Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-12-26
The Were Spirity Birds.
st. Louis Globe Democrat

DO you hear those MOURNING doves .,
asked my companion as we were RIDING ON
horseback through Jackson county 3Ia
| replied that | did, and at that moment
the cry OF a mourning dove with the an
swering call OF Its mate was heard again
and seemed to proceed from a little creek
near where a deserted saw-milI stood.
well, said he, these are not mourn
ming doves, they are spirit birds. They
have been there for ten wears. and they
can be heard at all seasons. Whole par
ties have gone out to find those birds. and
they have not yet been seen and never will
be-"
| became interested. and asked for an
explanation of the sound if no doves were
there.
"Well." said my companion, 1T is a
strange story. 4 short time ago there was
a large amount of Moonshine whiskey
made in this country and almost every
man In this district had been brought be-
fore the United States Court in Huntsville.
Holmes Leatherwood, the bravest marshal
that ever captured a still, broke one up
right where that old Saw-miI stands. and
the owners of it vowed TO kill him if he
ever came into this country again and
they meant just what they said. 1t came
to Leatherwoods ears, and he made up
his mind that the still had been started up
again and told the officers at Huntsville
that he was going to find out. They beg.
ged him not to go and he promised them
that he wouldn't, but one morning just as
day was breaking he rode up the creek
there, which caused a general connection
throughout the mountain side, for they
hated Leatherwood as they would a rattle
/ Sr1nI-A nr,1 u-nrn 1D,-o1 &la+ l. IL -
leave alive. He had caught the still I'M
awares, and getting down from his horse
he broke 1t up. and had remounted before
the m~oonshiners could get together. But
as he started across the creek the crack of
a rifle could be heard from all sides, and
more than twenty bullets riddled his body.
His horse escaped and found his way back
to Huntsville with the bloody saddle.
showing as well as words could tell the
fate of the brave marshal.
1.-The mOonshiners took the body and
burned it In the furnace that had been
used at the still, and supposed that they
had seen the last of Leatherwood. and so
they had; but that day two mourning
doves made their appearance and kept up
their calls day and night. This was more
than the people could bear, and they hunt
ed everywhere for those birds, but none
could be found, and after a time the form
of Leatherwood himself could be seen
breaking up the still, which had been re-
built. At first they would shoot at the
form, but soon discovered that it was a
phantom and abandoned the still. Then
a saw-mill was built, but no one could be
induced to work there; the cries of the
birds and the form of the murdered man
at night were more than they could stand
and the saw-mlll had to stop work.
80 superstitious did the people become
that they left the valley here and went over
on the other side of the mountain, and as
no one has had sufficient temerity to come
here at night for a number of years it is
not known whether the spirit of Leather
wood in its earthly form still visits the
place or not, but the mourning doves are
still there as a constant reminder of the
tragic death of the United States officer"