The Springfield herald., 1903-06-19

| Topeka, Kan, June 15.-The tragedy
IN Cheyenne county June 3rd, in which
settler and his two sons were killed,
presumably by Chauncey Dewey. rich
cattleman, assisted by two of his men.
has caused the ever-present feud be-
| tween the settlers and cattlemen in
northwest Kansas to break out with
renewed fury. What the consequences
of the feud will be this time nobody
dares to prophesy, but certain it is that
that section of the state is aroused as
it never has been before.
About two years ago c. p. Dewey d
Co.. capitalists of Chicago. started a
cattle ranch in the south east corner
of Cheyenne county, extending into
Rawlius. Sherman and Thomas coun-
ties. They established their headquar-
ters in Rawlins county and called 1t
Oak ranch. They at once began TO ac-
quire title to all the land they could
! get within radius of twelve or fifteen
miles of their ranch.
They stocked their ranch with sew
! eral thousand head of cattle and let
I them run at will The settler could
raise no crop unless he fenced it or
herded the cattle away from it night
and day.
If the settler took the cattle up and
held them for damages, he found him
self involved in an expensive lawsuit
with the best lawyers in the county
pitted against him. If he won in the
| lower court ii was carried to higher
court and he soon found he could not
stand the pace and would drop out.
Most of the settlers sold for what they
could get and sought other places out
of range of the Deweys, but few with
| fighting blood in their veins stayed
with their homes.
| Among the number was the Berry
family consisting of the old gentleman
| and his four sons. They are the ones
| who Eave given the Dewey people the
most trouble. and almost from the start
| the two factions have engaged in liti-
cation. The last trouble they had, and
! the one that resulted in the killing OF
| the Berrys, was over quarter sectoh
OF land which the Berrys had been us
| ing. claiming to have rented it from
the eastern owners. The Deweys found
the owner. bought the land and sued
Berry for rent, getting a judgment for
| about $35. They levied an execution
| on a windmill and water tank belong
| ing to the Berrys. and it was sold by
| the sheriff June End. some of the Dew
ey men bidding in the tank for 50. The
Berrys would not allow the Deweys to
come on the place. but as the tank
stood near the road they stood out
there and did the bidding.
The next day about noon. Chauncey
Dewey and ten of his men rode up TO
the Berry house, all being armed with
Winchester rifles and revolvers. What
| followed is best told by the testimony
before the coroner's inquest.
| According to the testimony TWO OF
| the men dismounted and went to the
| house. where Daniel Berry and his son
| Alpheus were at dinner. They said they
| had come after the tank and were told
\ to go ahead and take it, They asked
Mrs. Berry, who had gone to the door
| if the men were at home, and at hrst
she told them no. but the men insisted
that they thought they were, and that
they wanted to see them. Daniel Ber-
ry and his son then came out. ana
walked over to where the crowd was
gathered and began talking with them
According to the testimony before the
coroner. Berry and his son were un-
armed at this time. and it was well
| known that they never carried fire
| arms.
The three other boys were at
neighbor's, and had seen Dewey and
his men ride by on the way to the Ber-
| rv ranch They started for home on
their horses and reached there just as
the parley was beginning They were
| armed with pistols, but as the eVl-
| dence showed, they did not attempt to
use them at that time. As soon as the
boys appeared Chauncey Dewey is sad
20 have fired, hitting Beach Berry in
the Jaw and tearing it almost entirely
| away The others started to run Tor
the house. when Dewey's men opened
up a general fire, killing the father. Al
pheus and Burchland. The wounds OF
the last two show that the balls en-