The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-07-03
How the Cattle RustIers
Were Driven Out at asst

Il q q q q q q Il ets,-,.t;
CHEYENNE. Wyo., July 3.-It is about
all up with the cattle rustlers. AS a pro-
fession in Wyoming it has received most
capture Of Tom O'Day, known as. the
king of the cattle rustlers..' The death
Of his partner. Flat Nose George Cur
ry, about the same time, marks another
chapter in the desperate fight the author
tiles of the state of Wyoming have been
waging against the cattle thieves in the
Lost Cabin district.
For years O'Day has been one of the
leading spirits of the Lost Cabin gang
of cattle rustlers and sheep stealers. He
has also been hand in glove with the
Hole in the Wall gang of desperadoes,
and has taken part In some of the bank
and train robbing expeditions of the gang.
His chief operations, however, have been
In stealing cattle and sheep, his practice
of this gentle art being so expert that he
has caused losses of many thousands Of
dollars to Wyoming and Montana stock
men.
Captured by Sheriff
O'Day was recently captured by dar-
ing sheriff and after long and exciting
time in court. during which he had three
trials he was sentenced to six years in
the penitentfary Such was the fear the
desperate exercised over the jurors that
two disagreements resulted, though the
evidence against O'Day was perfectly
plain. AS he left the court room the
desperate cursed the man who had arrest
ed him and boosted that he would escape
from the penitentiary before three months
had passed. Inasmuch as jail breaking
has always been one of the chief amuse
ments of O'Day's gang, his threat is not
looked upon as mere idle boast.
Most of the dad men" of the West have
possessed redeeming traits that will al
ways make them objects of a certain
kind of admiration. But, If the Wyom-
ing authorities are to be believed, there
is nothing admirable about the king of
the cattle rustlers.' O'Day is a heavy
drinker, is quarrelsome in disposition, and
always ready to resort to rifle or pistol,
with both of which weapons he Is q
crack shot. His hair is thick and dark,
and grows low on his forehead and this
with his heavy, scowling eyebrows and
long unkempt mustaehe, makes a COM
bination calculated to brighten the tender
foot and awe the initiated. O'Day is an
inveterate gambler, and the authorities
assert that he has killed at least two
men in gambling table braWls.
Flat Nose" George Curry, whose name
is enough to make any Wyoming or Mon
tana stockman draw a rueful face to-
day, was Tom O'Day's guide and mentor
In the cattle stealing industry Curry
was Nebraskan who moved to Wyoming
In the sos, before the range had been
broken Up, and when great herds were
roaming the foothills. Curry organized a
gang of cattle rustlers and began oper-
alton on wholesale scale He was an
expert In the use of the running iron. a
branding implement with which an ex
0r~f no, S[1-1 H.,
brand. The running iron is simply a
point of iron, which is heated red hot and
then used as sort of pencil to change
the brand on an animals hide For in
stance, If a steer is branded with Y.
1t requires only an instants use of the
running iron to change the v to w. There
was hardly combination of brands
among the Wyoming and Montana herds
which Flat Nose George did not know
how to change to his own advantage IF
brand defied his ingenuity. however. he
Simply cut 1T out altogether and claimed
the steer as a maverick or unbranded
animal.
Was Young Dare Devil
II was only natural that Flat Nose
George should have appealed to Tom
LAY, VINO was at that time dare
oevii young cowboy with an idea that the
world owed him a better living than could
1lau
Joined Flat Nose" George in his r,1stJino
operations He proved an able Iieutenant
ana the depredations of the two men be-
came so great that the Cattlemen's asso-
cation got after them and made II so
hot that the ruslers were forced tn e,o to
montana where they operated with great
er safety. When things Auuieted doyun In
Wyoming the cattle rustlers returned and
levied their wholesale tribute on cattle and
sheep men. Most of the individual cattle
owners We're intimidated, and those who
showed hight We're one by one assassinated.
some member of the gang being chosen
to commit each murder
The gang made its HEADQUARTERS at
Lost Cabin, in desoIate part of Wyom
ing, which for some years has been al
most as notorious as the Hole in the
Wall. When there was little to be done
In cattle stealing, the holder spirits in
the gang embarked ON more hazardous
ventures of fortune. O'Day was admitted
to the councils of. the Hole in the Wall
gang, which included Butch Cassidy
Harvey Logan, and q half dozen other.
bandits no less desperate. From Lost
Cabin, which is about fifty miles from
Thermopolis, Wyo., the gang made a
descent on the bank at Belle Fourche, s.
D., and here it was that Tom ODay came
near ingloriously closing his career as a
bad man. Tom had been sent ahead
of the gang to observe the 'lay of the
land about the bank and to inform the
other members of the crowd if things did
not look propitious for the daylight rob-
berry.
Fell Into Drunken Sleep
But Tom took one drink after another,
and finally fell into drunken sleep in a
saloon, propped against the wall and
snoring comfortably in his chair. The
gang heard nothing from Tom and sup
posed the coast to be clear. They rode
into town, firing at everything in sight,
and clattered up to the bank where they
O'Day was reused by the firing and ran