The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-08-10

cannon We're hurled Intellectually
against the heavy logs
At last, late in the afternoon OF the
second day. Bill Smith and Charlie
Copeland stole TO the shelter of a wa
gon, twenty yards from the fort. Here
athey fortified themselves with rails
piled against the wheels. They were
then joined by William Ellis, Tolbert
and Captain White. A plan was made
to dynamite Christie, and six six-inch
sticks of the explosive were prepared
The signal given, Tolbert and Smith
stepped away from the little breast
works to the right, while Ellis and
White went to the left; all opened a
rapid, sInoke-clouding fire, under cover
of which Copeland crept to the fort and
placed the dynamite. The attackers
then retreated to their shelter until the
explosion came and wrecked the build
ing Christie crawled from his retreat
under the floor and was mistaken by
the charging deputies for one Of their
own number until a shot from his gun
gave warning. The powder smoke
singed deputy'S face. volley was
turned on the fleeing man and he went
down. the victim of no one man In
the confusion Wolf escaped, and, after
sticking to the fort until he was badly
burned, the boy came out and surren-
dered. So we'll had the officers pro-
tected themselves that none of their
party was hurt.
Catoosa, in the Cherokee country.
near the border of the Greek nation.
has been in its day a formidable rival
of Dodge. City and the lurid Colorado
cow towns. 1t was in the neighborhood
of Catoosa that the notorious Cook
gang and Jim French operated
1t is "a pretty little town, built out on
prairie hill, with the dense woods of
Spunkey creek to the south and the
great pastures of the Greek country
stretching away. apparently boundless,
to the west. North to Round noun
tain and Bird creek the country is rich
and level In the days when the big
prairies were dotted with long horned
ca tile from Texas, when the southern
cowboy, with his reckless abandon of
conduct. stirred the native Indian TO
extravagant lawlessness, Catoosa was
queen of bad towns. Tulsa, its west
ern neighbor, was bad; Cfaremore, to
the east, was worse; but the head and
center of all of the devils business
seemed TO be al Catoosa- The little
railroad depot was fairly riddled with
bullets. sportively fired, and the sign
boards were peppered with unexpected
and misplaced punctuation
g g g
Jim French rode into Catoosa one
! evening in the fall of 1895 and, with
two companions. forced a couple of idle
! citizens TO break open a large general
store There was a back office to the
store French saw it. posted one of
his companions at the partition door
and himself went around to an outside
window Looking in at the window,
! the robber discovered the manager of
I the store sitting inside. He raised his
! Winchester to shoot. when he saw the
| muzzle of a shotgun in the hands of a
nightWatchman, who was sitting quiet
, ly in a rocking chair. Freneh's COM
! panion had grown restless, and he fired
/ through the door. The bullet just
l missed the manager. who, on the in
l slant, sprang to the door, pulled 1t
| open. himself behind IL, and the watch
man blew the top of the bandits head
| off There was a crash at the window
as French pushed in the pane with his
/ gun: the Waterman swung around and
| fired. but the buckshot shattered the
/ window frame at the outlaws side
French fred: the manager fell. shot
| through the hips and, with a yell of
defiance, the murderer sprang through
/ the window The Waterman retreated
behind a dresser, but French made him
come out
You killed my partner. you cheap
hireling.' broke out French; now help
me put Irwin (the manager) on the
bed; 1 don't want to hurt him any
more" The Waterman obeyed with
speed
Now help me bring in my partner
| and I'll attend TO youi" The young
mans body was brought in, the head
almost shot away. French looked al
It minute, then turned quietly to the
Waterman and said:
Now you coyoae, I'm going to xii