Rocky Ford enterprise., 1910-02-25

a trailIess land and long night vigils
when bone and muscle and nerve were racked
and the whole body cried out for sleep. The
onset might be swift and reckless. once begun.
hut the preparation for that moment was eau.
tious and slow and often beset with difficulties.
The few dwellers in No-mans Land really desir-
Gus Of getting rid OF the outlaws were afraid TO
show any such anxiety. to give anything resem'
bling Information. or even to offer shelter 10
the officers. They knew that TO manifest any
interest on the side OF law and order would be
to incur the enmity Of the gangs and bring
down rcprisal swift and bloody. Mcdonald
and Burson realized this and however severe
the conditions of weather and weariness faced
them rather than impose any risk upon men
whose only onense was to dwell among very
bad neghbors
At one time the deputies were after gang
Of hve men, wanted for murder and theft. and
were driving from Higgins into No-man's Land.
with hack and team. their saddles loaded In
behind. as usual. 1t was late in the year now.
and suddenly in the swift Texas fashion
norther came down. with piercing wind and
fine. driving snow. II the reader has never
seen a Texas norther n Dakota blizzard. he
will hardly understand their predicnment. The
wind leaps mp In wild gale almost In an In
slant: the mir from being balmy takes on
sudden bitterness that withers the body and
numbs the heart and pinches the very soul.
Then the snow comes fine and blindng-sharp
and hard glass. No living being was ever
created that could survive long in the face OF
a storm like that. Cattle know when norther
is coming and gather Into thick lunches. their
heads to the center. Birds speed away to tho
SOUTH ahead Of II, or nnd shelter In hol1ows
and crannies until the demon has passed by.
storm like that always means death. Tho
Texas norther and the Dakota blizzard have
strewn the prairies with bones.
Mcdonald and Burson. in the fact Of such a
tempest tried to press on. hoping to find a
shelter OF some sort-anything that would
break the wind. But everywhere was only the
wide prairie. level the and lost now
IN the swirlng drift It seemed to them that
they drifted for hours battling against the
norther. though II probably was less than
hour. when they came upon some stacks OF
prairie hay. which indicated the habitation OF
men. Without seeking further. they made for
the shelter Of the stacks. burrowed themselves
and their horses into them. allowing the latter
to feed literally from the hay. There they
remained all night and until the afternoon Of
the next day. the men without food The storm
abated then and the officers. undiscouraged.
pressed on. reaching the outlaw camp late In
the afternoon. instead OF at their favorite
morning hour.
The surprise was quite as complete. how.
ever. for the last thing those bandits expected
that two officers should suddenly appear
out of that white devastation to take them to
jail. They were too much astonished to at
tempt resistance and were their way to
WICHITA falls tnat nlgnt. 1OllOWlnR the road
which many OF their kind had taken.
Indeed II was this capture at the end Of
1883 that marked about the end Of the heaviest
work in that particular section. The years
crusade had demonstrated that No-mans Land
not big enough to hold a band Of COW
thieves and two deputies like Bill Mcdonald
and Lon Burson at the same time. II was
encouragement to a band Of hardworking out
laws. Just they had got their plant estab-
lished and things well under way to be sud-
iness by two men who had no regard for the
customary rules of fighting but Just rushed
right In with a lot of impertinent orders and
assortment OF handouts and always had a
big hack ready to start at a moments notice
for Wichita Falls
What is the use?" one of the freebooters
Is said to have complained. "A fellow no moro
than gets started when that fool comes In and
upsets everything"
What was the use? Such OF the No-man's
Land fraternity still remained unhung and
out of Jail set out for other fields Of labor.
Some of them located in the more barren dis
trlcts of New Mexico and Arizona Some Of
them settled in the remoter places of what
was known then the Cherokee Strip. where
they Joined with congenial spirits in that ter
ritory and. pretending TO be engaged In agri-
culture---for they were in n more settled coun.
try-Indian country-continued their old bust
ness at the stand.