The Saint Paul globe., 1900-03-18

Not every man likes to have near him
Il gruesome reminder Of the eallows tree
This is one of the reasons why the watch
charm which Harry Jones, chief clerk in
the traffic department of the Great
Northern now exhibits to shivering
friends is unique. Its other claim to the
unusual Is that it is part of a gal
lows beam from which more men have
been hung than from any other ever used
in the United States. Mr.. Jones charm
Is small block Of white oak, common
enough 10 look upon, but one with a his
tory which VIII make small boys wake
with fear in the night and one which will
be regarded by many Of his friends as an
uncomfortable adjunct to an article OF
personal adommcnt
1t is a watch charm only in the second
place. In the first place 1t Is a horrible
reminder Of the lives of the most des-
peratc criminals who were ever given
short SHIFT at the end of a rope, and of
more Of them, than anything of its kind
i'm Uncle Sans dominion The httle
block of wood, one inch square, was
given Mr.. Jones by a newspaper man
who spent some years In the South and
during 1898 and 1886 made his headquar-
ters at Fort Smith, Ark The charm is
part of the old gallows in the federal
jail yard at that point, which was re-
constructed in 1896 on orders from judge
Parker, or as he was more familiarly
known Hanging Judge Parker" Upon
this gallOws, all the executions from the
time the government Jail was first es-
tablished until that year. took place.
The demolition of
THE OLD GALLONS
was something of an event Officers of
The court, marshals deputies and gov,
ernmCnt representatives to the number OF
score assisted. The immense beam
.weEty feet in length was displaced ard
.owered, then given its final resting place
N corner Of the jail enclosure. Relic
hunters were given no opportunity to.
work their will and pieces of the beam
we're obtaiuable only on the order of the
court Such an order fell into the hands
of newspaper man and he obtained a
section two feet in length and twelve
inches square.
Al the time the old beam was removed
To make way for more permanent one
Of steel, a search through the records
was made TO find out how many men had
ended their lives upon it. The jail books
showed 1S3 names, among them those OF
famous criminals. Other executions than
those recorded are known to have oc-
CURED and the total list computed on
seeming good authority, gives 1871 names.
This, however, cannot be proven accu-
rate.
For years and years the old beam was
IN place, back before the United States
established its Jail there, back even, 1t
Is said, to the times when the Spanish
authorities held control of the district.
Its history has been a marveIously
gruesome one, one without parallel in the
United States, at least probably not in
America. When cut down, the venerable
timber was still sound to the core and
could have been used many years.
The old beam went out Of official serv-
Ice with honor, as it began. A fitting
end was the last hanging, which occurred
with 1t in use, and right braveIy it
stood the train when six half-breed
Creek Indians, convicted of one of the
most horrible crimes in history
WENT INTO ETERNITY
together. The buck gang were mourned
by none and the memory of the brave
Wo!hdH NHOu lney murdered, outraged
and decapitated still lives as a warning
to vigilance for all right-minded men.
OF the many executions which occurred
while the beam was in use, none had
more dramatic interest than that of
Cherokee Bill, a famous Indian murderer
and outlaw, who was hung in the spring
of 1886 Fort Smith. Born in the most
squalid and miserable circumstances. he
early developed criminal traits At the
age Of thirteen he assisted in train
4robberY on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas
railroad, in which an engineer was killed
and $4,000 in specie secured. At fifteen,
in quarrel with a companion he drew
a knife and in a fit of fury, stabbed him
to the heart He then fed to the noun
tains and his later life was filled with
desperate deeds. 1t was he who alone
and unaided, held up a Frisco train
near Fort Gibson, in the Indian terri
tory, riAed the express safe and ESCAPED