Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-07-05

carry him before me. On lifting him w
We saw he was dead so l told Pitts 10 lay
him down again and to run up. th1sstree'
out of range, and would take him up be-
hind me. | then cried to the rest OF the
party to move on ahead, and they staTIeu,
jim leading the horse that BOD rode. fhls
ran up the street about hundred yards,
where he mounted behind me- and we rode
out of town on the Dundas road. -
Up TO this time j did not know that
citizen had been shot, nor did know tha'
any Of our party had shot with the lntehI
tion or hitting any one. knew ,iis tiia'
never fired a shot at any one INTENDING ~
hit. nor did Jim. The fact Is that al the
trouble was caused by quart OF WHISKY
which. as / learned afterwards. one OF the
three men that went into the bank had con-
cealed, and between where they leit US IN
the woods and town they had drunk tne
most of il and were drunk. That accounils IT,
for them not shutting the door OF lne @ Jain
and not coming out according 70 aSIet-
ment when / called to them that the alarm
was given, and the people were driilins
themselves.
whisky BIamed for the Murders.
bad. It not been fer the whisky there
would not in all probability. nave Deeh q
man killed. and can truthfully say hau
known they had whisky l never Woul1 nave nave
gone into the town. for with all my laults'
and | am sorry to say they were HdBS
whisky drinking was not one OF them, anu l
never had confidence in man thdt ne
would do the right thing or what was eN-
pected of him when ne was under the IN
fiuence of whisky.
When we got out of town the last man
to leave the bank told me that as ne
jumped on the counter and was leaving
the bank he saw Miller lying in the street,
and at the same moment one OF the SleFks
sprang up and ran toward desk. Inlnk,
ing he was going for a pistol, he ordered
him 10 stop and sit down, but he Kept on,
and as my informant jumped from me rhe
counter he leveled his pistol and nred. me
man fell, but how badly he had hurt MN
he could not say. We learned aIter We
were captured that IL was J. L. Heywood.
Sells hot o.
entire retreat it was my most sincere wish
and hope that he was not seriously Wound-
ed. Not that l expected 10 be captured
through fear of personal SAFETY, put oe-
cause l did not want to be connected In any
way with the death. of man VINO had
never wronged me or mine. The death OF
Mr.. Haywood was never considered IN
our plans, and neither my brothers nor my
self were connected with the deed elther
in thought or act; We were or the party
and to that extent responsible. After we
had got out on the road learned that jim
had been shot through the shoulder, ana,
ASH was large bullet, presume IL same
ming. l was shot in the left hip. IL was a
pistol ball and was probably hred at me
from the upstairs north of the BANK. BOP
arm was broken through the elbow joint by
a large ball. presumably hredi by Or.
Wheeler, and two of our party had been
No Thought of Retaliation.
Now, l saw a good deal in the newspa-
pers at the time that our friends or our
selves wished to retaliate upon those who
did the shooting Statements of that nature
were not true. We never had, nor have we
now. any i'll will toward those who shot
us. Had I been in the position of those
citizens, l should have acted as they did,
that is, If l could
i will not give a description of our long,
weary fight TO Mankato. during which we
suffered death almost, wading through
mud and water under continuous down
pour of rain. In the vicinity OF Mank1to,
between daylight and sunrise, we met
man. whose name L have forgotten, in
woodland pasture. We compelled him TO
go with US for about mile, and then, Ie-
aliZing the risk We took. but not knowing
what else to do with him. we turned him
loose. We learned from this man, for the
first time, that there had been one man
killed end two wounded at Northheld, and
we were at a loss to make out who the
third one could be, but We learned sfter
in the south part of the city:
the. mans name l have forgotten. DIR.
Wood, of Faribault, examined the wound.
and said 1t was caused by buiiet which
house near by. of this I knew nothing
only. on hearsay.i but know that neither
Jim nor myself fired shot in that part of
the city. We were in front Of the bank.
and our stray bullets went north over
bridge square. / believe that the bullet
that wounded him was fired by citizen
at US, the ball passing up the street south
The Bandits Prisoner.
Now as to the man we took prisoner near
Mankato. The story he told in the pres
ence of Captain A. Barton, of Faribault
was true He said that my brothers and
myself had saved his life. The question OF
how to dispose of this man was discussed.
and in view Of our desperate situation it
was proposed by one of our party that
We shoot him, to which said:
NO, we will not kill him. 1t will be
easier to run away from all the men he
ran put on our track than IL would be to
get rid of the memory of having killed an
innocent man who has never wronged us.
and who says he has wife and children
depending on him for their support
The man who made the proposition COM
by leaving the mans fate to
Bob and Jim Younger were sitting with
he man, and the following statement of
he situation was made TO Bob:
IF we turn this man loose. he will have
he whole country after us In twelve hours
and with your broken arm We cannot pos
70 this Bob replied: II would rather be
;hot dead than to have that man killed
or fear his telling might put a few hum
enough for shooting If he should join in
he pursuit"
In the meantime the man was swearing
1y all the gods that he would never speak |
If having seen anyone. | cut the cords |
rom his wrists and told him that 1 knew
10 oath that We might administer to him |
wear him would be a waste OF time, but |
II course we would be glad and thankful |
ne NOulu say iiOlUlUS Vi ndNlfB seen US. |
However. whether he woSld or not, he was |
rec to return to his home, and we saw no |
more of the man until he came as a wit |
less before the grand jury at FaribauIt. |
That night we all together crossed the |
Blue Earth river on the railroad bridge
md the next morning we separated. Pitts |
emaining with myself and brothers.
The Capture mt MadeIIa.
In regard to our capture at Madelia, |
september 2l 1876. / only wish 10 say that |
he account of IL which appeared recently |
n the newspapers to the effect that Sheriff |
IeDOnald with 10 men of Sioux City, Ia, |
Ook us prisoners. is incorrect. We were |
aptured by about fifty citizens of Waton- |
ran county. led by Sheriff Gillespie and |
aptain w. ". Murphy of the same county. |
'aptain h. g. Yates. now of St. Paul was /
$50 one of the party. At the time OF our 1
apture Pitts was killed and my brothers |
nd myself were badly wounded. Bob has /
ince died, and Jim and myself. for more |
han twenty years, have been prisoners
will leave II to Sheriff Barton and the |
'ardens of this institution to speak of us /
uring the past twenty years. i have often |
let Captain Yates. and also most of the |
len several times. that were directly con-
erned in our capture. They have been
lOst kind in word and feeling toward us,
nd since our capture we have never felt |
Dward them any other feeling but that |
f friendship.
The above Is a true statement Insofar
s / can speak from personal knowledge.
What occurred in the bank 1 can speak of
My as 1t was told TO me. -