St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-17

W. WV toF7Nthtis oiAt
camping toget er. and, of course we
talked about every subject under hea-
ven. John had been living near where
the Blenders lived at the time of the
murder of DIR. York, and when we
talked OF the Blenders | always thought
from Johns ways that he knew some
thing about what became OF them. l
was mighty curious to find out, and
many's the time [ have asked him,
John, what did become of the Ben
ders" but he always put me off
with one answer. Each time he would
say, 'Ihe Blenders? The BenderS are all
right SO, although L inquired about
the Blenders repeatedly-for my curl
Oslty was great never could get any
wiser. Well, we prOspected along
until we got to Fort Yuma, AriZ. There
John took sick. / tended him and did
FOR him all that one man could do for
another. Col. Clarke, of the fort. was
also very kind in his assistance. We
were all three of us MasOns, you
know, and doing the best we could.
Not that John ever wanted for any
thing. He had money enough with him
and when he died we buried hin. and
L sent his mOney-some S700-tO his
sister. shan't tell you his sisters
name-it won't do any good to tell it,
any Way-nOr where she lives.
ut was while John was sick and not
long before he died that l QuiZzed him
about the BenderS. SO, at last, he told
me all about it, and l sat there and
made notes in my memorandum book.
may have the book yet. | carried it
round with me in my miners trunk,
and If 1t amt in the mining trunk that
my boys have got with them out in the
mountains, it must be among the papers
in my trunk at the house. I'll look to-
night and see. If l find it I'll drop in at
Mr.. Buffers Office after church."
THE DYING PROSECUTORS STORY.
WAS this man an eyewitness of what
ne told you about at Fort Yuma?" asked
the reporter.
Yes; what he told me was from ac-
tual knowledge. He mentioned no
names, but knew who he meant when
he talked about the colonel You
know, too. The colonel had traced his
brother from Fort Scott right along up
to the Bender place, and there the trail
ended. Beyond that point he could
find no trace of his brother and no signs
OF his horse. The disappearance of the
horse was an important fact in his
mind.''
1--WE always understood" said Mr..
Butler, that they were never able to
explain how that horse was gotten out
OF that country without some one know
Ing something about it.
That's true" said the major. "My
understanding has always been, and
think it comes from what John told me,
that DIR. York'S horse was killed and
buried in the pond near the Bender
place. Any way, Johns story was that
there were seven i'll the party and Col.
York with them, and that the colonel
had come to the conclusion that the
BenderS knew where his brother was.
He begged and implored of Kate Bender
to tell him what they had done with his
brother, but Kate wouldn't tell. He
offered to take Kate and Mrs. Bender
back to town and see that no harm came
to them if they would only confess what
had become of his brother. But Kate
wouldn't tell werd. Her eyes flashed
and she said; You can't take me- The
old woman whipped out a pair of pistols
and said she would tell nothing. You
can't take me- She was overpowered
and disarmed in an instant, for the
colonel wouldn't let there be any shoot
ing. Don't fire shot was his words.
Finding he could learn nothing from
the two women he got Oh his horse
again and went back to town."
WHERE TIE BODIES WERE PUT.
"And then What"'
John said the bodies of the BenderS
could be found, if any one chose to look
for them. in the old unused well some
800 yards northwestern the Bender house.
That's where they were put He didn't
give me all the details of the affair, but
| remember asking John wasn't it an
awful british thing? And he said: No,
not at all. The only instruments used
were the mallet and tWO-pound hammer
that had been used by the Benders in
their own murderOus work. He said
there wasn't shot fired; that it was all
done decently and quietly. When it was
all over the party dispersed and went to
their homes"
''How about the Benders' team and
wagon that was found hitched to fence
near Thayer. some twelve miles or more
from the Bender place."
''That team was driven off by one of
the party. whether to misiead people
who might want to make inquiries by
repeating the impression that the Ben
ders had left the country on the train,
or to serve some more convenient pur-
pose. But at any rate it was the Ben
ders' wagon, though, and driven off as /
III fC ttCoCliUCu. w lltllltI lllc party ever
told the colonel what had occurred
don't know, but 1 do know that John
had always cOntended that the colonel
could tell something if he only would"
when was all this tOld?"
81 can't give you the date from MEM
DRY, and there are some other little feat
UreS L don't clearly recOllect, but [ have
given you the main facts, the substance
of it all. If | can find the book
with my notes OF this conversation in it,
I'll show it to you, and you can get it
more fully. 1t isn't full written state
ment or confession, but just note here
and note there that | made at the
time. I'll look through my papers and
see if l can find it. If it isn't here it
must be in the trunk that's out with my
two boys in the mountains"
SEARCHING FOR RECORDS.
So far so good. The reporter, meeting
Maj. Hicks Oh the road to church, after
supper, learned that partial search
had been made for the memorandum
book and that further and closer hunt
would be made in the morning.
Pending the search the reporter made
careful inquiries as to the reliability of
any statement that Major Hicks might
make. Each person inquired of pro-
nOunced the majors reputation for
square dealing and veracity to be gilt
edged.
1t was o'clock next morning when
the reporter looked througe the window
of Maj. Hicks Office, and saw that gen
tleman seated at his table with two or
three old. worn memorandum books and
some other pOpers before him. There
was a little preliminary talk, and the
major said, regretfully:
IL can't find the book want, and
reckon it's out with my boys in the
mountains. I've gone through all nv
papers and it isn't here. But here's a
mining deed which was made in Yuma
about the time that John was sick, and
that shows it must have been in the late
fall of 1881 that he told me about the
panIarc