Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1892-07-15
A Horse Stealing Case Tried Yes
terday, Which is Queer in it's
Developments.
A Change of Venue, Taken From
One Justice, and the Defend
ant Discharged.
Other Local Items of Interest Com
piled for Readers Matutinal
Perusal,
A Queer Case,

ou0 VI tLo queeFeSG cases over QoarQ,
was tried before Justice Boyle Wednes-
day. Not that the alleged offense was
queer, for it was one of the most COM
mon-horse stealing; but the foundation
for the complaint and the attendant cir
cumstances combined to render it extra
ordinary, indeed. Last Monday while
two stockmen, who are driving a drove
of horses from Montana, eastward, we're
camped at the stock yards, their horses,
~forty-two head stampeded, ard twenty
three of them started to return over the
back trail, to the country from which
they had ONE The herder, whose
name is Pope, was unable to find them
or any traces Of whittier they had gone,
and, accordingly, one of the owners
started out to look for them, leaving
Pope and the other owner, whose name
is Skylock, in charge of the remaining
animals. He was gone all night, and
the next day there was no one to care
for the horses except Pope, Skylock pre-
ferring to remain in camp. When it
came time for Pope to 60 to dinner, he
was forced to leave the horses for a
short time %unguarded, and they natur-
ally began to stray off. Skylock sent
the boy out to see if any of them were
missing, and he returned in a few mo-
ments, with the statement that a gray
was gone. Skylock then sent the boy
out to look up the gray, but specified no
direction for him to take and no time
for his return. The boy failed to
return, and Skylock becoming anx-
ious, rode out to where the horses
were feeding, and to his surprise,
found that the gray horse, which the boy
had reported as missing was among
them. Here was, to him a suspicious
circumstance, and he reasoned that the
boy lad made up the story of the
gray's disappearance out of whole cloth,
IN order to get an excuse to make away
withthe horse he was riding, under pre-
tense of searching for the other horse
1t can readily be seen that this view of
it might be taken, although on the
other hand, the gray might have been
out OF sight in some hollow, when the
boy looked for him, and after the boy
had ridden off might have come out
again and rejoined his equine COM
panlons.
Well, the result of it was, that the boy
turned up next day, at a ranch where
were corralled the twenty-three missing
horses, and there he ran across the
owner who had gone out to hunt them
up. Together they rode back to town,
and Skylock swore out a warrant for
the boys arrest. He was taken before
Justice Fort, and, represented by
Michael T. O'Connor, took a change of
venue to Justice Boyle. The evidence
was not considered sufficient to hold him,
and he was discharged, the costs being
taxed against the plaintiffs. O'Connor
then made a demand for S., which
amount he claimed, was due the boy as
wages. The plaintiffs paid over to
Judge Boyle, $3.50, saying that they had
already advanced the boy half a dollar
Michael T. was not satisfied with this,
and became rather abusive in his
language, his ebullition being stopped
by the judge, who firmly informed him
that he would be elected from the room,
if he did not remain silent. It is
generally thought that the boy is en-
tirely innocent of any intention to steal
the horse, and his discharge is approved
by all.