Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1911-04-20
HONEYWELL, A -.
WOMAN.RULED TOWN
By q 8. FInch

nearer the scene of operations thai
was, and he knew the character
An the play, or at least some OF then
better than did. In fact In thos'
days Of the early SOS there wer'
not many people on the Kansas-ok
lahoma border whom Dave did no
know. If he has told the story thu
telling Of 1t has failed to come my
way, and as it is one not to be lost
here is the version of 1t that came
to another town very like this town
of Hunnewell, and but a few miles
from it.
The story comes to memory because
of the recent municipal fight in Hun
newell that has attracted attention
far and wide, a "city" fight in which
the women were victorious The
other was a fight far more strenuous
and more deadly, for it was a real
fight, such as the border towns ex-
perienced occasionally, AMI we're
threatened with frequently.
Hunnewell was a larger town then
than it is now, although 1t never was
large, even though 1t essayed to rival
Arkansas City, Dodge City and all
the rest of the cities on the border.
And SO. while it could not be great,
it could be had and 1t was Saloons
far outnumbered the combined forces
of the churches and schoolhouses,
and everything was wide open, with
oil that term means in its widest
and most liberal sense. Great eerds
of cattle were brought there to be
shipped, and there was no need to
tell the western reader what happens
when the cowboys make their town
sound un after the range round ~
finished, and the cattle are shipped.
And Hunnewell, with its one-man
police force. was not equipped to
withstand the onslaught of a real
COW boy round UP.
So it happened one day when the
boys took the town, there was little
in the way Of their enjoyment. The
marshal began gentle remembrance
with them, emphasizing his entreat-
les with a gun, but before he had
time to use it to advantage he cross
ed the range to that land where
even the COW boy and city marshal
do not need guns. Emboldened by
their success in dousing the glim OF
the city marshal, and knowing they
were in for 1t anyway now, the boys
went wild. They rode up and down
the steep streets terrorizing every
body, roping dogs and dragging them
to their death, shooting the windows
out Of residences, riding their ponies
into stores and saloons, shooting up
the thirst parlors, and sending the
inhabitants into the depths of their
'fraid holes. 1t was a time of terror
and fright, and before they were
aware of 1t, the dead numbered two'
little girl having been hit and Kill
ed by a stray bullet.
The mayor had telegraphed to We'll
lington, the nearest town, for the
sheriff and a posse to come down
and drive out the crazed COW boys.
But It would be several hours before
the sheriff could get there, and in
those hours the town was at the
mercy of those men who were by
this time Irresponsible and utterly
wreckless. Revolvers crashed inces-
sanity, horsemen dashed about on
the walks of through the doors, and
the revelry was fast and furious and
awful.
without preconceived design, and
not knowing there was anything I'M
usual going on, a stranger rode in
from the south. He had come from
Texas and his pony was tired and
worn. The man himself was small
of stature, with a heavy dark mus
tache, a two weeks growth OF wiry
beard on his face, and dressed as a
frontiersman. He looked for a little
while upon the scene and then
sought the mayor. whats up?"
was the quiet question. The mayor
explained the situation. MAKE me
marshal until the sheriff gets here,
and / reckon I'll round up them coy
otes a few" was his next observa-
ton. The mayor demurred, but
yielded, and Billy Forsythe was in
a few moments marshal Of Hume
well, invested with the badge Of his
office, and with a forty-five strapped
to each side.
The boys had Just herded into a
saloon to brace up their courage for
a few more wild rides around the
town when the door opened and
chased again. Gan you damned rat