The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-09-04

Rest of the WeeIS-ShOt Seven
Times-Escapes From Jail.
Fairfax. S. D.. Cor. New York Herald
The strange case of DR.. Jekyll and Mr..
Hyde has its counterpart in the remarkable
career of the Rev. Myron Hilgard, evangelist,
cattle Thief highwayman and jail breaker,
In his most vivid flights of imagination the
writer Of lurid border fiction could scarcely
conceive more picturesque character than
the Rev. Myron. A preacher by day and a
masked highwayman at night, he has man.
aged to deceive his trusting flock for four
years. But the climax finally came. He was
caught redhanded In his midnight crimes,
narrowly escaping lynching, was jailed. es-
capped after a murderous assault on his keep
er, and is once more a free man.
lie came to these parts in 1894. He just
dropped down in Bonesteel one autumn day
and announced that he had come to settle
and grow up with the country. He had hin
wife and three children with him. and they
were all pretty likely lot for these parts.
In "a Gregory county, which looks on the
map like big shoe. made by the curves of
the Missouri river at the extreme southern
border of the state was in it's infancy. Grub
was scarce and crops were deluson and
snare.
Il am the Rev. Myron Higard," he an
wave OF his hand which included the bal
ance of the Hilgard family, these are my
pearls A man may have pearls in this life.
but he should lay up his gifts In heaven. and
strive 10 gain the pearl without price. l
have come to preach the gospel among you"
- one-Eyed Ike" whose other name is Per-
klns, one OF Nicholas Hammil's COW punch
ers happend to be in the posto1fice when
the stranger delivered himself of this Intro
ouctory speech. Ike never minces his words,
and on th-s occasion he Oh med right in
"oNE-EYED IKE'S" EXPERIENCE.
well, parson" he remarked Il reckon
you've lust about ,loI
Everything around these parts seems goin'
rght plumb ter hell, an l reckon the only
thing that cal be sav>d IS souls So pitch
rght In an Wen ante In every Sunday ter
help ye along"
The Clerical stranger e-asped the hard
hand OF the cowboy In his own soft one.
God bless you. my noble brother" he ex,
CLAIMED God bless YOU"
Rather abashed at this unexpect d cut
burst. Ike blushed to the roots OF his sandy
hair hair and skunk off into the crowd. III was
MIN Just In from Hammil's ranch He had
peen drinking heavily / was amazed, N}r he
t naan touched drop in a long time. In
Iact, he was popular.y supposed 10 have
gotten religion. He, in common with others
h mac come under the spell of the Rev Myron
He was undeniably drunk, and as I an
preached him l noticed that he was en-
edgeo IN the remarkable pastime of splitting
on MS own hand. When L asked him what
maudin manner and remarked:
An ter think was the fust man in this
county ter shake him by the hand. The
crten' 'P0
He. held his hand off at arms lcpctb.
sazea feproachfuily at that offending mem
Der, and again deliberately spat in his palm.
l knew without asking that he referred to
the Rev. Myron.
But Ike was not alone in the feeling of
celVed an entire county. He was most
pIaulDIe scoundrel. He was a striking figure
tan, smooth-shaven, and with a mass of
long back hair brushed back from high
well developed forehead. His features were
clean-cut and denoted little intellec-
tuahty. His manners were pleasing, and he
soon made himself popular.
But at that time Bonesteel gave a great
oea4 more attention to getting three square
meals meals by day and keeping an eye on the
praska by night than in the SOULS prospects
IN the region beyond the Styx So Rev Hill
garas exhortations to the South Dakotans
10 1orsake their evil ways were not at first
productive of much fruit
me hour had struck for him to begin to
olg Tor living, SO early in December ne got
possession of one-story farm house three
miles north Of Bonesteel, together with
quarter section Of land. 1t was a hard win
Ter ana HllgaTd had to borrow supplies from
MS helgnpors for the time, promising that
ne would reimburse them from his crop the
ioiloWlng year. In a school house hard nv
ne neId sunday services, never forgetting to
taAe up a collection, and occasionally through
the week he held meetings, which he STYLED
REVEALS. He was regarded by his neighbors
as such COCO man that they called him
INTO their conferences, both spiritual and
temporal. One thing, however, they had great
u1mculty In understanding-he was nearly
always absent from home at night 1t was
HnaIly explained to them that Rev Hileard
hao Two or three other charges one of them
on the east side Of the Missouri river. and
on On Inat account he was not able to spend
mahy Oh MS evenings at home
HE SPREAD THE Gospel,
IT Ia 10 I,
| ~ settled region of South Dakota especially
during the winter months, SO the Rev. NV
| ron's Sunday services and weekly reyivals
became very popular. He was a persuasive
talKer, with a certain amount of rough elo-
quence that appealed to the farmers and cat
ueInen, who, with their families1those VIII g.,
had families-Seldom missed q service In
tIme gradual change became noticeable in
the daily lives Of the natives which finally
! fervor. e'ie'ouS
The little school house was scarcely largs
enough to hold the crowds gathered there h
near the teaehlngs OF the Rev. Myron and to
ponder upon the straight and narrow way
| that leadeth to eternal life. The revival serv-
ices developed into good old camp meefin q
lines tdp as asa an exhorter the new parson was a
! tremendous success. The mourners' bench
was continually crowded with repentant sin
ners' For as the preacher often remarked
no man knoweth the day or the hour when
MS soul may be required of him. And vt was
often noticed that he felt nervously in the
| region of the hip pocket beneath his lone
| black coat -41' 'olis
!, Then came numerous mysterious depreda-
| lions In January, 1895, ranchman living
| IN the neighborhood OF Fairfax lost twentye
| elngt mead OF fat cattle which he was about
! OF drive to a station for shipment to Chit
| caSo Ihey disappeared in the night and no
! trace Whatever could be found of them then
or afterward. Five or six days later farm
! er, west Of Bonesteel, lost seven horses. four
| OF them Percherons, which he had brought
| IN to do his spring work with
search was made for them all over the
| as completely lost as If thew had heen sraI
! lowed up by the earth About Feb an
| other ranchman robbed of eighteen
| COWS, calves and beeves These depreda. ions
were 1ollo~ed by others. -Four five farm
! ers living In Isolated parts Of the county
were held up at the point Of the rifle robbed
! or their money, and their houses were ran
| sacked Of their valuables During the nevt
| Two months several travellers were held up
| and robbed NS
PONCA JIM.
The community was thoroughly aroused
Rev. Hilgard being one Of the INST en-.
thusiastic In the search for the sooundrel q
person the ranchman spoke Of as "Ponca
jim, who got his name from the river of
mat mat name running southeassward through
the county. Nobody could say definitely
that he had seen this awful person hut
everybody believed him to exist The com
mon notion was that he was a big 900
p pound halt-oreed, who spent his nights rob
Ding farmers and ranchmen killing thosa wbo
resisted him, and fleeing across the Nebrasi-S
border in the early dawn to the friendig
Ponca Indian reservation ul9
mere ne was safe until the shades or ON
unit, ntght should afford him the oppor--
raplne and murder. Plans without nnrah "
were iaIu 10 eaten him. He was several tinos