Kootenai County Republican. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1899-1903, 1899-06-23
KEPT THE SKELETON.
QUEER REVENGE OF A MAN WHOSE
FRIEND WAS MURDERED.
He Took the Bones Of the Murderer
From shs 0rnsr aSsF Hunw Them On
the Wall of His Outho use-A Tear.
edy of thu Civil War.

j edy of ths Civil War.
! Morning. colonel.
Morning. sir. replied the man who
/ was leaning over the fence
He was short. thickset man, with
clear and piercing sye.his face shaved
smooth. with not the suggestion Of
wrinkle: yet his hair was as white "a
snow. He had slight southern accent,
and his hearty manner Of inviting the
visitors in and his cordial hospitality
were wholly southern. One Of the visit
ore knew him and had told the other
+ that there was a man with bona fide
skeleton in his closet and that the skele-
ton had story. 1t did not require any
persuasion to obtain a glimpse Of the
skeleton. The owner presently led the
way to an outhouse. and. opening the
door. displayed the skeleton Of a man.
badly fastened together and hanging
to the wall by the neck The Missourian
lid not object to telling the story
THAT fellow" he said. motioning
with his thumb to the skeleton. twas
once an acquaintance Of mine and l
liked him SO well"-this with laugh
that have kept him by me ever since,
30 that l can come ont and stir him mp
whenever feel disposed, and he gave
the skeleton dig in the ribs
ut was this way" he continued.
! closing the door on his acquaintance
"During thewar l lived in one Of the
southern states. where was about the
only northern man They took nearly
|
killed my stock. killed some Of my peo.
pie and finally announced that they
were going to kill me Nearly all the
country was terrorized at that time by
good for nothing chap whom we will
call Jim Conner; that was not hi. name,
but it will t,o-one name 10 as good "a
another now
"When the war broke out. he started
In as sort Of independent guerrilla and
began a system Of looting and killing
knew him WELL and he sent me wore
that he was coming my way and was
going to burn my house and hang me
to a tree in the yard ! sent word
back that | was ready for him We
heard Of him all around-men shot,
niggers killed. houses burned-so that
the name Of Jim Conner became thing
TO scare children, not to speak Of men
! was always trying 10 help northern
men. and one time had two or three
with me. passing them on as occasion
offered.
IL had not heard from Conner or his
raids for some weeks. when one day he
rode into the yard and swors that he
was going to burn the house We had
no means Of protecting ourselves ex-
cept by using a rife. and with that
tried to pick him off from the top story
but he had picked up one of my friends
who had been in the field. and they put
him on horse and stood behind him and
shot at the windows Of the house at
the same time gathering brush with
which. they said. 10 burn the house.
But no one dared to approach the
house. as was u sure shot | supposed
that they wouNvwait until night and
then creep up and burn me out kept
out OF sight and could not believe that
they would murder man in cold blood
But. hearing shout. | glanced through
bullet hole in the shutter and saw
them driving my friends horse up to a
tree-a fine old tree that had planted
as a boy One Of the limbs crossed the
drive. and TO this they fastened the
rope and drove the horse away. leaving
my friend dangling there, and watch
ing the operation totally helpless. while
they were looking on.
..Some United States troops finally
came along and drove them of and cnt
the body down. and we joined in the
chase. ] hunted the gang for weeks.
then gave IL up as II was evident that
they had given rs the slip After the
war ! moved to California and came
here. soon heard OF a curious char
acter who lived up In one Of the can
yons the life Of a hermit never con-
nected his name with Conner. II being
more or less common But when be
died one day the story was that be had
had bad record back in Missouri; that
he had been murderer. etc. and il
occurred TO me that it might bc my old
enemy. the man had been after for %
many years
II eaHt say that have . particu-
larly revengefel disposition. ssid the
skeleton owner. but he had murdered
my friend. and ! had never given up
the hope Of finding him and was always
on ths lookout The old fellow was
alone and homeless. II seems. with no
friends. and they bad buried him by the
side Of his hut heard Of it few days
later and employed some men 70 aid
me In the Investigation
Conner had q bsd ssber wound
L.
ever fail TO recognise bt1n. and when
We opened the grave there was the
san. while rapers which he left showed
that he was Conner had found him
too late TO turn him over 70 the law
So ! proposed to hang him where !
couid keep sn eye on him for the rest
Of my life. and in my will l propose to
leave instructions that he shall be left
banging. dangling in the wind. just
as be had hanged my friend had his