Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1890-08-28
AN OUTLAW.


ment had established its departments
and military posts hundreds of the late
rebel soldiery were little better than
outlaws. The strong hand of the mill
tary authorities soon downed the major
ity, but there were others who preferred
to die in the woods or swamp5 rather
than return to ways of peace. When
they had been given a reasonable time
to come in, and when it was seen that
they openly defed the power Of the gov
eminent, they were outlawed and price
set upon the heads Of the leaders. More
over, small detachments Of soldiers
hunted them down, and army scouts
went out in pairs and had many stir
ring adventure While these outlaws
were ex-rebels most of them had been
guerrillas in the war, robbing both
friend and foe, and the regular rebel
soldier who had made Il regular surren-
der had no sympathy with them.
In September, 1866, word came into
Helena that an outlaw named Bill Traver
had taken up his retreat in the woods
a few miles below and on the Mississippi
shore of the river Indeed, the word
came to us direct from him and was
brought by colored man. Not being
message, and it was to the effect that he
hated the government had killed fifty
Yankees during the war, and now defied
the military force to capture him. Will
liam Bastrop and myself, both being on
duty as scouts, were detailed to investi-
gate. The order detailing us meant this:
"You are hereby granted ten days
leave of absence to kill Bill Traver, out
law, or to be killed yourselves"
The negro disappeared after delivering
his message, and we waited two days
before making a move. We were then
set across the river in a skiff at night
and left to pursue our plans. Traver
would be expecting us to approach his
retreat in front and by boat, while we
proposed to go in by the back door, if at
all. He might be in the woods and he
might not, although the negro was honest
in telling his story. We doubted if any
human being could live in the woods at
that season on account of the torment of
the insects. We had in mind an old
cabin in a clearing two miles back of the
river. A squad of fifteen of us had once
captured five outlaws in this cabin, and
For this reason no one would occupy the
cabin, not even a negro squatter
Whether Traver would be affected by
q Ike sszpezS.itioz s-esiid not know, but
proposed to find out We each had a
Winchester and revolver, with a pack
Of provisions, and an hour before day-
light we were in hiding close to the
cabin. When day broke we saw that
the door-there was but one-was shut,
and that an old coffee sack had been
nailed over the only window. These
were evidences that the house was occu-
pied by some one, and from our ambush
behind log, and only pistol shot away,
we kept closer watch.
1t was about s o'clock in the morning
when colored man came out Of the
cabin and built fire on the ground and
began to cook breakfast. We could
smell the frying bacon and catch the
odor of the coffee, and we felt sure that
Traver or some other white man was
inside. 1t took the man about half an
hour to prepare the meal, and during
this interval we made up our minds that
we had never seen him before. When
he had everything ready he went to the
door and called, and five minutes later
Traver appeared. There was no mis-
taking him, as he tailed point for point
with the description given us. He was
ragged, dirty, desperate looking fell
low, and he was evidently in bad humor.
He kicked the negro aside and sat down
to his breakfast, and for ten minutes he
kept up continued growing and ours
ing. The negro retired to log ten feet
away, and while he made no reply to
the abuse heaped upon him, he did not
seem much disturbed by it.
There was no doubt that Traver was
well armed. Had he not considered him
self perfectly safe he would not have
stirred outdoors without a weapon
While he had been outlawed, and while
we knew him to be robber and mur-
derer, we could not kill him off hand
Either one of us could have sent bull
let into his head from our ambush. and
we knew that he would shoot us down
like dogs if he had the chance. We final
ly decided to flank him right and left,
and hope to get so near the cabin as to
cut off his retreat to it when we called
upon him to surrender. passed to the
right and Bastrop to the left. He had
the best cover. When | had accom-
plished half the distance the negro sud
denly rose up, alarmed by the breaking
of a twig, saw me, and uttered a whoop
Bastrop rose up and demanded a surren-
der, while | fired on the outlaw. In an
instant both men were in the cabin with
the door shut, and our game was blocked
We dropped to the ground, and five min
utes later one passing by could not have
told that there was a human being with
in twenty miles Of the spot.
After a quarter of an hour of the
deepest silence we moved back until we
came together. We had Gagged our man,
and the negro was evidently bad one
able to command the only exit from the
house, but there was no telling what
sort of a dodge Traver would be up to
as an offset We decided to guard the
door and window for the day at least,
feeling certain that the outlaws had no
supply Of water in the cabin. That day
seemed long enough to make Tun
week. We were tormented by mos
quitoes, had only hardtack to satisfy
our hunger, and our thirst was quenched
with water unfit for an OK to drink.
We were constantly expecting to see the
men open the door and spring for cover,
only few feet away, and the situation
was constant tax on the nerves. Noon
came, mid afternoon came, the sun went
down, and not the slightest move had
been made by our enemies. Had we
not seen them rush into the cabin and
shut the door we should have said that
the place was untenanted. Traver.
though a desperate man, had too much
sense to expose himself to our fire by
daylight. He knew that there were at
least two of us, and perhaps he feared
that we numbered five or six. He had
only to wait until night came to get a
more even show.
As the sun went down and the dark
ness settled upon the wood we crept
nearer the house, and when we finally
II