Wichita eagle., 1888-08-03
THE STEVENS COUNTY TROUBLES
Synoptical Statement of Incidents Con
nected Herewith and Present
Status.

HUGoToN, July 81, 1888.
To the Editor of the EAGLE.
General Myers and Attorney General
Bradford arrived at Liberal at 2 O'Clock
on Saturday, and at once proceeded to
the matter of investigating the Stevens
county trouble.
After the examination of several wit
nesses they proceeded to Hugoton, where
they arrived last night at 10 o'clock.
They found pickets stationed at the
proper intervals around the town. Our
party was challenged in true military
style, and the challenge was answered
by General Bradford. General Myers
said word to the sentinel and his voice
was recognized. We got out of our am
bulance, advanced and were introduced
by General Myers to the sentinel, who
proved to be the county attorney. who
with Winchester rifle in one hand and
the statute book in the other, was ad-
ministering the law to the good people of
the county. We found the affairs sub
stantially as heretofore related in the
EAGLE. Four men were shot dead and
the fifth badly wounded. just across the
|
day. One of the men killed was the
were elected by investigation this morn
ing by the officers sent here by the gov
ernor for that purpose. Generals Myers
and Bradford proceed to Woodsdale at
noon today to hear their side
of the story, and tomorrow they
will go to Lafayette, twenty
! villas cortl 81 biC v,looo 70 tala tho dan
ostion of the wounded may-the only
survivor of the dreadful tragedy. After
! that they will visit the scene Of the dis
aster and return home on Thursday and
report to the governor. 1t is impossible
| to say now what they will recommend.
The woodsdale people are reported in the
widest state Of excitement, and swear
vengeance for their murdered citizens,
but the officers hope to be able to quiet
them and allow the law to take its
course in furnishing the offenders. l
heard the statement of Cook and Robin
son, two of the men who did the killing.
Of course they claim it was in self de-
! fence, and have good excuses for their
action. This afternoon l will hear the
other side
Following is a statement made to Gen.
Myers by the party named and speaks
for itself:
saturday, July 81, Samuel Robinson, o.
J. Cook, A NJ Donald and c. E. Cook
with their families, went south to No
Mans Land to fish and hunt. They
reached COTS creek about II o'clock a.
M, July "a. The party had just gone into
camp, when they were notified by band
Of armed Woodsdale men, who had been
DIGGING their steps, that they were sur
rounded, and the party with whom they
were stopping was warned to leave the
house by the WoodsdaIe mob, as they in
tended to open fire on the Hugoton party
at once, and that they had sent to Woods
dale for reinforcemenJs. Ed Short was
heading this mob.
The Hugoton party were forced to at
tempt a little strategy to divide the forces
under Short, which numbered eight men.
1t was deterlned that Samuel Robinson
should escape, and thus draw off sufficient
number of the WoodSdale gang to enable
the other three men of the Hugoton party
to protect the women and children in max
ing their escape. Robinson soon mounted
his horse and rode of, with five men armed
with Wincheiters in hot pursuit. The bal
ance of the party hitched up, and with
Winchesters in hand drove out of camp
and made forced drive to Hugoton, where
party was at once organized and started
to the rescue of Robinson. On their way
they determined to camp for the night at
some hay stacks about eleven miles in the
Strip, but on reaching the stacks they were
surprised and fired en- by Sheriff Cross and
party of seven men. Firing soon be
came general at close range, and the sheriff
and his gang were at once surrounded and
killed. He had with him the notorious
desperate and outlaw, Bob Hubbard, who
had been hired to kill Robinson.
1t was stated by Cross that his business
in the Strip was to reinforce Ed Short and
''do up'' Robinson, the Cooks and Donald,
and that they didn't want them alive.
side ever allowed these men to leave the
Strip alive they were towards. 1t was
without doubt a bold and deliberate
attempt at murder, and that, too, in
cowardly attack upon men in company
with their wives and children in a terri
they could be held to account only by
means outside of the law.
Sam Wood is responsible for the lives of
these men and ought to be SO held-and
will be. He knew of the plot and sent
Sheriff Cross TO REINFORCE Short and ad-
vised the killing of the whole party.
Hugoton has no fight to make on any
body. Her peop'e sincerely regret this dis
turbance, but will protect her citizens if
attacked and kill every man who had
hand in it that they can get at Wood and
Short say there are men in Hu9oton whom
they will kill. This they have been trying
to do for the past two months They may
succeed and they may not. We shall, how
ever. try and protect ourselves, and it will
bewell for these men to bear this continu-
ally in mind.
There has been but one of our men
wounded-Samuel RobinSon-and he not
seriously.
And thus the matter stands now.
The crops in this county look amazing
ly well. They'have had bountiful and
timely rains. The correspondent of the
Kansas City Times is with us. Last
night he dreamed he was a citizen of
Hugoton and that there were thousand
WoodSdale people after him, and he SIM
ply alarmed the whole house. A bad
case of -. We were treated to a re-
ception at Liberal characteristic of the
climate in these parts-two of the lead
ing citizens engaged in ashooting match,
one with rifle and the other with a
shot gun loaded with buckshot. Result:
a wounded horse. But you ought to
have seen Gems. Myers and Bradford get
around the corner. You will hear from
US again if we don't get scalped. w.
One of his home papers remarks that,
sin the future the Republican papers of
this state will do kindness to A. w.
Smith, a service to the party, and show
their own good sense when abiding to
him by avoiding the use of any prefix,
title or epithet whatever This is some
what after the precaution exercised by
the fellow who locked the stable door
go \; horr, boJ tx,,, c,olao uo,,-