Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-03-09
States district court, convicted and

IOH uduy dTTSsL5 SIliIWeIl mas UdU0
in his lifetime he pretends not to know.
But seventeen men he has sent to their
death by the hangman' 3 moose. Thirty
one, it Is said he has killed. Even IN
that wild country, where men who have
killed ''their man. are not a few, he
is pointed out to strangers with a feeling
Of mingled awe and respect. He never
speaks of himself except when he has
been drinking too freely. Then he " i'll
tell, in a way peculiarly his own, how
some one met his death through his assist
ance.
In the northern part OF the Territory
there operated about five years ago a
most notorious gang of desperadOes,
headed by the Wade brothers n called
the Wade gang. Many thefts aud muir
ders were laid to their credit. Jack,
with a trusted party Of men, determined
TO break them up. As a result of this
raid Bob Wade was in September, 1886 :,
brought before Ju 1ge C. @. Foster of the
United States court of the district of
Kansas, found guilty and sent to the
penitentiaTy. His brother sought refuge
in the wilds of the Missouri mountains,
and the members Of the gang, with a
few exceptions, were arrested the fol-
lowing year and either sent to the peni-
Tertiary or driven out of the Territory.
Those who did remain knew that a price
was upon their head and were determined
to sell their lives dearly.
One day in the spring OF 1888, as Jack
was riding from Fort Reno to Kingisher
he saw along the trail far before him a
horseman. As the two men approached
each other the deputy recognized Gray,
a member of the Wade gang, who had
sworn to kill him if ever they met. It
was a beautiful spring day, the sun
shone bright, and the air had that pecu-
liar clearness and buOyancy that adds a
zest to existence. Before and behind
them stretched the trail until lost over
the ''divides.' There were no other
human habitations in sight. Not a
human habitation broke the level
monotony. Life was sweet to both of
these men, yet they felt that one or both
would never leave the trail alive. Neither
slackened the pace of his horse and zach
was ready to ''drRw'' at the least sign
from the other. They were within FIVE
feet of each other when there was q flash
Of light, a report and the desperate
dropped from his saddle. Jack rode IN
and to the first man he met he said:
:'There is a dead man lying back there
on the trail
Jack s home Is at Fort Reno, in the
Cheyenne nation. 1t is as modest as the
man himself. He is fond of good dogs,
and has arOund hun as many as he can
secure. He never was married and the
reason is said to be the key to his roman
tic career. When q young man he fell
deeply in love with the cOmely daughter
of an old pioneer. The father had other
plans for her, and she married, in ac-
cordance to his wish, a man who after
wards became prominent in public life.
Jack never forgot her, and persons who
q at times Unexpectedly come upon
him in his cabin ave seen him gazing
tenderly upon a face in a small locket,
which he would hastily conceal when
surprised. Through all of his years of
hardships that girlish face has been the
one sweet memory which at times light
ened up his adventurous life.
His whole life has been spent upon the
plains, and his long residence with the
Indians has made him familiar with their
language and customs. He is thus q
most valuable mau TO the troops. The
act that first brought him into prom
inence was breaking through the lines Of
Cheyennes that hemmed in q party of
soldiers IN the quicksands of the ATkan-
sas valley. Stillwell ran a distance of
twenty miles, pursued by Indians, TO
Fort Dodge, and guiding back reinforce
ments, rescued the soldiers when,
through hunger and want of ammuni-
ton, they were about to fall into the
hands of the red men. From that time
he became one of the most trusted scouts,
and was often called upon to settle diff
culties between settlers and hostile
tribes.
The Indians look upon him as their
nrnFa0for an6 Uhpn he pnmaS tn Wichita
to attend the yearly sessions of the United
States district court, he Is followed
about the streets by Indians in their
primitive costumes. Jacks opinion of
his charges, however, is not very high,
for he looks upon them as a lot of thieV-
ing, dirty, lazy scamps.
The attendance upon the United States
court Is considered by him as most of
the other attendants from the Territory,
as a season of amusement and festivity.
He is lioniZed in q way, and on the
strength of it generally keeps himself
well formed upon prohibition whisky.
Judge Foster, who has held his pres
ent position on the bench since 1874, is
viewed by Jack with admiration, by the
indian with awe, and by the despera-
does with terror. The expedition with
which he disposes of the vast amount of
&cSdi UuSluGSSp lilo lhlEUS5S Will WHICH
he treats all the u~nfortunates brought
before him, and finally the easy off-hRnd
manner with which he pronounces a SEN
tence of imprisonment for a day or "'tO
be hanged by the neck until dead -
makes Jack fairly bubble over with de-
light at the thought of being IN officer of
such a court.
On the occasion of the session in 1889
Jack was introduced to a Mr.. Bradshaw,
a wealthy young Englishman, who ex-
pressed a desire to make his acquaint-
ance. Possibly the foreigner was writ
ing a book.
81 was thinking, don't you know, -
said he, putting his onocle to his eye,
and leaning carelessly against the cOun-
ter at Hotel Carey, "of coming down to
Fort Reno aud calling upon you. What
do you think of it?'' e
lack eyed him carefully from head to
foot and said brusquely "WelI, If you
do come, come to see me; but On you,
dom t you come! Let me give you a
pointer! If you do come, don't think
you can ride anything that's got ha r Oh, |
for things do buck down that way all
fred some times
OF all the characters I have met dur-