The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-07-07

WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
Lexington. Ky, July 6.-For an instant
only on the crest OF the ridge, mans
body stood out clearly against the skyline.
The crack of rife. writhing mass of
nesh and bone. a fatal wound.
Death came a few hours later. The
marl1sman was a trifle nervous and the
bullet through the victims body had not
touched the heart.
And this-only another incident in The
night against the Kuklux in Letcher Coun-
~. Kentucky. Bill Wright. Jr.. OF the pos
;. ee hunting the outlaws had made a mis-
take. He showed himself above the ridge
and the act cost him his life. John Rey-
nolds Of the outlaws. from a position be-
hind an oak not dozen yards away. had
fred the fatal shot. He and his brother,
Noah, had glanced down the sights OF
their weapons once before when Wright
. was IN front. and the Wright that time
was 'aOld Man BILL" father Of the lad who
rot his death wound upon the ridge. "old
Man Bill" sleeps with his fathers. Like
the son. he too made a mistake. He was
. little slow in drawing and the price of
the blunder was the same in each in
stance. But there was q sequel to the
sons death. a bloody battle following inn
mediately on the firing OF the shot. The
other members Of the posse Joined in the
tray and the outlaws were put to flight,
but only after struggle such AZ has been
rarely seen In tho mountains. The fight
agoinst the Kuklux was nearing an end
ana the outlaws were making Q last and
Desperate stand.
The ODDS had been seven to one. Now
they were only six. The posse that had
rome out 70 search for the men who were de-
1yfng arrest was composed Of John Wright.
the veferanmountain detective. with twenty
esvsn notches on his gun handle: BIZ
WRIGHT Jr.. and Gerard Wright. his
cousins and sons OF ''Old Man BILL" Hop
Gibson, John Henry E1kins Jim Neal and
Q detective who called himself wild Bill"
On the other side were John Reynolds and
{: Greed Potter. and more daring men. better
shots ana cooler heads could not be found
IN that section. noted for just such char
actef1stics In it, inhabitants. The officers
knew that they were in the territory OF the
Reynolds faction. From the crest of the
ridge where Bill Wright fell could be seen
down in. the winding valley little red
brick house, Is feet by 10. The little
house has since become famous. It was
here that q band OF desperate men for
the law, 1t holds . story that 1t will never
tell
John Wright the grizzled veteran OF
mountain warfare. had warned his men. but
they had not needed his advice. Stay
: here" he said, while go round and see
n kin ketch any signs Of them .eiiers
He had hardly gone fifty yards. accom-
panied by two of his men, when the I'M
patient Bill Wright. nothing more shan 4
boy Of II, stepped above the ridge. 'ine
ehet called John wright's division back to
the scene Gerard Wright and John 'ienry
Elkins were close upon Bill Wright's heels.
and the boy fell in agony almost at his
brothers feet Bills done for" said Gar
rard quietly. and. dropping to his knee.
commenced pumping bullets from his Vim
; chester at the man who had slain his broth
er. Hop Gibson came up just as Creed Pot
ter began shooting. and the duel opened
between them. Both Of the outlaws We're
firing from behind trees. although the sing
ing bullets of the Wright faction which
scattered the bark on either side. kept
them constantly lodging
John Henry Elkins can give thanks that
he came out of the battle with only four
wounds. For him there was a romance er-
tangled in this ira gedy. He was engaged
s. TO be married to the sister of young Isiil
Wright, and the picture of the brown-ered
! little mountain GIRL weeping for her dead
s brother. fired him to deeds of reckless dar-
ing. His sole purpose was to kill John
Reynolds, no matter what the cost. he
fired one or two shots from his rife at
the man hiding behind the tree, and then
cast it aside Drawing his heavy army
Colt. he leveled it,. with both. arms out
stretched mountain fashion. and with his
head crouched between his shoulders. SO
that he could lock- along the sights. ad-
vanced toward the oak tree that sh el1ered
Reynolds. A Winchester bullet relieved him
!. OF his hat. but still he advanced. until with.
( in few feet OF the tree. A bullet aimed
: at the heart struck his revolver and, CLAN
s cling wounded him In four places. 1t bent
the cylisder AMI the weapon was useless. be-
cause 1t would no longer revolve. Elkins
( started back toward his rifle and Just then
the other members of the posse came into
view on the ridge. They entered the fight
s. with alacrity. and the outlaws, outnum.
bered, were forced to retreat Greed Fcttel
fied. with four bullet holes in his liothes
John Reynolds stayed few seconds longer
b He backed away from tree to tree. For th'
+ twinkling of eye. iust before he dis
a, peared behind a BOWLER he and JohJ
2 Wright. his mort1! enemy. covered each
4 other with their weapons. Reynolds's Win
chester ball clipped a piece from Wight.
hat. not an inch from the left temple. Al
most at the same time his own RICH. arr:
s. fell useless at his SIDE.
The posse had Jared badly. Bill wrigh,
was taken to cabin three miles away, but
S. survived only few hours. Neal had a
wound in the side which was then though,
TO be fatal. but he viii recover. The CLAN
cling bullet had wounded Elkins in -four
$ places. Thus ended the most notable fight
: during the hunt for the Kuklux in the noun.
tains OF Letcher.
The Kuklux OF the mountains are much
y ~ were the Kuklux in the more advanced
y sections Of the State Immediately after the
Civil War. They are q band bound together
br q solemn oath. and they pretend to reg
ulete morals of the community Men and
s women are taken from their homes at night
~ mssked men and whipped or otherwise
~ nhlfreated for real Or alleged wrongdoing
oetsn they receive warning to leave the
81 eounH. Fer Tho last twenty-five years