The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-18
Downfall of the Terminus Men in
the Indian Territory.
ITSMEMBERSK lLLEOAMAN
o Exhibition Purposes In 1871, and
That Act Convinced Secretary De-
iano OF the Necessity OF Fed
eral I~nter.ercrce.

shooting was just around the corner
from where Judge Springer presides IN
the federal court. II was not go great
an arront to federal authority as &C.
CURED at Muskogee one morning in
bition purposes. TO impress Secretary
Delano of the interior department un-
der President Grant.
Muskogee Is billed for a boom after
the Curtis law becomes operative or such
treaties as the Dawes commission may
conclude with the Creek Indians are In
force. The boom will not be of the en-
thusiastic or sanguinary kind that
prevailed In 1871. II was that boom
which brought the secretary Of the in
terror to the spot to see what could be
done to check the rapid growth of the
cemetery. The visit led TO a technical
violation OF treaty Obligations and the
invasion Of the country by our troops.
Frontier life In the United States has
never produced a worse variety of the
bad man than the one known as the
terminus a The terminus man fol-
lowed the gangs that built the great
lines of railroad across the plains.
Wherever the temporary terminus of
the line was found. there he was found
also. Whether In tent or rough board
shack or dugout. he was a short-card
gambler. a purveyor Of bad whiskey or
a plain desperate without any disguise.
When the Atchison. Topeka a. Santa Fe
line was being laid westward along
the southern border of Kansas the ter
minus man flourished at Caldwell,
Kiowa. Dodge City and Liberal. He did
much Of the work for which the Texas
cowboy has had too much OF the dis
credit. But there was law In Kansas
which. enforced by men of the Bat
Masterson stripe. restrained the terml-
u man. He was a nard proposition
at best. but under state or territorial
government. backed by the right sort
of material for its administration. he
never rose to the dignity of being nego-
tiated with by one of the abinet officers
from Washington.
The negotiations were unprecedented,
but they were clearly justified. The
terminus nan a trailed along with
the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railway.
then under construction toward the
gulf, all the way from Sedalla down.
The main terminus was at Parsons,
Kan, where the gang kept its head
quarters for a long time. The terminus
man was his usual self at that place.
restrained somewhat by the law and
the public sentiment behind those who
were there to enforce IL. He had made
a profitable season, but was not reluct-
ant to move. for the next terminal point
would put him beyond the Jurisdiction
of any court. The Indian territory lay
invitingly before him. The territory is
now a comparatively lawless country.
Then II was superlatively SO. A little
squad OF United States deputy marshals
pretended to exercise federal authority
within the limitations of the treaties.
shadowy as was this emblance of %
eminent. II was substantial when COM
pared with that OF the ndian tribes.
ms Cherokees had a feud raging be-
tween the ROSES and the Ridges. In
the Creek country factions and families
were still fighting the civil war. Not to
he depended apo at best for any vigor-
Gus enforcement Of social order and
security. the tribal governments. under
such circumstances, were impotent.
There was a body or federal troops
quartered at Fort Gibson. but that
they could not be used without a viola
ton OF the treaties with the ndian
was clear to everybody. and to lone
more so than to the terminus men. The
Missouri. Kansas & Texas got into the
Indian territory in a hurry. hut IL
was none too quick for the terminus
men. who got there with IL and resum-
ed business on a new and enlarged
scale at Chetopa. the first temporary
terminal point on the line in the Red
commonwealth. Chetopa was entered
by the first locomotive that ever ran
into the indian Territory on May 6,
1871. at noon. That night all the gam
bling saloons and dance houses were
in full blast and enc man was buried
with his boots on before shutdown. The
railroad company had laid 26Is miles
of finished lin in IL days tn get to
| chatnna and confirm It's right 20 N
5000. 00o-acre land grant, but the ter
minus men opened up trade I'm a way
to convey the impression that IL was
their opinion that the expedition was
made for the purpose of charging their
facilities for doing business.
They enlarged accordingly. The en-
R%ineers, builders and contractors on
the line knew many Of the men in the
terminus gang. They had a expert
ence with them at Laramie. Cheyenne.
Ogden N other temporary terminal
points during the wears in which the
Union Pacific road was being built.
They had been able To manage them.
in a way. when under federal author
ity and within the call of federal troops.
Rut without such forces To command.
the railroad men q found that the
terminus gang was a quantity IL was
10 longer possible for them TO deal
with. Murder became an event of
daily occurrence. The terminus men
took to shooting people fer the fun OF
seeing them die with their boots on.
h was worse from the
view. perhaps. was hat they TOOK to
robbing the nay cars and killing the
men supposed to be carrying company
funds. Several valued employees of
the company were shot under the inn
preston that they were United states
deputy marshals. a fact eloquent of
the degree of respect entertained by
the terminus men for the shadowy au-
thority of the federal government.
Conditions grew worse the further
the line got into the Territory. At Che
topa they were bad. Al vinita they
were worse. AT Muskogee they reach
ed their worst. There the event which
broke the record was the killing of
three men I'm one night without provo
cation. Robbery was the motive in
two Of the cases and Just the desire