The Spokane press. [volume] (Spokane, Wash.) 1902-1939, 1906-01-20
HOW THE PULLING QUESTION
"WHAT HAD BECOME OF
jim FoSTERw WAS
ANSWERED.

| Some of the pioneers of the
Black Hills were talking of old
times when one of them said:
Nobody ever found out what
became of Jim Foster"
Nobody ever heard from him."
said a dozen at once, and then the
crowd became reflective. After
, few minutes silence one man said
| that Jim Foster was good fellow,
| but that he ought to have been
hanged all the same; another OBJ
served that he would have been
hanged if he had been caught at a
certain period in his career.
At this juncture a stranger who
had heard all that had been said,
asked what there was about Fos-
ter.
ooh, nothing much" was the re-
ply of the first speaker. James was
one of the boys that was first in
here, that's all, and he went away
rather sudden. He was never cut
out for pioneer, he wasn't. He
was born for a tenderfoot. He did
not see INTO get along well. He
was out of money, though nobody
knew it at first. One fine morning
Jim turned up missing and with
him went horse that belonged
to a man who believed in having
somebody hung for every horse
that was stolen from him. That
was the worst break in Jim's life.
He had to skip and he had to steal
a horse, but he didn't have to steal
| one of old Benefits horses. Well,
they went after him hot, but he
got away and wasn't heard from"
"The funniest thing about the
whole business, though" said an
other, "was the fact that for two
or three years everything that went
wrong in camp was charged up
to jim. He's the first man that
ever got away from old Bennett, I
think. I've known Bennett to fol-
now fellows more than a thousand
miles"
"Well, now" said the stranger,
Il happen to know something
J about this case. Foster stole that
horse because he had to get out
OF the country or die. He cut
across the country for Pierre and
rode day and night until he got
there - a trip that was not a
promenade in those days. When
he got there he sold the horse for
a small sum, and by beating and
working he managed to get to his
home in Michigan. His father was
we'll off, and as he died soon after,
he left Jim a good business.
Nobody there knew anything
about his horse stealing business
in the hills, and he soon became a
man of considerable prominence.
He married one of the prettiest
girls in town, built himself a new
house and was living in fine style.
when an old man who said he was
from the Black Hills, arrived there
with an officer and notified the city
marshal that he wanted Jim for
horse stealing. He had been on
his trail for more than two years,
and had found nlm at last
The marshal was friend of
Jim's, and at his earnest solicita-
ton Bennett agreed to keep the
object of his .-- quiet until he
had seen Jim at his home. That
night the mars and old Bennett
called on Jim, and the whole thing
was talked over. The old man at
first trefused all offers of a COM
promise, but after he had seen
Jim's wife, he wlted, and said he
would call the thing square. Jim
managed to get 500 bill into the
old mans hand just as he was leav-
ing, but it was only by waiting I'M
I'll the train was pulling out that
he did so. Now, that shows that
he stole the right horse, doesn't
it"