Rock Island Argus., 1895-12-26
JOHN JARETTE.

JOHN JARETTE.
DAVID POOL. FLETCHER TAYLOR.
ganization tho western world has ever
seen, says the st. Louis Post Dispatch.
George Tod owed primary allegiance to
him, and SO did Fernando Scott, William
Haller, Bill Anderson, Dave Pool, Cole
man Younger, George Maddox. William
Gregg, John Jarette, Oh Shepherd, John
Thrailkill, the James brOthers-Jesse and
Frank-and n hundred others who rode
with him to battle.
OF them all a score, perhaps, remains.
Tod, Anderson, Scott, Maddox and Shep-
herd are dead. Those who live are scat
tered through the west. Nearly all are
prosperous citizens, living lives of quiet
industry, honored and respected by their
neighbors.
Among tho survivors, aside from Frank
James and Coleman Younger, Dave Pool
is probably the best known. He lives to
day Mt Phenix, A. T., where he conducts
a freightins business, and where he has
the friendship and confidence of oil who
know him. Pool was the man who sue
Ceeded to the command of the guerrillas
under Shelby when George Tod was killed.
Early in the war Pool had distinguished
himself by an act of personal courage
which had attracted to him the attention
of Quantrell, who always had an eye out
for featS of bravery. In one Of the minor
engagements Pool saw among the Federal
troops a tall, raw boned soldier, evidently
o plainsman who was dressed in o full
'suit Of buckskin. Singing him out, Pool
made dash for him, and instead Of shoot
ing him, as he would have done ordinarily,
he ordered him to surrender. The Federal
laughingly declined. and playfully seizing
Pools long black beard in one brawny
hand proceeded to carve David's face with
the blade of an enormous bowie knife. The
first thrust left long cash in Pools
check, and the latter would probably have
Jared seriously had it not been for Haller,
who shot the Federal dead.
Bill Gregg, another survivor of the
band, is a prosperous farmer in Lafayette
county, Mo. No man is more highly re-
spected or more universally liked by those
who know him. A grim, quiet man was
Gregg, who Knocked at fear and rode to
battle without q tremor. Immense activ-
ity and capacity for enduring fatigue
distinguished him. Whenever there was
fighting to be done, he was always at the
front, and it was only after a battle that
he took timo to talk. He was essentially
a man Of action. Warm hearted in private
life, he was innexible in war.
John Thrailkill is in Mexico, rich In
mines and cattle and n power with the
Diaz government, which he helped to es-
tablish. Going there with Shelby, when
tho latter cut his way out of Missouri at
the close of the rebellion, Thrailkill chose
to remain. He fought against Maximil-
ian, and later joined his fortunes with
those of Diaz when the latter was riding
into power on the crest of q wave of revo-
luton.
Fletch Taylor, who lives in San Fran
| cisco. was one of Quantrell's fiercest fight
ers. Born in southwest Missouri on o
farm, he passed his boyhood much as other
boys. Early in the conflict he lost an arm
shot away by a bullet from a carbine-
but he fought on with even greater pluck
| and determination.
In the winter of 1863, with two compan-
| ions-Boon Schulz and Will Hulse-Tay-
lor was neatly trapped near Independence.
Surrounded in the house of q friend by q
detachment Of federal troops the three
| guerrillas were cut off from their horses
| and ordered to surrender. Rushing from
the house, they reached their horses under
CALLING fire. Raw and untried, the
horses became unmanageable. The shouts
of the men and the roar of the guns fright
ened them SO that they plunged about un-
til Taylor and his companions were unable
to mount. Slashing tho halter which fas-
tened his horse with knife, Taylo leaped
into the saddle, and, firing a pistol with
each hand, held the Fcderals at bay until
his companions could escape. AS they dis
appeared he gave his opponents parting
volley, and with a cheering cry leaped his
horse over the orchard fence, leaving the
troops who had tried to surround him to
| gaze in open mouthed astonishment at his
| rapidly retreating form.
Later he rode alone into Lawrence dis
guised as n trader in live stock to investi-
gate the numerical strength of the garri-
son and report to Quantrell. The town at
that time was filed with Union troops,
and every avenue was guarded by a Gordon
OF pickcts. Plentifuily supplied with mon
ey, Taylor remained a week ut Lawrence.
He mingled freely with the soldiers, drank
and dined with the officers, and in this
way was enabled to gather all the informa-
tion desired by his chief. 1t was ticklish
piece OF work for a man even Of Taylor
dare devil nature, but he carried it out
with such boldness and cunning that no
one in the doomed town suspected for mo-
ment that the liberal, good natured man
| who lounged about the bars and hotel cor
ridors was other than he seemed
His report to Quantrell settled the fate
Of Lawrence, and the day following his re-
turn to the guerrilla camp Quantrell and
his men swept down upon the town, kill
ing and burning with ferocity terrible
even for them.
Living quietly on . farm near Villa
] 1ssese 1alls, VaGh., b John Ja.este, . man