Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-02-18
RATHER A COSTLY JOKE.
A SCARE THAT WAS CAUSED BY
AN UNSIGNED BOGUS DISPATCH.

ment In 1883 Gle ared Up--"Judge" Bean
and His Jovial Companions Play Prac-
ticsi Joke.
There are probably not half dozen people
living who are aware that the terrible Indian
raid in southwestern Texas, along the Rio
Grande, in the spring of 1883, was bogus
affair, Fewer yet know the origin of the
farce, which arose simply from drunken
spree, cost the natl NAL government and the
Southern Pacific Railroad company thou
sands of dollars and caused the people along
that road such fright as they will not soon
forget.
The facts in the case are given as follows
by writer in Tho st. Louis Post Dispatch:
On Jan. l2, 1882 connection was made be-
tween the 'Sunset or q. H. and s. A. rail
road, running west from San Antonio, Tex,
and tho Southern Pacific, running east from
San Francisco, Cal. Both roads had been III
course of construction for several years, lead
ing through a wild, desolate and uninhabited
region OF country The counties through
which the roads were built, in the Pecos and
Devils River countries, were unorganized,
and since the labor employed along the line
consisted of probably as rough an element of
civilization as the world ever saw there was
very little semblance of law or order among
the thousands and thousands OF men in the
grading camps strung ..iun.e the line. The
principle of existen g was every man for him.
self, etc
REPRESENTATIVES, or LAW AND ORDER
Finally murders highway robberies and
other crimes became so frequent that the con-
tractors and the railroad company united In
petition to the governor OF tie state TO ap-
point II justice Of tn peace, clothed with the
additional functions and authority of coro-
ner. with jurisdiction over this entire terri.
tory. The petition was granted, and the man
appointed at the request of the petitioners to
dn this important POSITION was Roy Bean
Judge" Bean, us he was called, was
short, stocky man of about five feet eight
inches in height, about &c years of age, illit-
crate, stern, pompous and courageous.
His honor, as be frequently asserted, was
the law, the Judge, the jury, attorneys and,
II need be, witness Un both sides He swore in
the Renaissance style, and his decisions were
brilliantly bespange ed with salient and pro
nounced forms of encient and modern impre-
cation.
But after exercising such arbitrary author
ity over territory larger than several east
orn states thrown together as soon az the
connection was made, tho camps deserted
and the men scattered, Othellos occupation
was gone, and the Judge had to HE him to
pastures new. He vent westward on the line
pr,Irr pal bo
at Langtry, which station was inhabited by
tho operator and the tankman until Judge
Beams arrival
But To our episUde During the warm sum-
mar months OF 1885 the writer happened 10
be IN the little border town of Del Rio one
day about hoon. The village was wild with
excitement over dispatch coming from tho
west worded; The Indians are upon usto
The operator did not sign bis station, and
what its locality might be or where thu In
dams might be IVES left TO conjecture The
suppositioa was that tire poor fellow had
either fed for his life or had been scalpsd.
The kilograms kept flying and anxious tnqui-
ries were made Of ea ch passing train, but moth
ing cuuld be learned. Finally the excite
ment grew 50 intense that Superintendent
Van Week, in Gsn Antonio, was literally
snowed in with kilograms beseeohing: 'eFor
| Gods sake, send us trains to tako us TO place
of safetyW Trains were made up taking the
employees and their families to either Del Rio
or SanCleron.
In the meantime there was q company of
United States cavary at the post Of Del Rio,
commanded by Capt. Randlett. As soon as
there seemed to be good grounds for action
the captain wired Gen. Stanley ut San An
tonic, commandant of the southwestern mill
tary system, asking what he should do In the
premises The general telcgraphed at once
to the secretary OF war at Washington ask
ing instructions, and was ordered to have
Capt. Randlett's company to go to the scene
of action at once. At O'Clock the morning
after the alarm the cavalry were aboard the
cars and whirling along to the fray. They
were gone a week or ten days, callarrupins
around over the Irairies in search of the
bloody hostiles, and returned with the report
that no one had been killed and not living
soul could be found who had seen or definitely
heard of an Indian The fears of the people
gradually subsidized and the incident became
a thing of the past.
THE MYsTTRY CLEARED UP.
During that summer the writer had occa-
sion to go to Langty, where Judge Bean was
conducting his establishment for the dispen-
sation of liquids. Incidentally the judge de-
tailed the facts, with much glee, about the
cause of the recent called Indian outbreak
They were as follows: One forenoon there ar
rived at Langtry ranger and a cowboy,
who announced to iis honor that they were
going over into Mexico, about half mile
away, to hunt deer and turkeys They drank
considerable before starting, and shortly after
arriving on the Mexican side of the river
they discovered wild Apache buck about
10 years old. They Immediately drew down
upon him, disarmei him, and, contrary to
every principle of international law between
tho two republics, forced him to come with
them to the American side
The Indian could speak neither English nor
spanish, so they took him up to Judge Bean,
who spoke Apache md several other Indian
dialects quite fluenty After imbibing freely
of the ardent fluid and loosening up the In
dams tongue the quartet became quite fa-
miliar. They waited ON the operator in q
body and invited him to join the festivities
of the hilarious coterie, and when he had pre-
cipitated himself with sufficient fervor into
the cup THAT cheer and likewise inebriates
they persuaded him TO flash the announcement
over the wire: "Tho Indians are upon u.s."
Ee was sensible enough not to sign his sta
tion, and to this good day it has been mys-
terry as to what was tho origin and substance
of the terrible Indif n scare of 1888.