The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1910-09-06
TENNESSEE LIKE
KUKLUx PERIOD
Governor PatterSOn's Campaign
Recalls klan'S Activities.
FOUNDER TELLS The STORY.

Captain John Watson Morton Asserts
South's Famous Night Riders Were
Outcome of Medical School Prank.
Slew Few Men Despite Charges.
Defied Troops In Last Parade.
The present political campaign In
Tennessee, engendered largely by the
personality of Governor Malcolm Il.
Patterson, has caused a hotter condi-
ton of affairs than during the recon
struction days, according to Captain
John Watson Morton, the founder and
organizer of the Kuklux Klan, the
dreaded ''invisible empire" the very
name Of which spread terror over the
south in the days following the civil
war. During the war he was chief Of
artillery for General Nathan Bedford
Forrest, the Confederate cavalry lead
er, and he was twice elected secretary
Of state of Tennessee.
There isn't man, woman or child
| believe, in Tennessee today who
could be called a noncombatant in the
political fight" said Captain Morton,
"and it's all on account Of Governor
Patterson. He's one of the most re
markable men-certainly the most re-
markable politician-that Tennessee
has known since Bob Taylor, now
senator, fiddled his way into the guber
Material chair and beat his Republican
brother, Alf Some northern editor the
other day called Patterson the Ten
nessee gamecock,' and / tell you, sir,
he surely hit it right"
kuklux Starts In Jest.
"How did you happen to start the
Kuklux?' Captain Morton was asked
"Oh, that's an old story" he said
~ went to a medical college after the
surrender, and it was started as an az
sociation of college boys for playing
mysterious pranks down In Pulaski.
| That way ir May, 1866, and pretty
soon because of our scary costumes
we wore long white robes and tall
peaked caps with holes for our eyes
| the rumor started that we had organ
tied to check Republican domination.
Well, of course, the bad blacks and
| the carpetbaggers and scalawags were
| giving us lot of trouble in those days.
and the idea of the khan appeared so
plausible to the disfranchised Confed-
| crates that 1t crystallized in Nashville
/ In 1867. Our sole idea was to sup
press the plundering blacks and law
less whites
| I'VE called the whole the invisible
empire The states were realms, the
congressional districts 'dominions,
counties provinces and cities 'dens.'
The supreme ruler was the grand wiz
ard and there were grand dragons
titans,' giants and 'cyclops.'
81 was made the grand cyclops of
Nashville, and one day / met General
Forrest on Church street, near the
Maxwell House. john he says, I've
heard of this Kuklux, and I've come
here to join it, We had to keep pretty
quiet about it, so hitched up my bug
gy, took him a long way out of town
II
hand and he did and / gave him the
oath.
john he said when he was
through, that was the worst swearing
I've ever DONE and, believe me, that
was a compliment coming from him
Well, general | said, you come to
room 10 in the Maxwell House tonight
and you'll get some more, and he did,
and we soon after elected him grand
wizard
Sayings Were Few.
"In spite of all that was said of III
the federal government offered all
Isorts of rewards for our capture-we
didn't do much killing. OF course II
La black deserved hanging he got it.
But we mostly whipped 'em or run
em away out of the locality or scared
EN- good, and that was enough.
"Most Of 'em believed we we've the
han'ts' of dead Confederates. Well,
we'd call on one late at night, and
when he'd come to the door we'd ask
for a drink of water. Sometimes he'd
try to run, but we generally got his
cabin surrounded. He'd bring 8
bucket of water, and we'd stick out q
skeleton hand and make him tilt the
bucket for US to drink. We had q
trick of pouring the whole bucketfu
down a tube, and when we were
through we'd say, That's the best
drink I've had since l was shot a
Shiloh That would ccme near being
enough for him.
"Well, sir, we did about all we Sc
out to do, and in February, 1869, W.
got the order to disband. But Gen
j eral Forrest told us we must make ;
demonstration. So the word go
round that on certain night the Ku
klux would march through the town
: and there was lot of excitement an,
: curiosity. There were 800 recon
struction police and 300 metropolitan