Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-02-21
NO. 1--rAe paYmAsT=e5 CASE.

NO. 1--THG PAYMA5TEE CASE.
Al the %nntornah OF t,tr crrat civi
war IN 1851 Air. Jack ,hcn~v was SIT
,i"n agent and f,ci" s,ctotum al ih,
Pennsylvania railway a. NcadcS,urs
"a Re WAS ~ yca,a Old. fuu of gin
S-r and an Irirfii pni,iot. hen Tin
coin mad" his o,i' for ,..,DOn volunteers
cheney ,hu"w his position Il" NE Winds
wendcd his way 10 i'i:tshutc aud en-
!iSlcd IN IN" famous DiiirSnc Griys
Nature had favored ms tad to a de
gree. He was about , Feet 10. stHai.ht
as an arrow. weighed u, pounds ndl
hr"wrish r~d hair. blu" c."s. which
rnlcr excitement or cn,ulicn became
steoiy gray. and mis- f'cc -irrnally wore
Il Faint Suggestion "f = %SG'il..
He nm" of , military family. m:,nY
Of ris ancestors naNiG. written their
f'rlies hif,h nn ,tc cpliniry% roll OF
honor. ifor th" first three months
' n Veg WAS aS,idIons IA iiir attention
,r 'iuty. and when his ,iiic was ON
10 wa' al original nir"'y day NAN
L. vas discharged cnri",.;i. Tn" nrxt
Gay he fc-rnlist"d 4" another reei-
ilNnt and WIS quickly h3,;oirtrd ser
GrIrt. shCa l:rsl -"r. 'rnt. aud =
short kim" iat"v C"V"'n"r Cur
til commissioned him second lieu
tN'HNH ~ iiF 80 hl 80
y captain. at cllanc"ilutsviilr uaajor and
3ter lieutenant colonel. IA she Viii
d"rness fights his coniuC' VAS 50 dis
iinguishr; tlit h.. Hrs commissioned
%,olorcl. and .S suoi, commanded his
regiment until mus rcd out ia 1865.
several times Gurin. IT,, rtr he had
been OIL dei,rhod 'ility auh rendered =;
good s'co.ut OF himself ia connection
VITA pinng,tul'S secret service. "" had
been twice ~Wo,IndN! and numerous
times fAcc 10 Fac. Win ti,c otd man
WIN IN" scyIhe." .7pWr lcars and siY
months OF a.tuai soldering made hin'
Ln.t FOR the quiet lumarun liz" in u
small Pennsylvania o0N ard when lac
was offered Il chance u enter TN" Unit
ed states secret service i, did So.
\ this time tn" duties Of a secret
service man were nnii.rrouS aud c'cr-
GUS. ana tolonei chtrcy iiad enough
exciting adventures to dill several vol
uincS. Thicvery. graz. aud 'linr Wef"
rampant irnni one u of III" country
20 the other and life was ..," ,rntin,i-
III round Of pleasure for Colonel che
nrJ. ii being understood thai iieaStrc
In his CASE meant the 'ulvius Of an ia
uicatc problem, or running some crooi.
Ia earth.
Shortly after The great t~ranscenti-
mental Pacific road was coirnietcd
cheney WAS operating il the west cen
trail department with ~i.n,iunartcrs nj
-. Louis. Things had bren somewhat
u1iiet FOR Il few weeks an,i Ia" became
restless. when n morning hc found q
note IN his mail directing i,inr person
aiiy tn assume change Of a UayInaSter
,aS. in Eebraska. II Srrals thal II
major and paynlaStcr OF the army on
youtc to pay The troops nj sonac OF the
frontier posts AID cNi,ps lad been
robbed of s15.GoO in current coin of the
realm. Most of the troops at this time
we're busy keeping n"stiir ndian in
rheck aud protecting the overland
trims and could not well lie spared to
run down the gang. The robbery had
occurred near Smedburs. Neb.. Il
stopping point between Grand Island
II North Platte. Cheney was in
formed that a certain gang headed by
II Buck Ewing was supposed TO BE-
implicated in the affair. but conclusive
proof was not at hand. Tie was to so
there with Il couple of good men. fer
ret out the case and when the time
was ripe call for troops to make the
arrests. He ief; St. Louis the same
evening. taking with him sid Guthrie
and Ed Loncrgan. two faithful opera
tors Oh whom he could depend in amy
emergency. Before leaving he called
Nh General Il. n. Grierson. command
ing the cavalry depot al Jefferson bar
racks. and obtained a letter OF intro
dIction To Genera j. j. Reynolds. who
was in commend of Fort N;cbrarn. the
largest post in Nebraska. This letter
was the only piece Of writing Cheney.
had on his person. Ii naercly spoke Of
theney's being in the government
service. not stating the branch. and
c~ominended him Ia General Reynolds
.oo.i offices.
The trip 10 omaha and from there
10 North Platte WAS uneventful. Stop
ping just long enough to get wagon
I ,M, ,,S =, Nnt 4. inn, fst,n,,nu ,b.1 1,t.. Z ,x., r,,n,,
continued III To ~Smedburg. reaching
there that night about dusk.
S~inedbu:-g VAS Il typical frontier
town. every other building being a sa-
loon. dance hall and gambling house
'oasbined. The inhabitants were those
usually found in svch p.lces. no bet
,e;'. no worse. There vas. as a rule.
quite a transient popuia.ion due to
overland caravans stopping to rest be-
fore continuing further towards the
lard Nf tho setting sun.
Cheney. Guthrie and I.onerSan were
dressed in rough western style: they
were quiet. we'll behaved II did
nothing 10 attract any specia, at
iention. They walked AROUND the
town sizing things up. looked in one
or two places and saw the games go
ing on. Incidentally they saw Mr..
Buck Ewing and u few companions
half seas ever "bucking The tiger"
They were all well healed with coin
md N Of the gang in Il ONE. of
cxuberation said "tEerc was plenty
more wher. that came from: everyone
have n drink on HIM" which almost
everybody did. Cheney was convinced
that IN Money belonged 10 Uncle sam
but personal conviction and legal proofs
are far apart: so ne bideJ HIS time.
you're not drinking. stranger" said
the hcspitable sport. Why not"
Not thirtSy, hanks" said Cheney