Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1898-06-17
PERSISTED IN FLAMES.
SO THE ROPE OF THE LYNcHERs WAS
NOT NEEDED.

A Spectacle So Terrible That It Made
One Witness OF tho Tragedy Decide
Thai He Would Never Again Partici.
pate In . Ma Hunt,
"Thero was only one official hanging in
my county," said tho ox-boomer from
oregon, land 1t turned out afterward that
an innocent man was executed in that in
stance. This precedent made even lynch
ing very uncommon, SO that when a score
OF us started out to hang Abraham Sam
uels to the nearest tree 1t was only aftor a
careful consideration Of the crime he had
committed. Samucls was u man of about
~, small, wiry and agile. He had reddish
hair md q heavy beard, the cut of which
he was continually altering, and no was
always neatly, rather flashily dressed. He
was married to q woman some ten years
his junior n lived with her and their
two children on a ranch on the divide be-
tween Tin Pot and Shoestring valleys.
I'm spite of his generally quiet behavior
samuels was very unpopular, partly, I
suppose, because of his natty appearance
n partly because he was known as a
wife beater. Mrs. Samuels was not direct.
" ASoHOASAOAO AOA OAS4o hllONlUuRC, IOE S0C
knew no one in the n~eighborhood and was
rarely seen off the clearing. She was thin
and tired looking, and her big gray eyes
had that cowcd look that always arouses
sympathy. Thore was tho am look in
the eyes of her two sons who, pnssersby
noticed, always played quietly and with
out much apparent enjoyment. It was
tho tales these two little fellows told their
Ynnfo0 0f tho 1icfriok coI@ol - MA, d.
that first brought to the notice of the COM
munity tho condition of affairs in the
home of the Samucls family.
"Whether it was because Of the knowl.
edge that sho had tho sympathy of tho
community or simply because she had
borne all she could l never knew, but ono
day Alice Samuels turned on her husband
and drove him from tho house. A drum
mer for a dry goods house in Frisco re-
ported night that as he was driving
over the divide no saw Samuels in front
of his house door, parleying with his wife,
who stood at the opon window with n
shotgun. That night Samuels camo to
town and got worry drunk. He was tact
turn and sullcn, which was unusual and
was noticed. He started out in the direc~
ton Of his home at about midnight.
"About daylight the next morning tho
Samuels cabin was burned down. Mrs.
Samuols escaped with tho children, but
there was no time for her to cave any of
her belongings, even clothes. 1t was found
afterward that pitchy chips and stove
wood had been carried from a pilo back Of
the cabin to a heap of dry b%rushwood and
had been kindled. The flames had been
blown across the corner of the clearing In
which the cabin stood, setting 1t atlre and
also the woods beyond. With no othor evil
dence than this there was a strong suspi.
cion that Samucls had set tho fire, and his
subsequent actions tended to confirm it.
Feeling against him was intensified by the
fact that tho fire had gained u good start
along tho divide and was mcnaoing valu.
able property on every side.
within a week !,om the time the fire
started the town had grown too hot TO,
Samuels, and in three days moro, during
which tho fires had done more damage, &
lynching bee wa proposed, with Samuels
as its object Of attention. AS I had beer
injured by tho fires to a greater extent
F! than any other individual in tho vicinity
I was asked to organize the bee. Iue
clincd to do TINT. but l went along with
the party, more from curiosity than from
any desire to wrouk personal vengeance.
Sa!uuels had heard of our intention and
had stolen a horse and started along the
Smith river trail, intending, l suppose, tc
proceed down tho river to its mouth and
take a steamer for Frisco.
"The pursuing party rode hard, and we
sighted Salnucls just at daybreak the nex>
morning as he crossed tho ridge into thu
Smith river valley about six miles aheat
of us. He would surely have escaped u.
Ind it not been that ono arm of tho foresl
fires intercepted him soon after he started
down the valley. The fire had crossed thu
ridge many miles below, and as it Travelled
up the valley it presented Il solid wall Of
hamo which it was impossible to pass
From this wall Samucls was forced tc
turn back three miles below, where he en-.
tered tho valley, and there was no way out
except the back trail. On this we inter
cepted him soon after, and it seemed as
though he could not possibly escape the
rope we were carrying for him. He did,
though, for no was finally consumed in
the fire he himself had started. He took
the desperate chance of trying to swim
down the shallow stream, whose flame
wrapped banks were not more than 30 feet
apart. 1t was an impossible feat. The
intense heat from the blazing fir trees that
lined the stream had overcome him before
lie got fairly started. An eddy stranded
him on a small bar, where he made one OF
two Intellectual efforts to get under water
again and thon lay still. He was envel.
oped for a few moments in the steam that
rose from his wet clothes, which burst
into flames as soon as they were dry. Then
the naked body lying there on the sand
could be seen to shrivel up and char over,
and before WI were forced back by the ad.
~vancing wall Of fro nothing was left but
a heap Of glowing cinders. I shall never
forget that spectacle, and, incidentally,
never participate in a man hunt again. -
New York Sun.
The Buffalo and the Bufalo Bird.