Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-02-15
THE MARE WAS DRUGGED.
WHY JIM CHARLEY SHOT SUllY,
PRAIRIE FLOWERS TRAINER.
A Stump Out In Kansas That Serves "a q
Dishonest Mans Tombstouo-Hew the
Peorias Repaid the ''FeIier. Who Fixed
Their Favorite to Lose,

Dishonest Mans Tombstouo-Hew the
Peoriss Repaid the .'FeIier. Who Fixed
Their Favorite to Lose.
There's feller buried by that stump. He
got killed, reckon"
The reckoning, should the wayfarer pursue
the subject, viii be found to be correct
The finest horses In the Indian territory six
years ago were owned by Dave Peery. He
has taken less interest in horses since then,
however. Peery vas white man who was
adopted by the PeOrias when he was 9. boy
He subsequently married the daughter of
Baptiste Peoria, the chief of the tribe, and
became man Of Importance among the In
dlans. He had love of fine horses, and as
bis wealth increased he spared neither pains
nor money in obta ming first class blue grass
horses from Kentucky. Although it is likely
that his best would have had but small chance
at Sheepshead Bay or Monmouth, yet here
they were wonders
The flower of the lot was bay mare called
Prairie Flower. 1T years Of age she was
the pride and delie lit of every Indian at the
Quapau agency, and not buck among them
but would wager his last pony and the hat
on his head that sle could distance anything
vest of the Mississippi in mile dash, or In
two miles, for that matter.
THE BAIT WAS TAKEN.
The fame of Prairie Flower spread until 1t
reached Kansas City and came to the ears of
the men who are called sports, and who
straightway determined to see what could be
done i'll the way OF skinning the hackers of
Prairie Flower. A trusted jockey was sent
down to look at her, and when he got back he
made the hearts OF the sports glad by saying
that while the mare could do everything that
was said of her-that she could outrun any,
thing owned in Kansas City, at least-shc
nevertheless was g-oomed by white man,
one Alfred Sully, who, for reasonable share
of the stakes, would fix the mare to lose
Thereupon the sports sat down and waited
until day had been set for what the Indians
call payment. A lot of money was due
from the Great Father at Washington, and
on certain day the agent would count it
out to them. 1t was easy for the sports to
arrange race for Prairie Flower and an un-
known from Kansas City for the day after
the payment, the stakes being $500 O side.
That was great day for the Indians 1t
was also great day for the sports. The In
dians, in their n,st apparel, and with the
money received the day before stuffed In
their pockets, gathered to see the sport. Old
Peery, confident OF victory, backed his mare
for 81 900 above the stakes. Jim Charley,
Jr., who had sh ort time before got big
lump of money for some land he had owned
in kansas City, backed her for $1,000
Strung along below these were wagers of
hundreds, and SO ON down to tens and ones
and jack knives ard brass rings Over Sl0,-
600 Of good money was put up on Prairie
Flower
Then the horses we're brought out amid the
hi-yis and cheers o. a throng of men, women
and children, nun berinS, it is said, upward
of 5000 people. The excitement was In
tense. Peerys own son, a lad of light weight
and great skill, rode the mare. The un-
known, to the disgust of the Peorias, was
bestrode by ''nigge
Finally, on the first try, the racers got of
with Prairie Flower alightly in the lead. For
over furlong she drew steadily away. The
Indians, who were squirting their ponies In q
mad gallop along, parallel with the track, in
thS hpfS VI ScOA4iS3 SfSl IL eAS iaSc
began to go will. As the mares head
showed clear they yelled. Then her neck
then her shoulder showed, and when, Just
short of the quarter post, she was seen to be
an entire length in the lead, they threw off
hats and coats and acted like witches with a
saint in the corral
THE SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED.
Then something happened The Indians
had been having all the fun. 1t was the
white mans turn now. But the white man.
especially if from Kansas City, was keeping
still. The unknown began to hold its own,
and at the half was tapping a neck, but there
wasn't any more cheering. At the three
quarter post Prairie Flower had not only lost
her pace, she was plainly in distress. The
unknown finished 10y six good lengths ahead
Had Prairie Flower been owned in any other
country than the Indian territory, and had
any other people than Indians been backing
her, there would have been trouble right
away on that race track The swindle was
barefaced The mare had been irugged.
But the Indians had been so often swindled
by white men that they allowed the sports to
ride away without even making protest
They were afraid to say anything.
But, although they lost their money, they
were not wholly without revenge. There
arose very soon after the race an inquiry for
Sully. Sully had not been seen about the
track since he turned the mare over to her
jockey, young Peery. Runners started In
every direction to search for him. Among
them was Jim Charley, Jr., with party of
dozen They went down past Charley's
house, and began search up and down the
West River bank They were joined by
others All night long they prowled through
the timber without success At daylight
they crossed over. Within fifteen minutes
they had found q trail where Sully, who had
entered and left tho water without betrayine
himself had returned during the night for
drink Instead of flying under cover of
darkness for the Missouri line he had hoped
to hide in the brush till the search was over
His thirst had betrayed him. Once on the
trail, Jim Charley and his band followed
straight to a thicket near the brow Of cliff
on the north side of Warren creek. There
they flushed their game Sully was seen fly
ing through thicket A bullet from Jim
Charieys rifle struck him In the back as he
started down the precipitous bank; away he
went headlong, plunging and tumbling from
rock to rock and ledge to ledge, until his body
lodged against the old stump which Is pointed
out to the wayfarsr bound along the trail
there to the old Spanish mines
He was dead before his body reached the
stump The Indians dug grave beside the
old stump, Just out Of the trail, tumbled the
body into it aud Piled or the dirt. Where
the dead man came from, or whether he bad
any relatives or friends elsewhere nobody
knows, and, except for such passing interest
a. the wayfarsr may feel, nobody cares
Chicago Herald