Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1898-06-10
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River Days Before the llar.
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NTURRELL, the chief of Murrell's
~ paag, took pattern after Mike
l4nA. sam Gritty and "Col. Ilug,' and
lis Expectations were as terrible aud
ior-reacLiug as any Of the pioneer f"
h., profession.
4.lA vain. IN his Liz. o., che Mis-
s.s. .,..." calls Mursell a wholesale ras-
eal Tod ,tiuguish him from Jesse james
retail rascally deeds. What are James
aud bis Lalf dozen vulgar Ia Gals COM
..rcd with this stately old criminal.
tith his sermons, Lis meCitoted insut-
recticrs. ard wary captures, and his
A.a.o...c ll.oND.g 81 LOCO n.en, sworn
To 90 his evil Will
NuIeu seems TO have been most
d,Nte.ou-, as well Us a corSummate
Villain. When he Travelled has disguise
yves tlut of an itincraut preacher, ana
4. is said that his discouyses were very
.oul.stirriug and SO interesting 10
hearers that they forgot 10 iooll ate,
their horses. which were carried away
tv his cUuiederates while he was
rroaching But Murrcll's most mcrG-
.l}e occupation was stealing slaves r.
.eu them in another quarter. He had
4 peculiar way of managing that part
OF his business. one Of hi men would
tel uc.ra. for example TO run away
from his master and allow him 10 scQ
m 20 another, whereby he co ld Sc
cure hale Of the money paid for him
Then negro was advised 10 run away
the second time, return 10 the gang and
BE sent ~ free state by them, where
We would be safe. Many poor wretchee
lomuicd with this request, hoping to
obtain money and freedom. They
would be sold in this manner three or
four times, until the NurrcllS had real
.zrd 5000 or $4,000 from the repeated
sale Of one man. After this. for fear
az dctcc,ion the method would be TO
get rid of the only witness against
them. which was thc negro himself.
lie was murdered eod his body thrown
into the Mississippi river.
The general rendezvous Of this gang
was Oh the Arkansas side of the river,
where they concealed their negroes ia
the moraSses and canebrukes. Though
IL was well known that Murrell was the
head OF this gang Of outlaws, it WAS
difficult to obtain proof against him.
a young man named Stewart finally
gained his confidence, turned traitor
and exposed the whole concern, bring
ing home sufficient evidence against
Murrell 10 send him 10 the peniten-
tiary for II years.
II was found that a good many men
who bore respectable names in the Sec
tions in which they lived were connect
ed with Nurrell's gang, and every effort
was made 10 discredit Stewards state
mcuts. lie was obliged TO leave the
southern states in consequence.
One OF the most daring deeds Of the
notorious outlaw was the relHllion ne
melted In New Orleans, his object being
10 raise the blacks against the whites.
taking possession Of the city in the
melee and plundcring il at leisure. The
story is told by Capt. L. w. could. one
IF Tie oldest river captains, now living
in New York. Capt. Gould collected it
from accounts furnished by the man
Stewart, who vouched for It's correct.
ness, aud declared thar il was told him
by Murrell himself at the time he was
In his confidence.
81 collected all my friends gbout New
Orleans" said Murrell. lat one OF our
TREND, houses AT that place. We sat
in council three days before we got all
oar plans 20 our notion. We then de-
terniued TO undertake the rebellion at
all hazards, and make as many friends
as Wa could for that purpose. Every
mans business was assigned TO hi:u,
and when all was ready The signal was
given for Tie rebellion TO break loose.
The history of it is well known. Suf-
ice il 20 say that we carried of thou
sands Of dollars in horses. cattle. and
other movable property, and killed peo-
pie without number who were in our
way
Another noted outlaw in the carly
part Of the century was Mason, the high.
wayman Of the Natchez Trace, who in
tested the cauebrakes near Walnut
Hills. from where they boarded many
boat, killing the crew and carrying
off the cargo.
A story we'll remembered by old-time
ST. Louisans is that of the murder Of
young Mckenzie on the steamer Nellie
Rogers. Young Mckenzie was the son
of prominent merchant Of st. Louis, n
most estimable gentleman, who was at
one time an Indian trader on the upper
Missouri. The elder Mckenzie had mar
ried a squaw. Indian fashion, and raised
a family of half-breeds, a part of which
he TOOK 20 the states and educated.
Young Mckenzie, then about 80 years
old. had returned TO his tribe, the Crows,
married and was living at Fort Peck.
He. with his wife and young child, to-
gether with large number of Indians
Of both sexes and of all ages. had en-
camped on the bank opposite where the
boat was discharging. They all had
access 20 the boat, and were constantly
passing TO and fro.
Tie bar on the boat had been closed
by the order Of Charles T. Chouteau,
Che owner of the line. and no excessive