Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1901-07-12
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more news is heard from it unless some
members return. Beside this posse,
men arc working up from the Yellow
stone in the hope of intercepting the
!, fugitives. but the latter know the conn
Try SO we'll and doubtless made their
preparations IN advance with such care
that a capture in that country is not prob
able. The men who are chiefly interested
i'm the capture of the highwaymen are
gradually settling down to the opinion
that they will not be taken until they
are picked up perhaps months hence
when they strike some city.
/ There are a number of reasons why
the men We're not taken before they had
such long start. One is that all diff
culties We're thrown in the way of gath
ering properly equipped posse. Malta
is a town, Il large portion Of whose popu-
lation is either in sympathy with the
robbers or at least not in sympathy with
the chase, The loose element, which
contains some men who would have been
admirable material for q posse, shows its
sympathy for the robbers not openly, but
by cursing the Great Northern and the
posse. why says these men, II
wouldn't be seen dead riding with that
bunch Of sheephcrders that Is out with
| the sheriff.
| On the other hand, there are more
Substantial men in the vicinity, who own
many horses, and who could have gone
themselves Or who could have sent good
men, who declare that it isn't their bust
ness to look after the Great Northern
robbers. They carefully abstain from
| lending any assistance to the posse, yet
when last Friday night Smith u Traf-
toms horse herd of 300 head were run off
by highwaynlen all these men rallied to
the assistance Of their Deighbors and
put a iirst=cass posse in the field. 1t
was successful in recovering every horse
that had been run off.
But when the posse to chase the train
robbers were being organized the best
horses and the best men were not to be
had. The justice Of the peace at Malta
rounded up a bunch Of good horses to
await the coming Of the under sheriff
and his men from Glasgow, but while
waiting some one ran the herd off. The
result was the under shertf's outfit did
not get out until midnight, and then it
went poorly mounted. The sheriff and
his four men started quicker, but also
were mounted poorly, two of the horses
being work stock One Of the four men
was simply 4 paid guide who had no in-
tercst in the chase. Some owners of
horses absolutely refused to let their
animals be taken.
All this explains why the robbers got
a start. The Standard men ia the field
took the pains to trace accurately the
raute taken by the robbers, and it de-
vclops that the three men made remark
able time It has been proven that they
covered about 30 mile in little more
than two hours
After crossing the river from the train,
the three robbers mounted their horses
and struck out southeast over the rolling
ridge of the prairie. They had one led
horse, the four horses being respectively
q buckskin, bay, a brown and d gray.
They passed two shcephcrdcrs Oh the
way, but at some little distance, and,
passing what is known as Alkali an
akali basin they struck into the road
from Malta to Landusky about Il miles
south Of Malta They followed that road
to the 5OOOOacre ranch of Senator Phil
lips, 25 miles south of Malta, and passed
it half a mile from the ranch house.
Near there they met bill Jackson and
there the incident reported by Jackson
took place. He says Kid" Curry was
one Of the three, and recognizing him
called out sHullo, Bill, Ii anybody asks
tell them we are going south
A mile and a half further on, the hog
ranch owned by Jack Ellis was passed.
The men were then riding hard Ellis
and his wife, who saw thcm, say they
and their horses were dusty and covered
with perspiration. The mcn called to
Ellis and repeated what they had told
jackson: Tell them that we are going
SOUTH
This was the last seen of the robbers
The posse went on to the Circle 6 outfit,
about Is miles further on, and then
struck out for the Missouri, but at last
reports had no trace of the men. The
older men in the country say that the rob-
bers instead of following the course taken
by the posse, went east of the Circle Q
outfit and got into the rough and mac
ccssable country beyond what is known
as the Big Warm
There has been some criticism Of
Sheriff Griftiths' conduct on the train at
the time of the robbery. 1t is not justi-
IIs ~