The new North-west., 1897-04-09
AN IDAHO MURDER TRIAL.
A Case in Which Deer Lodge People. wi
Take Some Interest

|
A Case in Which Deer Lodge People will
Take Some Interest
The Boise, Idaho, correspondent of the
Salt Lake Tribune of April 2 says: "South
ern, Idaho has an unusually interesting
docket of spring murder trials. In fact,
perfect carnival of murder seems to
have prevailed in the southern part of
our state during the past two years. These
are not common ordinary cases of homi-
| eide, but appear to be cases of willful,
deliberate and premeditated murder"
| The correspondent then states that
! there are three cases to be tried this
| spring which will attract attention all
over the state and beyond its borders.
| After mentioning two of the cases, refer
ence is made to one in which the people
of Deer Lodge will take considerable in
| terest, as one of the parties to the trial
| for murder is we'll known here, where he
| lived for time under the assumed name
of "Will Treet." His real name is Glea-
| son. and he was arrested here short
time ago by Marshal Stuart and taken
back to Idaho. An account of the affair
was published in these columns at the
time. The correspondent Of the Tribune
| is in error, however, in stating that Glea-
son and Davis were ''extradited from
New Mexico" But he gives an interest
ing bit of history in connection with the
| aaea which chn1xo tho cfofo nf off in,
the community where the prisoners are
to be tried for their lives this week. Of
this particular case the correspondent
says:
| "The other case is that of The State vs..
Gleason and Davis, in Cassia county.
This case has a glimmer of romance
around it, from the fact that Jack Davis,
a common, ordinary, everyday cowboy,
has been christened "Diamondfield Jack"
and from the further fact that he and his
companion fled the country and were ex
tradited from New Mexico. This case is
set for trial at Albion next week and may
then be tried, or the place of trial may
be changed to some other county. What
gives special significance to this trial is
the fact that it involves all the sheep and
cattle men of Cassa county. 1t seems
that for several years past there has been
tacit agreement between the cattle and
sheepmen in that country that the sheep
men should not use any portion of the
public range west of Rock creek. Lately,
however, the sheepmen have been grad
ually encroaching on this range. This
has led to an intense factional war. ii un-
dreds of sheep have been poisoned, and
in turn hundreds of cattle have been found
dead on the range. The only public out
break was the shooting of Tolman, a
sheepman, by "Diamond6eld jack a
cowboy in the employ of the Shoe Sole
company But the climax of this bitter
feud was reached when, last fall,two sheep
men were found dead in their Wagon in
the sheep camp. An investigation showed
that they had been foully murdered, ap
parently while asleep in their wagon.
Their bodies were not discovered until
nearly week after they were shot, 1t
seems that soon after this discovery Da-
Wis and Gleason disappeared, and, after a
long search, We're discovered in New
Mexico.
"The feature of this case which at
tracts the most attention is not so much
the murders as the feud between the cat
tie and sheepmen. The two prisoners
are now confined in the Jail at Albion,
and six guards watch over them,-two
regular deputy sherltfs, two cowboys,rep-
resenting the cattlemen, and two sheep
herders, representing the sheepmen.
Special counsel have been employed by
the sheepmen to help prosecute the case,
and the cattlemen in turn have employed
the best criminal lawyers in the state to
defend the two cowboys. In fact, the
whole county is literally rent with civil
feuds and the people are as clearly di
vided into cattlemen and sheepmen as
they are divided into democrats and re-
publicans 1t is this division of the peo-
pie into distinct classes that, it is thought,
will bring about mistrial, and, there
fore, it is believed that the cases will be
set for trial in some other county where
these dissensions do not exist"
An impromptu little party was gotten
up on Monday evening to celebrate the
election of Mayor Conley and the en-
tire citizens ticket. The McBurney
was thrown open to the reception of
guests and soon there was quite a gath
ering in the dining room. where for sew
eral hours the merry party tripped to
lively music or gracefully whirled to the
inspiring strains of waltz. Late in the
evening Mr.. and Mrs. Aylesworth spread
neat lunch for the guests. The leading
spirits of the occasion were Mayor Con
ley, Colonel Aylesworth and Johnny
Bielenberg. OF course the affair was a
success and highly enjoyed by all present
Awarded
"a XK0~1LS, E@sss