Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-01-06
STRANGE CASE OF MP. BRADLEY.



Life for u Hard Incognno.
The strange disappearance of Milton
Bradley from his home at FL Dorado,
Kan, three years ago, WAS IL loc;,l
sensation of the hour. His confession
of identity and his death ut Parsons
recently revive the interest in the old
story. though they do not solve tie
mystery of his disappearance.
Bradley was Il prominent man in
Butler County. He was wealthy, OWL
ing several farms, and when clcctcI
County Treasurer moved To FL Dorado,
the county scat, where he lived and
served two or three terms. When he
left the farm he developed Il great
passion for fishing. He, with Stl,r
Senator Murdock. and NJ NJ. Mur,iocN.
of the Wichita Eagle, and four or live
cronies in the little country town. We're
on the Walnut all the time fishing + =
bass, which are found abundanly ~
the clear green. rock -bottomcd r.ytr.
One day Bradley hitchcd up his GOV
cred spring wagon, put small ten
and some cooking utensils in III
wagon. with his fishing pole. ;hot gun
and rationS, and started for Il three
weeks outing trip. After he left rh'
bridge across the Walnut at FL - rad,
very ravineS of the Walnut IN yht have
swallowed him up, So far us amy clue
as tn his whereabouts was concerned.
II" was Il prominent odd Fellow. and
that organization spent several thou.
sand dollars trying to find him. Tho
flint hills. twenty miles east of FL
DoradO-a wild stretch of country
wherein there is Il dead mans gul.'h
and all sorts of cairns and gulrN<--
were searched. The Walnut River was
dragged for his body. But wagon. gdn,
tent. man and dog We're completely
ohll1cratcd, ii seemed.
The newspapers contained detailed
descriptions of the lost man. \ wan-
lrrlng man WaS found in Arkansas
the usual Arkansas wild man of the
WoodS-but he was not identified as
Bradley 10y the searching party from
FL Dorado that freed the crazy man
near Rrntonvillc. Another Wild man
turned up i'll Arizona. The toun.y
Commissioners of Butler County seat
Mrs. Bradley down there with the
Sheriff, but the trip WAS useless Every
little while photographs of some
strange man would appear al FL do
RADIO to be identified as Bradley. but
none of them tailed.
As the months wore by int" years
the matter was dropped. and Bradley
wAS given up for dead. His estate
was probat"d. and. though h" h"ll
thousands of dollars in trllSi for utn-
rrS, every cent was accounted for and
no one suffered the loss of Il penny
His son and daughter and his wife
mourncd him as dead. And as such
the community accepted him.
As such he was to his former life.
ftcr he left the bridge on tho Walnut.
From that moment he began annth T.
existence. He went to Parsons wh' r.
he began life anew as Il farm hand.
He was then a man of nearly sixty
years. but manual labor. though he h ld
not been used to it for twelve years,
did not discourage him. He did not
breathe of his identity, of his social
position and his political influence in
Butler County. but persisted in his new
life. He read the story of his own
disappearance. of the search for him,
of the mistakes of his friends of The
grief of his wife and children. and was
silent.
\ few moments before he died h.
| revealed himself to his ncW-folnd
friends. But he did not explain hi i,
departure. That was his secret. and.
being always Il silent man. he died
with it unspOkcn. His wife ilculi-
fled the remains, and they were in-
TERED in the bleak little graveyard IN
the wind-Swept hill overlooking tn"
little town where the people 'ho knew
him wonder and surmise and gossip
about the cause of the strange drc.I
which marked his latter days.-Kan-
sas City Star