Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-12-12

= l. a story of which utt4a has
been told Most Of us Who rode with
Popping BilI's' viSilantes have le1
t1e state or crossed the great divide.
fhese Who have remained are reti-
cent" said an eX-cowboy The other
day. AS to the thirty or more des-
per&te horse thieves and cattle rus
Tiers who operated in Northern Mon
tana in the early 'S0s-welI bleaching
ones on the wind-svept nrairies ,c..
no tales.
In 1885 The cattle and horse bust
ness in Northern Montana was be-
coming more and more improbable.
-ar the reason that there were organ
led bands of horse thieves who had
stopping places from the Canadian
iiae 10 Mexico, and who made more
money in The business Of stealing
horses and live stock than the real
awnars could in raising them. OF
course more horses than cattle Wee
stolen, because they were easier -
1et away with. and in those days We're
worth a great deal more money. Th3
s@2ling became so serious that the
>fttiemen of northern Montana were
fe.a1l - 10 something, and III the
faI Of 1SS5 they did it, When the
ca8Hemen start TO do anything fhey
ID II up brown and it was SO in this
ease,
The tale of the hanging of the
road agents of 1SG3-64 by the viet-
lan1es of Alder euIcl has been told
so often that it has become known
from one end of the world to the 9TH
er. and is looked upon as the biggest
thing Of its kind that was ever pulled
off in Montana This is a mistake,
and the cowboys of northern Montana,
during the year of 1SS5. from Septem-
her to November, hanged and shot
more men than the visilanteS OF Alder
gulch ever dreamed Of. This may
seem like fairy tale at this time,
but it is a fact, and there are men in
northern Montana at the present tlma
who have the papers to prove the
assertion.
During the fall round up Of the
u.-., Il in the fall of 1855, it was de
ciced to do some hanging. Who pro
posed the matter or by whom meet
ines were held, If is not necessary to
state. as one of the leaders Of the
cowboy visilantes is nov prosperous
stockman within a few miles of Fort
Maeinnis. Another is prosperous
sheepman living near TIBET and an
other lives in Butte. after having
spent a number Of years abroad. Ana
there are others. but the matter OF
the real eXtermination Of the Fustiers
was carried on under the direction of
.Flopping Bill GantweIl. -
rFloppine Bill We Il desperate
character himself, and worked
AGAINST the rustlers because i pa'd
better than to work with them. f'oh
September, 1855. until the weather
became too cold 10 ride 'Fi@nnine BIZ
and his band of harse=thiof eNtermina-
tors worked. and when they had tiH-
ished there wan no cAlnt OF the men
whose candle shad been snaffeI. but
there are mtu in Great Falls today
- of
them, and it has always been esti
mated that about thirty people we're
hanged and shot by 'Flopping Bill's'
band during that fall.
The first performer in the bloody /
drama of determination was half
breed near Fort Maginnis. Some ore
believed he had stolen a steer and
butchered it, and one night during
August, 1855, he was taken near the
ranch of Reese Anderson and strung
up to cottonwood tree without a
chance to say his prayers. If he knew
anv. That was the beginning. and
shortly after 'Flopping Bill called tor
volunteers to search for horses which
had been stolen from the herds OF sew
eral well-known stOckmen. The requl-
sition was made upon the roundup
which was encamped upon the MUS
selshell. about sixty miles from the
mouth. and reckless riders and desper-
ate men only were chosen.
The posse made hard ride that
day and by night they came to the
cabilr of a man named Downs, near
the mouth of the Musseisheli'
Downs kept sort Of trading post and
was suspected of being in league with
the thieves. 1t Was early dayllsht
when the posse surrounded the caplh'
and when Downs came out it was
hands up.' A search of the corrai
and vicinity discovered twenty-five