, 1905-02-25
ROAD AGENTS OF
THE BLACK HILLS

was soon Eel The Kid taking refuge
in the old Michael Carroll residence |
near the river bridge. The peniten
;iary guards knew that there were
arms and ammunition in the residence
and hesitated about entering Mr.. Bos- |
well was sent for and found the con !
vict in the pantry eating pie. He gave
no resistance whatever m was taken
back to the ~penitentiary, from which
institution he and Erwin we're soon re
moved to the Detroit House of Cor
reotion.
Erwin served in that prison about
seven years, when he was pardoned.
He Immediately returned to Laramie /
and announced his intention of killing
Mr.. Boswell and Superintendent e.
Dickinson. About the first heard of
aim was in a First street saloon, where
he was flourishing a revolver and max
ing dire threats against the lives of the
detective n superintendent. Bos
well was notified and Immediately went
after his man. He soon landed him
in Jail and then notified the pros
ecuting attorney. at that time Hon. II
V. S. Groesbeck, that if Erwin didn't
leave the country there would be a
pauper funeral. Erwin took the mint
and uron being released from the coun.
ty Jail Immediately set III for Colo
RADIO. The next heard of him he was
implicated in the robbins of a stage
coach. in which affair he was killed.
Erwin was naturally a villain. He
had non of the finer qualities often
found in fallen characters, but was
heartless to the core.
The Kid (Charles C%ondon), was a
different character. At heart he was
not a bad boy, but was possessed OF
grit. indomitable energy and a cool de
termination that carried him through
all sorts of trying circumstances. He
was purely a cerature OF environment.
The wild west n the association of
outlaws was more than he could stand
and he fell, as many another good boy
the Black Hills. The Kid came from
a good family of Maine His parents
were ~neighbors of the illustrious James
G. Blaine. 1t was with a brother OF
Mr.. Blaine that he first anne to Wyo-
ming. landing at Fort Fetterman when
he was but II years of age At that
time Erwin and his gang were operat.
ing extensively on the stage line from
Fort Fetterman to Fort Mckinney. Be-
coming acquainted with The Kid. they
induced him to enter their employ.
agreeing to pay him fifty dollars per
month to tell them who was coming
down the line and what they had in
their possession. The Kid would ride
out from Fort Fetterman on a fast
horse n notify the outlaws of the
coming parties and then ride back to
the Fort. After a time he tired of this
work and concluded he would go into
the outlaw business for himself. One
lay Snyder and Tillotson, settlers at
Fort Mckinney, were on their way to
Fetterman. when in the dusk of the
evening they were held up by The Kid,
single handed, and compelled to dis |
gorge all the valuables they had with
them. consisting of a considerable sum
of money and their watches. In order
to deceive the travellers. The Kid had
dressed up a couple of sticks and stood
them up beside the road, with a Win
chester held at a present. In the I'M
certain light they took the dummy for
a man and allowed the %youngster to
have his way.
The plumber taken by The Kid for a
long period of time was hid in a barn
at the Dry Cheyenne stage station.
The pegs upon which the harnesses
were hung were inserted in large au
gur holes and i twas The Kids prac-
tice to pull out these pegs and put his
money and jewelry inside and then
reinsert the pegs. In this way he hid
many hundreds of dollars. worth OF
jewelry and a good deal of money. Al
ter his arrest and conviction for life,
he told Mr.. Boswell where he had
cached his treasure and the detective
to Dry Cheyenne and found all
the stuff just as indicated. This prop
erty was returned to the owners in
many cases, but some of the owners
could not be found. One very fine gold
The Republican is informed, is
still in the possession of Mr.. Dickin-
son, the owner not having claimed the
property.
To show the grit of The Kid, one in
may be Of interest to readers OF
paper. After he had been arrest
ed for holding up the Rock Creek stage
he was heavily shackled with the other
prisoners. John LeFever, who was
with Mr.. Boswell, noticed during the
ride to Laramie that The Kid was
sroaning some. as if in intense pain
and called Boswell's attention to the
act. Boswell examined The Kid and
that one leg was black to the
knee. It was at ono released and :
'oon recovered its normal condition.
When asked why he did not speak Of
his torture, The Kid responded that
lie was not used to ~squealing. that he
oOE u a q port ~ kha rujohv,ar ho