The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1906-08-24

John F. Lietz, the homesteader, the
outlaw of Cameron DAM" will re-
main an outlaw for many a day, I'M
less the sheriff of Sawyer county can
devise some means of capturing him
without the help of the Wisconsin ma
tional guard. This is the only salts
faction that was given to Sheriff CYL
land, who led a posse of crack rife
shots after the man at Cameron dam,
when he asked the governor for troops
to serve a warrant on this home
steader, who for three years has de-
fed the state courts, and who for
part of that time has stood off even
the United States authorities.
1t sounds more like a tale Of the
mountains of the west, or of the grand
duke ridden steppes of Russia, than
story of Wisconsin homesteader's
fight for what he believes is simple
justice, does the record of John F.
Dietz's successful defiance of the en-
tire state of Wisconsin.
1t began with an effort on the part
of the poor farmer of the wilderness
to collect a debt from a great lumber
company, backed by men with mil
lions. He has so far failed to get
what he claims was due him, but the
lumber company which opposed its
will to the persistence of the woods
man has lost far more than the orig
inal claim. He originally claimed
small sum, few hundreds of dol
lars. The company's loss since it
failed to pay what was demanded has
reached total Of fully quarter of
a million dollars, and some estimates
put the figure at nearer a million.
The Chippewa River Lumber COM
pany has lost 20,000,O00 feet of tim
Der, and has been forced to discon7
tinue extensive numbering operations
in the upper waters Of the Thornapple
river by the guard placed at Cam
eron dam by Outlaw" Dietz, who re-
fuses to let log go to market until
his claim is paid. He has successfully
upheld his right to the dam for three
years against posse after posse,
against bands of woodmen in the en-
ploy of the company, and in the face
of efforts to dynamite the dam.
State Is Appealed To.
The state has been appealed to to
send troops to stop the war of lone
woodsman against a great lumber
company, and has refused, telling the
sheriff that it is his duty to capture
Dietz, If he has a warrant for the out
law, and that 1t is not necessary to
call out the militia to arrest one law
breaker.
After three years of intermittent
fighting, recently Sheriff Gylland, who
had already appealed to the governor
for troops in vain, went into the will
derness about the Dietz home with
posse of crack shots from Milwaukee,
headed by a private detective who has
figured in many a thrilling encounter
with angry strikers, counterfeiters,
and in other situations requiring a
man of iron nerve.
Thirty miles through the wilderness
Sheriff Gylland led this posse, and at
the end of the trip found desperate
man, armed with a repeating rife,
with his two sons fighting valiantly
beside him, and with even the women
ready to defend the fortress against
the invaders. At the end of the bat
tie the posse withdrew, not in the
precise order and desperate resistance
at every step that one reads about in
war stories, but precipitately, dashing
through the woods at a pace which
would make the deer seem like snailS
beside jack rabbit in comparison.
Behind them was left John Rogich,
of Milwaukee, thrice wounded, and in
the fortress was Clarence Dietz, shot
in the head by a rifle ball, but saved
from death by the hairs breadth by
which the bullet struck him a glanc-
ing instead of direct wound.
Were it not for the possibly fatal
wounds sustained by Rogich, the scene
of the battle might almost be COM
edy, for at one moment fighting depu-
ties, the Dietz family was quick to re-
turn to the even tenor of it's way,
and with the frightened deputies fee
ing through the woods at the whis-
per of the name of Dietz, the members
of this desperate family returned to
the hay field to resume the interrupt
ed farm work. Meanwhile Rogich was
crawling through the woods, aban-
doned temporarily by his companions
in search of shelter from the rain
which was threatening. Rogich spent
an awful six hours in the woods, lost,
until he was found by surveyors, aft
er the departure of his comrades.
When they returned, satisfied that
Dietz was not In pursuit, they found
Rogich gone, and it was not for three
days that they secured any trace of
him. Meanwhile they charged that