The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-06-30
CHAUNCEY DEWFYS
COWBOYS SAY THEY
ARE NOT BAD MEN
They Talk in Their Topeka
Prison of the Feud Between
Stockmen and Homesteaders
i'm Western Kansas.

i'm Western Kansas.
TOPEKA, Kan, June 3O.-"A man
who lives out on the plains, and who
gets into a shooting scrape, is looked
on as something pretty bad and blood
thirsty. Now there isn't anything so
very bloodthirsty about us. We learn
to size up man very quickly-just
as we ourselves expect to be sized UP
very quickly. If a cowboy comes to
me on the ranch and asks for job,
make up my mind at once whether
he is man or a cattle thief. Some
times I miss it, but not often"
Thus said w. j. Mcbride, by far the
most picturesque of the Dewey cow
boys now being held here awaiting
trial for killing the Berry family in
Cheyenne county two weeks ago, the
result of feud between farmers and
cattlemen.
When Billy" Mcbride came in here
in charge of the sheriff he wore a dark
natty. About his rick was knotted a
white cotton handkerchief. AT least,
it had been white, but the Journey of
several hundred miles overland had
not left 1t immaculate While the
sheriff was taking Dewey, Mcbride,
and Wilson to the state house Nc
Brides eyes-they are brown, clear and
quick to take in surroundings-cau
the gaudy scene of display in the win
dow Of a gents furnishing store The
display consisted of handkerchiefs.
They were silk, and of all the colors
Of the rainbow.
Mcbride Gets a Handkerchief.
I'D like to get one of Them" he
said, nodding to the sheriff, and the
little party of officers and cowboys
went inside. Mcbride selected two
One had dark green pattern, and this
he put on, after making the store
keeper a present of the cotton hand
kerchief.
"Mebbe, Billy" suggested one Of his
companions. you'd better get a collar
If you're going up against them
judges
On this point of fashionable dress
Mcbride did not even hesitate
NO. he answered, emphatically, "I
never wear a collar. 1t seems to me
that collar would break my neck.
It won't make any difference in this
case whether the judge sees me in a
collar or not. 1 don't make any de-
tense on the strength of a collar
The reply was characteristic of the
&c Of
cision. AS he appeared before the
august justices of the Kansas supreme
court he stood, a wide brimmed cow
boy hat in his hand, beside Sheriff
Lucas, while the attorney for the cow
boys presented their case. 1t was a
brief argument for release on bail.
McBride's stee1-brown eyes overlooked
nothing. During the hearing none of
the cowboys showed any great con-
Germ. They appeared to be deeply in
terested, and Mcbride Whistled lowly
as they came out of the state house
after the judges had set a date for the
taking of testimony as to release on
bail. They went to a restaurant, where
Mcbride ordered "a steak" and were
afterward taken to Jail.
Mcbride is tall and clean-cut. He
weighs only 1875 pounds, but he is all
muscle. He has an easy manner and
is in no way aggressive. When he talks
it is in the way of quiet explanation
indeed, he has not been heard to raise
his voice above the ordinary tone of
conversation while here. Many men
who have seen much of life on the
range have a slight stoop from not sit
ting straight in their saddles. Mcbride
is straight as an arrow. He is now
t11iY s<r1,4 - 1t, 20
been bronzed by the sun, and altogeth-
er he is a picture. Mcbride has been
married seventeen years and has been
foreman of the Cheyenne division of
the Dewey ranch ever since the Dew
eys went into the country. For the
rest, every move he makes gives the
idea Of alertness and the idea that he
knows how to handle men, bronchos
and cattle. And of these he has made
somewhat of study off in Cheyenne
county.
At the Shawnee county Jail, where
the men have been treated more as
guests than as prisoners, Mcbride was
not aVeFse to talking, but not about the
killing of the Berrys. That is subject
on which each of the cowboys has been
advised to keep quiet by their attor-
"Of course" said Mcbride, every
man of us would like to tell our side of
this story. Mr.. Dewey, I know, has
found it hard not to tell the public
through the newspapers just how the
trouble with the Berrys started, for he
knows, and we all know, that we were
not to blame. It's very easy to talk
too much. Mr.. Hessin has advised us
to say nothing. We will obey his in
Structions to the letter. You've heard
the story of the man in Kentucky who
said there was always a lot more liti-
cation over a shooting scrape when a
man talked than when he didn't
But there's one thing that I want to
We are not the red-handed people
some have tried to make out, and we
didn't start this trouble"
After this Mcbride intimated that he
considered the incident closed, SO far
as the Berry case was concerned in the
interview but he didn't object to Civ
ing voice to his views on racing sub
jects. Sheriff Bert Lucas is evidently
man after McBride's liking. When
the sheriff complained that his back
was sore from horseback riding, Nc
Bride was instantly alert. 1t should
be explained that Lucas has q girth Of
generous proportions, and in COMPARE
son to that of Mcbride is like the fill
Ing Of ham handwich to the general
contour of a yeast-raised biscuit.
Something About Saddles.
What you need" declared Mcbride,
"iS about an eighteen-inch saddle seat.
I ride a sixteen-inch myself
Don't you think there is more than
two inches difference between our
waist measurements? asked the sher-