Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-01-18
COWBOY VENGEANCE,
Three Men Steal Three Mustangs, Are
Pursued and one is Captured
and hanged.
The Remaining Thieves Are Found
Dead aud the Body of One
DeNour, d b. Vul-
tureS.

v. ". Alexander, VINO for many yesrs
lived st By am, Texas, told at the Palace
hotel she other nish', says the San
Canci>co Chronlcis, of the fate OF three
aorse thieves.
"A horse said he, "wss considered of
mrre value in the l. pne Star state than a
man. The desperate who KILLED com
paulon or who put out the hight of a
tendertoSt took high place IN society,
out II ne stole hurSe-welI, he WAS Jerk
Ell hlS her. Sometimes IN the speed, ad-
mlnls' ration OF justice, the wrong man
vas ssEung no; sometimes u mau vas
hOlstsd ter taking hlS own horse, 6ut ~
the ylcnms of tue mistake never com
planned, hEtle was said sbunt the errors.
Iou Snow, the cowboys In Texas had 3
"a! ing that 1t wss better for 100 ,uuoceut
men TO be hanged than tor ore horse
thief To go unpublished. AmouE the
more cultivated and reverend that was
believed To be cuhed trum tn, 10 oum.
m4ndmentS, and the cowboys pInusd Il 1t
10 the pumneIs of their saddles.
"On enc occasion we were driving
herd through New Mexico aud had not q
horse 10 spare. Every auim Al was iuu use.
aud We were very careful OF them, "a We
had long ride. The tran WAS dotted
WIN SNAaSSs ASAASNN Nho hAA uN mead
quarters aud whose business Was ths, of
horse stealing. Oae morning we aSuke
to tiud three OF our best mustangs gone,
with ,ddle, brldle larIat clean cun of
Half duzeH started III pursuit ot the
taleyes, who were not more thai i've
hours ahead. We kdew taey darrut
leave the trail, and II was only ~ gu. atiun
OF endursnSe Oh the part of the hu, ses.
a a 4 -,
them. / was agreed that We should ride
for coupie OF hours after DARK, and say
Iug the time of cooking, make 81 much
on this thieves. The chase beGSu aEAlu
early III the morning, and the RIDING was
hard aud fauxuIng. In the afternoon We
saw a hocsemsu leave the trait and strike
away for the hills. We gave yell. Oae
of the thieves had 'petered' out and had
been lett behind. We spurred On aud
saw that he intended making the chase
long one. To intercept hlm We had to
make Il wide detour, and we knew dark
Cess must oe on us before we captured
HIM. Our mustangs showed signs of
farIsue, hut Il cowboy would rather lose
haf a q, zen aulmals legIumately than
scr ouo carried OF by a pirate, s. Wa
plIed rope aud SOUR aud III q couple OF
hours got III bullet rauge OF ono man.
We began popping At ham, more to draw
his tre than anything else, we cared
neither To XIII him nor To cripple the
horse. He CON dat hit a barn ana his gun
was soon useless. Then We dashed up
and one of the boys dragged him from
the saddle. We asked hun no quesuon7.'
You've lost the others" be said.
'NeEetatiou was soaut there, but We
took the highest we could find and drag
ged hun up until his head was within two
Inches Of the limb and his toes crIss-
crossed the ground ~ he swayed. He
struggled trIghtfuily and wrlAEted u,e of
his boots of The buttuns On MS clothes
gave way, and when we lett hlm he WAS
almost as naked rs wneu he WAS born.
I'VE struck the tran HgHiH and halted
for a rest. The horse We hal recovered
WAS almost played ont, and the others
were in very bad condition. The pur-
suit was over tor a good many hours aud
we needed the Thought of one man
caught and hanged 10 buoy us up. Al
the next day we followed, and when we
took supper We began To think We had
done the best We could. Some were for
giving up the chase, bat 1t was decided
to spend another day ON the trail.
"ln the morning tho air was loaded
with the tainJ of vuiture-. We could SEQ
the carrion caters ike specRs against the
clouds.
''rhey're going TO pay their rcspeots
TO the mau behind u.s. said one OF the
party.
"'He's finished long ago was the re-
ply. Boys, there's som, thing dead IN
'front.'
I'VE mounted again, and as we rode
the vultures became thicker. We tul-
lowed their flight, and by midday We saw
hundredS of the heHistone-nke birds of
prey on the plains. he tran of the horse
thieves WAS Mt an end. The yuirureH
arose and hung over us "a we rode up to
the place of the feast. BY the side of
the brown skinned man lay pie of
bones, wet yet, but heshIrss. The bones
of the horse thief were as clean rs II ho
had been boiled.
They haven't started on thus one"
said ore OF the boys, kicking the boty
that had not been devoured.
Nor they WON'T" said the man who
told us there was something dead IN front
H ,'s a Sp4uIhrd, an 80 ful! OF red pep
per thai II vulture won't touch nim.'
had heard the boys say that before, and
d,d not believe 1t. But there the man
lay, perfect a5 when he dropped from hls
horse through fatigue, and by his side lay
the .ean bones o. Il man who had fallen
with him. And there he would lie for
months and at the end of that time
would give no signs of decom position,
but every day the elements wou d sreai
from him some'hIng of his humanity and
at last he wuuld become rs the dust OF
the plains. We took up the trait very
leisurely, and got to the herd without
trouble"