The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1888-08-25
far reaching and implicated so many
persona and the gang had been guilty
of so much robbery and bloodshed.

persona and the gang had been guilt
of so much robbery and bloodshed.
] From the time it became circulate
aud generally read, in 1884, y reign {
terror prevailed throughout the South
and such was the feeling against I'll
gang, aggravated by the mystic iu
fuence that surrounded it, that ever
stranger was suspected of complicit
in its existencr. II became unsafe I
journey beyond the limits of ones ow
neighb0rhood unless armed with evi
dences of good character aud identified
tiOn t,Om known officers ui the country
It was the duty OF Mr.. Ray, as tn
clerk of Judge Lamy, the Parish Judg
of Ouachita, to write out and issu
many certificates of this character 70
that section of the country.
Perhaps the excitement, growing ou
| of the Stewart publication, was at it
height in 1886, for il is related O
Mr.. Ray thas, when coming to Louis
lana in June, 1885, though ii mere boy
tion of his ,neagre baggage, aud clos'
interrogations about his business.
AT little Rock, Ark, he paused il
his journey, one Saturday evening, foI
days rccuperation aud to rest hi:
horse. Strolling in the suburbs Of tina
village next evening, he encountered
three gallows where recent OK, cu'ion:
had taken place, as the graves of The
victims were fresh under the gallows
This gave him great shock, and
Issll;ssE422sd s him for his own safety, being
a lone traveller, and having yet a long
journey to make throuss 2 country
sparse in settlements and swarming
with brigands, hungryand in wait for
the belated traveller.
Investigation revealed to him the uu-
pleasant fact that these hangings were
of persons suspected of belonging to the
Murrell gang, and that such summary
reckoning was the sure fate Of all
strangers who failed to give satisfac-
tory account of themselves. AS might
naturally be supposed the revelations
made TO him before leaving Little
Rock filled his imagination with every
horror and caused him to
picture to his mind a lurking enemy
behind every bush; but with undaunted
and self-reliance he resumed
his journey TO Louisiana, carrying with
him the only comforting assurance,
that being boy he might safely pass
lie reached the confines of Louisiana
in safety, and meeting his father, as
already related, in Claiborne parish,
returned with him to Missouri. This
ended his first overland trip to Louis
lana.
Mr.. Rays next visit 10 Louisiana
v as by water and without material in
,ident. 1t was during the year the
gamblers were hung ut Vicksburg rs
part OF the MurreIt excitement:
Mr.. Ray left his fathers house in
Missouri 10 settle in Louisiana on the
sist of December, 1885. When he ar
rived at Little Rock the convention to
frame Constitution for the State, pro.
paratory to her admission in the Union.
was in session. Most of the leading
men of Arkansas were in this cons
A little before he arrived al Little
Rock the celebrated Davitt Crockett had
there, with a small company
If soldiers, OH his way TO Texas to take
part In the struggle for the indepen.
lance of that country.
Crockett was on the lookout for re.
'rutts; he was already celebrity in the
having been several times a
member Of congress, and had excited
great interest as All eccentric Westerner
tnd man OF great energy and daring.
Noticing young Ray he at once ap.
him, nor did he waste much
argument to inspire in tho heart of the
'oung man spirit of martial ardor
70 Mr.. Ray concluded to enlist, and
'ecame soldier in Crockctt's COM
'any. Crockett finding out that the |
7oung man was the son of ono of his |
'arly acquaintanccs in Tennessee (Mr.
Rays mother and himself having been
'rought up in the same neighbour ood)
some interest in him and |
as an inducement to his en-
istment in the company, to take
pecial care of him.
Being then on his way to Louisiana
o execute a commission for his fsther,
|lr. Ray parted with Crockett with the
understanding between them, that he
vas TO join him at Natchitoches in /
louisiana, as the company passed on
o Texas.
On arriving at Monroe, La, on the
9th Of January, 1886, he met the noted
i'm Bowie to whom he related his
dVenture with Crockett, and the
movements of that leader. Bowie, IL
nan already notorious for his many
eats Of bravery and spirit for adven-
nre, eagerly seized upon the oppor-
unity TO distinguish himself in this
military expedition, and concluded to
Din Crockett also at Natchit0ches; and
IN naiinnt nf lnlays ho sc4 1,,.. o. 1,..a..