The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1912-02-01
ADMITS ht IS CRAfVNS
Notorious Outlaw Convicted of Mur-
der and Received Life Sentence.
Admits His Identity.

COuVlCLlOu anu luo ldCL lldI NIdVcuS
admitted after the trial that he was
really Cravens and not Maust, settles
the identity of this outlaw. The fol-
lowing press dispatch from Guthrie
tells the career of Cravens:
Guthrie, Ok, Jan. 25.-Charles
Maust, southwestern outlaw, on trial
under the name of Ben Cravens, for
murder, was found guilty by jury
in the federal court here late today.
The punishment is life imprison-
ment.
The government alleged that
Maust, who was released from the
Missouri penitentiary few months
ago, was Ben Cravens, who after his
escape from the Kansas penitentiary
at Lansing, November 16. 1900,
killed Alvin Bateman, storekeeper
and postmaster at Red Rock, Ok,
March 1S, 1901.
Bateman was killed when Cravens
and Bert Welty attempted to rob his
store. Welty was wounded and ar
rested the following day. He is now
confined in the federal penitentiary
at Fort Leavenworth.
For years the search for Cravens
continued, and it was not until few
months ago that the convict in the
Missouri prison was identified as the
man. When Maust's time was up,
he was met at the Missouri prison
doors by federal officers, who re-
turned him to Guthrie for trial.
Many persons who knew Cravens,
among them Welty, identified Maust
as Cravens.
At the conclusion of the trial
United States Attorney John Embry
collapsed. He has been i'll for sew
eral days. 1t was said tonight that
he was suffering from nervous
breakdown.
Rewards aggregating $4,000, it
is said, were on Cravens' head,
$4,000 of which was offered by the
IAnti-Horse Thief Association.
Cravens is about SO years old. His
parents were farmers who located in
Chautauqua county, Kansas, while
Ben was boy. Chautauqua was on
the northern boundary Of the Usage
country, then the greatest breeder OF
outlaws in the southwest, and it was
the call from this country that made
Cravens a bad man.
AS lad he was school bully and
in his teens he became mixed up
with many shooting affairs. In
school he was a student of Thomas
B. Ferguson, who later became gov
ernor of Oklahoma Territory, and OF
Bird S. Mcclure, now an Oklahoma
congressman. Schooling was not to
his liking, however, and he became a
farm laborer Later he rode race
horses for a Putnam county, Mis-
souri,, man.
Following is partial chronology
cal history of Cravens from the time
he was 18 years old to the present:
1879.-Becomes a whisky peddler
among the Osages, Kaws, Otoes,
Poncas and Creeks, in Oklahoma,
with Lige Higgins and Henry Starr.
December, 1896. - Desperately
wounded in a duel with authorities
led by A. O. Lund of Blackwell, then
a Deputy United States Marshal.
January II, 1897.-Convicted and
sentenced to serve twenty years in
Kansas state penitentiary at Lansing
for highway robbery.
November 16, 19OO.-Escaped
from Lansing prison with E. F..
Estelle and Sam Smith, both life
termers.
December, 19OO.-Appeared at
the ranch home of Uncle Joe'
Webb in the Otoe country, and
forced Webb to accompany him to the
barn loft and cut bullet from the
TOP of his head with a razor; sWears
Webb to secrecy.
January, 1901.-Appeared at the
home of Bert Welty near Dover in
Kingfisher county, Oklahoma.
March 1S, 19O1.-With Welty,
robs the Schwartz store at Red Rock,
of which Alvin Bateman, assistant
postmaster, was manager. Twelve
thousand dollars was taken. Bate
man was killed.
March 10, 19O1.-Seeks refuge in
the ranch-house of 1som Cunning
ham, in Pawnee county. House sur
rounded by officers, headed by George
Foster of Perry. Cravens shoots his
way through the officers, killing
deputy sheriff Tom Johnson, of Paw
nee, and escaped.
April ], 1901.-Unsuccessful at
tempt to catch Cravens at Caloosa,
Ok, with decoy letter from his
sweetheart.
1904 Oate) Reported in Okla
hodalaara, Mexico, posing as son OF
Pennsylvania Governor and about
to wed a millionaire miners daugh-
ter.
December, 19O5.-Found visiting
his aunt in the Seminole Indian
country near Wewoka. Sheriff Grace
and posse of Potawatomie county at
tempted his capture, but failed.
| October, 19O6.-Reported captur-
ed in Guthrie by Sheriff Bart Muir
ply. Sheriff Foster of Perry failed
to identify him and he was released
October 4, 1907.-Reported visit
ling parents and brother near Prince
ton, Mo. Plans to capture him fail
19OS.-Charles Maust arrested IN
Missouri. After attempted jal
break letter was sent to the Kansas
prison authorities and Maust's hand
writing recognized as Cravens'
Maust, who had been identified by
lmany sas Cravens, went to the Jener
son City penitentiary to serve foul
years.
nj N