The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-11-28
sion of these accounts would be some
thing like this.

| sion of these accounts would be some
thing like this:
In the middle SOS party of " '49-ers'
| was returning to the states from Cali
| fornia, where had been amassed con-
siderable wealth in the form of gold
| dust and nuggets. The caravan CONSIST
| ed of five covered wagons and perhaps
| score of men, among whom was
| Chinaman. who was working his way
| across in the capacity of cook. The
men are described as a wild. reckless
| lot They had gambled to excess, the
| result being that the wealth of the
| party had found its way into the buck
skin bags of a lucky minority, leaving
| some is hapless prospectors with moth
| ing to show for their years of toll and
| privation. The Chinaman was of the
few who had played winning hands. He
carried the spoils Of his skill in leather
belt worn about the waist.
Driven to desperation by their misfor-
tune, the losers entered into a conspir-
acy with party of renegade scouts and
adventures, among whom We're several
Indians and half-breeds, by which the
train was to be attacked the live stock
stampeded and the wagons burned. In
the confusion they hoped to recover
their losings and make their escape. The
spot decided upon for this fray says
local tradition, is the present site of
Granny Cranes cabin. There the cara
vail CdiHpeu IOI TIE llSHl. lLdWSOH anu
his family lived in a log hut on the
bank of creek not far away. Coming
home with his two grown sons from a
trading station at late hour, he had
seen the horses of the renegades hitched
in a clump of trees and at once sus-
pected that their presence BODIED i'll for
the argonauts. whose camp fires were
in plain view for miles around. He con-
cluded to give warning. Leaving his
purchases at the hut, he set out on his
errand of mercy, but arrived too late.
Scarcely had he hailed the camp guard
when there were yells from the half
savage horde, followed by a rattle Of
firearms. and an instant later the camp
was a chaos Of confusion. In the car
mage that followed the attacking party
betrayed its allies, and slew without
reference to compact, intent only upon
plumber.
When few pioneers of the sparsely
settled section visited the scene next
morning they found in the heaps of
half-burned rubbish-all that remained
of the wagons and packs--the charred
bodies of several victims of the raid. At
a slight remove from the center of the
late disturbance lay the dead body of
the Chinaman. He had been scalped.
Another corpse was identified as that of
the trapper, Lawson.
IaWson'S two sons were never seen in
vailing opinion is that they We're pass
i've spectators of the massacre and aft
erward secured considerable quantities
of treasure overlooked by the robbers:
that they buried it near the scene and.
taking their sister with them, fled east
ward to wait until the government au-
thorities had Investigated the crime.
Two men answering their description
were killed a few weeks afterward in
a barroom brawl in Cincinnati. Papers
in their possession indicated that they
had dealt in furs in Eastern Kansas. 1t
is thought that these were the Lawson
boys.
And now in her lonely cabin of nights
strange sights and sounds assail the
senses of Granny Crane. She sees
things. AS to just what she sees she
has never told anyone, but 1t is under
stood that the ghost of the Chnaman
appears to her. This explains the string
Of chicken necks over the door. Celes-
tials believe that mystic power in
heres in chickens and the fowls are
used, therefore, in the solemniZation of
certain rites attending burial. The i'm
mortal part of the murdered cook, san
queue. with bleeding scalp, is revealed
to her, and nightly demands the return
of his strand of braided hair. He i'm
perfumes her to find his scalp lock. Since
a Chinaman, like a kite, cant get to
heaven without tail, this particular
celestial makes life a burden for the
woman hermit of Doniphan county.