Wichita eagle., 1889-01-18
KANSAS VIGILANTES.
"reminiscences Of the Early Day.
Of the Prairie State.
How Horse-Thieves Were Hunted By the
Sturdy Western Pioneers-Expeditions
That Usually Ended with q Tragedy
Railroads and Civilization.


That Usually Ended with q Tragedy
Railroads and Civilization.
The depredations of horse-t thieves in
Southern Kansas was for time something
appalling, and kept the whole country
alarmed, writes W. B. Holland In the De-
troit Free Press For the past thirty years
the Indian Territory has been the rendez-
| vous of many of the worst citizens in the
West. Fugitives from Kansas and Texas,
as well as from the Eastern States, focked
in there, where they were sure to find pro-
lection and congenial companions. A mans
social standing in this lawless community
depended on his readiness with ''gun," and
the number and atrocity of the crimes he
had committed. The word 'gun" refers to
revolver, but these were OF such an
enormous size that the term ''gun" seemed
to suit better.
A residence of few days with these peo-
pie would make an agnostic argue the neces-
sity of a he'll and he could easily show the
utility Of such place. While the inhab-
itants were banded together to resist the
law, they had no confidence in each other
and no fear of any power, human or divine.
They would have been unable to have told
Sunday by the aid of an almanac and the
enare absence of razors caused their faces
to have heavier hirsute adornment than
bearded woman at show.
1t was an easy matter for one or more OF
these outlaws to enter Kansas, steal horse
and be back in the Territory before the loss
would be discovered With such facilities
for horse stealing at hand, it is no small
wonder that the farmers in Southern Kan
1iy-pn oloco 90 ba ohio
to keep any horses at all.
The result of so much CRIME resulted in
the formation of vigilance committees"
the object of which was to cause a sus-
pension Of horse-stealing by suspending the
thieves. The members of these committees
were called "Vigilantes,' and the beauty
of their method was found in the fact that
they never had to punish a man for the sec
ond offense.
While great deal of fault may be found
but the vigilantes in Kansas had an elevat-
ing effect on the horse-thieves.
When horse was stolen, the neighbor-
hood was notified and men started out in
squads Of from three to six. They all went
INTO the Territory, each squad selecting its
own route. A noticeable part of the outfit
of each squad would be a new halter rope
of size sufficient to hold three or four
horses, and perhaps thirty feet long. just
why such rope was necessary to hold po-
ny that at other tunes was perfectly gentle
did not appear, but the rope was taken along
at any rate.
In two or three days the squads of vigi-
lantes would begin to return. Finally one
squad came in leading the horse that had
been stolen. 1t might also be noticed that
while all the other men had brought back
the massive halter-rope, the squad that
brought the horse brought no rope
ave found the horse, but the thief got
away the successful men said, apologetic-
ally.
"Did you see the thiefs' some one would
ask
Eyes, we saw him and the last we
noticed of him he was going through the
brush" would be the answer, sometimes
varied SO as to have the man drown while
crossing river'
The truth was apparently told, but to the
farmer who had been member of similar
squad the careless words told of tragedy
and he knew that somewhere in the wild
country just south was corpse hanging to
a tree, a note pinned to the bosom and f1ut-
tering in the wind He knew that soul
had been hurried to it's Maker; that one
desperate man had struggled with others
as desperate and determined as himself
and had succumbed to the odds against
him. He knew also that it was a horse
thief that had been hung and that his own
animals were so much safer. Conscience
was stilled by the thought that it was his
duty; q horrible task, but none the less
bounden duty, due to himself, to his neigh
bors and to his family.
When starting on such a trip, each man
hoped that it would not be his squad that
should overtake the solitary man riding the
stolen horse He closed his eyes to shut
out the remembrance of the time when he
was a member of the successful squad
when he was one of the four who captured
the sullen criminal on the tired and worn
out horse. He could still hear the poor fell
low beg and plead fo- mercy which all foyr
were about to grant, until one of them
whispered ''our oaths," and from that mo-
ment the doom of the thief was sealed.
He hoped that he would never be party to
such another hideous crime, but he knew
that if he caught the thief he would do
what his neighbors expected Of him and
what he expected of them. Dead men tell
no tales, and neither does vlglante, so he
knew he was safe from all human law and
punishment.
But all this is past and horse-thieves and
vigilantes are almost unknown in Kansas.
The Missouri Pacific and the Santa Fee rail-
ways each cross the Indian Territory and it
is no longer den of criminals. The pio-
neer farmer of Kansas speaks Of the vigi-
lantes with a far-away air as though dirnly
remembering something of them and their
ways.
The scattering trees that have borne such
horrid fruit are still there and may be
known by their names and local tradition.
dead Mans Tree" at the head Of ''Horse
Thief Gulch,n is a wel-known place in the
Territory on the Arkansas river. Years
ago when going south from Wichita on a
stage the horses would be changed at sta
ton known as Three on a Limb" but the
railroads have done away with the stage
Just as civilization ended the necessity for