Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-09-08
CONQUERED BY SNAKES
A Gang of Outlaws Hemmed ID
 by an Army of Serpents.

The close of the civil war left some DOT tions of the South in the hands of desper- ately wicked men. Particularly was this true of parts of Missouri, Mississippi, Ar kansas, Louisiana and Texas. While the Confederate troops had disbanded, and be- fore the Federal could occupy the country, the guerrilla and bushwhacker were there. had district assigned to me along the St. Francis river, Arkansas, and the total strength of my command was twenty-eight men.
 In sny territory, says writer in the New | York Sun, as I soon ascertained, were some of the worst desperadoes in the West. All had belonged to guerrilla bands, and all had refused to come ill and surrender at the close of the war. The meanest, if not the worst, man in my district was Captain Dade. He was in command of a dozen outlaws. sent the desperado word to come in and Surren- | der. He sent me word to go to thunder. l | notified him in writing that If he did not come in by certain date I should declare him an outlaw in the district, and proceed to hunt him down and kill him. He replied i by word of mouth that if did not surren- l der to him on or before the same date he ! would proceed to eXterminate my con- mand. l gave him ten days, having not the 1 slightest hope that he would come in. On the morning of the eleventh day 1 had a call from native, about twenty-five years l Olus WHO duuOuuCttl ulLlScll dS lJdll, who said he had called on little business matter I supposed it to be about a permit, or to make complaint, but after bit he ob served:
 Captain, them ten days ar up, an l reckon Bill Dade hain't shown hisself."
 ''No, he hasn't come in.''
 An he won't, nuther''
 II don't expect he will"
 'Wal, ar you gwiue ter let him am his
 
 l1illin'9n
 ''No. Bill Dade and his gang are now out lawed by proclamation. am going to hunt them down and wipe them out.''
 Right off, Captain?n
 ''As soon as I can arrange for it."
 ''You kin arrange right now, Captain. That's what I'm yere fur. How much a head if I wipe out the Dade gang!"
 ''How many are there?"
 'Just five, an every one of lem has com
 nitted murder am wuss a dozen times over"
 II can't offer a reward for their heads. I
 have outlawed them, and the military au- thorities have the right to shoot them on
 sight"
 At that moment word was brought me.
 that Dades gang had come within two miles
 of headquarters and murdered two of the
 command who were stationed at freed .
 an hour later the man called Dan departed on his man hunt, and he had my agreement
 in writing that neither the law nor the mill
 tary should trouble him for shooting down
 any of the gang.
 This daring man-hunter stepped into his canoe and padded up the river about five miles Then he entered a bayou to the ! right, and carefully made his way to a bit of
 high ground about two miles from the
 river. All the low lands were then un- l der overflow for ten miles back, and he Y knew of but oue spot where the outlaws
 could rendezvous. This was a larger island . about half mile away, and bearing a log ' house and some farm improvements. At
 this time the place could be approached only
 by water, and Dade was not blufing when
 he defed me. It is doubtful if any offer of
 reward could have induced a Federal sol !, dier to follow Dan. The overflow had driven
 the reptiles to take refuge in the bushes and trees, and as his canoe moved in and out 6 the hiss of the cotton-mouth and the warn l ing of the rattler came to his ears almost ! continuously. Half a dozen times in the ' course of half an hour hideous serpents let e go of the branches and fell into the water = with loud splash and swan for the canoe, , perhaps hoping to be carried to the high
 ground, and at such times the man had tC
 lay down his paddle and beat them off with a pole. There was danger with every rod V of the journey, and the semi-darkness and 7 the utter stiffness would have taken the G courage from an average man. d Dan did not land upon the island, but l. made the circuit of it in his canoe, anC ;, satisfied himself that no sentinel was es . tablished here, as he suspected might be the IL case. If one had been posted there he ha6 IS been forced to abandon his position by the s. thousands of reptiles which had been driver
 in for shelter. Any craft seeking the other island must pass here, and any craft mak le ing for the river from the oSher island mus e. use this channel Satisfied that he had lef
 no danger behind him, and that his way O
 retreat was open if he were forced to fal Ill back, Dan cautiously proceeded on hi: IT. way It was not yet mid-afternoon. 1T was hot summers day, and there wa . absolute silence in the great swamp. Tn 1 outlaws, returned from their raid, would ed expect pursuit, and, therefore, be watchful h Dan was known to all of them, and the in ,t stant he was discovered he would be sho ,a down. He knew every foot of the island o> and as he neared 1t he had his plans al ee laid. Making wide sweep by forcing hi r. canoe where it seemed hardly possible for l. serpent to go, he landed on the north sid ~ of the piece of land, half a mile from tn hut As soon as he had hidden the craft h ,n made his way toward the clearing, movin of with all the caution of an Indian on the wal
 path He said he saw more snakes tha al day than he supposed the whole countr ,s, held. He touched them time and again, an ,d a score of times he came within an ace c
 being bitten.
 When Dan reached the edge of the cfEal n- ing at point where he was close upon tn by cabin, he was surprised to find every thin a quiet. There was a smoldering fire at tn oo door, and plenty of evidence that the me "0 were near. If they had set a watch it wa
 down at the landing. After waiting fo rn half an hour Dan made two important di of Wm. H. Collins, or - DEALER N ,o Fine Teas, Coffees and Groceries, Be