The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-06-26
RUSTLERS AT WORK
CATTLE THEFTs OF SERIOUS
CHARACTER ALONG THE SOUTH
DAKOTA LINE n
ONE STOLEN HERD RECOVERED
Warrants Sworn Out for Three
Brothers, One of Them Man of
Prominence IN Political Circles
Friends of the Defendants Say
They VIII Prove Their Innocence
Ideal Region for RustIers.

Friends OF the Defendants Say
They VIII Prove Their Innocence
Ideal Region for RustIers.
SIOUX FALLS, S. D., June 25,-(Spe-
cial.)-Cattle thieves, who appear to have
become permanent fixtures of the region
lying along the west side of the Missouri
river Just north of the Nebraska line,
on recent raid were not content to run
off few head of cattle, but drove off a
herd of fifty-five head belonging to
Messrs. Brockman & Jewett and other
prominent cattlemen of Keya Paha coun-
ty, Neb., which were ranging across the
South Dakota line in Gregory county.
Sheriff Jeulfs, of Lyman county, and
John q. Bartine, an attorney living at
cacoma, who has been engaged by the
cattlemen to assist in ferreting out and
prosecuting the thieves, traced a bunch
OF the stolen cattle that had been shipped
to Verinillion by, it is alleged, three
brothers named Olaf, Nels and Carl Nell
son, who live In Lyman county, the for
mer being man of some prominence in
political circles.
In the bunch Of cattle at Vermillion
were nineteen head bearing it is alleged.
the brand of the Nelson's, freshly made.
The Nebraska owners of the cattle went
to Vermiliion and identified the animals,
nnally securing possession of them and
taking them back to their own range.
Charles P. Jewett, one of the cattIemen
from whom some of the animals were
stolen, swore out warrants for the three
Nelson's. The sheriff of Gregory county
went to Lyman county and arrested Nels
ana Carl Nelson, but Olaf could not he
: round. As result of the preliminary ex-
animation Of Nels and Carl Nelson the
former was held to appear before the
next term. of circuit court In Gregory
county to answer to the charge sof cat
tie stealing, while the latter. who Is a
mere boy, was discharged
Friends of the defendants saw thew will,
have no trouble in clearing themselves of
the charge of cattle stealing when the case
comes to trial, it being understood that
the line of defense will be that the ca
tie alleged to have been stolen were In
reality purchased by them On the other
nand, the disappearance of Olaf Nelson
Is oelng made the most of by the cattle
men and their friends
Since the arrests in this case other cot
tlemen living in the same region along the
missouri river have lost a large number
OF cattle, one man, Jacob Kraft, alone
having lost twenty-five head.
the region Is well adapted to the opera
items of cattle thieves. 1t Is remote from
railroad lines, and occupies narrow
strip OF country running a distance of
n1ty or seventy-five miles along the west
bank of the Missouri river, extending to
the Nebraska line. On the west, of It
lies the Rosebud Indian reservation. The
region Is thinly settled, and, being rough
and broken, is an ideal field of operations
foc cattle thieves
That part of Nebraska bordering on
south Dakota which is at present within
the field of operations of the cattle
. !arl Is noted in frontier history as
having had In the '70s one Of the. most
effective vigilance committees In the
West.