The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1893-12-16
CAPTURING AN OUTLAW

CAPTURING AN OUTLAW.
The Confederate troops in the west
being the last to surrender, it natural
" followed that they were the last to
accept of circumstances and settle
down to the new order OF things. For
months and months after Kirby Smiths
Surrender, portions Of Louisiana, Ar
kansas and Texas were dominated by
a bad c.ass of men. "A few Of them
had belonged to regular commands
but the great majority had served as
bushwhackers and guerillas, and the
advent of peace cut short their plum
dering and marauding: These men
refused to- bow, to the inevita BILE, and
scores of the most defiant were
hunted down by Federal troops and
killed wherever found. Alexandria,
La, on the Red river, was the head
quarters of a division of Sheridan's
cavalry, and it WAS estimated that there
were at least 500 ex-Confederates in
that locality who denied being includ-
ed in the surrender of any command
and defantly refused to come in and
deliver up their equipments and return
to citizenship. A score or more of the
w
:itary proclamation, Among them was
"a man named Ross He had been
captain of a guerrilla band of thirty
men. He held no commission from the
Confederates, nor did the Davis gov
'ernment equip his band or carry it on
any muster-rolL Indeed, Confederate
troops had sought ito wipe ,ont this
:gang for months before sthe war
closed, as Captain Ross robbed right
and left with free hand. Finally,
about the middle of Septemb Der, a man
named MURRAY, who had been "a SER
:geant in a Texas infantry regiment,
and whose command had been regu-
larly surrendered in the spring, pre-
:sented himself at Alexandria and an
:nounced his determination Ito win the
reward. AT that time Ross was sup
posed to be hiding in the dense coverts
around 'Catahoula lake. thirty miles
northeast OF Alexandria. Murraywas
furnished with a horse, rife, revokvers
and other necessaries, given an aceur-
ate description of the outlaw, and he
left Alexandria at night and rode to
the north for seventy miles. Then he
turned to come back, carrying the
idea to all,he met that he had come
down from the Arkansas border and
had been outlawed. In order to play
his part he was:obliged tohold,up sew
.eral travellers on the highway, though
in each instance he had some excuse
for restoring their money before mid,
ing away.
. 1t was five, days before Murray en-
'coun tered Ross The latter had heard
sof the new arrival and wasreadyz to
welcome him. He had been hunted
$50 .persistently that he was thinking
sof leaving the country. He had plum
,dered friend and foe alike until ayerv
:zaaasn asr.ready TO give him up to
Justice. He at.onoe pro aosed "a part
nership with Murray, whose .advcn-
lures had fairly -estab ished his :repu-
tation for nerve .and daring. Murray
told how he had suffered at the hands
of the Federals and expressed his de-
sire for revenge, and Ross WAS COM
pletely taken in. It was agreed,to be-
come partners and the two proceeded
Ito Ross hiding place on the north
;ba1k of the lake above named. in
the midst Of "a dense thicket, to ihe
penetrated only 10y path he had cut
with shis own hand, he had built r.
small .hrt of poles, grass and mud. "a
regiment of soldiers might have
searched for "a month without find
ing the path, land had it been stumbled
on by accident he could have
made "a good defense against the whole
colnpang. He had provisions in plenty,
and nhe cash he had secured BY
various nohhenies amounting to over
$1,000. He hadpicked up ten or twelve
rifles and shotguns and score of re-
volvers. and the hut was an arsenal
a YYroG Ill Ii
outlaw had been the first to propose
the partnership and he had seemed
to accept Murr@y's stories and state
ments without question, the latter
soon discovered that he had shrewd,
suspicious man to deal with. From
the very moment of their setting ont
together Ross was ON his guard and
as watehful las a fox. Murray saw
that he was dlistrusted, and of course
his play was TO win the outlaws con-
fdence- In riding ,or walking he
always took the lead. and before
turning in at might he placed his fire.
arms out Of his own reach and con-
wenient to Roas' hand. -..
There were two or three occasions
during the first fortnight when Muir
nay could have shot down his man.
This act woalld have entitled him to the
reward, but he had made up his mind
to take the outlaw into Alexandria
atage and prisoner. During the first
two weeks they committed two high
way robberies In both instances
Murray took the Lead. Muring the
thiHa week they espied a scouting
party of cavalry one afternoon and
went INTO ambush The sergeant
objected to firing on the parky, as it
would result in a aas0re determined
search for their covert, but Ross made
a test ,ef the others loyalty to the
partnership and the aaaasmsh was pre-
pared. Mtarray fired to miss, of course,
though he put his bullet Through the
troopers hat The outlaw Masa dead
shot and meant to kill his man, lsut as
his finger pnessed the trigger gust OF
srind blew % branch in such way
that his bullet was detected and did
NO harm. After that he accepted the
sergeant as square and faithful man
and gradually relaxed his vigilance.
1t was almost the end Of the SIXTH
week before Murrays opportunity
came. S
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