The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-05-10
UNIQUE HIDING PLACE OF
 NOTORIOUS DESPERADOES

From the Chicago Chronicle.
 Police officials throughout the country, but especially in the west and northwest. have recently had their attention attract ed to the "Hole-in-the Wall,' the most notorious and in many places unique hid ing place for desperadoes in the world. Within the grim granite walls of the hole are more than two score of men, most of whom are wanted for more than one murder. Without are the peaceful farms and ranches of the rapidly growing northwest If one of the men in hiding should venture beyond the boundaries of this strange place of refuge he would be shot on sight. And several bloody and unsuccessful attempts to raid the hole have proved that 1t Is just as dangerous for an outsider to try to enter.
 Interest in the 'Hole-in-the-Wall was revived by the report that Tracy, the mo- torious bandit was heading for it when he met his death. Every western sher- If knew that if Tracy once succeeded in reaching the hole his capture would be practically impossible. Men who incurred the enmity of their fellow outlaws have sometimes been given up by the Inmates of the Hole That Is the only way In which the law has ever secured a grip on a man who once reached it. Even at- tempts of United States cavalry to force an entrance have been repelled by the bandits who made 1t their haven.
 The Hoe-in-the- Wall is one of the most remarkable of the many strange freaks of nature in the Rockies It consists of a breat wall of granite, almost insurrassa- ble even for the nimble and sure-footed mountain goats. The wall Is shaped like a rough circle and forms a natural for tress which Is practically impregnable. Once safely ensconced within a score of good riflemen (and the men who have made 1t their refuge are among the best shots in the vest could defy an army.
 The Hole-in-the- Wall is situated In the northern part of Wyoming just south of the Montana state line, west of the big Horn mountains and east of Yellowstone park There Is but one entrance to the Hole narrow gateway through the great walls of granite, where the Powder river pours through. Probably there Is not in the whole world another place that could be more easily defended by des- perate men or where they could so se- eurely defy the law. The pursuit of Tracy would perforce have stopped at the grim entrance to the Hole
 Where the Powder river has forced its way into the Hole-in- sa Wall the cliffs rise up precipitately on both sides. On the left side of the river and about fifty feet above it's surface runs rough path way, which could hardly be called road. It is so narrow that two horses can not ride abreast. Any person wishing to en- ter the Hole-in-the-W Wall must pass through this deflle. Even if no defense was made the journey would be toilsome to the last degree. At every step. how ever, the intruders would be under fire from all sides and in a position where It would be practically impossible to retail liate as the defenders would be invisible The character of the country precludes the use of artillery and no troops could hope to effect much with rifles. So the dwellers in the Hole-in-the-Wal have lived in cheerful defiance of the law, al- though nearly every man In hiding there