Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1900-11-29
In Places is an Arid Waste
Where Awful Vengeance
is Melted Out to
LAWLESS OFFENDERS
Criminals Burned to Death and the
Punishment Considered Not Too
Severe to Fit Their Grimes.
+. L. Decker's Inter
estipg Letter,

est 10 the casual glance Of the OK
periencsd traveller along .he line
Of the Union Pacific railroad ex-
cept the homogeneous expanse OF
the voht and arid plains in eastern
Colorado. But the curiosity of
man is always aroused by the
slimulus of history, romance or
tragedy, and the place that has
this IN its past ever remains con-
spicuols in tae memory of the
scenesenacted.
Tbepafticular locality | speak
Of is either picturesque nor ro-
1oantis but one o. those plain,
Tranquil, peaceful spots where
natw sod me people seem to
ahou 4 10 bsrmcny and the sun
sh'n{ nesrI every day in the
year /. would seem uninviting
andna;aVorable to the planning
andexecution OF crime.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.
Jut here il was on the night Of
August 4th that two masked men
ehered tn, sleepers. robbed the
rhnic-slriclen passengers and MUIR
Tered an lid man in his berth;
then deliberately disappeared into
the darknas of night only to be
pursued bya swift relTibutiOn COM
= meusuraldwith the crime-only to
} be burneiin a distant cabin where
they bad taken refuge, and their
disgracel ashes disseminated 70
the reldtless winds. These dec,
perate and determined men
boardedthe train at Limon, go! of
at Hub and were captured and
crematd b near Goodland.
II gmOn was q town, Lake
wouldbe its suburbs. Limon com'
mands an extensive view Of the
county around, overlooking 9
sIigR valley to the east, traversed
by A sub,erFanean current whose
sandy surface winds ils way = the
distance like a strand against thG
horizon.
Thsrsilroad vsversee Ibis placid
vale and lhcSonntry highway runs
psraiiei 10 deepe me lopogra
ply endemic 10 The same, there
appears a desiccaled aroya with Q
few wilhered weeds upon its shal.
low banks; and here, in defiance
Of broad day light, in plain sigh
OF Toe world and the clear skieI
above, on the evening Of Novem.
Der 9th, occurred one Of the Eos
daring and desperate crimes eyer
committed.
A DAsrARpLf CRIME.
Hero is where the youthful negr'
murdered and inntilated the littl'
girl--the little queen of the valley
within sight Of ber school hous,
and within a mile Of her home
How suoh a deplorable tragedy
could occur and not be detected il
time to prevent 1t, is the most ex
tlaordinary coincident with tn
designs of the devil imaginable.
Oh, why could not some specis
interposihon OF Providence hav
Nrected one glance Of the meres
bserVeF toward this premeditated
unequivocal tragedy and save
this young, innocent, unsuspectin
child, and spared her parents tn
agony of ineffable grief the n
mainder Of their lives2 But II wa
not TO be, and / cannot conceive {
Hadder, more desolate and berel
home than that little white hous
in the shadow OF a snoW.coYere
hill is today.
The transition has been to
winter scene and the landscape
white with the fret mantel OF snow
All is quiet and lonely there nov
Nearby is a compact herd
sheep guarded by the unbroke
monolony of the shepherds carl
A little further on and, as curiosii
and pity increases, appears a sligl
mound OF gray. II is the des'
Grated ashes OF Preston Porter
body and bones, and all that
left except bis tortured soul.
railroad rail that would not bur
with the human pyre, extends 81
,, feet above the ground 10 mark u
epot OF this awful crime and
3ghaslly monument TO it's awfI
punishment, And this is Il
"reminisoence Of revenge"
+. l.. DECKER.
Denver. Nov. 2I, 1900.
SAVED FROn DROWNING.