The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1899-03-29

After the ordinary methods of hunt
ing outlaws had been tried unsuccess-
fully it was decided that drastic means
must be employed. Rewards have
been repeatedly offered for Butch"
Cassiday, dead or alive, and after each
fresh outbreak these rewards have in
variably been increased. If all the Of
fers which have been made from time
to time hold good, the slayer Of Butch"
should he ever live TO claim his reward
would be entitled to upward of $4,000
in blood money.
But the rewards have proven as futile
as have the efforts of the militia and
the deputy sheriffs. And that is why
Governor Wells, of Utah Governor
Adams, of Colorado; Governor Rich
ards, of Wyoming, and Governor Stun
enberg, of Idaho, got their heads to-
gether to see what could be done. Just
what the result of their conference was
has not been divulged.
Butch" and his band are the out
growth Of the rustlers of six years ago.
Since then they have broadened their
field and increased their numbers.
They know every foot of the vast terri
tory in which they operate, taking in,
as it does, the widest and most mac
cessibIe portions of four States. Every
man of them is thoroughly familiar
with frontier life in its rougher phases.
The forces are subdivided into five
bands, each controlled by its own lead
er, with Cassidy as the supreme power.
The outlaws now practically control
the sparsely settled region extending
from Central Wyoming southwesterly
through Northwestern Colorado and
Utah, and almost b" the Arizona line.
Marauding and murderous bands con-
duet their raids without restraint. The
thefts ( live stock run into the mill
ions. Ranehmen are murdered and
driven out of business, and the officers
of the law are powerless.
Never before in the record Of border
outlawry have the western States been
forced to form an offensive and defen-
siye alliance against bandits such as
was entered into recently at Salt Lake
City by the Governors of these four
States. The situation has become
desperate and desperate remedy is re-
quired.
These bands have number Of strong
holds in the mountains. Each is both
a rendezvous and fortress, absolutely
impregnable. They can only be reach
ed by traversing deep and narrow gor-
ges, scaling lofty and rugged peaks
and penetrating the widest recesses Of
the Rocky Mountains. In many places
the only tr, / lies over a narrow shelf
of rock, cut by the bandits along the
face Of precipice. Holes have been
drilled, into which in case of close pur-
suit dynamite can be placed and the
trail blown into the chasm below, thus
battling all pursuit.
There are also many places where
one robber can hold fifty officers at bag,
and as the bandits are armed to the
teeth and will fight to the last man,
any effort to exterminate them by the
ordinary processes of law is regarded
as useless sacrifice of life. In their
retreats are numerous caves, luxurious
ly fitted up and containing subsistence
sufficient for months. Thus are the
bandits enabled 10 set at defiance all
the forces Of law and order.
The outlaws roam the adjacent coun-
try aud smaller settlements without
moIestation. Many settlers purchase
immunity by extending assistance in
various ways. and the robbers even at
tend country dances aud other fune-
tions, occasionally shooting up" the
town or indulging in other forms Of
recreation. 1t Is only when closely
pursued By officers Of the law that
they retire to their mountain retreats.
Batch Cassidy, however, by reason
OF the price upon his head, considers
the higher altitude more conducive to
his health and seldom ventures into
the towns, unless he is making raid
or i surrounded By band OF his trusfy