The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1891-05-01

emu uf ills rope about the anlmaES
neck. the other end about his arm put
his sonabrero on the back of his head.
lay Hat on the ground his hands
crossed under his face. His slicker
and his boots kept the rest of his body
dry. In five minutes he was snoring.
| watched the fellow Ia open-eyed
wonder while he was arranging forthe
nap. then tried to follow his example.
But did not sleep. | spite of me
drops of rain would find some unpro-
tected spot.
1t is well enough to tell something
of this man Morgan-he was Browns
narderer-righth here. Morgan's real
name uone knew. He was with the
outfit when l Joined it, but prior to
that no one had asked any questions.
Mine availed nothing. aud piqued
somewhat by his reticence | dubbed
him Mysterious Morgan He was
Browns opposite as a type. Brown
was cowboy Morgan was cow
puncher. He was medium-sized
man with black eyes. jet black hair.
mustache. and goatee. His cheeks he
himself shaved about once in two
weeks. After watching him perform
that tonsorial feat with a razor that
caused the blood TO start in dozen
places, audibly wondered why he did
not wait until he struck town. The
other boys smiled significantly, but
said nothing. l afterwards learned
that Mr.. Morgan did not make busi-
ness of visiting towns. and that he had
many potent reasons for not looking
like the Mr.. Morgan of n few years
previous; in fact that one or more
Texas sheriffs would have ridden far
and fast to have caught a glimpse of
his faee. Morgan was not popular
with l,<a 0f fTtavr arse. Nv
good judges of human nature and Nor
gan was as big a scoudrel as ever went
unhung. Yet he attended strictly to his
own business and he killed Brown be-
cause he believed the latter had threat
ened him. In fact, one night when
two of the boys. Kentuckian named
Jack Forester and one Bill Smith, got
into a row and Forester beat Smith
over the head with a six-shooter. and
five of us had a catch-as-catch-can
wrestling match for possession of the
weapon. Morgan was the first to
counsel peaee. He took no part in the
squabble. but toward the close of it he
walked up TO the group of excited men
aud in the softest tones imaginable
said:
Come, come. boys; lets don't have
any trouble in camp
Two days later he shot poor Brown
Wnlte ne was asleep
1t came about in this way: We were
camping on the banks of the Little
Frenchman river an insignificant
stream up in northwestern Nebraska.
Brown and ,.Reddy" Clyde, the cook.
had some words. The cook was i'm
pudent. and Brown drew his revolver
and told him to get one. CIyde re-
fused and would not fight but he
threatened. Brown would not shoot a
defenseless man, but in reply to Clyde.
he said:
."Oh. know what you r4ean. You
are depending on your partner. Get
off twenty PAGES aud FIJI light you
BOTH
Brown referred to another man, but
Morgan took it to himself. He did
not say q word but the next day at
noon when poor Walter was asleep
under the mess wagon he rode up, got
off his horse walked to the wagon,
pulled his six-shooter and remarkiug:
Brown came out of there" began
shooting.
The first ball went through Browns
neck. breaking it and killing him in-
stantly; two others entered his right
breast, an inch apart, and passed
through the body. With the first shot
Brown gave spasmodic start and -4lsis--
right hand went to the butL-0f his
pistol. 1t was there whep~we started
10 pull his dead bo1yfr from under the
wagon
1t was tes first killing l had ever
seeneIsffiId was horror-stricken. | re-
membered, too. something that Brown
had said to me but a few days before
We were riding al9ng together talking
of the uncertainties of the life we were
leading. when he said: Jack. don't
give snap for my life. but l
would hate to be buried here on the
prairie like dog"
After he was Killed realized what
his words meant. a hole two feet
deep within five PAGES of the spot
where he died was his grave.
We went through his pockets of
course A little book contained all
there was OF the story. In it was a
silver quarter, a f1attened bullet that
his brother-in-law had fired into his
hip. little plain gold ring evidently
a child's. aud card. On one side of
this latter was printed the name
Walter Yubanks.n and on the other,
written in scrawling. uncertain hand.
the words:
After the last roundup please send
this ring to Annie Yubanks Pasadena,
Cal. Write her Il liue and tell her her
father died sorry he was not better
man. Walter Yubanks"
We tore board off the side of a
soap-box drove it in the ground at the
head of the grave. and wrote with
lead-peneil:
Walter Yubanks. murdered while
asleep by coward" "
1t seemed pretty tough, somehow
but there was nothing more to do.