The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1896-05-29
ALIENS STORY.
A RECITAL WHICH EMULATES THE
PIGMENTS OF ROMANCE.

by His Faithful Dog.
In the iron bound, woman's apartment
Of the Deer Lodge county Jail sits "Old
Man Allen," the slayer of James Nc
Guerin and of Mrs. Hannah Emery, with
his swollen limbs propped up on a padded
foot-rest and his white head buried in
over the troubles which for eight years
have made him a homeless outcast and,
after trials and hardships unspeakablc,
have at last brought him face to face with
the stern majesty Of the law in q felon's
cell.
There is nothing in the countenance or
bearing Of the old man to suggest the
desperate, but, on the contrary, a strict
Interpretation Of the laws Of pbysiognomy
would accord to him a preponderance of
kindly traits, though there are evidences
temper. The man who has taken two
human lives has clear and expressive
grey eye, strong and regular features and
has snow-white hair and beard, which
give him a venerable and dignifed mien.
In physical mold, there is a remarkable
expression Of strength and vgor, and in
the Wiry frame, broad shoulders and firm
pose of the head lies the secret Of the en-
durance which enabled this stern old
frontersman to live for days in the noun
tains without shelter or food, fleeing like
hunted beast from those who, charged
with the relentless errand Of the law, fol-
lowed him to the depths of his mountain
haunts, though they found him not.
Allen talks freely, but his deaf
ness and the suffering he is enduring
from his swollen legs and feet make it
difficult to obtain from his lips a closely
connected story. A reporter for TIE
New NORTHWEST, whose design was to
obtain from him an account Of his life,
and especially that part of it following
the commission Of his first crime in 1888,
visited Allen in his cell a day or two ago
and in reply to questions the shattered
old man made substantially the following
statement:
Il was born in either 1924 or Is, am
not sure which, in Monroe county, Ohio.
At six years Of age | went with my
fathers family to Knox county in that
state where I remained until | reached
the age Of q when ! took my freedom
and began making my own way. In
1850 | joined the gold stampede to Cali
fornia going by way of the isthmus to
San Francisco. For years thereafter |
followed prospecting in several states and
territories, crossing most of the principal
mountain passes in California, Oregon,
Utah, and Colorado, from camp to camp,
keeping with the rush Of gold hunters to
different districts. After several years l
returned to the East, again coming west
to Montana with the stampede to Alder
gulch, which / reached in 1864 After
some years Of changing luck, I came to
Pioneer and there got hold OF some good
placer ground with water rights which I
worked every year, putting some Of my
earnings into cattle. Here was all that |
had made in lifetimes work and it was
hard to lose it,
"NIr. Allen, where did you so after your
trouble at Pioneer in 1882"
II made my way almost directly to
California into the placer districts of the
northern part Of the state. | lived in
Butte. Eldorado and Sierra counties at
different times. All of the years since
1888 I have been in the mountains alone,
often 'coyoteing' in old dplacer claims and
living in abandoned cabins. Some of the
time I was in old placer camps where |
had lived during my first stay in Califor-
MIA. Once I was taken with paralysis
and had no company but dog which
was given me by an old man ran across.
While sick and helpless and not able to
get out, the dog would go out into the
woods and capture pine squirrels which
he would bring in to me and these |
cooked and ate. When that dog died
lost the best friend I ever had.''
"Did you live in the mountains both
winter and SUMMER"
"I staid in the mines in the mountains
of these three counties all the time. One
winter Ispent in snow which lay five feet
deep and was compelled to go about on
snow Shoes"
When asked If he had been in commu-