Omaha daily bee., 1907-01-14
INCIDENT OF PIONEER DAYS
Reeollectious Of Chase Of Mule Thieves
from Missouri TO 0maha.
TRACKED BY lMpRlSTs OF NEW SHOES
The Capture, the Return journey and
Reception az Home-Death of the
Leader of the Merry
Chase.

Above the mists OF time and the haze
Of romance enveloping the story OF pioneer
days looms the figures of horse and mule
as helpmates of the pathfnders. Posses
sion Of one or more were prime essentials
in obtaining a livelihood. They were let
tiers Of credit for the newcomer giving him
an immediate standing in village or camp.
Ownership made him person worth while.
Constituting the sole means of conveyance,
the passenger locomotive as well as mail
carrier, freighter and cultivator, horse and
mule were good as gold and readily ex-
changeable for coin or dust at a high
figure. The great value Of the animals and
their importance in the scheme of progress
caused them In many cases to be priced
as highly as human life. Theft of the
animals was high crime and was punished
with the rude, but effective specific OF rope
or gun. or both. Yet so readily were they
convertible in money that scores of des-
perate characters followed the risky bust
ness of horse lifting along the pioneer
highways, and many a tragic adventure
was enacted in their pursuit and capture.
Two Market Towns.
In its infancy Omaha and Council Blufs
were quite a market for animals of ques-
tionable ownership. Horses were brought
from the east and mules from Missouri
From the latter state quite a business was
marked up and carried on so boldly that
the authorities decided to get busy. One
of the many expeditions sent in pursuit of
mule thieves to Omaha and beyond started
from Lockport now Kansas City. in the
summer of 1858, and was in command of
Thomas Mars, who died at his home in
Berrien Springs, Mich last Friday. There
were five men in the party, all mounted
and properly armed. A bunch of four mules
had disappeared and about the same time
three men were missed from their haunts.
The pursuers struck the trail above St.
Joseph and followed It along the Missouri
valley until 1t was lost on the well worn
road below Council Bluffs. Somewhere in
that vicinity one of the mules was dis
posed of and driven inland I'VE reached
Council Bluffs" said Mr.. Mars, in relat-
ing the adventure to the writer, without
any definite idea as to the direction the
thieves had taken. We did not get a trace
of the party in Council Bluffs. as they had
skirted the town and crossed the river to
Omaha. We were only two days behind
them, though we did not know 1t at the
time. On the way to the river we dis
covered on the moist soil of the road the
imprint of new mule shoes, and as one of
the stolen animals had been shod recently
we felt confident we were on the right
trail"
Capture and Subsequent Events.
The pursuers pressed on with greater en-
ergy, stopping in Omaha only long enough
to feed and water their animals and re-
plensh their saddle-bags Some twenty
miles west of Omaha, near what was then
known as Elk City, they came upon the
thieves who surrendered without resist
epce. 4r
"One Of the three ''Gsaid Mr. Mars, was
an itinerant preacher. and he was only
craven in the party. Before we had decided
on a course Of actionsthe preacher offered
to give evidence against his fellows"8 .,....,
Pursuers and captfyes started homeward
on the west side of the river, in order to
avoid possible legal complications at Omaha
or Council BLUFFS. Near Nebraska City the
preacher escaped during night camp. The
remaining pair reached Missouri.
Some distance from home," related Mr.
Mars, I'VE were met by a reception COM
mittee, which, finding us weary and hum
cry, gave us refreshments and took charge
Of the prisoners We did not see them
again. They did not reach town. Local
tradition had it that the formalities of a
trial were dispensed with, One thing we
were sure off-the pair we brought back did
not resume business"
| Typical Fr0ntIerisman.
Mr.. Mars was "a splendid type of Ameri-
can frontiersman, strong, rugged forceful,
quick to see and act as clean and straight
in life az the forest pines of Southern
Michigan where the greater part of his
life was spent. His parents settled in that
section in 1881 when he was a babe of two
years and he grew TO manhood there. The
western fever took him to Missouri In the
flfties. When the civil war came on his
strong union sympathies made him an un-
desirable resident. Several times he was
urged to leave the country, but did moi
move until the raiders burned his saw mill
Returning to his old home near Benton
Harbor he engaged I'm farming and fruit
raising and continued II almost to the END
of his rs years He was repeatedly elected
a member of the Michigan legislature
served a term as state railroad commits
sioner, president of the state grange and
was counsellor, confdant and executor To-
most of the rural families in ST. JOSEPH
county. Mrs. Mars, who died four year,
ago, was a near relative Of DR.. o. S. WOOD
OF Omaha.