The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1910-04-23

e.
locked In 4 room In the hotel He broke
window before morning ana pronpu9 pe'u -'
II By McDonald's request
Ramovtnr To FIardeman county was the
only thing that saved Bill Mcdonald nom %
ing drafted into ofncial service where no w..
In the counties bordering on Indian TERRITORY
and IN through the Panhandle man mao 70
stand nat. whatever his hand and hold Ms
own By strength 81 arm and auicsness Of
trigger Cow thieves and cutthroats abounded.
Ohicials often woFked in accord with tnem 9!
were afraid to prosecute. The man who would
neither cooperate With outlaws nor condons
their ofYenses wa already on the ground ana
would presently - u the held.
Hardeman county had lately been organ
ixed and the settlpM were cowmen. COWBOYS
and gamblers-lAw1esa enough thetnselves-
and another slsmeuL which pretended to be
these thinss. but ID 1ealty wers outlaws. purs
and simple. The latter lived chiefly on the
herds, driving OF hossee and cattle and hiding
them In remote and inaecessible places. Often
the cattle wers butchsssd. their hides which
were marked with brand and earmarks. de-
stroyed to avoid Identification and the meat
sold. Men who did thess things were known
well enough. but went unapprehended for the
reasons named. In certain sections OF the
territory itself and in No-mans Land "a piece
Of disputed ground lying to the north of the
Panhandle. now part Of Oklahoma) matters
were even worse. In these places there was
hardly = ssmblance Of law.
It was in 1885 that Bill Mcdonald disposed
Of His lumber interests tu Wichita Falls. re-
invested In cattle and ut out once more for
the still further west He had nled some
school land on Wandersr's creek in Hardeman
county, about four miles from where the town
OF Quanah now stands, the heart Of what was
then the wilderness. He did not 60 there Inn
mediately, however: he conducted for brief
time . lumber business 1t Harold. Willbarger
county-a circumstances hardly worth men
tioning save for an incident Of another sort
which occurred At this place and period. Nc
Donald. whose reputation ~ Z man Of nerve
had Travelled TO Harold. was one night called
upon BY Ranger Lieut. Sam Plat to assist him
in handling gang Of outlaws. known as the
Broken band that infeetsd that neishborhood.
The Brookens had ridden into Harold and
way. Flat and McDoaald promptly bore down
upon them and q running light ensued AZ the
Brookens retreated. About 100 shots were
nrsA altogether but Il was dark and the range
too Srsat for accuracy. Nothing was accom-
plishsd. has the event marked the beginning
band Of cutthroats, the end Of which would
b history. Il was soon 1ftsr this drst skir-
mish that Mcdonald sold ont his business In
Harold and Get out tor his Hardeman county
ranch AZ ON his former migration. he drove
his cattle TO the new lasd and after the hrst
hard days drive camped 1t nishtfall in .
Daeassnt spot where grass was plentiful and
wAtss was handy.
Tia nsxt morning. when preparations for
an early start were under hsadway. it was
suddenly discovered that four Of the best
horses and nne Newfoundland dog were
missing. Two of the horses were found astray.
evidently having broken loose from their cap
tors. It was further discovered that the
Broken band had rendszvous in what was
known - the Cedar Brakes, stretch Of rough
country. densely covered with scrubby cedar.
located about IL milss to the southwestward.
Mcdonald naturally tslt that It was now his
turn to move again h The Broken game. but
II did not seem expeAisnt to stop the journey
with the herd and undertake the move Just
then, 70. biding his time. he pushed on to his
land ON Wanderers creek. where 10 estab-
lishsd his ranch fenced his property. built .
haSltation for himself and the wife who was
always ready to follow him into the wilder
meas. then promptly be rode over to Margaret.
It that time the county scat and asked Sheriff
lin Allsy-a good man Win his hands over.
tulI-to appoint him deputy. that 10 might BE-
Din the work which eieas1y must be done IN
hat country before II coaId become proper
for white nea.s The commiasiou
ms readily granted and ffoa that appoint