The Newtown bee., 1889-11-29
REMARKABLE INDIAN
 DESPERADO.


 Tahlequah, the other day, in company with Cherokee friend, we met person. age who instantly challenged attention. His swarthy complexion, coarse, straight hair, high cheek bones and coal black eyes denominated him an Indian, a full- blooded Cherokee. He was dressed in q costume partly that of the Indian, partly that of the white man that suggested an attempt at a compromise between bar barism and civilization. Of magnificent physique, he was six feet three inches in height Gas l was afterward told), with deep chest and splendid breadth of shoulders. His hair was fast whitening with age, but he stepped with almost the elasticity of youth. Beneath cavernous brows, his keen eyes played with a rest lessness that had become habitual. His every movement inspired distrust, though If asked to do so, l could not tell wherein his walk or action differed from that of any other full blood of his tribe. l felt distrust rather than saw anything to excite suspicion.
 "Who is hep 1 asked my companion. UucOnsciously l had half whispered my inquiry and was compelled to repeat it.
 "Why don't you know himy' he re- piled with surprise. That's Old Tom Starr!''
 turned to look at the vanishing form of the old desperate, for such he was, as he strode in moccasined feet silently down the street. l had heard vague something's of "Old Tom Starr" ever since had been in Indian Territory, but had supposed him to be but one of the many desperate fugitives from justice who have fled from States to find tenn porary security among the civilized tribes. A sight of him, however, was sufficient to arouse my curiosity and I got his history. It reads like the most improbable fiction.
 In 1918, the Cherokees were re- moved from their reservations in Alaba. ma and Georgia to their present home. tract west of the Mississippi. Through intermarriages with the whites and the infusion of white blood, the Cherokees had made some progress in the civilized
 
 and were the owners of fiocks and herds The white mans way" however, mel with opposition from by far the larger portion of the full-bloods, who clung tC their past with tenacity born of love for the hunt and chase and hatred o1 physical toil Chief among these recall citrants was n brave named Starr. At tached to the hunting grounds of his fathers, he obeyed the orders of the government to move west of the Missis sippi with a doggcd and sullen defiance When few years after the location O1 the tribe on it's present reservation, the Cherokee substituted republican form of government for the autOcracy of q chief, Starr and his followers openly re belled.
 It cannot be denied that the attempt at self government was made too early. Tyros in government as they were, it was hard for a Cherokee to bring himself to yield to the authority of an officer Luckily, however, their system of gov ernment did not call for the public taxation. Had it done so, the probabili- ties are about even that Starr and his kind would have had following enough to have overthrown the government and swept away the evidence of tho embry- Onic civilization.
 After considerable bloodshed, the re. bellion was put down, Starr himself was surprised near one of his retreats on the Canadian river by a sheriff7s posse anG shot. Tom Starr, his son and the sub ject of this sketch, was by his side wher he fell. Tom caught his dying father ir his arms. That marked the beginning of Toms notorious career. Over the sci features of his father he vowed to kill every member of his parents pursuers He carried out his purpose in two years and in that time had become terror to the country.
 In the prime of his manhood at this period he was, with the exception of his brOther-in-law, 'Bill'' Vest, whom he afterward killed, tine strongest man in the Cherokee nation. Caution, however, was chief characteristic with him. He has never borne the reputation of be- ing very brave man, though, when closely harrassed, he has performed feats of prodigious valor. He was cruel, re- lentless in his hatred and always op the alert. He had huts and dugouts along the Canadian river, connected by subter- ranean passages that afforded him means of escape in any extremity.
 In 1S45, the Cherokee national council proclaimed Tom Starr an outlaw and off, fered big reward for his capture. In reciting his misdeeds, the council charg- cd him with the murder of g men. Be- tween ls45 and 1886, Starr more than doubled his death record. His depre- dations extended as far east as Tennes- see, as far north as Missouri, as far south as Texas and as far west as New Mexico. For a number of years, he confined his operations to the Cherokee nation, but as his notoriety increased and his band of desperadoes swelled in numbers he ex- tended his territory. 1t was Starr's plan of action after killing his victim to burn his house, destroy all his property and take possession of his cattle and negroes. Starr did thriving business in human live stock. He stole negroes from the Cherokees and sold them in Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas and, in return, stole negroes from Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas and sold them to the Chero- kees. While awaiting an opportunity to sell them, he held his negroes captive in his underground abodes on the Canadian