The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-04-21
FAMOUS EXPRESS RIDER.
Now q Judge Of the Superior Court
Bench In Washington.

Bench In Washington.
From express rider in the sagebrush
and bunch grass country of northwest
ern Oregon to the superior court bench
of Wallawalla county. Wash, is the
rise of Thomas E. Brentz. He left the
east shortly before the outbreak OF
the civil war. arriving at what is
now Canyon City, Ore, in the fall OF
1861. He was the first to discover
gold in the district, locating rich
placer claim, which was afterward
| abandoned because of the lack of wa
ter He established the BrentZ 4 Mel
son express line. carrying letters and
parcels between Canyon City and The
Dalles. 22J miles, and holds the record,
having covered the distance in twenty
eight hours
In the first winter the line was in
operation many horses were spirited
away by Indians and later the road
agents became troublesome Once
Judge Brentz was caught in 4 blizzard,
and it required more than three weeks
10 DO the trip. lie encountered snow
| fields ten feet deep and was forced to
walk at the head of his horse nearly
all the way. On his arrival at Canyon
City there was a demonstration. Bon
| fires We're built, and the hills echoed
with gunshots and powder blasts
| Judge ErentZ talked of the early days
not long ago and told some of his ex-
periences He got 50 cents for carry
| ing a letter aud sold California news
papers at 80 cents copy, express par
| GELS netting him from ST to $40, ac-
! cording to weight. He also carried gold
| dust from the mining districts to the
repositories
1.-The express line had been oStab-
| lished about gear when the road
| agents became menace Judge
| BrentZ said, land many persons were
murdered for their money. One of the
most notorious bad men was Berry
May, an escaped convict from San
Quentin, who came to Oregon in 1862
and for a time kept band of horses
Being located on the line of my route
frequently made changes of horses al
his place and thus became casually ac-
quaintetl with the noted outlaw. Later
he took to the road
"Once on my way to The Dalles from
Canyon City encountered his band as
they were going into camp for the
night, and as my horse was heavily
laden and nearly exhausted there was
nothing left but to turn in with them
l had my canteens well filed with gold
dust, which would have made profit-
able haul
Il came upon the party. consisting OF
Berry May. his wife and Jim Partn. at
the foot Of Rocky Canyon Berry asked
me If l hadn't better stop with them
for the night, and l accepted the inyi
tation. Taking off my saddle with the
gold dust l threw it carelessly on the
grass and thus disarIned the desper-
ADDS suspicious.
He asked me If did not carry con
siderable gold dust on my trips from
the mining regions. | replied, Yes.
sometimes, but on this trip am car
rying chains for a pack train and am
not taking any gold dust Knowing
HE as lie ulu, uc DtleFcU was telllHS
the truth, but [ slept with my head Oh
my saddle, with one eye upon the rob
bers and my gun ready for action.
Il passed a sleepless night, but my
horses We're rested, and the next morn
ing l resumed my journey l had gore
a short distance when | met the sheriff
and his posse from PenGleton, who ask
ed me if | had seen anything Of Berry
May and his party. l replied, Yes.
stayed with them last night
" The mischief you did, came tn"
quick reply We are after them for
murder They shot and killed a man
named Gallagher as he lay sleeping
and we found the trail where they
dragged the body and the place where
they washed the bloody blankets under
which the man was sleeping
Berry and his party were captured |
before reaching Canyon City and were
confined In an old shack of Jail, from |
which he made his escape and went to
Boise where he was afterward cap
tured and brought back to Canyon City |
and again locked up. The Jail was sur
rounded by Il self constituted vigilance |
committee, which took him from the |
Jail and hanged him from the limb of a |
tree on the hill. Partin was never
heard Of again.