The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-04-30
SENATOR VEST.
The MiSSOurie StateSman'S Expert,
ence With the James and
Younger Boys.

United States Senator George u
Vest was entertaining q little group il
Washington, one evening, with hi
"reminiscences OF his law practice il
Missouri, when the conversation drift
ted around to the James boys. Some
one asked the Senator If be had ever
met the bandits, and be replied that
be had once, and under circumstances
calculated 20 impress themselves upon
his memory. Charging his hearers
not to repeat the story, which
one of the group. a popular young
Missouri congressman, failed to bear
in mird, the senator related his ex
perience somewhat as follows:
Old Joe Shelby, the confederate
general. who, at the close OF the War,
did not surrender, bat marched his
men to Mexico and offered his serV-
ices To Macmillan, is au old friend
of miEe, and he had been urging me
for u loog time to come down to his
splendid place in Lafayette county,
and spend few days hunting and
fishing. It was shortly, few days,
perhaps, after the Gad's Hill robbery.
on the Iron Mountain railroad, that,
completely worn out by close atten-
ton to business in the Sedalia courts,
I determined to run down to the
farm and rest few days. l took
the night train on the Lexington
branch oil the Missouri Pacific, and
got off at the little station near the
Shelby place, called Page City. 1t
was a beautiful moonlight night, and
as the house was little over a mile
distant / shouldered my doubie-bar-
relied shotgun. which I had taken
along for some sport, and trudged
over the white lane leading to the
homestead. The old home was sur.
rounded by some tall forest trees, and
l had just emerged from their shad-
dow into the moonlight. twenty steps
from the home, when a clear, ring
ing voice cried out: HALT" and at
the same instant saw shining in the
moonlight a polished rifle-bsrrel
protruding from a psrtially-raised
window. [ intuitively felt that the
man at the other end of the rifle had
bead drawn on me, and I halted
I became q statue. My blood seemed
to chill. Ia a moment, it seemed
hours to me, heard old Joe's voice
ring out: WHO are your"
"G-g-george Vest, come down to
zee you" | replied, my lips trembling
in spite OF me.
"Wait a minute" was the reply.
l waited five minutes, and then
there was a. rattling OF chains and the
front door opened cautiously, and l was
hidden to lay down my gun and
approach. l did 80 until l came
close to the door, when 5helby's voice
said; ut is all right, boys. 1 will
Vouch for him" I then entered,
and looked about me. The cosy little
sitting. room had been converted into
q fortress. The windows were barri-
caded securely, and furniture was
moved against the door, while on a
table in the centre of the room lay
collection of revolvers and repeating
rifles that would have excited the ad-
mlration of pirate. There were
five men in the room whom | did hot
know. They sat around and did not
talk. The gentlemen also wore their
small arms. ''These are some friends
of mine" said Shelby, and 1 was not
introduced further. I Immediately
knew that the visitors were the two
James boys andthe three Younger
brothers. Shelby and I INDUCED in
a conversation for sometime, which
the others showed no disposition to
enter, and at last | was shown to
bed, where I tossed until daylight in
a troubled sleep. When 7 came
down to breakfast the curtains were
drawn and old Joe sat in an easy
chair calmly smoking his pipe and
playing with couple Of youngsters.
The travelling arsenals of the night
had depsrted-so quietly as not to
break my light sleep-hours before.
Shelby did not refer to the visitors OF
the night before, nor did !. I did
not know, however, whether they
would return that night, go pleaded
press OF business and limited my stay
to one day. And that is the only
time l met the Missouri bandits.
That was nearly nine years ago, when
the gang qusrtered themselves on
their friends in Missouri on the
strength of the memories of the war,
still fresh in the minds of those who
lived on the border.