and
many there were who sagely predicted
that he would fetch up on the gal
lows" When only IS he fell in love
with the daughter of Baptist deacon,
by the name of Mary Wells, a gentle,
lovely, flaxen-haired. blue-eyed girl,
who loved him in return. But her
father was obdurate. Mary should
not wed the young ruffian," he said.
Coercion was resOrted to, but locks
and bars failed to change the young
girls fancy. She remained true to her
first and only love. The trouble which
it brought her, however, know
ledge that it had eStranged her from
her parents,-told upon her health,
and slowly she faded away. Yet she
would not consent to given him up.
Perhaps the dream was sweet to her
even i'll affection; at any rate, she hug
ged loves chains more tightly than
ever. But the color faded from her
cheeks; her eyes shone with an unear-
thly lustre; her step lost its elasticity
and without murmur she went to
the grave, dying, the neighbors affirm,
of Il broken heart. Perhaps, had she
lived and become Gray's wife, her in
tiuence might have saved him, for after
her death he grew utterly reckless.
Yet his grief at her loss was profound.
We were shown an obscure paper pub
lished in the neigborhood at the time
of the occurrence, and in it noticed a
few stanzas Gray had written upon her
death. One passage read thus:
Can l forget those halcyen days
Ere my guiding star had fed
Or the poignant pain which smote my heart
When they told me thou vert dead
showing that there were traces OF
poetic genius mingled with his way
ward nature. After this event, how
ever, he went from bad to worse His
parents made every effort to save
him, but, at last, even they were COM
PEELED to turn their backs upon him
and leave him to his fate Wherever
he went he stirred up strife; wherever
he went he left the stains of blood. At
last the country in the neighorhood OF
his old home became too hot to hold
him. He had shot and dangerously
wounded score of men, and carried
his life i'll his hand. In addition, war
rants were out for his arrest, hence he
decided to seek other fields, and so
came to Arkansas. He inaugurated his
advent into the state with the murder
of Fayette Pitcher, at Walnut Ridge.
His victim was respectable and highly
connected, and the murder was IN
provoked and cold blooded. 1t created
intense excitement, not only in the
neighborhood, but also all over the
Gray would hang: but to the surprise
of everyone he succeeded in cheating
the gallOws, and, after a brief term of
impriso nment, was set free. But pub
lie feeling still ran high against him,
and he fled from the state, going to
Indian Territory. Amid the wild and
lawless people that dwell along the
border he was in his element. Here
he was joined by another ruffian by
the name of 3" Comanche Jim" who
was almost as bad as himself. Toget-
her they inaugurated carnival of
blood and set the law at defiance open
ly Boosting that there was not an officer
in the territory who dared lay a finger
upon them. While dividing some
plumber the two men quarreled. and
each swore that he would have the
others life. The dispute was settled
by an agreement TO fight duel Arm
ing themselves with derringers, they
measured oil the ground upon lone
ly spot on the prairie, and stood fac
ing each other just as the sun disap-
peared beneath the western horizon
and the shadows of night fell slowly
upon the landscape. When the word
" Fire" was pronounced Gray sent a
bullet crashing through the brain of
Comanche JIM" and he fell on the
earth, and died without struggle or
without uttering a word Gray had es-
capped without a scratch Fearing the
vengeance of the friends of the man he
had slain, he fled from the spot, and he
never halted until in Arkansas, miles
away from the scene of the tragedy
Perhaps the thought of the rigid, blood
stained face lying prone on the prairie
acted as a stimulus and forced him to
put all possible distance between that
CHASTITY object and himself Be this as
it may, it is certain that it did not chan
ge him. In Little River county he
was arrested, but while in the court
room, and while his preliminary ex-
was in progress, he snatched
pistol from one of his captors, shot and
dangerously wounded the sheriff, Jump
ed through a window and escaped,
though the town was full of people.
Heavy rewards were offered. vet none
of them secured his recapture.
In an affray with a man named Ale
xander Chenoweth, at Peach Orchard,
III Clay county, ne met MS uoonl, us ne
was MORALLY wounded in the encounter.
Chenoweth was also badly wounded.
Gray lived six days. Skillful physicians
him, hoping to save his life
so that he could be brought to trial
and punished for his many crimes.
Gray calmly told them that he never
meant to die with his boots on. =" You
are getting better, Gray" said the doc
tor, noticing what he thought to be a
favorable change in his condition.
g Doctor" Gray responded, q wasn't
born to be hung like thief' With
these words turned his face to the wall,
and soul and body parted
The Poor of Chicago.