Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1901-12-26
RAIDING THE RUSTLERS.


tOlQ. MOSC Oh CHOSe WHO lOue Will
'Flopping Bills" vigilantes have left
the state or crossed the Great Divide.
Those who have remained are reticent.
AS to the 80 or more desperate horse
thieves and cattle rustlers who operat-
ed in northern Montana in the early
eighties-well, bleaching bones on
wind-swept prairies tell no tales.
In 1856 the cattle and horse business
in northern Montana was becoming
more and more Improbable, for the
reason that there were organized
bands of horse thieves who had stop
ping places from the Canadian line to
Mexico, and who made more money in
the business of stealing horses and
live stock than the real owners could
in raising them. Of course more horses
than cattle were stolen, because they
were easier to get away with, and in
those days were worth a great deal
more money.
The stealing became so serious that
the cattlemen of northern Montana
were forced to do something, and in
the fall of 1885 they did it When the
tGtlleIueu start W w dHy thlh lhSy Wv
it up brown, and it was so in this case.
The tale of the hanging OF road
agents of 1S63-64 by the vigilantes OF
Alder Gulch has been told so often
that it has become known from one
end of the world to the other, and it is
looked upon as the biggest thing Of its
kind which was ever pulled Off in Mon
mi, &nl, fln
boys of northern Montana during the
year Of 1885, from September to No
vember, hanged and shot more men
than the vigilantes of Alder Gulch ever
dreamed Of This may seem like
fairy tale at this time, but it is fact,
and there are men in northern Mon
tana at the present day who have the
papers to prove the assertion.
During the fall roundup OF the Ju-
dith in the fall of 1885 it was decided
to do some hanging. Who proposed
the matter, or by whom meetings were
held it Is not necessary to state, as
one Of the leaders OF the cowboy vigil
lantes is now a prosperous stockman
within few miles Of old Fort Magin-
mis-, another is a prosperous sheepman
living near Ubet, and another lives in
Butte, after having spent number
of years abroad And there are others,
but the matter of the real extermina-
ton of the rustler was carried on un-
der the direction of "Flopping Bill"
Oantwell.
"Flopping Bill' was a desperate
IT. nd ,tv,o
the rustlers because II paid better than
to work with them. From September.
1885, until the weather became too cold
to ride, "Flopping Bill' and his band
of cowboy exterminators worked, and
when they had finished there was no
count of the men whose candles had
been snuffed, but there are men in
Great Falls today who can name at
least 26 Of them, and it has always
been estimated that about 80 people
were hanged or shot by "Flopping
Bills" band during that fall.
The first performer in the bloody
drama of determination was half
breed near Fort Maginnis. Some one
believed that he had stolen q steer and
butchered it, and one night during
August, 1885, he was taken near the
ranch of Reese Anderson and strung
up to a cottonwood tree without a
chance to say his prayers, if he knew
any.
That was the beginning, and shortly
after 'Flopping Bill' called for volun-
teers to search for horses which had
been stolen from the herds Of several
well-known stockmen. The requisition
was made upon the roundup, which
was camped on the Musselshell about
60 miles above the mouth, and reck-
less riders and desperate men only
were chosen.
The posse made hard ride that day,
and by night they came to the cabin of
q man named Downs, near the mouth
of the Musselshell. Downs kept sort
of trading post, and was suspected of
being in league with the thieves. 1t
was early daylight when the posse ar
rived, and they at once surrounded
the cabin, and when Downs came out
1t was hands up"
A search of the corral and vicinity
discovered 22 ID. II. s. horses, and
Downs was asked to explain. He saw
that he was UP against it, and gave a
full list of all the men connected with
the "rustling" business, and indicated
where they had their rendezvous. The
Missouri runs swift and deep where
the waters of the Musselshell enter it,
and the banks are high and steep. A
rope was placed about the neck Of
Downs, and convenient tree was
looked for. Some one spied a large
grindstone which stood alongside Of
the cabin.
Tie it to his neck and drop him in
the river" was the suggestion, and it
was carried out literally. Today the
big round grindstone, with the hole In
the centre, lies in the bottom of the
Missouri, near the mouth of the Mus
selshell, and if thee and water have