The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1911-12-13

,.,,r+Is % u the more prominent
listers They hired about 20 good
sun men from Texas at SIS a day
aHo al expenses, with a bonus of
@SV lot each and every rustIer kill
gu; The invading army was f.
9aIly composed of 43 men in all. nm
UeI the command of Major Frank
oicott, and was well equipped with
onree wagons, good cooks and all the
oonIorts possible to make such an
ouIlhg enjoyable, besides the attend
alce OF prominent Philadelphia
physician. i'llI'
Inc campaign opened with the
siege of the K. G.. Ranch on the
morning of April 8. AS it haDnened
/ mere were at the ranch but two cow
ooys, Nate Champion and Nick Raw
ana Two freighters who had snent
me night with them. Champion and
nay mad never thieved and were well
! hhoWn and liked in the county They
simply resisted an invasion of their
JANUS py men whom they believed to
/ pe "anCon murderers, and ChamDion
Hau, IN the previous November. sim
Sle-handed, driven off a party of de-
Oerhlned lyncherS by his remarkable
gun play. : - 60 N d VIC
Inc two freighters were seized az
tney went for water in the morning
anu kay, coming out to look for
tnem, was riddled with bullets
champion, delivering volley AT tha
invaders, rushed out and carried Raw
indoors amid a hurricane of shoot
ing. He then set about defendino
the ranch, and his heroism through
out mat long day forms one of the
most tragic and impressive events in
our frontier history AS night drew
on the invaders set fire to the house.
ana champion endeavored to break
through his enemies. When found
by his friends he had % bullet holes
III MS body While resisting the at
tack OF a large number of men and
nursing a dying companion he found
Tune to keep a remarkable diary of
the day that proved him a man of
stole bravery, deserving of a far bet
ter fate.
Battle of Crazy Woman Creek.
The invaders continued their
march, but on the morning of AnriI
10, learning that the sheriff with q
! posse had started for the scene of
action, they quickly changed their
plans and prepared to defend them
selves at the T. A. Ranch, on Crazy
Woman creek. On the next morning
the ranch was strongly invested, and
during that day and the next between.
800 and 400 of the country people.
incensed at the killing of Champion
and Ray, Joined in the siege. The
leader OF the 'rustlers' army"
'Arapahoe' Brown, was an able
strategist, and his first care was to
establish strong Gordon around the
ranch, digging rife pits and throw
| ing up breastworks. After two davg
OF intermittent fire a new plan was
! evolved to hasten the end of the
siege. Brown built a curious con-
! trIYance, styled by him a "go-devil. 3"
and consisting of the running gears
OF two Of the captured supply wag-
ons dashed together, with an eight
foot breastworks of logs on the rear.
His idea was to push this UNIQUE
shield down hill to the ranch build
lngs and, by sheltering his men be-
hind the breastworks, blow up each
building in turn with the dynamite
found in the invaders wagons.
The firing could be plainly heard
by the troops at Fort Mckinley Is
miles away, and the newspapers of
the country reported the daily prog
Tess of the siege. The governor of
! Wyoming telegraphed to President
Harrison for federal aid with the
result that Colonel Horn, at Fort
Mckinley, received orders to move at
once to the scene and act with pru-
l dence and firmness. Bearing a flag
of truce he arrived at the ranch
on the morning of April 10, Just as
Brown was ready to start his ego
devil, and took the besieged stock
men and their allies, as prisoners,
to Fort Mckinley, while the disap-
/ pointed and disguised besiegers dis
+, persed to their homes
Prosecution Fell Through.
After a few months military i'm
prisOnment the prisoners were turn
ed over to the civil authorities at
! Cheyenne, but with all the wealth
and influence of the more densely
| populated area of the state behind
them it was a foregone conclusion
that they could not be convicted
The affair proved too big for the
state to handle, and as Johnson
county was unable to meet the ex-
penses of keeping them in Jail they
were released, each one upon his own
PERSONA recognizance The Texans
jumped" their bonds and the whole
| prosecution was eventually dropped.
Thus ended with an anti-cIimax
most dramatic event in the history
of the range. Conditions have much
altered today. The wire fence and
irrigation ditch lattice the lands
where not long ago the cattlemen,
cowboy and rustler fought their
bloOd-thirsty battles and paid their
toll to at last find their only remem-
brance between the covers of some
dry-as-dust histories of the frontier
and of the making of modern Amer