Albuquerque citizen., 1908-04-02

charge of shooting hogs. They were
refused the information and the
Wy ckliffes say that Captain White
and his companions beat their father
in the head with six-shooters until
he was nearly dead.
This started the feud with the
federal marshal and his deputies. 1t
was framed into fiercer hatred when
the Cherokee land office was opened
at Vinita in 1903 when the Cherokee
Night Hawks organized to resist the
allotment of lands. The Wyckliffes
were members of this organization,
though they are not fullblood Chero-
KEGS, as is commonly supposed, but
have an inheritance OF Scotch blood
| in their veins.
In 1905 Deputy Marshal j II. Nier
was shot and killed in the yard of a
relative of the Wyckliffes where he
had remained all night expecting
! Charles Wyckliffe to come in. He
was shot by Charles Wyckliffe as Vier
was coming out of the house.
Blooihounds on the Trail.
/ The murder of Vicr was followed
| by the greatest activity ever shown
| by the federal government in at
| tempting to run down q criminal in
old Indian Territory. w. II. Darrough
| was marshal in the nothern district.
He imme ediately placed every man at
his command in the Cherokee hills,
secured bloodhounds. and the man
| hunt went on increasingly night and
day for weeks.
1t was said that the Wyckliffes
eluded the bloodhounds by wrapping
their feet in cloths that were saturat-
ed with cayenne pepper, a certain
method of stopping the bloodhounds.
Anyway, it is true that the blood
hounds would take a trail and when
it appeared that they were getting
close to their quarry they would sud
denly quit the trail and return.
one day in March, 1906, a posse
i'm the rugged mountainous country
Kansas, Cherokee nation, headed by
Ike Gilstrap, was led into ambush. A
fight ensuod in which Gilstrap was
killed and two Of his possemen
wounded.
Marshal Darrough then called up
on the government at Washington
for assistance. He was given author
ity to swear in 100 picked men, pay
them 50 each a day for their services
and all expenses Camping outfits
. |
out from Vinita across the Grand
river and headquarters with supplies
Of rations, ammunition and rifle.
were established in the heart Of the
outlaw country For a month the
Cherokee nation was swept as with q
> fine tooth comb. but not a single Off.
Ger ever saw one Of the outlaws. This
was due to the perfect organization
]
thorough sympathy that the Chero
KEGS felt for the Wyckliffes and theil
hatred for the officers. The govern
, ment spent more than $4,000 in this
frutless chase. It was afterward:
definitely ascertained that during al
this time the Wyckliffc boys ha,
, never been more than fifty miles from
the scene Of their crimes.
. RCnurtcrS Found the Outlaws.
. The humiliation Of the officers wal
t made complete Immediately after th'
S chase was ended by the fact that en-
terprising newspaper men entered
! the region where the week.-Mrs. were
gained their confidence through mu
tual friends, interviewed the Wyck
, liffcs. secured pictures Of their home
= and wrote the story of the interview
y
, fos There was only one condition
, imposed when this Interview was ar
ranged. II was that the newspapc
, men were not TO carry either guns o
, cameras when the interview tool
place.
= since that time the Wyckliffc
have moved about with comparat.y
uucoucsru, especially since statehoo.
when the old federal regime whicl
caused the bitter feud was at an end
They hayt repeatedly said that the
intended to surrender themselves L
the state authorities if they wer
guaranteed a fair deal and only
few days ago such negotiations wcr
iu progress.
John Wyckline. Sr. father Of thes
boys. was once q member OF tn
Cherokee supreme court ana a ma
Of wide influence among his peppl,
For MhOOping Cough.