Amador ledger., 1906-05-25
The Bender Family
From Globe Democrat.

a wealthy Indian Territory ranchman,
to the effect that the entire Bender
family was wiped out by cowboys iu
''No Mans Land" shortly after their
disappearance from Kansas, following
the tracing of numerous mysterious
murders to them. e Morgan has been
a cowboy in the west for forty years,
and has been located in the Greek
Indian nation, near Kellyville, for
the past twenty years, In the early
days it was his custom, in going to
and from his ranch with punches of
cattle. to stop with the Bender family,
as he had known all of them for some
time, and he gives it as his opinion
that the only reason he is alive to-day
is because on these trips he was always
accompanied by force of cowboys
and teamsters. ThesBenders only at
tackled and killed solitary travellers.
The muIderous career of the Ben
ders was during the early 80s. . in the
vicinity of Cherryvale,9 7 Kan. tSus-
picion finally pointed to them follow
ing the disappearance of DR.. York, a
member of the Kanass legislature, and
at that time quite prominent in
Kansas politics. A brother of York
began a search tor him and traced
him as far as the Bender home. Here
the trail ended, and, calling upon
friends to assist him, York pushed
the search. One of the guns carried
by the party had bayonet attached,
and in sticking this into the newly
plowed ground, one of the men struck
something that he knew was not
earth. An investigation revealed
the body of a murdered man and
within short time nine corpses we're
unearthed, including that of DIR.
York
Morgan, the ranchman, was a mem
ber of the vigilance committee that
started on the trail of the Bende1s.
He says that often when, passing the
Bender farm, he would see John
Bender plowing, and would ask what
he was doing, but never received a
satisfactory answer. 1t developed
afterwards that Bender was plowing
so as to cover up the signs of new
dug grave. Following the disappear
ance of DIR. York, and even before the
Benders had been suspected, band
of searcheIs came to the Bender home
at night. Morgan was in the party.
They were told by Kate Bender, the
daughter, that they must not enter
the house as her mother was danger
ously i'll and their entrance might
cause her instant death. Unsuspect-
Ing, the searching party withdrew,
and that night Benders left the
country, taking with them two teams
and wagons. Their absence, accord
ing to Morgan, did not become known
until the bawling of the calves on the
Bender farm attracted the attention of
neighbors. The calves were starving,
having had nothing to eat since the
departure of the family.
We're Tracked to Atoka.
Morgan remained with the vigilantes
and participated in the search south
ward for the Benders. They we're
tracked across the Verdigris river,
and as far into Indian Territory as
the present town of Atoka. Here all
trail ended, and the Benders at that
time escaped. Morgan says the Ben
ders had about weeks start of the
committee. Although the search was
continued for some time, it was
finally abandoned.
Some time later, according to Nor
gan, he had cattle deal on with
cowman from "no mans land," the
present Beaver county of Oklahoma.
That region, at that time, was claimed
by no state, nor by the government,
none claiming jurisdiction over it,
and it became the rendezvous for out
laws and criminals of all kinds. Ihe
Benders took refuge in that locality,
but evidently did. not cease their
murderous work. The cowmen, with
whom Morgan was making a deal, told
him of an entire family being wiped
out by the cowboys, a short time
before, in mo mans land" He
described the entire family, and they
Tailed exactly with the Benders, all
of whom Morgan knew we'll. The
cowmen stated that one of their num-
ber was missing several days from
camp. They hunted for him, and
found his horse and saddle near a
desolate-looking home. The inmates
denied any knowledge whatever of
the man, said they did not know to
whom the horse belonged. A search
about the premises, however, resulted
in his body being unearthed from a
new-made grave. The cowboys were
so lncensed that they returned to the
house and killed the entire family.
Hanged Blacksmith Three Times.
Morgan says that before the trail of
the Benders was found, after their
sudden departure from Kansas, that
it was believed then, and is still his
belief, that local blacksmith knew
all about the family. The vigiIantes
hanged the man three times, in trying
to force him to reveal what he knew
regarding the Benders, but he re-
: | M inod rnI1fa Amn nnn tho norcnnc