Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-11-22
AN OKLAHOMA SOCIETY.
What IL Has Done for the Territory's
Morals.

In tne TWO IerTlIOrleS, SOOH 10 W
united as one state under the name
Of Oklahoma, the Anti-Horse Thie
Association has grown in number.
and Importance more than in any 9th
er state in the Union, and today James
8. Kirkwood, of Guthrie, is the head
Of an army Of 10000 men, all residents
Of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
each man Of whom is subject to imme-
diate service at any time to take the
trail and aid in the capture. at least
Of the festive horse thief.
With the advance Of civilization
across the western prairies the horse
thief and his band have been buffeted
and beaten until they bid fair to take
their place in obscurity with the buff
falo deer and antelope. Instead oi
the vast expanses Of prairie which
afforded ample avenue Of escape fol
the horse thief and his gang Of ma
rauders, the plains are now dotted
with towns, In each Of which Is To-
Gated a telegraph instrument, a device
which has done more to eradicate the
horse thief and his methods than any
other agent. BY its means the bandit
has no sooner broken the law until ne
is hemmed in on all sides by United
States marshals, sheriffs. farmers
posses and vigilance committees. who
either force his surrender or shoot
him down In battle.
The passing Of the horse thief In
Oklahoma can be credited largely to
the efforts of the Anti-Horse Thief
Association, which now has close to
/ 1000 lodges In Oklahoma and Indian
Territory, with a total membership OF
10000 men. The National Anti-Horse
Thief Association was organized In
northern Missouri forty-three years
ago, and 1t ultimately extended Its
into all Of the middle and
western states and territories. Dur
ing the past year in Oklahoma alone
there were organized 131 new lodges
with a membership Of $4,000. In this
county seventeen new lodges were
organized during the year with over
700 members. Throughout Indian Ter
fitory the increase has been even
greater. In the territorial division
of the National association there Is
one lodge to every sixty square miles;
Kansas one to every ZIG square miles,
I'm Oklahoma alone one to every 120
square miles. Pawnee county has a
lodge to every twenty-six square
miles. Lincoln and Pottawatomine
counties one to every thirty-fve
square miles, Logan one to every
thirty -eight and Greer county one to
every 140.
During the past year the association
has aided in the capture Of 1S7 horse
and the recovery Of $4,000
worth of stolen horses. There were
124 horses stolen and 1876 recovered,
some Of them being stolen during the
previous year. Out Of the 1877 thieves
captured 1T have been convicted, an
excellent record for the association.
The annual convention Of the asso-
citation Of the two territories will be
held in Guthrie during the coming
week. There will be at least 5000
delegates present. The president Is
James s. Kirkwood, Of Guthrie, who
Is now serving his sixth term in that
position. He Is commander OF this
army of thief catchers and In case OF
can call every man into the
field.
A great part of the prominence at
tanned by Kirkwood as president OF
the association and as the great In
trepid leader in the two territories Is
due to Traveller" a black stallion
which has been in Kirkwood's possess
sion for many years. He is said to
be able to scent horse thief for sew
eral miles, and he Is more widely
known In Oklahoma than any other
animal In the territory. The horse
has carried Kirkwood all day and
all night without rest except for food
and water. Traveller" is now 1s
years old, but he Is still able to eaten
the air of excitement in a man hunt
and on an occasion Of that kind ne
sprints over country roads and FIELDS
as IL he were still a colt.
Eleven years ago the Oklahoma d.
vision Of the Anti-Horse Thief Asso-
citation was born Of necessity. In
those early days the bandits ana
roamed at will over the
prairies and preyed upon the pioneer
settlers, defying arrest. One OF the
most desperate and daring gangs was
that headed by Yeager and Black
These outlaws came in touch with
new force when the Oklahoma associ-
alton was formed, and were hna!iy
brought into camp with their boots
on" For this important capture James
Gibson and ]. P. Mourtquand Oh
Homestead, both members Of the asso-
citation, deserve the credit. They fol-
lowed the trail Of the outlaws !or
months and finally, with the assist
ance of a party Of association mem,
bers, broke up the gang, captured
some Of the followers and killed both
Yeager and Black in the pitched bat
tie that occurred.
The association at times has provo
cation to resort to mob violence,
notably in the murder Of Capt. ]. >.
Pool, an Indian Territory association
leader, by two horse thieves, Barclay
and Brummitt, during the summer or
1902 in the Usage Indian country.
After a hard fight the two outlaws
were captured and placed In the Fed
eral jail here. The feeling against
the two was so bitter that threats OF
lynching were made until Hominy
lodge of the Anti-Horse Thief Associ-
alton took charge Of the prisoners un-
til the two could be transferred to
Guthrie prison, and sent out a warn
ing that a mob would be resisted with
Winchesters. Barclay and Brummltt
were tried, convicted Of murder and
sentenced to hang, but afterward the
sentence was commuted to LIE I'M
prisonment at Fort Leavenworth by
President Roosevelt .
While the association has been sue
cessful in wedding out nearly all OF
the outlaws and desperadoes, one re-
mains who has fought all posses, es-
caped arrest and Is still at large. He
is Ben Cravens, the only living king
of outlaws left Of the old gang, and
for his capture the rewards aggregate
nearly $4,000. He Is considered one
of the most desperate men that the
west ever produced and has the repu-