The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1903-07-18
HIS FISTS BETTER
THAN REVOLYERS
Deputy Jones Tanned Bad
Men by Dumping Their
Heads Together

government has offered a beggarly
500 reward for the arrest of the man
who killed Deputy United States Mar
shall Jones oil the Usage reservation,
on July 4, is the story of the life and
death of one Of the most remarkable
tanners of bad men the west has ever
produced
The mo9- surprising feature of the
strange history of this wonderful man
is that in all Of his encounters with
murderers and desperadoes of the
western type he never carried or used
a gun or ether weapon of any kind
Continually brought in violent con-
tact with men who carried guns that
they were quick to use, Jones scorned
weapons beyond those that nature
gave him. With his brawny arms and
their knotted ends he spread terror
among evil dCGEs, not on the Usage
reservation alone, but through the In
dian territory Even beyond those
lines he Tas known and feared. a
physical gisnt, with nerves of temper
ed steel AID the quiclness of a cat
he captured and subdued more bad
men than any half dozen other offic-
ers in that section of the west, only
to meet death at last at the hands of
drunken negro
.
For ten years or more Jones had
kept the neace of the Usage reserva-
ton Whom he took the place the
Preservation was overrun with tough
characters ot every class. The Osages
themselves were peaceful enough, but
the half and quarter breeds. always a
source Of trouble on any reservation.
were an annoyance and a danger,
Then there were the bad men from
the outside who invaded the reserva-
tion to trade with the Indians and
cheat them out Of their money at
cards.
Jones tanned them all. and did it
quickly He went about his dangerous
task in new style that was ridiculed
at first But the laughs soon died
out Jones first step in making an
arrest was always to use a common
sense argument. If that didn't work
he used his fists. They never failed to
accomplish the desired result. When
a gun was drawn on him, as it was in
the majort. OF cases, he seized it and
threw it out OF reach, and then pro
ceeded with the tanning process. Doz-
ems of men who were noted for their
quickness with a gun and who laughed
derisively when told that Jones was
coming to arrest them, were met and
conquered in the same way. Jones
eye and arm were always quicker than
the most rapid action of the worst of
the gun fighlSss The ready revolver
was often drawn, but before it could
be used Il was snatched from the
grasp of thr man who intended to use
it and sent flying through the air.
With despeIadoes who boasted of
their physical strength 1t was the
same story The best Of them were
easy for Jones. When one or two of
them rushed to the aid OF comrade
Jones bum ped their reads together and
lugged them all of TO Jail. In extreme
cases they often went to the hospital
first so thoroughly were they tanned.
No one knows how many men Jones
could have whipped singlehanded,
simply because he was never put to
the supreme test He always won,
whether he was tanning one or six.
Jones soon drove the tough outsiders
on the reservation for good, and the
quarrelsomo half breeds became quiet
and subdued even when under the in
huence Of "fre water" The govern
ment officials gloried in Jones, not as
much because OF his fstic prowess as
because M maintained perfect order
on the reservation at the minimum Of
expense
The Usage Indians We're celebrating
tho Fourth Of July with a display Of
fire works in front OF Jim Bighearts
store. A fegro from the outside be-
came noisy and obs. f.reperous and
Jones went TO arrest him. The negro
had no repr taiion as bad man and
harmless. Jones was paying more at
tention to the FIRE works than his pris-
oner when the negro suddenly drew a
revolver and fired into the officers
breast In a moment his wife. who
several years ago was suddenly strick-
en- blind, and who had been tenderly
watched @, er by Jones. was doubly
blind widow with no one to care for