The Ravalli Republican., 1898-08-10
HIRED A DE5PERADO.
0udge Alexander I,Ius Gained o Rcputa-
3~1

Judge Alexander I,hus Gained &; Rcputa-
tic1, Bad Man.
"Judge Alexander no sooner
s6osses the boundary line into>the
territory Of Oklahoma than all the
&speraIoes in that section take to
cover, - said T. G. Sparks of Kansas
City. "Fle has the reputation Of be-
ing q dangerous man down in that
country, and that means something
in place where every othor man
one meets is likely to have record
of half dozen nCtches on his gun.
One Wouldn t take Alexander to be
us bloodthirsty rs an Apache to
look at him, for he is a slim man,
with sandy complexion, full red
beard and 1nustache, dresses Stylish
,ly and always smiles like 4 man
who had been married but As hours
He is Of middle age and is as active
Sas panther III Kansas City his
reputation rs a mild hammered gen
-tleman is superb-iti is only in Okla
homa that he is considered a bad
man. When Oklahoma was opened
for settlement i'll 1883, Mr.. Alexan-
der was then, as now, in the lumber
business. He was one of the first
boomers to jump into the new land
of promise and 'ccso out his due
portion OF the milk and honey by
selling pine board at 313 per cent
net profit. During those boom days
of 'sooners and spectators in Okla
homa whole towns Of 5000 people
were laid out in a single day, and
the pine board business was better
than half the gold claims in the
:Klondike. Mr. Alexander had Il
numbsr yard i'll every city and town
in Oklahoma. He was, in fact, the
lumber king of the now territory.
He traded in town lots and even
town sites on the side and mixed III
politics too. For instance, lie head
led a procession of boomers that
went into the Cherokee strip when
that excitement was on, and in one
might they laid off town OF white
tents, covered wagons and staked
slots.
Before morning q mass meeting
of 1000 people in circus tent elect
led Mr. Alexander mayor, and they
rchristened the town 'Willow
Springs The next morning the
United States troops came along
and notified the people that the
president Of the United States had
not yet given the order for the set
Element Of the strip, and that they
would have to skeladdle back into
Kansas. So the first town Of Willow
Springs, with its 1900 inhabitants,
1900 dogs, Mayor Alexander and
the entire city council, was wiped Off
the map III jiffy. j,
''All this time Mr. Alexander was
wearing high top boots, q sonbrero,
a brace OF six shooters, heavy spurs,
etc. and was riding q broncho. When
he wanted to do SO, he could look
more dangerous than the villain III
DAtCA AI GI1l6l' LA Gl4cSC CASllJilN
times, Madam Rumor says, Mr.. AL
eXander was compelled to take a
shot at two OF three obstreperous
men, but he admits himself that he
never caused an increase in the pop
u]ation OF a cemetery So far as
craftsmanship goes, MI. Alexander,
l take it, is something on the order
OF Mark IWain's $ character in
'Roughing II who shot at 4 target
and killed Il decrepit mule so yards
to the right. But the people i'll Okla
.homa didn , know this. They said,
why, this Kansas City feller'll
shoot. So they put Alexander down
.as bad man. He may have been
running a bluff for uug}lt know.
"But MI. Alexander did some
thing that few people were aware
of, and thereby he could afford to
be brave. He employed Il body
guard in the person OF Il notorious
desperate, who, armed to the teeth
with six shooters, a winchester and
a scalping knife, panied him
wherever he went-just like the
'3amb did little Mary. This desperate
had killed II men and had winged )
Is that he didn't want 10 kill. Mr..
Alexander had a written contract to
pay this desperate SIS month to
protect his life, and in the event tho
desperate was killed he was to rc-
,ceive Christian burial at the ex-
.pense of Alexander. In Oklahoma
in those days this sort Of protection
beat life insurance all hollow. The
result was that Mr.. Alexander, ex-
mayor OF the 12-hour- old town Of
Willow Springs, mado money in
Oklahoma and lived to be a Judge
in a horse show in St. Louis nine
years later. st. Louis Globe Dem
>Ocrat.
What He Thought.
Recently two gentlemen, driving
;alOng in a Wagonette, were smok-