Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-10-25
BENDER FAMILY FATE,
Old Indian Scout Tells of tho KILLING .
All the Murderers.


e. II. Pierce, more familiarly knowa
as "Dod" Pierce, one of the Oldest
and most reliable Indian scouts OF the
Black Hills. has given out story
about the Bender family, Of Kansas,
which seems to show that there is no
further need of the authorities search
Ing for the family.
Pierce is n reliable man, and for the
first time he tells what he knows Of
the case. He had friend In the 70s,
who was also well known In the Black
Hill,, and before the friend died ho
related to Pierce the incidents relative
to the killing Of all the members of
the Bender family.
When the York family was killed
and the tragedy was traced to the
home Of the Benders, Pierce's friend
was among those from the city Of
Cherryvale who went out to investi-
gate the condition of things at the
Bender roadhouse. There were twen-
ty-four men in the party, one of the
men being an old buffalo hunter They
found the house deserted and in
searching the house the bedstead in
tho west room, about which so much
has been said, was found to be full of
bullet holes, and dried blood was on
the mattress. They found the trap
door behind the curtain, which led into
the cellar, into which the dead bodies
had been thrown until dark, when
they were taken out into the garden
and buried.
The searching party next went out
into the garden and looked for the
spot where the bodies had been buried.
A wagon rod was used to probe the
ground for a soft place, and finally
q spot was found that was soft. After
digging down a short way the body
Of one Of the York children was found
and the contortions Of the face and
body made 1t look as though the
child had been buried alive. Fifteen
bodies were found, including that Of
Texas cattleman who was supposed
to have been shot In the west room.
The old Buffalo hunter had been
looking around for the trail of the
family. The trail of wagon was
found and the buffalo hunter followed
1t up all day. About nlghtfall he came
upon the family, camped near creek.
The scout returned to the party of
Uherryvale men and reported his find.
They agreed upon going back with
the scout and exterminating the entire
family. The posse was divided into
three parts, and the Bender family
was surrounded. One of the posse
accidentally discharged his rifle before
the proper time, which gave the warn
ing Of danger to the Bender people.
They Immediately prepared for de-
fence. The buffalo hunter fired at
long range at old man Bender and hit
him In the back, killing him.
Another volley from the posse and
John and his mother fell dead. Kate
was the last one to be shot. The
posse then went to the scene and
piled the four dead bodies in heap
and burned them, adding to the fire
wagon, harness and the camp outfit.
Everything that would not burn was
taken to the creek bank and covered
over with dirt.
This is the story that doc" Pierce
tells for the first time since his friend
confded the facts to him twenty years
ago. The story that Kate Bender
came to the Black Hills several years
ago and made her residence in Dead
wood, South Dakota, Is not credited
there. A woman did go there about
fifteen years ago that had some re-
semblance to the famous Kate, so
some of the old-timers say.-New
York Sum-