The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1899-09-02
JESTER

L Elk
souri, and Kansas might benefit his
health. A team of horses and a COW
cred wagon were purchased and well
supplied for the journey. He was a
good hunter and killed a number Of
buffaloes, besides smaller animals.
Hides in those days represented money,
so the trip babe fair to turn out we'll
The autumn passed away and the win
ter was well along when the Gates
family sent word to Gilbert to return
home, as they were growing anxious
about his continued absence. No an
swer came, and in addition to the I'M
%easiness from this cause Mrs. Gates
was wakened from sleep by a dream.
1t had seemed to her that while at a
funeral she had stepped up to the cot
fin to look at the corpse and had seen
her son lying dead before her. She
told her husband at once and both
were so affected by this premonition
of evil that the same day Mr.. Gates
fitted out his team and went in search
of his son.
He travelled into Missouri and began
to trace the route Gilbert had taken.
He found the youth had met Alexan-
der Jester travelling in a rather dilap-
idated wagon and travelled in his COM
pany. The last place where the two
were known to have been together was
Warrensburg, Mo. Here all trace was
lost of Gilbert, but Mr.. Gates traced
Jester to Bloomington, III. There he
found hat Jester had sold some Of Gill
bert's buffalo skins and had turned his
team of horses out for a week before
leaving for a return trip to Missouri.
A nephew of Jester was found who said
that Mrs. Cornelia Street, a sister, liv-
ing at that time at Wichita, Kan,
might know something about him.
Mr.. Gates acted on this suggestion
and went to Wichita, where he called
Sheriff Walker to assist him. The two
formed a plan to capture Jester. Mr..
Gates went to the Jester homestead and
locked at it with the ~ostensible view
of buying 1t. He began negotiations
with Mrs. Jester and offered a good
price. One of the children was seri-
ously Ill, and the two circumstances
induced her to write to her husband,
urging him to hasten home. She no.
titled Mr.. Gates of the day on which he
would arrive, and the trap was set.
Jester came driving over the hin
with two teams, one hitched behind the
other. He drove into his corral, jumped
out of the wagon, and went at once to
the bedside of his sick child. Mr..
Gates at once recognized one of the
teams as the property of his son, and
the officers placed Jester under arrest.
When he was searched Gilbert Gates
watch was found OF him, and the gun,
clothes, and other property were found
in the wagon. Jester was taken to
Paris, Mo-, and placed in jail. A
lynching party of several hundred men
was organized along the road taken
by the officers, who, getting wind of It,
hurried their prisoner off to Mexico,
Mo-, where he made his escape. Jes-
ter had confessed his crime almost at
once to Mr.. Gates. He told how he had
travelled with Gilbert along the road
olu lLiot my hob DSNOlliC lISI Ii ACldos
He had coveted the team, the gun, the
watch and money his young friend pos
sessed, and at last had shot him one
evening about dusk. After robbing the
body he said he had thrown 1t in the
creek and driven on with the two
teams. Gilbert's body was never
found, though search for it was kept
up after the hunt for Jester had been
abandoned. Mrs. Street, who makes
the confession, is said to have borne
a good reputation among her neigh
bors ever since she has lived at Shaw
nee, and the fact that she had a
brother living neal who had committed
the murder was never known. The old
man seems to care little about his Sis
ter's revelation, and say he is ready
|. to let the law take it's course.