The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-14
"uNLucKY MIKES" LAST STAKE.
Money and Death Came Together TO
the Indian Territory Mover"


at the faro table and began to play. He
had the unmistakable look OF a man who
had been pushed to the wall and was
stalking his last cent An old sombrsro
shaded eyes that were underlaid with
heavy dark rings. and the gambler drops
ped into his seat as though his body had
been weighted down with lead.
He threw n silver dollar on the high
card, slouched his hat down over his
eyes. and became mOtionless. The high
card won, and the dealer paid the bet.
pushing the money over toward the play
er. He let II remain, and the high card
continued TO win until big pile of money
| lay in heap before the forlorn-looking
stranger. Stu the player never moved.
The deal went steadily on. and still the
| high card won.
Shake that fool up" said the dealer at
last.
A half-breed Indian first shook the play
or and then pulled OF his hat. The face
of dying man greeted his ,close scru-
tiny. The dealer reached for the heap
Of money. and a dozen pistols were drawn
| upon the instant.
He's as good as dead" said Faro
| Dick" the dealer. Money won't do him
any good and no one knows him"
Il do" said Cherokee sam" an In
| dian police officer. His name is Mike
| Donald. and they all call him I'm
/ lucky Mike. the Mover on the border.
/ His wife and family are camped down on
/ creek near here, and / heard to-day
/ they were literally starving"
In ten minutes Donald was dead Apo
plexy had killed him. At once a half doz-
en- willing hands bundled the winnings OF
the corpse into a handkerchief and started
i TO the wife's camp, to see the widow and
/ turn the money over to him. one or two
stopped TO bay some provisions for the
distressed ones. They found the forlorn
little camp without much trouble. I'm
lucky Mikes" wife was there. but she was
dead. She had died of starvation and ex-
posture. The rough bordermen-many of
| them professional gamblers and killers,
perhaps some OF them express robbers
were horror-stricken. They brought the
| husband to the creek and buried the two
| together in one grave. a converted Chero-
kee Indian preaching the funeral sermon.
Four little children, hungry, dirty and
cold, were taken In charge by a commit
tee, the money won In the faro bank by
their dead father was placed to their
credit and they are now being furnished
| with good homes.
Mike Donald was a noted border char
acter. Six or eight years ago he first ap-
peared I'm the west with his wife. They
had a good team OF horses and a new wag-
on. Whenever a new country was opened
! to settlement they were there, ready to
make the run to secure a home Down in
| No Mans Land. in 1885, Mike became a
squatter sheriff near Beaver City. The
United States did not recognize that there
was such a country as No Mans Land
! and the settlers organized themselves into
a government of their own. They elected
their sherlifs, judges and other court OFF,
GERS. outlaws from all over the west
hocked in, and soon No Mans Land be-
came a mundane paradise.
| While Mike Donald WAS shorffF ha ltliod
whisky Dick" at Beer city, over a game
OF cards, and from that TO the time Of his
death he was unfortunate. His stock died,
and he was never able TO keep a good team
of horses. Either they were stolen or
disease carried them Off He left No Mans
Land and Travelled up to Kansas. An I'M
easy demon appeared TO possess him. He
became known as Mike, the Mover" be-
cause he was never long in one place. He
was one of an army of people who had
been Fitting about over the border In COW
cred wagons for years past
When the old Oklahoma country opened.
Mike secured good claim on the banks
of the Capadian, but he lost his title be-
cause he was a "sooner"-that Is he had
gone into the country before II was legally
open TO settlement. He next drifted down
into Greer county, piece of land claimed
both by the United States and Texas
There he tried TO build up a home. He be-
came involved in trouble with a Mexican
herder, and while he killed the cowboy.
the latter's friends murdered Donald's old
est boy.
Again the restless fever caught the
mover" and he left Greer county for the
Cherokee strip. His wife, though she was
a pretty woman when he first came west,
had grown old and haggard. Mike lost his
dandihed manner of dressing and became
as slouchy looking and disreputable as his
team of skinny horses. Even the yellow
dog that had followed his fortunes for
years deserted the man now and took up
It's residence with rowing band OF Co
manche Indians.
Deputy marshals and Indian police came
to speak of the mover as "Unluck Mike. &"
Everything he turned his hand to was I'M
fortunate When the Cherokee strip OPEN
ed he made the race, and located a town
lot at Perry. The next day he learned that
he had taken a lot in the public square and
that the government owned It stu. Dis
couraged and disgusted, he tried TO find
some land claim that had not yet been
taken. None such could be found So he
hitched up his old skinny team and trun-
died off down into the Cheyenne country.
A year or two ago, when old, Whirlwind's
band Of Cheyennes killed several settlers
and were on the warpath, ''Unlucky Nike
was near at hand. and was arrested by
the federal officers. charged with selling
the Indians fire water" and melting them
to rebellion. 1t took him a month to clear
himself of these charges, and by that time
his family had wandered away and were
lost to him.
On foot, he trailed them over the Indian
country. Once he got track of the wagon
Il was no trouble to follow its meander-
| ings. Any one who ever saw Il would not
soon forget II. The wheels were held to-
gether with wire and rope wrapping; the
bed was in splinters, and the old canvas
| ~. -. IL
some of the settlers the outfit was called
the Flying Dutchman," in comparison
to the old legend of the old Dutch ship of
the ocean. 1t was considered a misfortune
10 run across "Unlucky Mike" and his
prairie schooner when out on a business
| trip.
BY the superstitious the man became iso-
lated from humanity. When he found his
family down upon the banks of the Cimar-
ron river. they were almost starved to
death. Together they continued to wander
over the wild country like a rudderless ship
! n lra had a