Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1888-08-02
some Redskin Justice.

"By the way said the old-timer
to the reporter, looking up from his
morning paper, i see you have sent
officers out to Fort Yuma to arrest
an Indian there for killing one of his
companions That reminds me Of IA
ease that happened here way back in
the sixties. In those days the white
people didn't care much about how
the Indians acted, and we let them
fight their own battles One day o
party of Coahuilas came in with one
of their number named Coche (lIewas
fat like pig, and that was the way
he got his name).
They took him to the court house
and wanted him tried and punished
for killing another Indian. But as
no white man had seen or knew any
thing about the matter, the officer
refused to take charge of Mr.. Coehe,
and told the Indians that they would
have TO settle the affair the best they
could. Well, they took Coche down
to Squaw Flat,ne Warm creek, and
had big pow-wOw over him. He
was found guilty of murder and SEN
fenced to be hanged The sentence
was to be carried out at once. They
didn't believe in giving Coche any
chance to get off or to appeal to the
Supreme Court.
"The court had been held under
the shade of some cottonwood trees,
and when the trial was over the In
dams took a rawhide RATA and pro-
| ceeded to hang Mr.. Coche in not the
most approved fashion. They hauled
him up to u cottonwood limb,
held him few moments, and then
let him down again. A lot of boys
(for was only a boy them gathered
around to see the fun, and a great
sight it was too. Coche really seemed
to rather like the thing. They would
haul away on the RATA and hang
him up and then let him down again.
Between times Coche asked for cigar
cites, and he smoked them with MS
much relish as ifhe was at siesta
instead of taking part in his own ex-
ecution.
"Well, don't you know, those con-
founded Indians kept this up the
whole forenoon, first hanging and
then letting Coche down. He would
grin and chaff his companions, and
ON the whole didn't seem to have a
bad sort of u time. But along to-
ward Eoon the Indians got little
tired of the fun, and reckon Coche
did, too, so they gave n final haul
on the RATA and then made the end
fast TO a tree and let the poor devil
strange to death.
Il tell you what | just wish that
woman that wrote Ramona could
have seen that hanging. / reckon
she wouldn't have thought quite so
much If her Indian pets after that,
| and there was another thing | wish
she could have seen, too. Why, come
TO think, it isn't more than dozen
years since these nice, peacable, in
offensive, copper-Colored sons of guns
tried to cut a squaw all to pieces down
there on the flat. They drove four
stakes in the ground, stripped the
squaw ard tied her hands and feet,
one to each stake, spread-eagle fash
ion. They then took their knives
and began tomark out gridirons and
such like things on her back. Holleri
You just bet she hollered. Why, the
people up in town heard it, and they
ran downand found the squaw bleed
ing like pig, and what do you sup
pose the matter was? Well, the wom-
an had earned four bits somehow or
other and didn't give the money to
her buck That was all. How she
earned it the buck didn't care. All
that he was mad about was that she
didn't give it to him to buy whiskey.
Oh, could go ON and tell You lot
more about those miserable, worth
less ours. But Just wish thut wom-
an writer could have seen some ofthe
| things | have-that's all San
| Bernardino Times.