The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-04-10

speech; the boys have already licked
Thus the question of jurisdiction was
answered
There were no stenographers or short
hand reporters in the Cherokee courts in
those days. the proceedings being taken
down slowly and laboriously in longhand
Ihe proceedings were in English, but fire.
quently II was necessary to translate the
testimony OF a Cherokee into English and
that of white man into Cherokee.
1t is trait of the full-blood Indian to
go into endless and needless detail In
the trial of Mike Carey, a full-bloOd
charged with murder, one Of the supposed
eye-wltnesses was a full-blOOd Cherokee
named David. The defendant the de-
ceased and David had been to Tahlequah
where they bought jug of whisky. On
their way home they drank frequently of
the jug, and when they reached the spot
where the killing occurred all were drunk.
DAVID was put on the stand. Inch by
inch and step by step he related every
detail of their going to Tahlequah, what
they did at Tahlequah and everything
that happened, even the conversation up
to the time of the killing The interpret
ing and the recording of the testimony in
longhand consumed an entire day. Just
BEFORE David seemingly was ready to de-
scribe the killing he told the judge that
he took another drink from the Jug
Then what happened, David?"
We'll, judge, l just rolled over and
went to sleep and l didn't see the kill
ing"
Each of the Five Civilized tribes had
jurisdiction of its own tribal citizens by
blood in Its own courts. but over no
other persons. The United States courts
had jurisdiction when one Of the princi-
pals was citizen of the United States In
early days at Tahlequah a Cherokee citi-
zen by hood killed Choctaw citizen by
blood The former applied to Thompson
for legal advice and was told that the
case could not be tried in the Cherokee
courts as the latter had jurisdiction only
when both persons were Cherokee citi-
zens by blood.
This frightened the man, who jumped
at the conclusion that he would be tried
before Judge Parker in the federal court
at Fort Smith and hanged. Thompson
told him that this was impossible, as
neither of the principals was a citizen of
the United States The case was settled
by the defendant appearing before the
mayor of Tahlequah and pleading guilty
to disturbing the peace by discharging
firearms inside the city limits. No court
ever tried the man for murder, nor is il
possible now for any court to do so.
Thompson told of another remarkable
escape from justice. This time a Cherokee
citizen by blood killed another Cherokee
citizen by blood. The defendant was
regularly convicted in the tribal court
and sentenced to be hanged. The man
was committed to the national prison at
Tahlequah, where he was to be kept until
the day of his execution ana then hanged
by the sheriff. On the way to Tahlequah
the prisoner escaped and fled the cOun-
try.
few months afterward Congress en-
acted the Curtis bill which provided
among other things that from and after
the LIST day of July none OF the judicial
officers of the Cherokee nation shall per-
form any Of the duties of their several
offices" Shortly after the enactment of
this law Thompson received a letter from
the defendant, away down in Arkansas,
asking Thompson TO prevail upon the
board OF pardOns of the Cherokee nation
to commute the defendants sentence to
five years in the national prison.
After looking up the matter" said
Thompson, Il decided Ethat the time for
his execution had passed. that the judge
who tried him could no longer resentence
him, and that the high sheriff, whose
duty it was TO execute him. had been de-
Drived OF his office. The result was that
a man who was arrested, tried, convicted
of murder in the first degree. sentenced
to be hanged and who was never pardoned
is a free man today.