The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-03-11
Elk City, Oklahoma, Real Cow
boy Town.
George Maths Describes Place
Typical of Old West.
MUCH HORSE RACING.
Bets Quickly Raised as to Fast
est Horse.
Platt Mystery Recalls Old In
dianOIa Incident.

A portion of the original wild west
remains wild and woolly still, accord
ing to George Maths of 10 West Cor
don street, who has just returned
from Elk City, northwestern Okla
homa. He describes that town as fire.
quented by cowboys who put up five
and ten-dollar bets for extemporane-
Gus horse races at a minutes notice.
Mr. Maths had gone to that coun-
try to look at land. Elk City is just
lew miles from the Texas panhandle.
at was not an uncommon sight to
see cowboys dressed in cowboy cos
tune come riding into town." said Mr..
Maths this morning. VERY often one
or them would say to another cow
boy: I bet you my horse can run
faster than yours What will YOU
bet? his companion would say.
Them in moment or two the by
ISLANDERS would be interested and bet
OF from five to twenty dollars would
be up in a few moments and the two
horses would race up and down the
streets with their riders yelling and
Whooping in true cowboy style.
1.-The land is very peculiar. I saw
ground that would not give postage
stamp for whole section lying ada
cent to the best kind of land. Cot
ton is the principal crop"
The Plat murder mystery and es-
pecially the receipt of the coins in
connection with the case recalls to j.
Q. Peyton his experience with myster-
ious digging operations conducted near
the Indianola hotel about 1898.
about this time Governor Lewell-
ing had granted an absolute pardon to
German named Schonewalt. The
man had been serving a life sentence
for killing and robbing a paymaster
to the Pottawatomie Indians. He was
suspected of numbering him for rob-
h01 Csa17 Ax71 I, fo1I
ernor that if he was granted an abso-
lutte pardon he would show where a
lot of money was buried.
He got the pardon, but after he
was out, he told the governor that he
had forgotten where the money was
hidden. However, as he had an abso-
lutte pardon, the governor couldn't
send him back.
About the same time 1 was living
northeast of Topeka and had been in
the habit of hunting squirrels every
morning. One day a section boss told
me that he had seen two men carry
ing spades go into the woods.
Afterwards 1 found p place twenty
feet square where marks of pick axes
were in the ground, about six inches
apart.
1.-The ground mentioned was on the
$50 yards east of the ford next to the
old Indianola hotel. I notified Mr.
Phillips of the circumstances and told
him that if he permitted me to do the
digging L would give him half of what
would find. However, he laughed
and refused to let me di=
"a day or two afterwards I found
that a hole about a foot deep had
been dug and indications were that a
large jug had been removed, judging
from the marks on the ground. III
few days more digging had been done
r,,-1-e. rra6
kettle plainly showed at one side of
the hole.
.'I always thought that the money
taken from the paymaster had been
buried there
ct remember seeing Schonewalt
man England. my father, c. M. Eng
land, now living at Mountain Grove,
Mo-, was physician at the prison I'M
der Warden Richard Chase.
t'He led the governor on wild
goose chase all over Arkansas and
then said he had forgotten his bear
ings but as he had an absolute par
don, he couldn't be imprisoned
Notes and Personals.
Services at the Church Of the Good
Shepherd tomorrow will be morning
prayer, litany and sermon at II o'clock
evening prayer and sermon at o'clock.
]. H. Bartel who has sold his pro-
perty at 927 North Madison street to
George Smith, left To-Day for Los An
geles, Cal, where he will make his fu-
tu-e home.
Miss Theo Reynolds of Breckenridge.
Mo, is visiting her sister, Mrs. David
Lyons, of 1913 Central avenue.
Charles Kircknlar: and family have
moved from Hayes to 1882 North Kan
saS avenue.
Oran McAfftery, who has bfen organ
izing a tribe of Red Men at Holton, has
returned home.
c. H. Dyal has returned from Lee
heigh, where he has been on business.
N. B. Cain, of Longford, has located
at 1121 Morse street.