The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-05-14
EN-. 10 sHELBY-s cavalry "


- purposes, but principally to ex-
terminate hands Of baashvackers
and robbers, whose daily out
RACES. roobefies and murders had brought
about reign OF terror. Among SheIhys
men we're Cherokee Indians, several Of
whom were college men Among the latter
was Charles Wing. young. 1.-THE. the quick
est man on trigger. and the most active
and relentless foe to the bushvhackng
In command Of the scouts. and by his &C
tivity and relen,iess pursuit had rendered
himself particularly obnoxious 70 the
guerrillas. several Of whom he had killed
In personal encounter. The robbers had
tried to kill him q number Of times. but
owing to his saSacity and his wonderful
activity he invariably escaped Among
these bands Of outlaws whose hands were
against every man not Of their Fix. wheth-
er OF the blue or gray, was Sam Brant.
Red SAM a. he was known throughout
central and southern Arkansas Brant
was the leader Of . guerrilla band OF
from ten TO twenty men, which had COM
mitted crimes beyond number In the south
ern part Of the state. Old men and wom-
en- and defenseless people Of all classes
were killed and robbed IN the most brutal
manner.
On one occasion Wing had ferreted out
and killed two o( Red sans men who had
rohhed and almost nayed alive IN old
couple who lived on Buffalo bayou. When
Red Sam learned of the killing oe his nen
BY Wing he swore that he would never
rest until he got revenge: but. instead OF
trying 20 wayiay and kill Wing himself.
the outlaw took seven Of his worst follow
err, and made his way into the northern
part Of the Nation where Wings parents
lived on q large ranch. They found no
one ~ tho ranch except the old people,
nearly every young man In that section
having gone into the army On ono side
or the other. and they easily oserpowe cred
the old people. whom they tied to chairs
with rawhide ropes: after which they rob-
bed the house Of everything OF value and
then Set IRE to the budding. roasting the
old people alive.
About . week after the murder an IL
year-old Cherokee boy arrived In the camp
where young Wing and his scouts Werc
and told the story. Tho boy was near
the Wing home when the guerrilias ar
rived. and. suspecting from their appear
ance that they were outlaws he hid behind
a woodpsle, through the cracks OF which
he saw the brutes rob and then burn tho
old people to death. He had travelled over
$50 miles to inform young Wing Of the fate
Of his parents.
Young wing changed from . cheerful.
pleasant companion to q man OF iron. He
Immediately turned over the command OF
his squad OF scouts to q subordinate, left
a brief note to be forwarded to Gen. shell
by. and, without a word, quit the camp
on foot, going toward the Indian Territory.
Every man in the company OF scouts Of
fered 10 accompany him. for they intu-
i,iveiy knew what Wing intended to do:
but simply waving them aside. without
a word he walked away and disappeared
I'm the forest. Red Sans headquarters
were believed to be in the neighborhood
OF Pelican swamp. q morass twenty miles
long. into which. when pursued too close
ly, the marauder always disappeared. and
as few knew the infr1caciss OF the swamp.
he invariably escaped. Wing although
imbued with relentless determination to
avenge the murder Of his parents. did not
omit his usual caution and his white
mans education and association instead
OF weakening his Indian instincts had
sharpened them. Cautiously but rapidly.
he made his way until within three miles
OF the sect he had selected on q former
occasion as one OF the probable entrances
to the big swamp. As II was near sun
down when he reached the place Wing
went into camp for a couple OF hours and
ate and rested: and then. after the APP
preach Of night had made objects india
tinct at a short distance. the young Cher
rokee silently drew nearer the narrow riff
OF grass and low brush over which he DO.
iieved Red Sam entered the swamp.
He had made his way nearly a hundred
yards on the pathway. when. a short way
ahead. he saw something which looked
IKE the stump OF tree. but the scout
knew that II vas no stump. It was an
outlaw picket. the cdor OF a pipe having
betrayed him to the scout some time be-
fore The roober was wife awake. and
as he was sitting In the center OF the
narrow pathway. Wing saw that 1t would
be impossible TO pass him He could easily
have shot him. but the noise would have
alarmed the robbers companions. and that
he didn't want done at that time. Taking
a small stone several OF which he carried
in anticipation OF just such a need he
tossed II ever the sentry's head The stone
struck fifty feet beyond the robber, who
quickly turned. thinking. probably that
one OF his comrades was approaching
Whatever the robeer may have thought.
ne was never able 10 tell. for a second
after he had turned the young Cherokee.
"a noiseiess as silence itself. was upon
him. A grasp OF the throat 10 prevent
an cutlery then knife-shrust, and the
sentry was a dead outlaw.
Quietly easing the dead outlaw 20 the
ground the young Cherokee again adj
varced until he had ~>,se-ed fnliy i0
Yards 81 ground or morSss. when a ray
tina. re was approaching thu outlaw camp.
Stealing along with moecas5ned feet Wing
soon reached spot from which he could
see the campfire not over fifty yards in
front Around the fire were sitting or
l.ing six men. all of whom, Wing knew
b. their appearance were outlaws. bat
Red Sam was not III sight. The scout
hid behind a bunch OF brush and watched
the camp fer fully an hour. but AZ Red
Sam did not return he determined 10 Kill
as many az the band as he could, and
"a hunt out their leader af;erward Creep
ing back over the narrow and ssHuoGs
pathway tifty yards Wing uEwognd from
his waist a long rawhs1e iariat which he
tied 70 tree en- enc side Of the pathway.
then gosng backward eight or ten feet.
ne stretched the rope across the path and
again tied IL. Crossing the pathway
twice more he tied the i&rtat aSain and
again. making four lines al rope stretch
nag stlaSoralls across .he path. Then. nke
A panther WirS again approached the
camp until within twenty Ave yards. ~ hen
h.. drew no his csrhtEss ard shot one OF
the outlaws The robbers srrsng 20 their
feet eraly Ga receive the contents OF Wings
revolver Auathsr rohher fell. but the re
naming four. finding that they were a..
lacked bv only ore man. drew shelf pas