The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1898-12-16
GlLLETT, THE KANSAS "CATTLE KlNG.'1
Meteoric Career of the Kansas Cattle Spectator Terminates in a
Magnificent Failure. #

SAAASSl N"S S"SSNS aAo 49,
colossal bluff that Kansas ever grew.
Magnificent as have been his plunges
in cattle speculation. the most magnif1-
cent event in his whole meteoric career
is his failure.
No one can yet tell what his liabili-
ties will loot. 1t Is probable that he
could not even make a respectable
guess himself, for ne kept no books.
and before dropping out of the public
view Monday night he had all the 10000
or II, 900 cattle on his Woodblne ranch
switched about from pasture to pas
ture till the various brands are like
shuffled cards.
Stockmen who are here trying to
straighten out the chaos Of the kings
affairs say the failure will aggregate
not less than 81, 1000, 900, and may reach
S 1000, 900. There are mortgages Of Gill
let's on file at the court house here
alone calling for 3O,993 head of cattle.
Only q little over half thai number
have UP to this time been located or
heard Of.
In fifteen or twenty pens or corrals
at Woodbine Gillett left, as has been
said, 1000 head. Then some Of his
stock, about 5000 head. have been found
at Herington. this county. He had also
a partnership interest in $500 head in
Woodward county, Oklahoma. Then
he had contracted for 5000 head of the
81. A." brand to be delivered on No
vember 20. How much Gillett had paid
on these is not known, but a $4,000
mortgage was filed against them last
night.
EXPECTED THE CRASH.
One thing seems certain now-Gillett
expected the crash. He has been busy
for some time getting ready for it. 1t
is said that he has a grip with him
now, wherever he is, containing nearly
$50, 900 in cash. This cash he began to
get together about a fortnight ago. He
drew drafts through the Abilene Ma
tional bank on various commission
houses in Kansas City, st. Joseph n
Chicago. AS fast as these we're hon
ored he drew the money. He asked
for and got "big bills"
The bank officials suspected all was
not right, and were doubly careful with
him. They claim their bank a not
lost a cent. But here are a few of his
the Gillespie Commission company Of
Kansas City for $4,000 and the draft
was honored: he drew On Thos. Trow-
ers' Sons Of Kansas city for $1,000. He
got it. Then he drew on j. c. Bohart
& Co. Of st. Joseph for SO. 900. This
draft was protested. Bohart & Co. had
become suspicious Of the king" o.
account of a queer transaction early In
the fall. They closed all deals with
him and had since refused to handle
his paper except as 1t came to them
through others whose ame protected
Bohart & Co..
After this Bohart draft was protest.
ed Gillett seems to have decided that
the Jig was up. He left "for Texas to
buy CATTLE" No one knows where he
really went OF where he is now. though
1t Is reported here that he was seen in
Fort Worth, Tex, on Thanksgiving
day. and it is also said he actually did
contract for several thousand Texas
cattle on Tuesday or Wednesday.
While king" Gil!ett may have $50, 700
In his grip and a pocketful of diamonds
as people here maintain. there are other
men who will not come out of his fail
v,ra co ~o$ieFo okor;I,r Cjllo%tpe fo$ho~
in-law, ]. S. ~Baumbaugh, a farmer and
Dunkard preacher, who lives at the lit
tie hamlet of Moonlight, twelve miles
northeast OF here, says he will not have
a thing LETT in the world except his
homestead. which is exempt from exc
cution. He has trusted his son-in-law
implicitly, and his name appears on all
sorts Of deeds and mortgages, Of which
he knows nothing in the world beyond
the fact that he signed them at Gillett's
request. Then late tonight E.. B. Cur
tbs. a farmer of Morris county, near
Woodbine, filed a deed to his farm,
transferring it to P. A. Thompson of
Buchanan county, Missouri, who Is sup
posed to represent J. c. Bohart & Co.
The consideration Is given as $25, go. 80.
Curtis had joined with Gillett in a cat
tie speculation. and his name, with
Gillett's. is I'm a $125. 900 mortgage on
the stock in, olved.
A number Of other victims are said
TO be involved in the same way, tho |
~ yet their .Ames have not got into
the record.
AS has been said, Gillett kept no
hooks. He carried all OF his affairs.
transactions aggregating millions, in
his head. This makes it almost impos-
49, ~A>~l-AA~- -al--sa- -