Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1889-04-23
CONQUERED BY SNAKES
A Gang Of Outlaws Hemmed In
by an Army Of Serpents.

by an Army or Serpent8.
The close of the civil war left some por
tions Of the South in the hands of desper
atclv wicked men. Particularly was thi
true of parts of Missouri, Mississippi, Ar
kansas, Louisiana and Texas. While thu
Confederate troops had disbanded and be
fore the Federal could occupy the country
the guerrilla and bushwhackcr were there
| had district assigned to me along the
st. Francis river, Arkansas, and the tota
strength of my command was twenty-eighl
men.
In my territory, says writer in the New
York Sun, as | soon ascertained were some
of the worst dcsperadOes in the West. All
had belonged to guerrilla bands, and all had
refused to come in and surrender at the close
of tho war. The meancst, if not the worst,
man IN my district was Captain Dade. He
was in command of Il dozen outlaws. Isent
the desperate word to come in and surren-
der. lie sent me word to 60 to thunder. l
nOtllied Inn in writing that If he did not
come IN by n certain date | should declare
Inn an outlaw in the district, and proceed
to hunt HIM down and kill him. He replied
! bv word of mouth that if | did not surren-
| der to HIM on or before the same date he
| would proceed to exterminate my com
| mand. | gave him ten days, having not the
slightest hope that he would come in. On
| the morning of the eleventh day | had a
! call from native, about twenty-five years
old, who announced himself as "Dan," and
who said he had called on little business
matter | supposed it to be about permit,
or to make complaint, but after bit he OBJ
served:
Captain, them ten days ar up, an
reckon Bill Dade hap't shown hisself,"
mo, he hasn't come in"
AN he won't, nuther."
81 don't expect he will.n
"Wall ar you gwine ter let him an his
gang keep up thar whoppn' an shottin' an
killin'P
mo. Bill Dade and his gang are now out
lawed by proclamation. am going to hunt
them down and wipe them out"
Fright off, Captainl"
"As soon as l can arrange for it."
"You kin arrange right now, Captain.
That's what I'm yere fur. How much a
head if wipe out the Dade ganglr
"How many are there?"
Just five, an every one of 'em has com.
mitted murder an wuss a dozen times
over"
II can't offer reward for their heads. I
thomtics have the right to shoot them on
sight"
AT that moment word was brought me
that Dade's gang had come within two miles
OF headquarters and murdered two Of the
command who were stationed at freed
mans rendezvous to preserve order. Hall
an hour later the man called Dan departed
on his man hunt, and he had my agreement
IN writing that neither the law nor the mill
tary should trouble him for shooting down
any of the gang
THIS daring man-hunter stepped into his
canoe and padded up the river about five
miles. Then he entered bayou to the
right, and carefully made his way to bit of
high ground about two miles from the
river. All the low lands were then nm
der overflow for ten miles back, md he
knew of but one spot where the outlaws
could rendezvous. This was a larger island.
about half mile away and bearing log.
house and some farm improvements. At
this time the place could be approached only
by water, and Dade was not bluffing when
he dened me. 1t is doubtful if any offer of
reward could have induced Federal sol
der to follow Dan. The overflow had driven
the reptiles to take refuge in the bushes
ana trees, and as his canoe moved in and out
tue hlss OF the cotton-lnouth and the warn
ing oil the rattler came TO his ears almost
continuously Half dozen times in the
course OF half an hour hideous serpents LET
20 OF the branches and fell into the water
with a loud splash and swan for the canoe
perhaps hoping to be carried to the high
ground, and ut such times the man had 10
lay down his paddle and beat them off with
pole, There was danger with every rod
OF the journey, and the semi-darlness and
the utter stiffness would have taken the
courage from an average maa
Dan did not land upon the island. but
made the circuit Of it in MS canoe, and
satlshed himself that no sentinel was es-
'ao1iShed here, as he suspected might be the
vase ii one had been posted there he had
oeeh forced to abandon his position by the
thousands OF reptiles which had been driven
IN Tor shelter. ANY craft seeking the other
Island must pass here, and any craft maxi
ing Tor the river from the other island INNS,
use this channel. Satisfied that he had lef, |
no danger behind him, and that his way OF |
retreat was open il he were forced TO fail |
oack, Dan cautiously proceeded on his |
way II was not yet mid-afternoon. II |
was hot summers day, and there was
absolute silence in the great swamp. The |
outlaws, returned from their raid, would |
TAP0V' pursuit, and, therefore, be watchful
lan was known 10 all of them, and the in.
s'ahl ne was discovered he would be shot
aoWh' lie knew every foot of the island.
anu as ne neared It he had his plans ali
M 'alu' Making wide sweep by forcing his
'ahoe where II seemed hardly possible Tor
serpent TO 90, he landed on the north side
u the piece Of land, half a mile from the
nut As soon as he had hidden the craft he
Aade ms way toward the clearing, moving
WIN AZ the caution Of an Indian on the war.
,alh. he said he saw more snakes that
'g 'nan ne supposed the whole country
lela' lie touched them time and again. ana
icing bitten. VI
men Dan reached the edge Of the clear.
ns AZ point where he was close upon the
aoin' he was surprised 10 find every thins
Iule1 There wss smoldering fire AZ the
oor, ana plenty Of evidence thar The msn
we're near, II they had set a watch il VA.
own o q, the landing. After waiting for
'A'' N hour Dan made two Important ais,
fA1a A.