The record-union., 1893-11-03

which there was no appeal. Ii man
was suspected of stealing stock or of COM
mitting murder. the process was the
same. The prisoner told his story and
his captors told theirs. No legal technl-
cality ever thwarted the ends OF justice as
administered i'll this court. If the prison
er was considered guilty the verdict was.
well, he ought TO die" The sentence
would be executed as soon as passed.
case could be disposed of completely IN
thirty minutes, which, i'll the present
time, would occupy the attention of the
court as many months, if not years. On
one occasion mere boy was brought up
under accusation of murder. The case
was clear against him, and the verdict
ran as follows:
well, he ought to die, but he's moth
ing but kid. Give him pony and let
him go, but hang him if you find him
within forty miles of this place by to-
morrow morning"
The boy left.
When the state of affairs had lasted
some while very natural metamorphosis
occurred IN the name of the Peak. What
had before been known as Quinn's Peak
became changed into Queens Peak. 1t is
probable that at first the change was a
mere lapse in the pronunciation, but
| alter 1t was made it seemed to impress
the bearers tavorably, and IL stuck. A
little later they began very naturally to
speak OF the mistress of Queens Peak as
the Queen. 1t sounded better than Miss
QUINN" and so, by that pame, she is
known even to the present day.
One may feel inclined to smile at this
frontier Queen. but let it be remembered
that she ruled larger scope of country
than King Solomon did. Hers was the
richer kingdom, too, in all natural re-
sources, though not so populous. She
never levied any taxes on her subjects,
but received from those appearing before
her enough gratuitous contributions to
make a royal income, all things consid
cred. She dispensed this income with
royal generosity. Her school continued
until the very last.
THE TRAGEDY.
Her death, however, was, as it should
have been, the climax and crowning
point of her life. 1t was all that was
| necessary to make her subjects worship
her, not almost. but altogether.
During the fall of 1860 the Comanches
began once more to make raids through
this portion of Texas. The Comanches
have been called the Ishmaelites of the
West their hand being against every man
and every mans hand against them. The
Queen had formerly acquired almost as
much influence over the Indians as she
had over the whites, and in periods of
OpOh 1uOldn uOSI1lllS lIlS IuIluGIlCO SIOOu
her in good stead The Indians seemed
to consider that her Indian blood made
her one OF themselves, and so allowed her
to pass backward and forward to and
from their camps unmolested. Though
a Cherokee, she had soon acquired the
language of the Comanches. For long
time her influence was successful in pro-
tccting the settlers around the Peak from
any disturbance, but on one occasion it
failed. III the YlljlnS
around had gone some distance below to
Clear Greek Canyon, toward which local
ity it had been reported that large band
OF hostiles were advancing. While the
country was thus unprotected, four
teen year-old boy came dashing up on
his pony and called to the Queen that
band of about twenty Comanches were
coming as fast as they could travel. He
begged her to go to meet them and paclfy
them.
NO." she answered, sadly, 'it's no use
this time. Their blood's up because our
men have gone to Clear Creek, and they
won't be pacitied. You ride like the wind
and get all the women and children hid
in the creek bank. Ill hold the Indians
long enough for that"
Even as she was speaking the Indians
came In sight over rise in the prairie.
They would willingly have passed her by
without molestatiOn, but she was deter
mined they should not. Taking deliber-
ate aim at long range, she fired, and one
Indian tumbled from his horse. Then
she sprang upon the topmost stone of the
Peak, and standing at full hight, sent
out ringing yell and derisively waved
her gun. The boy waited to see no more,
but keeping the wooded base of the peak
between himself and his pursuers, he
dashed off, as he had been told.
KILL ED ELEVEN INDIANS.
No one will ever know the details of
what happened after this. There was a