Omaha daily bee., 1885-10-29
AN ADVENTUROUS CAREER.
a wnnderer In New Lands and His
Tragic Exit.

OF. raul li0lctf IreSS; Orc man is
not like another, AS mon difur IN phys-
10 Il and mental qualities, 80 do they
walk different paths in life. dream Other
dreams, and each TO himself Ia his ro-
mancos. This Particular man was torn
in Illinois about the y1ar / '46. He was
reared in Il loS caD.n and learned his
A Is C's in q school house whore m Drc
frost and cold CumU in through the great
Chinks between The logs than knowledge
ever entered the brains Of the pupils.
Ike all other boys, or most OF them,
until he was ten Yeays old his career was
an uncvcutful Cn1. But when tn It apc
was reached he commenced the weaving
of u life 5 history that is somewhat RS
markable. In the stirring tines OF 8
the boy came with him. Trained already
to all the III rly pursuits of the frontiers.
man, hO led u life OF abandonment to
physical ~cnjoyments. Quick with the
rinG, an expert horSeman, even ut ten
years of age he felt the cravings of am
bition. One winter morning, with horse
and rifle rs hlS only companions, he
left his home for y tour. When
he returned in the spring of
the next year he had covered
Il territory in his wanderings that, for
his age wac immense. Coming west to
Eau Claire, he had camped where the
river by that name n the Chippewa
IlttI. IdhlNp lllt uNlN ltt Ol u chippewa
Indian, he went up the Chippewa river
into the pine regions, yet untouched by
the mlittcring axe. For weeks his course
lay northwar until Duck lake was Il
dream, and the Superior country was be.
fore him. He then turned southwark,
cutting through the pines down into the
Star prairie country, and by tho waters
OF the st. Croix. From there his home.
ward journey was u quick one. During
the per.o cd occupied by this trip he saw
but three white men. Outside of this
trio, the Indians alone gave him shelter
and food The journey gave him a self.
reliance that never afterwards deserted
him, 1t seemed also to have inspired
in him u thirst for book love. He could
interpret the signs OF nature, and the
heavens were to him buta chart by which
h 5 course was never lostiu the wilds, but
his mind was untutOrcd. In consequence,
until the breaking out OF the war he
turned his attention to books, and with
an acute intelligence passed rapidly
through II common school course and,
unaidrd, plunged into Euclid = thcorpms
and the Ghllic ~olfuSion OF Cnsnr. But
the rebellion checked this. Unable, on
account of his age, to enlist, he still,
alone, pushed his way into the southwest.
crn country and, wearing the blue,
though u buShw hacker, fought for Uncle
sam. Not until SOB did he enlist, and
tncn it was with Custer. He role be-
hind the ycll0w.hairGd chief until tho
fall of Richmond. Then, having won an
honorable discharge and the rank of
captain, he entered an eastern college,
and in 1868 graduated with the highest
honorS. HIS curse in the college was
so successful that when he left every op.
p%OrtunitY was given him to enter Tho
legal profess on, but he had fallen III
love and his lpneFtar carried him back
10 Ihp vast IL,
II TURNING POINT OF HIS LIFE.
One night, in August, 1859, in Dubuque,
Iowa, he learned from her own lips That
she whom he loved was plclgcd to
another. 1t did not kill him, bat il did
turn his life into other channels forever.
He went ut once to the Pacific coast, aad
for Il year was on a Rocky mountain de.
tectiye force, suffering many hardships,
i'll constant pcgil Of hls life. There, as
everywhere else, he was noted for his
courage and cool, level-hcaued daring.
In the last months of his service us an
officer of the law he was shot three times
by horse thieves; but, with his usual good
luck attending him, came out all rlght.
Oregon next attracted him, and he sat a
full term in til legislature OF that state.
One of the most important timber laws
OF that state was originally drafted by
him, and his influence secured its pas
sage. When his career as II legislator
ceased, he wandered over ALASKA, came
back to British Columbia, and wrote Il
series OF articles from the latter country
TO an Eastern paper that attracted mucn
attention. Finally, in 1916, he reappears
on American soil in the Black Hills.
If the truth We're told it would be-
known tnat he came there to mourn
over Custer, his dead chief. He wrote
to Mrs. Custer II letter OF coincidence, of
wonderful power and beauty. A copy of
tIn l.tt.I, - Ent,AynrI,,ru in 81 pnitl ia.
day" From Dakota's p%raIries, like Il wan
derIng jew, he passed away to sunny
Mexico, and thence to tho isthmus; then
crossing the ocean to Japan, whore,
unit ! 1850, he served rs confidential clerk
IN nu English tea house ana correspond.
ent for Il London journal. HIS wealth,
despite the adage OF "a rolling stone, was
remarkable. He never neglected his
studies at any time, mastering botn
EranCh n German, becoming u skilled
musician, and broadening his mental
Lie III every way possible. Pnysicaliy "
handsome man, mentally he possessed II
S~tOrGnOuSG or treasures. Grown weary
OF foreign lands aud longing to hear his
mOtLer tongue and see his nome again,
he came back to America, revisited Wis.
ConS,n and became the intimate friend
or men now nigh in the nation. Bat he
met his former ladylOve, now Il wife and
mother, aud THAT awokc Old memories
and sent him back to the wlIds, In 1857
he b1cAm1 il detective, or Rather ranger,
in the Southwest territory, and hid hm-
self away from the world. From south.
ern California to tao Indian Territory
army officers, soldiers, business mon,
outlaws, all knew him us IL king
among his fellow men. He never lost
his selt-rcspeCt, AMI, no III utter what his
mode OF HE, remained the gentleman
.r,f 4 f.r.l -tt Ia I4-. 80 tl.. 80. .rt