The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-09-19
PRIMITIVE

UAs D~ss.Avanaage 80 sseing the Ftr~s tS
Dssssver . Astis.s~a Hsnay.
Dvun she New YORK sun.
Afssr the close of the war Texas, Arkan-
sas. Kansas and Missouri swarsncd with
had men. From 1s6S to ISIS Law and order
and military were almost powerics:
against the lawlcss hands and gangs al
oesperadoes. I went west and was em-
paoyed as n government scout, hut being
wounded my an Indian arrow i'm the spring
Of 1857, I got u three months leave of ah-
ss>nce and went down OH the Texas coast
N recruit. had bee,i at indianola about
when ] took N small sailboat one day ana
went oil up the INNER hay on N Ion Y
of'a crck, where a cahin was in view
10 replace my stock. The cabin was
and after a "hillo!" which was not am
swered. ] landed and ak mp tn the
house. The door stood wide open. and on
the floor lay u man, cold and dead, having
been shot i'm the breast. After ~ moment
! entcrcd for a closer investigations, and
had occurred several hours previously.
The cabin was IA wretchctl structure,
poorly furnished, and i did not seem af il
I had rcturnedto the door, intending tai
hasten to lndianola and give the alarm,
sMnen . L. TN "ss c"TTS.,9 i .Inr ".nm .
related the news, and all of them returned
To the house with me-. The men satisfied
tlte'tttSSINtr ttiStt ttfc tHhly war GDiels NsttI
presently drew apart aud began To consult
together, and after four or five minutes
their leader said to me;
My mates arr. agreed that this don't look
right,
"How do you mean
"Why, thar's bin n murder here"
$50 there has, hut you don't connect me
with IL, do you:"
..weil, we found you herr alone"
had found you here. That body, as you
see. is stone cold, showing that death took
place hours ago, while l left town only at
Or soon aftcr."
They consuitesl again, and tucn he said:
"You may he all right, but you'll haye 10
prove IL. We shall take You to town."
Expressed my Willingness To go and
asked them tn particularly remember the
voiver and note It's condition. hadn't the
least idea thatI had got myself into trouble,
hut I soon d~iscoversd tn the contrary. l
ola and u party went up To view the body.
There had been n murder. Somebody was
guilty. l was found there and alone. Il
innocent. That was the way of the west
then. There was but one lawyer i'm the
his service. I was confined i'm AN old
hnildinR used as n guard house during
during In war, and as soon as the party
returned and reported that no trace Of
the murhcrer could he found public senti-
ment was against me. A warrant was is
I was bought for e~xaminatio There
wasn't the slightest proof to hold me on,
hut the Squire, who knew nothing what
ever of law, and was hardly intelligent in
the ordinary sense, ordered me held until
further investigation. Small squads of
men were sent ont To beat up for the muir.
derssr, hut at noon on the third day all
had come i'm except one. and had met
with no success. / sat looking out Of II
wooden barred window facing the street,
when ! saw five or six men stop opposite,
and begin To argue and discuss. They
we're talking when my lawyer entered,
uvn<N .,<Hl1N, xnI~ax.rxx
well, they haven't found anybody else.
and the boys say they are going to hang
your
sBut you know I'm innocent?
"Of course 1 do, hut they don't believe
because they can,t lind the guilty one?
'.That's about the size Of IL. I'll GO out
and have another talk, however; You
know we don't go much ON either law or
gospel around herr since the war;"
He went out and a crowd gathered and
He mounted n box and said:
'Now. then, what's the usc? Let's look
at the facts i'm the case. It's morn's likely
left home. What would he want tO kill
him for?. The old man had nothing tn he
r r%SIs she OF p rs.sms =" d!ES iI% r nnY. s"T ,Ss,% sra ans,
wouldn't want 'em. Then, too, he was shot
with N rifle ball. and the prisoner only
have run of when the fishhoat came up;
hut he went right down To meet il. Now,
don't you go and hang "a man who is limo
And then one of the crowd got mp on
the same box and said:
To any man here IL the prisoner proved his
innocence. Wasn't he thar: Was any
one else thar Was amy one else thar!
do il who did,? How do we know IL takes
five or six hours for a dead man to get
cold? How do we know he didn't get into
a dispute with the old man
Several others spoke against me. all