The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1910-03-15

loTc0 10 make home fOr~ NV
her IN the new land. She "
accepted the offer and In
1866 they reached east
Texas and settled in Rusk county. near Hen
derson, the county seat. Here the brother and
sister made an effort to retrieve their broken
fortunes, with moderate success
But though still boy in years, being not
more than Is. his youth came really to an end
now 1t was the period of reconstruction in
the south-a time of obnoxious endorsements
on the one hand and rebellious bitterness on
the other, with general lawlessness in the
black settlements. The military dominated
the towns and there were continuous misun-
derstandings between the still resentful con-
quered and the aggressive and sometimes inso-
lent conquerors. Young Mcdonald, with the
memory of his hero father shot dead while
leading his regiment against these men in
blue, was In no frame of mind to submit to
any indignity, real fancied, at their hands
IL happened Just at this time that one Col
Greene, relative Of the McDonalds, was MUIR
dered by negroes, who being arrested, con-
fessed the killing, stating that they had mis-
taken Greene for a mulebuyer supposed to
have large sum of money. The men were
lodged In JAIL but 1t was believed that under
the "carpet-bag" military law then prevailing
they would escape punishment In later years
young Mcdonald was to become one of the
most strenuous defenders of official procedure
one OF the btterest opponents of lynch law
the state OF Texas has ever known; but he
was hot-blooded in 'sixty-eight and the situa-
ton was not one to develop moral principles.
When, therefore, mob formed and took the
negroes out of jail and hanged them there Is
no record of Bill Jess having distinguished
himself IN their defense, as he certainly would
have done In later years. Indeed 1t is likely
a Of o1n null
1t was only because the rope was fully occu-
pied with other willing hands,
OF course the military descended on Hen
derson and set in to discipline it for this con-
certed lawlessness. The townspeople as a
whole, and the relatives of Col. Greene in par
ucular, resented this occupation Charley
Greene, brother Of the murdered man. in
company with Bill Jess, presently got into
trouble with some soldiers who were deportine
themselves IN manner considered offensive
and the result was running fight with the
military in the lead. The soldiers made for
their quarters in the courthouse. 1t would
have been proper to leave them alone then
to retire flushed with victory. as the books
say, and satisfied. But Greene could not rest.
He persuaded Bill Jess to stay with him and
they rode up and down In front Of the court
house, occasionally taking shot at the win
dows to punctuate their challenge to warfare
Finally Greene decided that they could
charge the courthouse and capture It. He
primed himself with liquor for the onset and
refused to heed his companions advice to
abandon the campaign. The two assembled the
courthouse stairs at last with pistols cooked.
Greene had one in each hand and with them
showed open the double doors at the head OF
the stairs. That was another mistake. The
soldiers were laying for him" Just inside and
In an instant later his arms were pinioned and
he was prisoner. The doors swung to- then.
and Bill Jess stood outside wondering whether
he ought to charge to the rescue, wait there
and be captured or retire in good order With
that gift of logic and rare presence of mind
which would one day make him famous he
decided to get out OF there No attempt was
made at the time to arrest young Mcdonald
though soldiers frequently loitered about his
home premises and With these he had many
collisions usually coming OF victorious
Stin. ne was laying up trouble for himself.
Tor ssfeene's court-martial was coming OF and
Bill Jess. who went over to see If he could be
OF any assistance, was promptly arrested while
nosing about the st0ckade and landed with his
reat1ve on the inside. This was serious mat.
tor. The boy realized that as soon as the
gates closed behind him. He realized il stil,
more forcibly when few days later he and
Greene were led into the courtroom for mill.
tary trial and he took look at the men who
were to prosecute him for aiding in the crime
OF treason. Nor was he treasured when one
OF the lawyers present announced that he
would defend that boys case" For there
was nothing inspiring about this champion's
appearance. His eyes were half-closed and he
had general air of sleepy Indifference which
did not disappear until it came his turn to
take part In the proceedings. Then suddenly
the sleepy eyes became alive, the shaggy hair
was tossed back, the clay pipe was laid on the
table and Dave Cniberson. aftefwsro known az
an eminent lawyer and Statesman, arose and
made such plea in behalf of the boy whose
father had died at Corinth and whose mother
and sister relied on him to-day for protection,
that only one verdict remained in the minds
oflhis hearers when he closed. Bill Jess was
acquitted. but his relative. Charley Greene.
was less fortunate. He remained In 4 north.