Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1895-12-26


the grove am! from the commencement
of tho now park were dead cattle, not
by ones or twos, but by the thousands.
The bark of the trees was ali bitten of,
aud cord wood that had bcon cut during
the fall was torn apart and the bark
peeled of 1t was All awful sight. They
belonged to y herd owned by Joscp!,
Reed and Bingham.
The snow was so thick on the ground
that they could not get TO the grass
This firm lost that winter 1000 head of
cattle. l'hcir range WAS in the the Big
Bend.
Abou, March 2G the SNOW was melt
ing fast and on the morning of the 27th
the Cry conid be heard everywhere,
''thc Missouri is broke and moving bank
full"
"Thank God" we all said but our Joy
was short lived.
About 10 o'clock she yorged just Il
little above Farm island in the channel.
Gradually the river raised above the
bank, and still, water from the melting
snow running in At II O'Clock water
was running up Pierre street.
Finally, merchants Il, d all were alarm
ed. Stocks of goods were elevated to
tie shelves and counters, families re-
moved to the hill in tents and impro-
viscd shelter, and still the water raised.
All the streets of Pierre were now rivers
with II slow current. By O'Clock the
water on Sioux avenue was six feet on
Dakota avenue four feet six inches.
Large pieces of ice were floating down
Dakota avenue slowly, some of them
the size of a whale. Night was coming
on and it was at this time that the
vandals in human form commenced
their nefarious warfare, stealing and
pilicring. a young fellow by The name
of Montana Kid, and One Armed Tom,
were hired by some Of the merchants to
watch their stores, and the stores that
were robbed the most were robbed by
these two thieves and thugs.
! remember distinctly that Mr.. Shurt-
lcii'fad ceiling piled up on the side walk
to dry and nailed down with cleats so
that the water would not float it away,
and Tom came along in his skif1' and
Knocked it loose, and afterwards got
$50 salvage for securing the lumber.
All the family aud business men lost
goods that iloatcd away, and we're COM
PEELED TO pay tribute to the thieves for
its return, and when they called for
help TO the officers of the county,
especially the sheriff, Pat Comfort, they
conld get 10 satisfaction. Probably sl0,-
900 worlh of goods Of different kinds
were held by these men as tributes for
big money.
About 2 o'clock that night the gorge
broke and the water commenced to re-.
cedc, and by tho morning Of the esth at
o'clock there WAS no water in the
streets. Then, again, the law and Or
der league WAS organized. Thi, time
the captain was A. l.. Campbell, an ex
confederate soldier under Wade Hsmp.
ton, brave man but tyrannical and
oycrbaarlng. Merchandise, lumber,
cord wood, clothing and dry goods were
missing.
The sheriff of the county was agaln
asked to help the people but refused.
Then the league took charge of Pierre
and in one hour there were thirty Of
these bandits captured and held in a
warehouse opposite the old Geo. Ridge.
way building on Missouri avenue.
An investigation was had IN each case
and the guilt or innocence determined,
of each party. l remember of the
league stopping at shack in which
One Armed Tom was stopping. A rope
was broughtin view and they were Civ
en- thirty minutes to leave town or they
would be hung to the nearest tree.
Tom said, 81 will go in less time then
that" at the same time his iron Crap
plug hook on the end of his stump arm
grabbed his bedding, but ho was detain-
ed for fear he had beon guilty of Il moro
serious crime then stealing lumber or
robbing II clothing store.
After all had been examined it was the
decision that 20 Of the thieves should be
sent across the river and that three
should be hung
There was quite an excitement at this
announcement. The three ropes were
procured and the moose thrown around
the necks of One Armed Tom, Montana
Kid and u fellow blythe name of Ben
net, and sturdy men grabbed the ends
of the ropes. About this time q prom
inent citiZ5n of the town ,.nd tho shasiN