Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-07-26
A BOLD BANDIT.
Exciting Times in the An
telope Valley.
CHASE FOR A CATTLE-THIEF
A Posse in the Field-BloOdshe
Expected-A Fight Probable
To-day.


Antelope Valley is in state of ferment
caused by an exciting episode that oc-
Cured early yesterday morning. The
west side OF the valley is bounded by the
Liebre ranch of General Beale, beyond
which lies tall stern barrier Of noun
tains, which are described in the county
records as "impassable." Over the fer
tile hills of the Liebre roam about 20, ,0OO
head of cattle and though small army
of vacqueros is kept to guard them
the vast extent of the coun-
hy over which they Craze renders
perfect vigilance impossible. AS re-
suit of this a guerrilla force of cattle
thieves infest the country, and from
time to time swoop down and drive off
what they want, laughing in their noun
tain fastness at all efforts of pursuit
They are very careful, however, never to
personally identify themselves with any
Of these raids, as General Beale has
offered standing reward of $500 for the
offenders, and they probably fear
tudt UuC uuduCldl lA0uCOluCAU 10 lldUl0 W
lead them into the clutches of the law.
The most prominent of this band of law
defers is man called Frank Fray, who
also rejoices in the sobriquet of the
Frazer Mountain desperate, that being
the retreat in which his dug-out is To-
Gated. He has committed numerous
crimes during the past six months, and
is said to have run off more stock than
has ever before been the case in the
history of the place. His habits
are like those Of most men Of his class,
dissolute and reckless, and mounted on a
speedy and hardy pony he would ride
into one of the little settlements, and
after priming himself we'll with whisky,
lay his hands on what he thought fit his
on journey home. During these little in
roads he generally inaugurated reign OF
terror wherever he visited, but he found
one man who did not scare at his ap-
proach, and that was Irony" Crane, a
cattle rancher and one of the II ost
popular men in the country. "Rony" is a
fine specimen of physical manhood and
standing over six feet in height he was
the kind Of man that Fray did not care
to tackle especially as Crane was as sure
and quick shot as he himself. An ami
mus naturally sprang up between the two,
for Crane owned about 400 head OF cattle
and he took good care that Fray should
not lay his hands on the horns of any Of
them, much to that gentleman's
disgust. "Rony" married some yea,
or SO ago and located about
a mile and half to the west OF the Lie.
bre ranch-house, where he erected g
handsome residence at cost Of about
$4,000, quite palace for that section Of
the country. During the early part ol
the present week he, with his family,
went off on camping expedition, and
hearing of his absence, Fray conceived
the idea oflwreaking his spite by burning
Cranes house to the ground. He accord
ingly rode in late on Wednesday night
and, after making sure that no one was
about, deliberately
FIRED CRANES HOUSE
And barn and then rode off few rods
and with a smile of vengeance on his
face watched the cracking flames leave
his adversary homeless. The bright
around and attracted by the confagra'
ton, a number OF ranchers saddled up
their horses and hastened to the scene.
The first to arrive was Peter Flynn, one
of Cranes best friends, and he at
once dashed up to the house and
endeavored to rescue what property he
could. He did not notice Fray, who
soon, however, called out for him to
desist, but Flynn took no notice and
went on with his labor of love. En-
ragged, Fray raised his gun to his shoulder
and shot Flynn down, and then glancing
around and seeing that number OF
others would soon be on the spot, he
dashed his spurs into his horses sides
and set off at headlong speed for the
mountains. Pursuit was useless, and as
it was impossible by this time to save
any Of Cranes property, naught could be
done but to ride in and notify the author
tiles Of what had happened. Constable
Magee at once hastened to Newhall and
obtained warrant for Fray's arrest, with
which he returned to Lancaster last
night and, accompanied by posse of
citizens, started in pursuit of the despe-
RADIO. 1t is probable that they will come
up with him some time to-day, and when
they do a battle is almost certain,
as Fray is always armed to the teeth and
is an unerring shot. The posse will
probably be joined at Cow Springs by
"Rony" Crane and if it is it will mean
the death of one or the other when the
two man meet