The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-29
AN EXTRAORDINARY DUEL.
EACH MAN sHoT HIS OPPONENTS
CLOTHES TO RIBBONS.

Marshal Cumso ana the Outlaw Genius, and
the Ono mad Cartridge Thst brought About
tho Capture OF tho Territory'S worst Man.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 2s.-Tom Wilkinson, who
is now the manager of q pleasure resort a few
miles from Washington, was for q while Sheriff
Of Creede when Creole was lively.
II wore a plug hat all tho time I held the job
he said the other night; land. what's more, no.
body ever tried to shoot holes through It or to
make q spit.kit Of 1t. l never had any trouble
with bad men. found IL very easy TO manage
by persuasion all the bad men ever ran against.
II / had tried bully-ragging tactics with
somo of them, it's worse than q hun
dred to one shot that l wouldn't DO in tho
enjoyment Of my breath tonight. A man who
knows enough to put tho reversing gear on
his mouth when the temptation is greatest for
him to lot it go ahead four bells, needn't got
into trouble with white men anywhere on earth;
and tho value of n close mouth and n civil
tongue or none at all had been pounded into me-
by experience long before I struck Creole and
got tho job of Sheriff without making any par
ticular play for It.. After oil. Creole was not 30
bad. A great majority of the men In the camp
wero q pretty square set. or course, most OF
them knew how to shoot; but an out-and.out
, desperate or outlaw was not tolerated In Creole.
1 persuaded a lot of Thorn out Of tho camp my.
self-with tho assistance and moral support, of
COuroo, VI bOulC U L my uuUluCihl lTlcnub, WHO
were q good deal better on the shoot than l.
And talking about shooting. I mover saw
anything in that line in Creede or anywhere
else-and in my time I've done a heap Of dodg-
ing under tables and behind doors when tho
ping Of the bullets became too frequent for COM
fort-to compare with a shooting gamo that q
couple OF associates of mine got mixed up in
down in the Indian Territory back In 's5. 1
was a United States deputy Marshal at Fort
Smith, Ark. at that time, and. although 1
wasn't a witness OF this phenomenal bit Of gun
work l am going to tell you about, l saw two of
the three combatants who survived the fight
when they got into Fort Smith. and the looks OF
the pair OF them told the story in q mighty con-
vincinR way.
There was an utterly wicked devil named
Cunius rampaging around down in the Territory
who was very badly wanted by the Federal Gov
eminent. He had some Choctaw in him and a
good deal OF Irish. and this Is q bad combina-
tion when you get to figuring on 1t. Cunius
stood in with all the tribes in the Territory and
sold them whiskey. For two years before he
was finally corralled he had kept q large pro-
portion of the red population OF the Territory
pretty drunk. and he made a lot OF money at the
business. All attempts to round him up had
fzzled out. for the Indians took care OF him and
hid him safely when they found out that the
Texas or Arkansas marshals were on his trail.
After the general Government put a heavy
price on Cunius's head a Texas marshal from
the Panhandle district named Balfour went
after the desperate singlc-handed. The mar
shall was never seen again. alive or dead. Be-
fore Cunius was hanged at Fort Smith he con-
fessed that he and n couple of Cherokees had
shot Balfour to death from ambush.
After the disappearance OF this Texas Mar
shall, we came to the conclusion at Fort Smith
that Cunius must be rounded up IL 1t took the
whole caboodle Of us to do II. Moreover. tho
Government reward was worth reaching out
for. There were six Of US with United States
Marshal's warrants at Fort Smith at that time.
and we decided to draw straws as to which pair
Of US should go after Cunius. don't mind 60
ing on record with the statement that l was con-
siderably relieved when l drew a short straw the
first rattle out of the box. and was therefore
let out Of the hunt-for / hadn't lost any Cunius
that I wanted to look for. and tho reward didn't
tempt me q little bit. Tho two men
who drew the long straws happened to
DO just the pair who were the most
eager to go after the outlaw. George Field. the
most intrepid man 1 ever met anywhere. was
the first Five years service in the Texas
Rangers had given him plenty OF experience in
trailing. and he was the first and only man !
ever knew who was absolutely fearless without
being foolishly reckless. When he was with
~ isahBcio ho hao oiippcu hdhdOu iibo II
camp Of ~rustlers on the banks OF the Brazos
and marched the whole pack Of them seven
miles to the headquarters OF his outfit; and
since he had got his Marshal's warrant he had
done some close-quarter work with desperadoes
that earned him a heap OF respect.
The other long.straw man was. / believe, the
very blacklist man that ever threw an inky
shadow in the sunshine. / think that a char
coal mark would have looked wan on his face
His name was Beasley Cumso. and his African
blood was as pure as that OF the naked savages
who live on the banks OF the Aruwlmi River
And every drop OF it was fighting blood. too
There was nothing savage about Cumso. He
was the ~quietest, most self-containcd. and most
thoroughly on the level black man l ever met
when we had nothing to do but to sit around and
smoke our pipes, waiting for orders. But whcr
the orders came and we got into big business
served a couple OF eniistments in the Ninth
United States Cavalry when that outfit was
dining mes IN Indian tSa arm 6sS 10 e w nnd he In h sraHti, let wd hi,
he was probably fifty points ahead of any of Us
"Ffieid and cumso started out after cuniu.
together. They went in n light prairie schooner
well stocked with provisions. for they expected
good deal shorter than they had expected. They
made directly, for the Tahle9uah country. for /,
his whisKey.selling tours he made his headquar
ters with the remnant OF the Tahlequah tribe.
'fleld, Wnen he was Drought back, dying, &c
Fort Smith. told us what happened. He and
Cumso had made a permanent camp OF theiI
wagon about eighteen miles from the Tahleouat
wickie-ups, In a little clearing surrounded by q
thick growth Of underbrush, and had gone fol
several nights on Single.handed scouting ex
petitions close to the camp of the Indians. The
Tahlequah wickie-ups wero all In a cleared val
ley between a couple OF low hills, and each oil
the Marshals took one OF those hills for observe
ton purposes every night for a week. Al
they could both easily make out from
in the valley, neither OF them caught q
glimpse Of Cunius, and they rightly concluded
at tho end OF a discouraginR week that the half
breed was off on one OF his whiskey -purveyine
trips. They then figured 1t that they were il
for a considerable wait. They didn't like thei,
position very much. either. for they stood .
go9d chance OF being discovered bE parties o
were a dirty lot when. IN force themselves, thoi
ton did not scare them. however, nor did the
neglect to continue their night scouting trips
on the chance that Cunius might appear on tn,
reservation aI any time.
Had they known 1t. they need not have KEEP
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