Bridgeton pioneer., 1895-07-04
A FRIGHTFUL DEATH
BRUTALITY DISPLAYED AT AN Exc
cuTloN IN THE CAocTAw NATION.

Be Sentenced to the Same Fate-The
President Asked to Interfere.
The president will be asked to pre-
vent the execution Of 10 men in the
Choctaw Nation In the Indian Territory.
This is a call upon the president to
tako a part against the local govern
ment in that Indian nation to prevent
execution as result Of political war
that has ragged In that country for ten
years, but which in the last two years
has resulted in bloodshed.
The test case came up before the pres
ident last year, and the Chootaw au-
thorities succeeded at last in forcing
the execution, which proved the most
brutal of years even for that country.
It appeared that Lewis had been one
Of the leaders in what is known in
Choctaw politics as the Jackson faction.
jackson had been candidate for gov
ernor Of the nation, and opposed to
him was Colonel Jones.
There was the usual manipulation of
the ballot boxes, and both sides claimed
the victory. This was followed by both
men trying to get the place of governor,
and hot skirmishes resulted in several
being killed.
In due time the jackson faction gave
up the fight, and Jones was installed.
| Quickly followed the efforts to prose-
cute the leaders Of the Jackson faction.
The case Of Lewis was set up as test.
1t soon appeared to the defense that
they would not be given fair trial
The trial proceeded for day, and
| the defense rested their case when the
prosecution had presented their side,
| and the packed jury returned verdict
| of guilty, and the sentence of death
was passed.
The full history Of the case and all
| the troubles leading up to it was pre-
sented to the president and the appeal
made for protection. The president
| asked the governor Of the Choctaw Ma
| tion to defer execution for time, and
as a result the execution was postponed
| for q month.
Later there was another delay order
ed by the governor, but in due time it
appeared to the Choctaw authorities
| that they would not be injured by the
United States authorities if they pro-
| ceeded with the execution, and accord
ingly on the 9Th of November they car
ried out the sentence of death in the
! most brutal manner.
According to the Choctaw law, CAPT.
tai punishment is inflicted by shooting
1t happens also sometimes that the SEN
tence is executed by the enemy of the
accused.
In this case it was decided that Lew
is should be shot by one of the leaders
Of the Jones faction who was bitter
personal enemy of Lewis and who is
known as Limon Pusley. Pusley was
made a deputy sheriff for the occasion,
| and then it was concluded that it would
be we'll to take as much revenge out of
the execution as possible, so instead of
shooting the doomed man in the left
breast, according to the law of that
country, 1t was decided to be appropri-
ate to make mistake and shoot him in
the right breast SO that death would
not come instantly.
Accordingly the shot was fred in the
right breast, and Lewis failed to fall to
the ground. At this moment he was
taken in hand by the cotesie from the
governors Office and thrown to the
ground and strangled to death. 1t took
just 80 minutes to do the work.
Lewis was conscious most Of the
time, and while he did all he could to
infict physical injury upon his assail-
ants he uttered not word of appeal for
mercy.
1t was during this brutal struggle
that a photograph was taken of the
scene, and this is preserved as evidence
Of the treatment accorded Lewis and is
before the president, showing a feature
of the lamentable conditions in that
country.
As shown by the photograph, Pusley,
the temporary deputy sheriff. who pur-
posely made the bad shot, stands with
the gun in his hand. while Samuel
Huston holds the mouth and nose of the
prisoner, and John Pickens is holding
his hand over the gunshot wound for
the purpose of forcing the blood to es-
cape on the inside by way of insuring
death some time in the future, and A.
White is holding Lewis feet, and in
this way, after over half hour of strug-
Cling, Lewis was dead.
Last winter there was another cleo.
tion for governor, and John Gardner
was elected. The Choctaw council
passed a bill to declare an amnesty to
all political prisoners or those under in
diotment belonging to the Jackson fac
tion, but the new governor promptly
vetoed the bill He insists that all the
cases shall be disposed Of In the courts,
and the executions shall be carried out in
the most approved style, which was fol-
lowed closely in the Lewis case.
It is foregone conclusion that all
will be sentenced to death, and hence
n arpoorc t0 those intaractod on tho