The Brookhaven leader., 1886-09-30
SAM AsHcRoFT's HUT.
The Remarkable History of Dement'S
Nebraska Recluse.


Nebraska Recluse.
Cray sam Ashcroft's hut, mile and
q half west of this town; was pulled
down BY the authorities recently. 1t
was a curious old hovel, half shanty and
half dug-out, built of old boards and
corn-stalks, and covered with a rude
kind of thatch. The contents were ex-
eeedingly meager and primitive. The
filthy and ragged old clothing with
which the walls were thickly covered
and the few wretched utensils with which
the former occupant of the place
had done his simple cooking were de-
stroyed The rough attempts at furni-
ture were given TO poor family for
fuel. The place has been utterly desert
pd and summed ever since the death of
its strange tenant last winter. 1t stood
in a lonely spot away from the travelled
road, behind a clump of willows that
grew by little stream. Little was
known about the inhabtant of this soli-
tary abode. Except for the company
of his fifteen dogs of all breeds, sizes
and colors, he lived entirely alone.
He summed his neighbors and was
seldom seen in town except when he
came to purchase necessaries or collect
a few more old clothes. The people
called him Cray Ashcroft He was
about seventy years old, bent and bag
gard. with long. unkempt beard and
tangled white hair. Nobody knew of his
death until a week after it had hap
pcncd The prolonged bowling of his
dogs finally drew attention to his hut,
and the neighbors gathered to see what
was the matter. The old man was seen
living dead in the middle of his cabin,
surrounded py his dogs on guard. So
ferocious and determined were the
brutps in protecting the body of their
master. that no one dared to enter the
hovel. CoaXing, commanding and
cabling with scraps of food failed to
placate them Finally it was found
necessary to kill them to reach the
body. SO fourteen of them were shot,
one after another rs they ran snarling
about their dead owner. The last, n
magnificent black foXhound, and one of
the finest of that breed ever seen in
these parts was spared. He was lassoed,
dragged out of the hut and tied to a
tree. just a, the party was lifting the
corpse from the floor TIL foXhOund gave
Il mighty leap, broke the rope, and
dashing into the house, buried his fangs
in the throat of one of the rescuers.
Then he was killed.
Since the death of Cray Ashcroft,
there have been inquiries set on foot
about him which have nearly disclosed
his remarkable career. Examination OF
the records and correspondence with
people who knew him in early days
have made it certain that he was the
Ashcroft who played Il notable part in
the Mormon upheavals of thirty years
years AGO. About that time he came to
this country from England as the
uroSelvtp OF Mormon missionary. He
was Il straight. handsome. tne-built fell
low Of much more than the average in
icliigence of Mormon converts, and he
ptrairhtway became Il leader among
The sect. He was one of Brigham
Young's most trusted lieutcnants, and
and assisted the prophet in leading the
hosts out OF the Egypt of NauvoO TO the
prom SD land OF Utah, There was only
one fault the MormonS could find with
Ashcroft. He never approved of violent
measures. When the Saints got to salt
Lake and the troubles with the autlori-
ties and the settlers began, Ashcroft :
pacific disposition lost him the conf,
dence of many of his fanatical core
ligon sis, and at last drew on him the
suspicious of Young himself Finally,
the Infamous Mountain Meadow mas
sacre was planned. Ashcroft indig-
nantlv denounced it and refused to have
anv thing to do with it. He was warned
that if he declined to assist in the de-
Struction of the emigrants. the full
wrath of the church would be turned on
him. That meant painful and igno-
miniouS death. He laughed at the
threat. While the fight was at the
iicrcest he slipped away with one COM
pauion who shared his repugnance to
blo0dshcd, and started on long tramp
across the plains to Council Bluffs.
As soon as their departure was
known the Dantcs. who We're the
of the Mormon tyranny,
were loosed on their trail For days and
weeks they hunted the fugitives through
forests and over mountains. and among
rocks and deserts, from one hiding
place to another, with orders to bring
them back to the church tribunal dead
or alive. After long series of narrow
escapes from the tends and their more
humane allies, the Indians, and after
untold privations and tortures from
hunger and cold, the hunted man got
across the Missouri river alive. But
the fearful strain he had gone through
nncnttln6 A ChcrOft'S mind For wars
he wandered from one Western settle
mcnt to another, living the life of an
hermit and having no friends but his
dogs and no occupation but collecting
worn-out and worthless clothing. Now
that his heroic history has been dis
covered the people OF North Bend are
talking of removing his remains to the
cemetery and marking his grave with a
suitable monument - North Bend
(Ne6.) Cor. ~ Y. Mail.