The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-08-07
POSSE FIRED UPON
THE DIETz WOMEN.
80 ss;e-., s+s Isis ..Es.
Wife and Daughter Write Of the
Battle" to Relatives at
Barron.
Special to Tho journal.

Special to Tho Journal.
Barron, Wis, Aug. Mrs. Hattie
E. Dietz, wife Of the outlaw. Of Cam
eron DAM has written a brief, &C
Mrs. Herman Voigt, who lives on a
farm with her husband six miles from
this place. Mrs. Dietz asserts that the
posse fired upon her and her daughters.
She says: Il
Winter, July 29.-Dear Children: We
were glad to hear from you. We are all
well but Clarence, and he Is a little better
today. He Is shot in the front Of his
head. The wound is about 21A inches
long. We think his skull il cracked and
his brain exposed, as he has not been
able to stand the least bit Of noise.
When he was shot he threw up both
hands and fell on his back. The children
told us how 1t happened The poor boy
never fired a shot.
Father and the boys could have killed
every one of them If we had wanted to.
The man that shot Clarence stayed in
the willows right below them.E& He shot
Clarence and then shot at Leslie; came
within half an inch Of hitting him. Then
they began shooting at me and the chill
dren, and all of them shot thru the house,
and the bullets tore the ground in the
yard all around Myra, myself and the
little ones - .r~
| You understand the men were on the
knoll, a little ways from the house. They
| lie when they say we shot first The first
| shot was fired by someone over in the
brush, and the next they shot Clarence.
| I suppose they will send in the militia,
and what have we done that they have a
right to do that? Your father writes for
the papers. He has sent several articles
and not one has been printed. suppose
| kI2
will eat us. No one will ever come to
throw shovelful Of dirt over us.
ow, If you wish, you can hand this to
any paper, as there is no one to tell our
side of the story. We see by the papers
that the other side is telling an enor-
nous lot of corrupt lies, just so they can
call the militia in.
Oh, what kind Of people are there in
the world to stand and see us shot down
In our own home? Why don't the gov
ernor send some one in here to investi-
lgate? Well, there is a just God that will
punish them sooner or later. There is nc
use to write any more. Good-by, if we
q never see you again. From your loving
4 mother. - ~ Hattie E. Dietz.
Gould Have Killed the Possemen.
:. Myra, who is spoken of in the letter
is a daughter of Dietz, and, writing tt
her sister, Mrs. Voigt, says;
| I will, give you the true facts Of wha
happened July 25. We were unloading
hay in the barn about i O'clock in thu
afternoon, Clarence on the load, pa ant
Leslie in the barn, I driving the team, MI
pulling back the rope Of the hayfork
when just as we were ready to hitch OF
the wagon, ma saw one of the cows look
ing at something below the fence JUS
above the house, so she sent Helen to g
and see what was there, and just, a
Helen looked over the bank into the flow
age she saw men with guns. She cam
running back to the barn and told us.
Leslie was just coming down from tn
barn, and they ran for the house an
y got their guns just in time. We did nc
4 lhave- a. gun with, us when we saw then
= was just about a rod from Clarenc
: when the fellows shot him 7 saw hir
@ fall. I thought he had been killed. Al
t ter he had shot Clarence, he turned an
sd shot right by Leslies head. The fello'
Il Iwas IN the willows so they could not sc
q HIM. ~ Clarence never shot a shot.
o ~ We. could see them creeping in all
y Freeti6ns out of the hay in the flowag
t., I'VE, could have killed every one of the
8 if we had wanted to, but pa don't belle,
J. shooting a coward, anyhow not in tt
IS back, when he is running to get out Of tt
t, way, but we never shot till they starte
n it,
e About $50 shots were fired all arour
II U.S., in the house and yard; little Jol1n1
IT came near getting hit, so you can s.
"A. cl,f tn, ~ hot raf