The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1907-02-28

With F.urte ON Notches in
I His Gun He VIII Take to
Farming for a. Living

Dot NAuS lao SOuAIty AOdItJ % yedtS
as a United States Deputy Marshal,
Bas Reeves, a Negro who has killed
IA men white Under official orders,
and has served on civilizations out.
posts when he was beset by constant
| perils, Will retire. = :'.- MS
when Mr.. Bennett goes out Of
Office, he says, II am going to quit,
tatoo,> and take up farming" r." ..
Reeves has, served under seven
I different United States marshals,
Democrats and Republicans, and has
been through some terrific fights
without ever getting scratch HIM
self. - - & y. s&%=s,.,,
With the expiration OF the present
Federal regime upon the advent Of
Statehood, he viii, as hetsays, 60 to
farming for living, laying down
for the plow the sixshooter and the
repeating rife which in his hand, ),
have been potent factors in Kidding
two territories from the reign of the
| outlaw, the horsethief and the boot
.legger. =. H.. .;...>5 ." .s..
Sixty-eight, But He Doesn't Look 1t.
Reeves Is aR Arkansan. He Is 6
feet tall, 68 years old, but looks to
be only 40. His superiors say he was
excitement under any circumstances.
To him the one supreme evidence
of authority Is writ
Place q warrant for arrest In his
hands and no circumstances can
cause him to deyiate from it's COM
mands. The writer saw him once ar
rest his own son, charged with wife
murder; take him to jail and place
him behind the bars. This was prob
ably the crucial moment In the whole
life of the old deputy. but he saw on-
ly his duty, T. .E,| 4 ~
He walked into the office of Mar
shall Bennett and was told that there
was a warrant for his son for MUIR
der, and asked If he did not want
some one else to serve ft. - '..r. =
.tGive me the writ, p was all he
said. ! - .:'>% .. j :,
| When Reeves commenced. riding
ass a deputy marshall Oklahoma and
Ink 3aA Il GS fo6Fy were ID Hd darstffB jur-&
isdfGHotf 64 the fatmotis Fort Smith;
court and deputies from Fort Smith
rode to Fort, Reno, Fort Sill and
Anadarko for prisoners, a distance
T OF 400 miles. In those days the M.
K. l& r., Railroad - running south
| across the territory, marked the
southwestern fringe Of civilization.
Eighty miles west of Fort Smith
| was known as "the dead line" and
| whenever B.. deputy marshal from
Fort Smith Of Paris, Tex, crossed
| the NJ, K. & r.. track he took his life
in his hands and -he--kneW- it. On
nearly every trail would be found
nosted by the outlaws a small card
warning certain deputies that, If
they ever crossed the dead line, they
would be- killed. " e.
Reeves has a dozen Of these cards
| which were posted for ! his special
benefit. An in those days such
notice was no idle boast, and many
an outlaw has died with! his boots
ON trying to ambush a deputy on
these trails.
" The Perils of Two Trails.
In the early 80 there were two
principal trails that-led from Deni--
son; Tex, into the Indian country
and they were frequented by horse
| thieves, bootleggers and other out
laws. They were known as the Sem
inoles aud the Pottawottamine trails.
The former led by Old Sasakwa and
on towards the Sacred Heart Mis-
sion. The Seminoles hated the Pot
tawottamies and the two trails,
though they practically parallelied
each other were never used by the
same Indians. 1t was along these two
trails, which also led to Fort Sill,
Anadarko and Fort Reno, that most
OF the encounters with outlaws oc-
Cured.
There were three principal classes
of outlaws---murderers, horse
| thieves and bootleggers. Added to
the Indians and mixed Negro and
| Indian, were the white outlaws, who
! had fed from Texas, Kansas and
| other states.
Whenever deputy marshal left
Fort Smith to capture outlaws In the
| Territory he took with him wag-j
on, cook, and, usually, posseman,
depending on what particular outlaw
| he was after. The government allow
ed rs cents per day to feed the pris-
oners captured and mileage for the
| distance they travelled at ten cents
| per mile.
A deputy going west was not al
| lowed to arrest man east Of the
NJ, K. & r. railroad, but he had to
wait until the return trip. II he
caught man a mile west Of the
M, K. e T. railroad, however, he
was entitled to pay, both for feeding
and mileage, both ways If he carried
| him 80 miles west to Fort Sill and
back again to Fort Smith.
| 1t Was Hazardous, But Profitable.
( A deputy was allowed thirty days
to make a trip as far west as Fort
| Sill and return. If he had to stop
for high water ne was paid for the
delay. Every deputy was then on