The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-10-28
Bad MAN OF THE BORDER
LIFE AND DEATH OF JOHN YVES
LEY HARDIN AFFORDS A
STRIKING TYPE
BEGAN HIS CAREER EARLY
Kept 1t Up Until "A Man With ms
Much Nerve and Ret
ter Aim Got
HiIn.

of Ell Paso, is yet within the memory of
newspaper readers, affords striking
type of the border bad man, both in
the story of his life and in the manner
Of his death. He was the son Of Bap-
fist preacher, but in spite of his home
advantages he grew to be an unruly,
shiftless and skulking member of the
community before he was fifteen years
old. He was born in 1851, near the town
of Comanche, Tex, and began his
wild career before he was twelve years
old by riding to death the only two
horses his father had.
He refused to go to school, was caught
cheating at cards when he was fifteen
years old, and in the same year put
out the eye of a neighbours son in a
quarrel over cock fight. Preacher
Hardin died soon afterwards. and it is
a tradition in Comanche county that
he died of a broken heart over the
wickedness of his favorite Son. In 1872,
being twenty-one years old, John Wes-
ley, or Yves Hardin, established himself
on a part of his fathers farm and be-
gan to assemble about his cabin COM
pany of the widest young men in the
county. None of them had means, none
Of them seemed to work. ana yet after
a few months of midnight rides into ad-
joining counties their corrals were
crowded with cattle and the townsfolk of
Comanche began to fear and suspect
Hardin and his gang. Not satisfied
with ranch solitude, and led by Yves
Hard1,l, the desperadoeS soon began
making midnight raids upon the town.
1t became their practice to galloD into
Main street every night at. s o'clock,
''shoot up the stores, and carry off
what they wanted in the shape of liquor
and supplies, and terrify into silence the
protesting storelIeepers. It is current
history in Comanche to this day that
Yves Hardin and his men held the town
almost III bondage during the greater
part of the year 1873.
Many farmers who had suffered at the
hands of rustlers then began TO assemble
in Comanche for the purpose of lin
vestigating" Hardin's layout. Whether
this visitation had anything to DO with
his departure, or rather store looting
and ranch life became LOO dull, is not
known, but in August, 1913, he left home
and identified himself with the Com
anche county gang of Taylors, then
engaged in a feud war of four years
standing with the sons and friends Of
a man named Sutton, Who was killed
by one of the Taylor family in DE, Witt
county in 1868. Hardin had no personal
Interest in the feud but~he was chosen
Header of the ComancKe! NGe ylors; and
during the period of HIS short leader
ship got credit for Slaging three Of
the Sutton faction. To'~show how in-5
effective was theimachinerS of 1the law
in Furnishing the perpetrators of these
border crimesss it is saia@1ha1 thirty
eight men; participants@fn the Taylor
Sutton feud, were; killed. .withi1s SIS. years
in Gonzales; De Witt~ and ltSomanche
counties, ard their Stay ers 4WAFe neither
punished nor positively Identified. Re-
port gives Hardin credits for shooting
many of The Sutton party, But he. Beast
L Gf.~a4 4
as he was proud and jeaFdlis' of his man
killing record. it is probable that he
killed no more: of the Suttodls-ss -
Feb. 15 1874, H8rdirf><ea ppe a redSsuade
ly in Comanches Withfa cFowds-pf his fol-
lowers, who iInnled fately captaFed e< the
principal saloon Of the town, -sbarred the
front door and proceeded 9oxcaEe1se after
the manner of their class Some time
that afternoon Deputy. Sheriff Charles
Webb, of thrown county, arrived in
Comanche with a warrant for one Of
Hardin's gang, who was accused of cat
tie stealing. He soon learned: that the
desperate and his fellows were embat tied
in the saloon, but, nothing dauntea, tied
his horse and entered the back door,
which was open. Hardin slSnew him, sand
the momen he put his face in the door
way shouted:
''Hello, Webb! What do you want
here?"
eve a warrant for Cal Shelby" the
deputy was saying, as he pulled the doc
ument half out of his pocket. But Hardin
shot him. through the heart, adding, Il
guess you won't serve iti' But Hardin
with Yves Hardin when Webb was shot
was Joe Hardin, younger brother Of
Yves, then posing as a lawyer. but closely
following in the footsteps of his lawless
brother, and with a growing reputation
in Comanche as desperate and crook.
News of the shooting of Webb spread
quickly over the town, and before dark
the saloon was surrounded by a posse of
volunteers. The enraged citizens stormed
the locked barroom about dusk and cap
tured four Of the inmates, including Joe
Hardin. Yves escaped in the confusion.
and rode to temporary liberty on the
horse of the man he had killed. The
posse, determined to make an ex-
ample an g., of o5 somebody, hanged Joe Zoe.
his companions two houss TO leave
the county. When the coroner examined
the effects of the dead young desperate
he found the seals of thirteen counties,
which had been profftably used for
months by the quondam lawyer in the
process of making out bogus bills of sale
for cattle stolen by members Of his
brothers gang. st1s
Yves Hardin then fed toward Florida.
In the suburbs of Gainesville he was over
taken by two negroes, "Jake" Mcneil and
Robert Borup. both Of Whom had work
ed for Hardin's father. Inipeiled by de-
sire to obtain the $500 reward offered for
Hardin's capture, they attempted to ar
rest him as he was leaving his lodging
place early In the morning. They APP
preached him with leveled pistols He
had his thumbs in the waistband of his
trousers and assured them he was I'M
armed AS they attempted to seize him
he whipped out two pistols from under
his vest and killed one of them. The
other was blinded and fed for his life.
Hardin was caught at Shreveport a few
days later, returned to Comanche and
sentenced to twenty-five years imprison-
ment Tor the killing of Charley Webb. He
WFT set at liberty under the exemplary
; conduct rule in 1892. and left the peni-
! Tertiary with the reputation of having
| perfected himself In the study of law
during the seventeen years Of his incar-
/ ceration. Immediately after regaining
his liberty he clinched his reputation for
being the meanest bad man on the Dor
! der by betting IS that hescould at the first
shot knock an innocent Mexican off a.
soap box where ne sat summing himself
He won the bet and left the dead Mex
lean in the gutter where he fell. That he
was proud of his meaahess is proved by
story winch he boastfully told of an
=, g ole9.zs5E1e Sslu tiidt III
a MOTEL there he was annoyed by a heavy
snorer in the next room. Without max
ing an effort to caution the sleeper he
put his ear to the thin board partition
till he got the exact position of his
snoring neighbor's head Then he fired
one forty-ilve-ealiber bullet through the
wall. The snoring stopped The corpse
was found the next smorning. shot
through the brain, buf-tha=bad man was
permitted to ride awavsiS5fa
Whatever he may have known of the
theory of law, his grotescs1e idea of its
p s nc was manifestriwhen he set out
IOr FL Paso wearing sfnnE six shooters