The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-11-20

out of the grounds of the White hous, and
a squad of federal cavalry galloped up and
sur, ounded the equipage as escort. The
new wrinkle struck US all of a heap. and on
recovering from the shock the first ques-
tion naturally was: How came this sch, me
to be discovered?"
On the following morning a paragraph
appeared III a city paper stating that 1T had
been learned by the authorities that an
attempt to kidnap the president was in
contemplation, for which reason a cavalry
escort was detailed to guard him safely to
and from his summer home. This move.
as | remember, attracted much attention in
the north at the time and was Sc
verely criticised bv public journals I'M
friendly to Lincoln. But the particular
reason therefor WAS never made public, and
for years / WAS unable to enllghten myself
regarding this publication in that Washing
ton paper. / was positive none of our trio
divulged the plan We had formulated. and
the only solution of the mystery seeming at
all possible was that others at the very
same time we're making the identical ar
rangements we were. and some of their
| number had betrayed the secret.
OF course the cavalry escort defeated our
object. and the wise prec ,ution of some
bod prevented Mr.. Lincoln's being kid
mapped. That somebody, as l now know,
was Col. Baker. of the government detec-
tive bureau, and the solution of the mys-
terry. which l hit upon then. seems to have
been the correct one, as | have since learned
from Col. w. II. Crook, who was at that
time an executive clerk in tho White house
and has held the position continuously
through all tho line of presidents from
Llneoln's first term. Again ii was my
bold comrade-iu-arms. Col. Mosby. or at
least some Of his men, who proved respon-
sibte for the unsuccessful termination of
the expedition. A half dozen of these daring
riders had secretly made their way into
Washington, with the avowed purpose of
capturing Mr.. Lincoln themselves. regard
less of any other schemes on the same head,
and perhaps not dreaming that anybody
else had the nerve and effrontery to
attempt such a thing. Their plan was to
take Mr.. Lincoln prisoner about the same
time and place we had determined upon,
! and then spirit him in a close carriage to
the old Van Ness house after dark. From
! there it ought to be a comparatively easy
1 matter to get across the Potomac in a row.
boat and make tracks for Mosby's stamping
ground at this head of the Shenandoah
valley.
But the Establishments of John Barley
corn were more than those thirsty warriors
in butternut could withstand. The bar at
Browns hotel, now the Metropolitan, in
Pennsylvania avenue, speedily became their
headquarters, and a generous quantity of
genuine Virginia distilled corn was theirs
also. The latter article WAS as non-con-
ducive to keeping secrets then as now, and
one of the secret service men swarming over
the city had soon found an inklinR of
what those fellows were whispering about.
The cavalrymen managed to get out of
town safely after concluding that tho
scheme was not practical. but the d etective's
report of the matter to Col. Baker, Col.
Crook says, led to the escort in question
being ordered the next day. and Lincoln
was saved, only to be a~ssasisnated six
months later. These seem TO be the
actual facts of the case, and the story
which gained circulation after Mr.. Lin
coins dsath-that Booth and his fellow
conspirators were ths men at that time
planning n kidnaper's work-appears to
have rs little foundation ms the dozen other
yarns in the same connection. In fact,
Booth was never shown to have contem-
plated the captute or assassination until
the winter following our unsuccessful lob.
and there IL every reason to believe no evil
dence i'll that direction was produced sim
ply because there WAS none.