The Green Forest tribune., 1910-04-15

cowboys and pones-both
 of the unbrided variety; bad men whose chief business was to start graveyards and the glad primeval lawlessness that prevails when worlds are new
 Not so many years ago the Panhandle was distinctly a world apart, and new one. With No-Man's Land on the north. Indian Territory on the east and New Mexico on the west civilization could come only from the south, and it did not come very fast. Indeed, there was still plenty of territory in that direction to be subdued-two or three tiers of coun- ties in fact-before the Panhandle would be reached. So. It was a place apart an isolated fertile land iustifying the as sertion of a tramp that he had lost $100- 900 there in one year by not having cat tie to eat up the grass.
 The cattle came in due time, fighting back the Apache and the Comanche pro- tected by Rangers from Fort Griffin, ac- companied by stockmen of every nation cowboys of every grade and criminals of every breed, That was wild epoch chaotic and picturesque-a time of indi- vidual administration and untempered justice.
 It was also a time of mighty domain. Ranches there were as big as some king. doms. One. the x. l. T., covered a good portion of the northern part of the Pan- handle. Another, the Matador, spread 6 itself into five counties When settle NT ment became thicker-when there were ranch houses not more than % to 30 miles apart-offcial allotment of the D lands was made Then there was a grand E gobble. The big stockmen fenced every bS thing with little regard for boundaries and less for the law.
 With such examples as these in high places, it is not strange that a general indf- ference to legal rights and possessions pre- vailed. Next to cattle-raising, cattle-steaing was the chief industry. The cowboy proper was not concerned in such work He was like ly to be cleanhanded, straightforward even if reckless individual honest according to his lights. True, loyalty to his employer might render him trife indifferent as to brands and marks when strays mixed with the herd but 1t was the employer and not the cowboy who prof1ted by such laXity. The cowboy was a retainer who would fight for his ranch, would die for 1t when circumstances seemed to re- quire such sacrifice, and the increase of the ranch herd by any means short of actual raid and theft was a custom which bore no relation to disrepute But individually the cowboy was likely to be the soul of honor and good nature, troublesome only on holidays when he was moved to ride into the nearest settlement drink up all the whisky he could buy, and then, with six-shooter drawn, go careering up and down the streets, shooting in random direc- tions. explaining meantime with noisy and repetitious adjectives that he was bad man a very bad man from very far up the creek.
 The Panhandle was full of bad men in the early nineties Most of them had graduated from other schools of crime and found here a last resort Some of them-a good many of .1,e,. y,OJ o+Fni md uyoro outlaws and deputies by turns, or worked con iunctively as both. As rule they were in one way or another associated with a gang.
 Local authorities, even when conscientious, were poorly equipped to cope with such an ele- ment and it was for Company Ranger Force. consisting of eight men with quarters at Anna rillo, Capt W J. Mcdonald commanding, to police this vast wilderness and to capture and convert, or otherwise tame, its undesirable citizens
 Soon after McDonald's appointment he was notified of marauding band that across in Hutchinson county were committing the usual crimes They had burned the hay belonging to A ranchman on Turkey creek-several hun dred tons in quantity-they had cut his wire fences; they had killed COWS for their calves, butchered beef cattle, cut out brands-1n word. they had conducted the bushes of cat tle stealing and general depreciation on large scale.
 Taking a portion of his force, Capt. McDon, aid went over to investigate There seemed to be a good deal of mystery concerning the identity of the offenders; but mystery of that sort does not stand very good chance when it is operated upon by a man with eyes like those of Capt Bill and with a nose and a pair of ears of his peculiar pattern. nI short time he had identified one member of the band in a young man prominently connected in that sec tion This young felow-a dupe, no doubt, of professional COW thieves whose glittering repu- tation as bad men had dazzled him-was the son of ar able and reputable lawyer, a member of the state legislature The son, supposed to be a cowboy. had become in reality outlaw.
 Capt Mcdonald took him in charge one day questioned him, and secured sufficient evi- deuce to file a complaint. The prisoner was turned over to the sheriff of Hutchinson coun. ty and Capt. Bill pursued his investigation. He located a bunch of stolen calves, herded in the brakes of the Canadian river, guarded by an other member of the gang The calves were "hobbled and necked' and their mothers had been shot as easy method of getting rid Of them Capt Bill found the dead cows in a near a number of mich COWS and calves to iden- tify the property. It no very difficult mat ter: the man declared he knew the calves as well as his own children. One after another the missing members of the band were brought