Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1892-01-14
Armed FactIons Fight.

Judge Theodoslus Botkin near Arkalon,
Kan, was foiled. Three officers were,
however, shot down by an ambushed
gang which was lying In wait to kill the
Judge while his honor was on his way to
court. This is the outgrowth OF the
famous feud between Judge BOtkin and
Sam Wood, who was shot by James
Brennan June %
Information received shows that plans
to kill Judge Botkin were laid three
weeks ago, and that the intended victim
was made aware @f it the day following
that on which the assassination had been
arranged. Botkin lives on a claim three
miles from Springfield. His term of
court was to open there, and the murder
ers were to lie i'm wait for him in a deep
canyon and kill him when he started for
Springfield. 1t was one Of the conspir-
ators that disclosed the plot two weeks
ago, and Judge Botkin kept absolutely
quiet, telling only the sheriff and his
deputy. Accordingly the sheriff and six
deputies met at Botkin's house and re-
manned there till 2:30 in the morning,
when they started for the deep canyon to
hide until the murderers should appear.
At daybreak forty citizens OF Woods
dale and Springfield, armed with Win
chesters and revolvers, rode up, and,
finding the sheriff and deputies in am
bush, commenced firing. A desperate
battle 'ensued, lasting until sunrise. The
sheriff and two deputies lost their lives
at the hands of the assassins. The mob
then dispersed and the three deputies
who escaped unhurt went to Springfield
and reported the killing. Then they
proceeded to Judge Bodkin's place and
warned him of the danger. He immedi-
ately fled with his family to Arkansas,
where he is being guarded till the militia
arrives.
Adiutant General Roberts has ordered
the two companies of militia at Sterling
and Hutchinson to proceed to Arkalon,
where Judge Botkin life is in peril.
When Sam Wood was murdered last
June it was generally charged by his
friends that Judge Botkin and the adj
herents of the latter were responsible
for the assassination, but no one except
James Brennan, the man who did the
shooting, was arrested. Judge Botkin,
however, did not feel safe in that part of
the country, and spent a great portion
of his time during the summer mtriths
in Topeka, and with his brother, near
| Fort Scott.
When court convened at Hugoton,
Stevens County, in September, Attor-
ney General Ives was present to conduct
the examination of Brennan, and a spe-
cial State officer was present to preserve
the peace, but as no attempt was made
to create any kind of a disturbance the
State authorities relaxed their vigilance
and for some time the Botkin district
has been considered a safe and peace
able part of the State.
Since July, 1888, there has been tur-
moil in Stevens County. The county
seat contest between Woodsdale and
Hugoton eliminated in massacre of
Sheriff Cross and his deputies by Sam
Robinson and his gang of about twenty
seven men from HugotOn. There was
an abatement of the killing then until
early last year, when James Brennan, of
Richfield, Morton County, shot and
killed Sam Wood, of Woodsdale, the ac-
knowledged leader of the Woodsdale
faction. This killing occurred in front
of the little church in Hugoton, Judge
/ Botkin having converted the church into
a courtroom, where the June term of
the Stevens County District Court was
being held. Brennan was arrested and
after two attempts to give him trial
on the charge of murder, was taken
TO the Jail at Hutchinson TO await the
third and last attempt to secure a jury
this month. Since Woods death hos
tilities have ceased in Hugoton, and
apparently have now been transferred
over the boundary line into Seward
County, which has been peaceful here
tofore, though it has always been
acknowledged that Springfield, the
county seat of Seward, has been in sym.
pathy with Woodsdale and Arkalon, the
prospective county seat in sympathy
with Hugoton This feeling of favorft-
I'll. t~A.
evidently risen to that point where it
became uncomfortable, and the Spring
field people have gone In TO help out the
Woodsdale faction.
The new killing increases the number
of men slaughtered in the counties of
Southwestern Kansas TO about twelve,
not taking into account the famous
Leoti- Coronado County seat fight in
| Wichita County. There has never been
a feeling of security Ia Stevens County
since the famous Hay Meadows massa-
ere of 1888, though at times the public
pulse has been serene and bloodshed
seemed an impossibility. But those men
In Stevens, Seward, and Morton Coun-
ties, and in all other counties surround
ing that quarter, never forgive a wrong
or forget an injury. The direct cause
OF the attack on Judge Botkin lies
III the IaCJ JDaJ ever since tn0
feud began his sympathies have been
with Hugoton, though his home is at
| Springfield, in Seward County, forty
miles away. James Brennan, who
killed Sam Wood, was his counselor and
friend and travelled about with him on
his judicial journeys through the coun-
ties comprising the district. At the first
attempt to try Brennan in September
| last at HugotOn Judge BOtkin refused to
preside, for the reason, he said, that
Brennan had been his friend. SO no
trial was had nor any attempt made to
secure jury until Nov. A, when Judge
Wall; OF Wichita, made the effort.
Judge Botkin was in Hugoton when the
last attempt to try Brennan was made,
and 1t is remembered that when he drove
out Of town after the court had failed to
get jury the sheriff of Seward County
went with him with Winchester over
his shoulder. The sheriff of Seward
County had simply taken Brennans
place as Botkin's body-guard.