, 1886-06-11
TWISTLETON.
The Fearless and Reckless Desperate
Again Heard From.

mont and Sweetwater counties are hot ON
the trail of Twistleton. This desperate
has made for himself a reputation in that
peculiar line which burns deep in the
bloodatained annals of the Northwest.
Twistleton is an old member of the Doc
Middleton gang, and fellow members of
that famous, or rather infamous organiza-
ton were his father and a brother The
father is now in the Nebraska pcnitentiary
and the brother riddled with the bullets
of an avenging Justice, lies in a criminals
dishonored grave. When the Middleton
gang had their stockades and fortified
places of refuge on the her wild sources
of the Republican river. Twistleton was
one of the most active members of the or.
ganization. On one occasion he was an
emissary to Colorado stock ranges, and
from the very shadow of Denver itself
conducted a local party OF thieves with a
stolen bunch of horses and cattle in the
direction of the gangs secret Businesses on
the head of the Republican. The thieves
were hotly pursued by a hastily but eff
GENTLY organized party of cowboys, and
overtaken within a fey miles of Republic
can waters. Coming within 81 ght of the
criminal band late in the afternoon, the
cowboys located the camp and
arranged for a daylight attack.
The time came and found the cowboys
in ambush within short gun shot of the
unsuspecting r%ustlers. The camp was
early astir, and breakfast in course of
preparation. As the thieves gathered
about their morning meal. the word was
given and of the nine men composing the
party, eight fell either dead or fatally
wounded.
The ninth man escaped unhurt, though
his clothing was riddled with bullets That
man was Twistleton. Leaping on a sa1dled
horse he dashed off in the direction of the
Republican, and though closely and re-
vengefully pursued, his thorough knowl-
edge of the region enabled hun to make
good his escape.
Shortly afterwards he was captured in
Nebraska by county officials, on a stolen
horse. The capture was effected by a
complete surprise, but the %desperado's
fertility of resource and prompt action
had not forsaken him. Watching his
opportunity, he snatched a pistol from
the belt of a guarding deputy sheriff,
sent a ball crashing through the officers
brain, and leaping upon his horse again
made good his escape.
Making his way into Wyoming he
Joined a cattle herd en- route for the Big
Horn basin, arriving there in the fall.
Forming a connection with two trappers.
who were supplied with a complete pro-
fessional outfit, he passed the winter
hunting and trapping. In the spring he
and the trappers had both disappeared.
Late in the ensuing summer the bodies
of the trappers were found in an
old camp on an isolated island in
the Big Horn river. They had evidently
been murdered and robbed. Subsequent
developments showed that Twistleton had
been met the spring he disappeared from
the Big Horn country on the road 10
Montana, with the horses belonging to
the murdered men.
The desperate criminal is next heard of
in Montana, on the Musselsholl, going
under the name OF Moore, and engaged in
stealing United States government stock.
Connected with the lawless desperadoes of
Montana, when the stock men of the ter
ritory 50 c%ffectually rid the region of them
by the free use Of the halter and Win
chester, Twistleton again succeeded in
making his escape, and once more sought
Wyoming. On his way he met an old
Nebraska comrade heading for the same
section with a bunch of stolen mares and
colts. Pooling their issues. the old time
companions in crime proceeded to the
Lander region together. Representing
themselves as legitimate stock men, they
turned the stolen horses loose on the Big
Horn range, and both men found employ
ment on the Shoshone Indian r, servation.
The next spring they quarreled desperate
ly about the ownership of the stolen
stock, and Rogers, the actual thief, started
for the Big Horn range to gather the
horses up and take possession of them.
On the expedition he was accompanied by
a German named Leper, whom he had
hired for the purpose of assisting him in
getting the horses together.
Twistleton followed the two men, un-
suspected by them. The season was early
spring, and the snow stlll lay deep upon
the surrounding region. One evening
when Rogers and Leper went into camp
on the banks of the Big Horn river, Twis-
Teton was following their trail in the
snow, and was close at hand. Soon the
rudy glow of a campfire beneath the
wide branches of a cottonwood told him
that he had run his quarry to earth. eau
tiously approaching, he gained a high
bank overlooking the camp at point blank
range. Leper was bringing a bucket OF
water from the river, while Rogers was
frying some bacon over the fire. A:
Leper approached the fire Twistleton shot
him dead. Rogers leaped to his feet only
to be MORALLY pierced by a second
bullet, and fell across the fire his own
hands had kindled. Twistleton entered
the camp he had turned into a slaughter