The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1893-03-11
NO.. A..
sToRY OF AN OLD FRONTIER FEUD.
A Gang Of Rustlers Wiped Out to Ayenge
Range Riders Murder.

f. +. Beckwith, Of Ula, Colo, has sought
entertainment at the Great Northern. As
he stalked through the lobby TO the desk
the attention Of every man in the place
was centered upon him. There was that
rolling something about his gait that at
once proclains the sailor or the man who
has spent his life in the saddle. Mr. Beck
with, who is superby proportoned man
of feet 2 inches, wore natty gray frock
suit, dun colored sombrero and pair Of
patent leather shoes with high heels-heels
such as cowboys wear. 1t might be incl
dentally stated that Ed Beckwith, as he
Is known throughout the west, is partner
in the firm of Beckwith Bros, cattIemen,
and among the wealthiest in that line in
the world.
About three miles from Ula is his ranch
house, bungalow painted white, with six
teen foot verandas on all sides. The bum
galow Is fitted as no other house in exist
ence, the only thing American being a
range and bathroom. For the last dec
ade Mr.. Beckwith has employed his win
ters travelling in farof lands and picking
up curios and articles of vertu. These
have been shipped home, and as result
bis house looks more like museum than
anything else. Although a bachelor, Mr..
Beckwith is sybarite, and the incongruity
Of an Egyptian mummy leering under an
electric light rather amuses him. Be it
known that no woman save his sister-in-
law has ever set foot in the charming place
he calls "the ranch"
Several years ago there was a gang Of
rustlers known as the Mccoy gang in CEN
fraI (plpraln flof rchka1 tho flary,a1
right and left. So bold did they become
that tenderloin steaks were sold in Coropai
for cent pound. 1t was through the eff
forts Of Beckwith that the gang was prac-
tically annihilated, and that Dick Mccoy,
one of the worst desperadoes ever unhung,
is now 'doing life" at Canyon City.
But for Beckwith's story. 1T was in
October of 1885," began he, ''that found
Fred Arnold dead on Texas creek. Arnold
was one of our riders, you know. There
was big hole in his breast, and his legs
were riddled with Winchester bullets.
Both of his guns were in his belt knew
that Arnold was a quick man with a gun
and that he must have been am5Gshed. AS
matter of fact he rode L4e western range
because we knew him to be fighter and
able to take care of himself in any trouble
he might have with the Mccoy gang.
"A quick search showed tracks of a
couple of men and horses behind the will
lows on the other side of the creek. The
trail of one of the men revealed that he
had dragged his left leg trife. That
meant Dick Mccoy sure. After following
the trail of the horses for five miles, and
seeing that it pointed to the Mccoy ranch,
I f,,rr aH hap nd Y,iolya1 A rpo11 n,
and took him to the ranch. The verdict of
the coroner's jury was, Murdered by per-
sons unknown It's the regulation form,
but it didn't suit us. So we called meet
ing of the cattlemen and talked it over. 1t
didn't take long to come to the conclusion
that if we wanted to protect our interests
and save the lives of our riders and our
selves the Mccoy gang had to be wiped out.
"In the early morning two days later
sixteen men rode through the gulch that
ended at McCoy's place. There wasn't
any shelter, and we had to ride for it. In
the corral were seven men killing rustled
cattle. On the fence were half dozen
hides with the brands cut out. The sight
made us crazy, aud with yell we dashed
forward. The rustlers cut loose first and
two of our men dropped out of their sad
dies. One was killed, the other shot
through the shoulder. We got six of the
seven. The seventh was old Dick Mccoy,
whom winged as he was trying to hide
behind COW. The rustlers in the ranch
skipped out when they saw how it was go
ing. Peg Leg Smith and couple of others
who got away are now doing time at Can
yon City for robbing Denver and Rio
Grande express train.
eve didn't kill Mccoy and put him out
of his misery, but thought he'd suffer mole
if he was patched up and sentenced for life
for half dozen murders. He's enjoying
himself in tennis suit in the pen in Can
yon City now."-Chicago Inter Ocean.