The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1897-08-14

yard at Fort Smith. III is mother stood
on the scaffold with him as he dropped
to- his death. After the moose was adj
sjusted the hangman asked Goldsby il
+ he had anything to say. ...5 #
No, !, replied the desperate. Il did
not come out here to make a speech.
+ came here to be hanged e
erhaps /" Cherokee Bill'' was an ex-
aggerated type Of a species Of bad man
that has been too common in Okla
honla. They are now nearly extinct.
ALL of the organized gangs have been
wiped out. Bill Cook is the only one
OF the leaders who is alive, and he is
doing a forty-fve-year sentence in the
3peni entiary at Albany N. Y. All Of
the others Bill Doolin, Bill Dalton,
Zip" Wyatt killed while resist
ing arrest. The opening of Oklahoma
enabled the deputy marshals to follow
the outlaws Witl hopes of success, and
with plenty of brave men willing to
trail the outlaws for the hope Of the
rewards. offered by railroad and ex-
press companies the determination of
the gangs was made possible.
SUNK TO THE LOWEST DEPTHS.
During all of this time the progress
of religion was slow. There were few
churches, and those were seldom at
tended by: any considerable portion Of
the population. Whiskey drinking,
gambling and worse vices were COM
mon. Nearly every little town had a
variety. show, which was a den of vice
and iniquity. Women Of the worst sort
from similar dives in Texas and Mis-
souri, were secured by the proprietors,
and robbery ard murder were COM
mon.
So corrupt was the community that
many many of the worst desperadoes escap-
ed from jail after being arrested. These
escapes, especially in the case of the
women, who were companions of the
desperadoes, became scandal of vast
proportions and cost more than one
Official his position. The desperadoes
had friends even among the officials.
The noted Bill Dalton, before he had
done much in the way Of robbery, was
a deputy marshal and for two years
wore a badge and hunted other des-
peradoes. There were many other
deputy marshals whose careers would
not have borne close. inspection, but
none Of them ever, achieved the noto-
riety that attached to the name Of
Dalton.
AS About six months ago there was a
noticeable change in the complexion
of@affairs hereabouts. The gangs hay-
ing been broken up, the deputy mar
shals turned their attention to the cap
ture of the solitary criminals, and the
country began to entertain a respect
for the law and for the men engaged
in the effort to enforce it. The time
was ripe for religious revival, and
the men for the occasion appeared.
Nearly all of the bad men in In
gals, Lawson and Cushing joined the
church. The variety halls were forced
to close, and the saloons soon follow
ed. Gambling g-houses closed for lack
of customers, and churches and Sun
day-schools took their places. Pistols
were discarded in favor Of Bibles, and
Psalms are now heard Sunday even
iLgs instead Of the rattle Of poker
chips and the whirr Of the roulette
wheel.
The real leader of the Dalton gang
was Bill Doolin. His name was not
SO well known in the east, and his
picture never adorned so many news
papers, but in the Territories he was
known as one Of the most desperate
men who ever terrorized community
After Dalton was killed, three years
ago, Doolin was in sole command Of
the gang He was captured once in
Eureka Springs, Ark, and lodged in
Jail in Guthrie. but escaped soon after
wards, and for more than a year was
constantly ION the scout. Z" He was
surrounded last summer by Deputy
Marshal Thomas and a posse at a
blacksmith shop northeast of here.
Dcolin was having his horse shod ear