The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1881-10-14
A DESPERADO'S CAREER.
Romantic Beginning OF Life Of Crime--A No,
81 Duel on the Prairie.

Romantic Beginning OF Life Of Crime Nov:
81 Duel ON the Prairie.
From the Little Rock tArk.) Gazette.
There died day or two since ut Peach
Orchard, Clay county, this State. man
who was by all odds the most daring des-
perado that ever lived. He was known and
dreaded all over the southwestern border,
where the news of his death will he received
with general satisfaction. His name was
+. 4. Gray, but he was familiarly known as
"ketc" Gray. His deeds would fill d VOL
unc and his history 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 developed
hayward propensitirs, and many there were
who sagely predicted that he "would fetch
up on the gallows." When only eighteen
he fell in love with the daughter
of Baptist deacon, by the name of Mary
Wells, Il gentle, lovely, faXen- haired. Dir.
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, bnt locks and bars filled
to change the young girls fancy. She re.
manned true to her first and only love. The
trouble which it brought her, howeyer--the
knowledge that ii had estranged her from
her parents-told upon her health and she
slowly faded away. Yet she would not
consent to give him up. Parhaps the dream
was sweet to her even in affection: ut any
rate she Rugged loves chains more tightly
than ever Bat the color faded from her
cheeks; her eyes shone with an unearthly
lustre, her step lost its elasticity; and with
out n murmur she went to the grave dying,
the ncighbors affirm, of broken heart.
Perhaps had she lived and became Gray's
wife her influence might have saved him,
for after her death he grew utterly reckless.
Yet his 9rief,was profound. We were shown
an obscure paperpublished IN the neighbour
hood ut the time of the occurrence, and in
ii noticed few stanZas Gray had written
upon her death. One passage read thus:
Can forget those halcyon days
Ere my guiding star had fled.
Or the poignant pain which smote my heart
When they told me thou vert dead.
showing there were traces of poetic genius
mingled with his hayward nature. After
this event, however, he went from bad to
worse. His parents made every effort to
save him, but ut 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
i'll the ncighborhood of his old home be-
came too hot to hold him. He had shot and
dangerously wounded score of men and
carried his life in his hand. In addition
warrants 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 Fetch
er at Walnut Ridge. His victim was re-
spectacle and highly connected and the
murder was unprovoked and cold-blooded.
1t created intense excitement not only in
no nainhhprhnnl lint oil hn
mOnwealth. 1t was thought that Gray would
hang, but, To the surprise of every one, he
succeeded III cheating the gallows, and af-
terra brief term of imprisonment was set free.
But public opinion still ran high against him
and he fled from the State, going to the In
dim Territory. Amid the wild and lawless
people of the border he was in his element
Here he was joined by another ruffian,
"COmanche Jim, who was almost as bad
as himself Together they inaugurated u
carnival of blood and set the law mt deli
ance, openly bOasting that there was not an
officer i'll the territory who dared lay fin
ger 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. Aiming themselves with Der
ringers, they measured of the ground III
lonely spot Oh the prairie and stood facing
each other just as the sun disappeared be-
meath the western horizon and the shadows
of night fell slowly upon the landscape.
When the word Fire was pronounced
Gray sent bulle. crashing through the
brain of ''Comanche jim" who fell on the
earth and died without struggle or with
ont a word. Gray had escaped 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 n stimulus and forced him
to put all possible distance between that
may, il is certain that it did not change him.
In Little River county he was arrested, but
while in the court room and while his pre-
liminary examination was in progress he
pistol from one of his
captors, shot and dangerously wounded
the Sheriff, jumped through
window and escaped, though the town was
full of people. Heavy rewards were offered,
yet none of them secured his recapture. In
IN affry with a mxn named Alexander
at Peach Orchard. in Clay conn
ty, he met his doom, as he was MORALLY
i'll the encounter Chenoweth was
also badly wounded. Gray lived SIX days.
Skillful physicians attended him, hoping
to save his life, so that he could be brought
to trial and punished for his many crimes.
Gray told them he never meant to die with
his boots on. "lou are getting better, Gray"
said the doctor. noticing awhat he thought to
be favorable change in his condition.
Doctor. 'Glay responded, II wasn't born to lie
hung like thief" With these words he
tnrned his face to the wall and soul and
pody parted.