Sun River sun. [volume] (Sun River, Mont.) 1884-1885, 1885-02-05

DCttttss I0iiCleu lHt Idlu". tlltt
with sarcastic smile) one has
right to what he fancies Our bone
is in Missouri, about u mile and n half
from the railroad, between Palmyra
and Hannibal. J left home for the
West when / was Is ten years ago.
and hGve never been back since.
Drifting out west / found myself, in
tho spring Of 1876. at Bismarck.
Learning that an expedition was to
start for the Indian country, crossed
the river at Fort Lincoln and hired
out rs Il "mule whaelter.' / did not
know ut the time which expedition l
was going on, whether with Terry or
Custer. but when Custer pulled out
from tho command my toam staid
with Terry. Ii l had only been with
Custer l expect J. would have been
saved Il good deal of trouble. All
summer | was in ths Indian country
the Yellowstone valley and in the
fall the command | was with found
ourselves at Fort Peek. on the Mis-
souri, river Late in the fall 1 was
with Lieut.. Baldwln's party, and we
! had Il lively sliirmish with tho hostile
Indians north Of Fort Peck. We had
small 12pound howitzcrs strapped on
the backs of m,llos, as tho country
was too rough. The mules were train
ed to allow the guuners to shoot OF
their backs, and Us rule the mules
acted pretty well, but occasionally af-
ter shot they would buck and kicl;
lively. The Indians in The valley be-
low Us. soon.stampeded and went into
For. .sPeck and surrendered. They
told their agent that the soldiers had
run out of ammunition Iand then
commenced to shoot mules ut them;
that they did not understand it, and
had concluded to surrender. After
that, i'll II and rs. l drove mules.
freighting III different parts OF Mon
tana, and am well acquainted with
most of the old-timc wagon bosses. I
was ono Of the first men in Miles
City. and owned n number of good
lots there at one time, which gave
away to my friends. When the town
was laid out they put up good many
lots at $3.50 each, and we gambled for
them. l was lucky, and il l had held
Oh tothem l would be vol fixed now.
Montana getting too hot for me,
went to Idaho in 81, and spent the
summer on Snake river as boy,
and drove beef cattle into Haley and
other mining camps. l returned to
Montana early in 81, and have been
in Montana over since, except little
trip our party took down to Idaho.
And | want to say now, that since my
last escape from Jail, l have never
written any letter to anybody stating
that the Edmonson boys were not in
tercstod with me in onr last drive of
horses. / heard it was SO published
in Il Helena paper, but | never wrote
any such letter, nor made any such
statement.
No one WAS interested in or knew Of
my escape from Helena. l am told
that it was charged that | used money
to bribe the jailor. had no money,
nor had any Of my friends. Late in
the afternoon OF the 9th o. November
| made a dummy. put ii in my bed,
and then hid in the recess under the
sink, on the north side of the cells.
After the jailor had locked tho cells
and everything was quiet for the
night, | moved around to the south
side and hid in the bath-tub. / knew
the custom Of the juilor to come in
the morning and unlock the cells Oh
the north sido first. When hc was
doing this, and consequently out OF
sight, ] slipped out Of the ''caec'
quietly. Some one was talking in The
kitchen, and tho door, wlic! / had TO
pass, was open. | quietly pushed the
door to, and then / had clear sailing.
J. passed through the Office ont the
front door, jumped over the side
picket fence, and went whistlins up
the street. The Iidmonson boys knew
nothing about it, for my experience o
has been, i'll escaping from tho peni-
tentiary and ja!ls, that ! have better
success when l keep my actions and
intentions tomyscIf
Since thon | have been on the move
a good share OF tho time, and have
Travelled fully tive hundred miles.
Wus over on The Jefferson several
wesks ago, but do not care to state
particularly where ] have been. !
would not have returned to the yicin-
ity Of Helena, where / have had SO
much trouble, except to SEQ my broth
on, who had not seen for ten years.
| 7 yyn4 ntyinlls tD Ena him, and in1,,oa