Omaha daily bee., 1884-12-02
The Trail Of 81 Cd which Followed Tie
Union PiCifC Railroad Oh Ills
Westward March.
Tho Terrible Crowd of Human
Vultures Who Preyed Upon
Their Fellows.
Form the First Vigilance Com.
mittee and Hang Three
Murderers.
Rocky Mountain News.

IN the Ihll OF lCOO that hLuneDuOus
work fraught with immense Importance
not only in the permanent civilization
and settlement of all the great and up Il
that time almost unknown country lying
between the Missouri river and the Pa,
ciic coast, but to the vast carrying trade
of the rich products of tho East Indies,
the Union Pacific railroad began its tri,
umphal march westward from Omaha
march which opened up q world of wealth
and resources Dcarcoly before dreamed of
even by its projectors. OF it's stupen-
dous Importance to tho future destiny
and prosperity Of the country who can
estimated By its construction o vast ma.
ton was conquered, a desert made to
bloom and the richest country in the
world opened up to the people of tho
errth, furnishing homes of comfort and
plenty to all
II ToILING NATIONS OF THE WORLD.
From the timo this great work, like
the march of u giant, irresistible and I'M
conquersble, which no difficulties could
stay, no obstacles impede, began its stu.
pendous strides across tho continent, tho
indomitable will and determination of its
projectors, despite all prophecies, and
the apparently inburmountable obstacles
in its way forced 1t on and ever on to tho
blue waters of the Pacific.
1t must not be arpposed, however, that
this great ayant courier of human pro-
gress, backed though It was with unlim.
tied means and unlimited credit did not
meet with many difficulties, and these
too, OF en- exceptional and unanticipated
| ,I,xn,I,, E,,,, a., ,,,,-a,t - ,a,,l.l
out from Omaha there gwarmed around
it an immense gang of tho g~rentest and
most unmitigRted rascals the earth could
furnish. Almost every state In the
Union and many portion1 of Europe IN
trlbuted their quota of
GAMBLERS, THIEVES n %MURDERERs.
who founded an unholy community know
ing no law and governed only by tho
worst passions of men. These human
vultures to the number of several thou
sand, swarmed in the advance of the rail
road, making almost q city of each camp
that was organized, moving ahead as the
road advanced, making prey of the army
of railroad men and also of each other.
With tents and portable buildings a whole
town composed of dance halls, gambling
ilSllb anu dIlllhlDH phAuuLiby hbuLu w
built in a night. And whether the stay
was long or short the path westward was
marked throughout lite whole course with
blood. At intervals along the road towns
intended to be permanent stations of the
road were built. The population of these
towns was always larger but no better
than hat of
THE TEMPORARY CAMPS.
| OF these, Fremont, the first of any i'm
portance, contained two or three thou.
sand, Julesburg, which came next, was
10, 600 people at the time thi road passed
through it. The arrival at and establish
ment of each one of these tows was sig-
nallzed by murders and robberies of r
character the most outrageous, for which
there were no courts to convict and no
law to phnish.
Among those who formed a portion of
this floating population was a man named
Pat Mullalley, who was the owner of a
large tent In which was dispensed whisky
of the vilest kind. Althoug Mullalley in
himself was not absolutely bad, dosses.
sing some good chivalrons instincts, his
tent was the resort of about
A DOZEN OF THR MOST HARDENED OUTLAWS
and scoundrels to be found in the camp.
OF these there were three especially no
torious for the murders they had COM
mitted, usually of inoffensive and de-
fenceless citizens, the high.hsnded out
rages they had perpetrated, making Of
life a perpetual terror to the more peace
fully inclined. These were a ruff an
named Jack Keefe, a Texan from Red
river, another bully called Shorty"
mailing from the same place, and Jack
Hayes, who was from the east, where, it
was afterward ascertaiued, no had au
estimable family. These mon all made
their headquarters ct Pat Mullalley's, at
the different stopping places in the peri.
pstetic camp.
After leaving Cheyenne the next camp
formed was at Granite canon, and was
known as Carmichael's camp. This was
a terrible place,
ONE OR w MEN BEING ED EVERY
NIGHT.
The next camp was Buford, known as
''Robber's roost," a rendezvous for a
large number of hard citlz ,ns, among
them Johnny Hardy, u noted bully who
was after wards shot to pieces by officers
Ia attempting to arrest him. The next
camp was Dale City, three miles beyond
the present town of Sherman, on the
beautiful Dale creek. 1t was supposed
at the time that Dale City was to have
been q permanent settlement, as log
cabins were built, including three dance
houses and a church, the population
being at one time z, 800 To-day there
is not q house standing or a single in
habitant In that whilom ''city."
Mulialley's gang, by various dispense
tions-chtefy by the aid of the pistol
became reduced to the three r%uftians,
Keefe. Shorty and Jack Hayes, MullallSy
himself dying at the hands OF a man
called Timber JIM" who in turn
suffsred the same fate at the hands Of
Others of the gang, until, in the fall Of
of 1867, but these three were left. At
this time Cheyenne was their principal
stamping ground, and by various devices
known to dssperadoes of their class, suoh
az
TERRoRIzGEG UNPROTECTED WOMEN,
driving along the streets at full speed,
shooting their reyolvers at every object
presenting itself, shooting into and des.
troying the fronts of htOres aud dwellings
aud making life and property insecure
for pesceably disposed c~itizsns, they bad
make themselves especially odious in the
II IL .-tl-I- a-L,.kl