The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-08-08
A SHERIFF'S REVENGE
ALLEGED TRUE STORY OF THE "
RAGE ON COLORADO'S TARsNEY.
Confession That duplicates Bowers,
mt of the Bull Hill Army
of Deputies-Tbe C~Onspirncy.ahE

DENVER, Col, Aug. Z. - Deputy Sheriff
Wilson. of FL Paso county, who was cap
tured by Acknowledgment Tarsney in Mis-
souri,, has made a full confession and given
TO Chief of Police Armstrong the names of
all of the men connected with the outrage
committed in Colorado Springs a few weeks
ago. Wilson was brought back TO Denver
at noon yesterday by officer Cross, and he
spent last night In the city Jail. In the
train going to the Springs in the morning
he weakened, and told everything that he
knew of the matter. He confirmed the
story that a murderer from the FL Paso
county Jail was allowed to help put tar and
feathers on Celorado's Adjutant = general.
Every detail of the tar and feathers affair
is now in possession of the Denver officers,
and however high a position the offenders
may hold, they will ultimately be brought
to justice. Wilson's confession clearly il
illustrates one p~oint-that is, that the crime
was committed by the political enemies Of
General Tarsney. and that the criminals
were not the outcasts of the Bull Hill
army, but men of higher standing in the
community.
According to Wilson'S story, the men en-
gagged in the disgraceful enterprise were
II ~ DO"CiSs NE OCPUNy ShSAAh' DCO N
Inns; Captain Saxton, of Troop A; Sergeant
William Bancroft, of Troop a; Deputy
Sheriff ]. r. Wilson, Deputy Sheriff Quack-
enbush, Sherman Crumley, Walter Crum-
ley, Shorty" Allen, Smith Shellenberger,
and perhaps one or two others, including a
woman. TIL police now have three confess
SionS-thoSe of Wilson, Parker and a pr1s-
oner in the Ell Paso county jail, who is be-
ing held as a witness to a murder commit
ted in Cripple Creek. These men Will all
be brought before the grand jury now Sit
ting in Colorado Springs.
The conspiracy was the result or a germ
born at Gillette, and which continued TO
grow until Tarsney was found unguarded
in the Alamo Hotel. The deputy sheriff at
Divide heard the false report from Denver
that Tarsney had uttered the remark: Il
hope that every man in Bowers's army
will go home in a coffin" The night the
militia arrived at Gillette and camped near
the deputies, Wilson, Allen and others,
backed up by Bob Mullins and members of
the company from the Ell Paso Club, ar
ranged a scheme TO kidnap Tarsney on the
spot, but for some reason this was aban-
doned. On the day that Tarsney appeared
at Colorado Springs for the purpose of as
sisting in the defense Of the Bull Hill pris-
oners. the conspiracy to kidnap him was
formed. 1t was freely discussed in the
county jail and the sheriffS office, and
when once 1t received official support it
progressed until a signal was agreed upon.
1t was announced also that all who desired
to take part in the plot should meet in a
saloon on TETON street ana enter with their
right hand stuck in the vest.
According to Wilson's story, Sheriff Bow
ers furnished Deputy Sheriff Quackenbush
with the tar, and Mrs. Quackenbush pro-
vided the feathers by ripping open a large
pillow. Bowers. in addition, ordered the re-
lease of the Cripple Creek murderer. and
told him to follow Deputy Sheriffs Allen
and Shellenberger. Deputy Sheriff Bob Null
Inns hired the hack from the two Crum-
legs and ordered them to drive to the
Alamo Hotel. He paid them in advance.
Wilson headed the party which went to the
Alamo Hotel, and he confessed that he was
the man who poked the gun in Tarsney's
face as he came down TO answer the tele-
phone. Bancroft, Allen and Smith were the
other men in the hotel office. SaXtOn, Bob
Mullins and the others waited outside. Will
son described the drive out to the open
prairie. and said that threats were made
being driven to a place of execution. where
he would be tortured to death. His cap
tors also gleefully told him they would
quarter his body and chop off the head.
Tarsney asked for his life. as any man
would do under the circumstances. on ar
irving at the place of torture Tarsney was
dragged out by Allen, Bancroft and VII
son and ordered to strip off his clothes:
When he was informed that his life would
be spared he shook hands with his perse-
cutors and thanked them. Wilson said that
he got tar on his hand that night. and so
did Saxton, Bancroft, Allen and the others.
The General was left alone, nearly crazy,
to wander over the fields.
Chief OF Police Armstrong confirms the
report that Wilson has made a full con-
fession. Wilson is a young man.. the son
of a Missouri farmer. at whose house he
was captured last week. He was a deputy
sheriff at Colorado Springs, where he re-
: led for several years. He left the city a
day or two after the outrage. General
Tarsney has identified him as the man who
poked a gun in his face at the hotel, and
who danDbed the tar on him.