The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-02-21
ONLY CRIMINALS
IN NO MANS LAND
Wyoming Valley is Refuge for
Them-NO Others Dare
Enter.

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 20
In a pretty valley forty miles long by
twenty miles wide in Northern Wyo-
ming the outlaw bands of the Middle
Northwest have found q new refuge,
where they are safe from pursuit, and
can find an easy living when they care
to rest after a plundering expedition.
The new paradise of "rustlers," train
robbers and all-around bad men" is
known as the Dry Head country or No
Mans Land. Surrounded by deep can
yons and impossible mountains, it is
splendidly protected from intrusion.
The only entrance to the valley is SO
narrow and rocky that 1t could easily
be defended by three or four men
against a small army of would-be in
vaders. 1t is an ideal retreat for per-
sons who desire to avoid embarrassing
attentions from the agents Of the law.
The famous Hole in the Wall coun-
try of Northern Wyoming supplied the
first settlers for No Mans Land. Cat
tie thieves and bandits who infested
the former locality had grown so much
that the leaders had feared a possible
attack from the sheriff's posses or per-
haps state troops. The depredations
VI IllC gangs lltdh1IASS ILCl1 uCdO4OclI tCLo
in the Hole" were many and daring.
The place became known as the refuge
for the most desperate criminals in the
West-too we'll known to suit the men
who controlled the crooked destinies of
the colony.
Accordingly another retreat was
sought. 1t was found In the Dry Head
basin, lying between the Crow Indian
reservation and the boundary line of
Wyoming. Thirty or forty desperadoes
moved to the valley, constructed COM
Portable houses, and stocked their
ranges with cattle and horses, procured
after the usual fashion of the rust
lers5n3 There they have been for year
now, with their number somewhat en-
Iarged.-
1t is only recently that news of their
presence reached the stockmen of the
Wyoming ranges, and incidentally the
officials Of the border counties of three
states. The outlaws are safe, however,
SO long as they remain in the valley
they have taken for their own.
Two of the gang were captured few
days ago in Red Lodge by the sheriff
of Carbon county. They happened to
have in their possession several horses
took them in charge and sent them to
Basin for trial and thither rapidly went
reinforcements for the outlaws.
Headed by Link Harmon, king of
the Rustlers," a dozen tough-looking
men rode into Basin. They were arm
ed and ready for any sort of trouble
There are. few fighting men In Basin,
and there was no trouble. 81
The prisoners were brought before a,
justice of the peace, who fixed their
bonds at $4,000 each. The money was
quickly forthcoming, Harmon produc-
Ing itin gold from a sack which he car
ried7 strapped to his saddle horn. Then
the party, including the prisoners, gall
Ioped away. There is small chance that
the bail money will ever be reclaimed
More than one ranchman has COW
eted the sweet, fat-producing grass Of
No Mans Land, but it is closed coun-
try to all who have not the passport of
erime-stained hands to admit them.
The robbery of trains and stages
and the stealing Of cattle and horses
in large numbers furnish employment
for the bandit residents, when they
care to work" After Job" has been
perpetrated the bandits make all pos
sible haste to reach the friendly seclu-
sion of the valley, where sheriffs dare
not enter.
Two or three persons who have tried
" peielTdl0 INTO the outlaws retreat
have been found dead near the en-
rance to the trail leading into the val
ley. Frank Strong, q ranchman of
Lowell, Wyo., sent three herders with
hundred head Of stock, under instruc-
lions to get the cattle into the forbid
den territory. The herders were never
seen afterward. When Strong and his
cowboys looked for the cattle the latter
also had disappeared. Investigation re-
suited in finding the carcasses of the
stock floating in the Big Horn river.
Soon afterward Strong received a note
saying that his stock had become be-
wildered in the fog and had fallen over
cliff. The note added significantly:
All other cattle driven into the Dry
Head will be likely to fall over the
cliff also"
There has been no attempt since that
time to drive cattle into No Mans
Land. The ranchers avoid that part
of the country as they would small
pox hospital.
There are several women in the val
ley, including the wives of several out
laws. Supplies are obtained by a
roundabout method, every precaution
being taken to avoid observation when
near the entrance.
Among the bandits supposed to have
taken refuge in this valley are Kid
Curry, Red Young, Jack McClosky and
others known in half dozen states for
desperate crimes.