The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-07-09
TOLD BY DETECTIVE.
Joining a Gang of Horsethieves In
Order to Fix Their Guilt
Surely.
The Story of John Riley, Who Is
Now Safe Over tho
Border.
A Man Hunt which Lasted Throe Years,
Cost Ten Thousand Dollars and
Put Many In Jail.

Seated in the corridor of one OF the no.
tals last evening was q medium-slzed, pleas
nnt-lookinc man, well-drsssed and resem-
bling in many respects a drummer. says tho
indianapolis News. He was one of Maj.
Carter's most trusted detectives. the man
who had captured the Usage county coun-
terfeiters, and who will be seen about the
federal building considerably next week.
II suppose when old Sam Rivers, who II IN
Jail for counterfeiting, is sent over tins
time,'' he remarked to q News reporter. 1t
will end him. Well. Sam has had his q ay,
suu a right lively one it was, too. do YOU
know that Sam is the last of a band OF rob
hers who infested this state for years? The
most complete gang ever organized. was
a member of it,"
"a member of a band Of horse thievest'
exclaimed the reporter.
"Yes.'' answered the secret service officer,
with q smile. II belonged to it until got
most of them behind stone walls"
The reporter pressed the detective for a
history of the criminals, and this remark
able romance in crime was related:
'John L. Riley was born and raised In
IldTtlOIAs N VI CIV kStSA AS
was a wild, reckless fellow, and shortly
after becoming of age he forged his fathers
name for $1,000 and fed to Philadelphia.
Here he assumed the name of Thomas W.
Foster, and engaged in the horse business,
connecting himself with a lot of sharpsrs,
whose business it was to fleece countrymen.
He made considerable money and flew
rather high. One night at q theatsr he
formed the acquaintance of a woman
named Mcbride, whose husband was an
alderman and quite wealthy. The firta-
ton was SO marked between the two
that the husband was informed,
and LIE hired mo to watch
his wife. This / did, and the informa-
tion / secured of her life in Philadelphia
society would make a startling book. As l
was about to trap the guilty pair they
sloped, and took with them several thou
started after them; got trace of them at
Cincinnati, where they bought tickets for
st. Louis, and / went there. | looked for
them for months through the west, and
finally gave up the chase. 1t seems in
stead of going to St. Louis they stopped off
at Osgood, Ind, where Foster, with the
money stolen by the woman went into
business, and while | was searching for
them all over the west; they were living
worry secluded lives at the little Indiana
town.
notorious Missouri Rittenhouse and Isaac
Levy and his family, all of whom were
counterfeiters and crooks. The whole
lot became quite intimate, and when
Foster bought a livery stable and
ostsnsibly did a legitimate business,
stolen horses. He and Levy bought horses
and passed counterfeit money, and, attend
ing all the fair, and races, soon became ac-
quainted with all the thieves and crooks of
the country. A great many horses were
stolen, men robbed on the highway, stores
plundered and men beaten nearly to death.
Crime was rampant. The people raised g
fund and l was employed to ferret out the
marauders. When l got to Osgood l recog-
nized my old friend Foster and tho alder
mans wife, and made up my mind he was
the man | must cultivate. | could not get
in with him, however, and he sold out and
moved to Columbus, O.. There he and his
wife moved in the best of society, gave
grand parties n were the associates of tho
most prominent people of the city. Two
years of rapid living drained Fosters re-
sources, and, becoming heavily in debt. he
returned to Osgood. His wife deserted him
and went to Washington, ID. G., whore she
AWE uLAACA Gil ncauA1SN OLAO
"Foster handled crooked money and dealt
in stolen horses, and on July 8, 1884, l be-
came a hostler in his stable. l did not get
a good pointer until in the fall, when Sam
Rivers hired a buggy at the stable and was
driven to the country by young Sam Kitten
house. That night a horse was stolen, and
when young Sam was arrested my evidence
cleared him and l was looked upon as a
safe man. l became Fosters right-hand
man. He introduced me to Henry Under
wood, Sam Rivers, Walter Harmon, John
Kelly, Hiram Kelly, William Wainscott,
Frank Elder, Skinny Douglass, John Hol-
loway and a number Of othe 8 whose names
l can not recall just now. The thieves
would average a horse each week, and in
warm weather the animals were kept in a
thick woods until a shipment was made.
All this time l WAS in communication
With the authorities, and turned up a good
deal OF the stolen property. | knew
the stealing was going on, but | dldn'th have
the evidence to commit the gang, and that
WIS what my employers wanted. Henry
Underwood stole = fine rcan horse in In
dlanapolis, and two days after Foster got
the animal. He sold 1t to a prominent
whisky dealer of Aurora, Ind. The Indian
apolis parties traced their horse to Aurora.
and Foster paid the money back, claiming
he bought the horse from a man named
Howard, living in Ripley county. But the
Marion county people were not Satisfied.
IOStST WIS arrested, trleQ, ana sentenced to
three years IN state prison. The Buprerne
court reversed the finding, ard he came
back for another trial. As soon as he re-
turned he was arrested on TWO indictments
from Boone county. two from Dearborn
county, and three from Ripley county He
was put under 5000 bonds, his father-iu-
law Che having. after the aldernan's wife
dosertsd him, married the daughter of Il
Versailles druggist becoming his surety.
He jumped his bond and fed to Canada.
lie Id now living in Hamilton.
roster being out of the way, Mialou
Elttenhou6e became the leader of the gang.
Strange to say, | was still unsupported, end
boarded with Mira. RittenhouBe, sharing the
fullest confidence of the thieves and crooks
that made her house their headquarters.
My LIE there was one continuous adyen-
ture, and many times did | warn men who
were to be robbed or their stores broken
into. Night after night | would scou,
around and confer with tho authorities
and as the gang one by one became eutan-
eled in the meshes of the law | was able tc
divert suspicion from myself. If they had
thought me an officer | wouldn't be here
now to tell tho story.
Henry Underwood and Walter Harmon
robbed an old man named Downing. IL
Boone county, and because Downing pre-
tested Underwood nearly Drained him with
his revolver. Underwood, Harmon anc
John Kelly robbed a store at Mechanics
burg of 5000 worth of goods, hut the own
ers got most of tho goods back. Lyle Lev
and Hiram II. Kelly plundeged q store in
Osgood and took the plumber to a house
where lived n young woman with whom