The Van Buren press., 1895-08-03
CHEROKEE BILL.


The Notsd Outlaw Murder. !.
Guard At Fort Smith In an
Attempt to Shoot His
Way Out OF
jail.
Gazette Corrsspendence.
Fort Smith was all excited Fridav
night, more 30 than 1t has been for
years, caused by cold blooded murder
committed within the Federal iail
Cherokee Bill, the notorius criminal
ana outlaw, who Ia at present under
sentence OF death, has another life to
answer for; he 1t is who once again has
forced himself into unenviable notoriety.
A little after 9 o'clock that evening
n. Q. Eoh the turnkey of the Jail, as
10 his custom, was making the rounds
OF the cells engaged in locking the
prisoners In for the night. The Federal
jail IL composed Of three tiers, the
lower hoor being given over to those
convicted of murder. Cherokee Bill' 4
cell was on this floor ON the north side.
The usual manner Of fastening "a by
means Of lever located In the corridor
at the end Of the tier Of cells. After
this is done the turnkey goes inside the
steel grating which surrounds the three
tiers and locks each cell separately. He
had performed this duty on the south
side and had gone around to lock those
on the north side. He was ACCOMPANIED
on his rounds by Lawrence Keating,
the night guard, who always keeps on
the outside Of the steel grating In order
that he may be able to suppress any
riotous demonstrations on the part Of
any Of the prisoners. As Eof came to
the cell next to that occupied by
Cherokee Bill, he experienced some
difficulty in locking the cell door, and
remarked that 1t had been tampered
with. Az he was endeavoring to release
his keys Cherokee Bills door was
thrown violently open and the outlaw
stepped out with . cooked revolver In
his hand. Throwing down ON Heating,
the guard who was q few feet away, he
said; Throw up your hands Cd
you or will kill you.' Hardly were
the words out OF his mouth before the
fatal shot was fired. Heating seeing
his danger moved slightly around and
the bullet struck him in the side, he
staggered towards the stone wall near
him and sank to the floor. He was
dead In . few minutes. E0ff seeing his
danger abandoned his keys and started
to run. As he turned the corner of the
tier Of cells Cherokee Bill fired at him,
but failed to hit him. Turning the next
corner only a short distance away Eoff
continued his fight down the south
corridor until he reached cut of i,
where, by standing In the door way and
clinging to the cell door, he had q
partial protection from the villain q
shots. While in this position Cherokee
Bill fired three shots at him but none of
them took effect. At this juncture
George Lawson, another Of the guards,
who was upstairs in the jailor Office ct
the time the firing commenced, appeared
on the scene with Winchester In his
hands and proceeded to pump lead In
Cherokee Bill direction, but the close
ly woven grating prevented his taking
good aim and his shot went wild. See-
ing that his attempt to escape had
proven futile Cherokee Bill ran back to
his cell. Other guards ran to Lawson g
assistance and q regular fusilade was
kept up for some time.
Finally Cherokee Bill agreed to give
up his revolver If the guards would
promise not to kill him. He turned II
over to Henry Starr and by him the
murderous weapon WAS passed ont to
the guards.
A search revealed the facts that he
had in his possession enough cartridges
to have killed fifty men. While the
excitement was at the highest his sister,
who has been in the city several days,
appeared among the crowd Of excited
citizens who had congregated on the
outside and created such disturbance
that 1t was found necessary for an Of6ceH
to lodge her in the county Jail. Cherokee
Bill 9 brother Is also in the city and the
supposition is that either he or his siste,
furnished the weapon with which the
deadly deed was committed.
This is the second time within month
that q revolver has been found in Chero-
kee Bills possession. George Pierce,
also under sentence Of death. h believed
to have been implicated In the plot. Al
Turnkey Eoff ran along the corridor he
looked back and saw Pierce chasing
him. In his hand he held the leg Of a
table, with which he sought to brain
Eoff.
Keating was carried outside the jail
and was laid out. He never spoke after
being hit. He was . faithful and
popular officer and his death Is deeply
deplored by all classes of citizens.
The shooting inside the Jail attracted
an enormous crowd ON the outside and
when It was definitely known thai
Cherokee Bill had added another victim
to his list. indignation knew NO bounds.
Lynching was strongly advocated. !.
Keating had been employed In the jat
fourteen years and was . careful man
He leaves wife and four children ant
was very popular.
None OF the prisoners left their cell!
except Bill and he immediately Jumped
back into It and the guards have every.
thing in order, though there was much
confusion among the prisoners.
Crawford 0oldsby, alias Cheroket
Bill, alias Gorilla, is only 10 yesrs old
but he is convicted Of train robbery aqt
murder. One murder case II pending
In the Supreme Court Of the United
States and the charge Of killing hi
hvo<Io nv n 1axv Il ati11 nm the docket.