The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-01-08
Yankee, KINGS OF: THE STICKS
CONNIE CHAMBERS RULED INDIAN BAND OF, THE NORTHWEST
WITH HIGH HAND, -. o.. .

four companions had not gone off
down the river at all, but had been
murdered by the Indians with Cham
berss c~onnfvance. Nothing was ever
brought out to s~ubstantiate this &C.
cusation. In any particular but at the
time the story struck the sergeant
major as sufficiently probable to war;
rant Chambers's arrest and examina-
ton. and orders to bring him in were
sent to Constable Y. at Dalton's post.
x. was n young ex-bank clerk of
Montreal who had enlisted in the
force with tho idea of getting free
TRANSFORMATION to the goldticlds. He
was soft, wcak-willed, and in every
essential of manhood fell below the
nigh standard of tho splendid corps of
which he was a member. The task of
arresting the festiv. Chambers could
have been further from his liking.
% W as his letter of Instructions also
informed him that a guard of Indian
scouts would be sent in five days later
to escort the prisoner to Pleasant
camp for examination, there seemed
u" loophole of escape for him. Ac-
r"rdinglN, accompanied by his Indian
scout. Scotty. he set nut for Kt-la-
wah. hut only to fail to reach there at
tho end of his first days. journey on
account of his inability or unwilling
ness TO force his horse in the swampY
going of he river trail. The. next
morning, on tho plea of illness, he re-
manned In CAM and sent Scotty on to
make the arrest singlchanded-thus
nnwittingly paving the way for his
own downfall and disgrace.
chambers received. Scotty with an
invitation to have Il phil at his whisky
bottle. the ultimate result being that
in less than half an hour. he had
drawn the whole story from the loau-
;iclons Indian. The latter. after i'm
parting to Chambers tn" information
that Dalton'S ma had boon summon
Cd tn Pleasant camp. to tell his story,
and that the scouts wing would he sent
t" escort him to- the head station
Woul undoubtedly he some new re-
cruits who had never seen ", was
turned over to the shrcwd Yankees
henchmen with the order to give him
whisky whenever he asked for it. The
latter move, as Chambers correctly
calculated. completely eliminated
Seotty from the reckoning for AN in
definite period.
After two days of anxious waiting
for Scotty and his prisoner. X. finally
came on in person and made the fool
ish mistake of advancing on Cham
bcrs stronghold with a drawn revolt
YER. The American blinked placidly
at him from IL window. while the ex-
cited constable tore up the snow and
clipped an icicle from the caves with
Il couple of erratic- bullets. after which
he calmly leaned out and shattered
lis assailant's pistol hand With IL
clever shot from his is automatic"
Then he brought the fainting police
man into the house. bound UP the
wounded hand. undreSscd him and put
him to bed. following; which he don
ned the unluckN fellows scarlet tunic,
and@yellow<-striped breaches. While his
cutting and fitting in THE Pfesbyterf-
an mission at Hangs. marked them
for the necessary affiliations. sf{
When Y: awoke the next morning
he was confronted by.a Glean-shaven,
spuare-iawcd follow fin the faultlcssly-
tittinii uniform OF H. mounted police
constable, who assisted him into a
faded Harvard varsity Sweater and a
shabby suit Of ntatalinaws. The
sweater WAS ono left by Il companion
of Chambers and, having been worn
sions, had come 10 ~,he, looked on by
the Indians, as his special insignia Of
drunk, in the. i~,sndz7}, ia lite i Indians ans
Chambers mounted. 'Na.1ks horse and.
driving the constable III Scotty's pony
ahead of him. set .out'Tor the post.
Reaching his destination on the aft
of tn" same day. Chambers
found the Indian scouts from Pleasant
camp already arrived. w%llereupon he
put the almost sperchlcss X. into their
rare and dispatched them. post haste,
back to the head station. Not until
his arrival nt Pleasant camp. three
later, was the unlucky ", who
spoke 20 understood q word
OF ChilkHt, able to hold speech with
any one capable of understanding his
identity. The Indian scouts spoke a
little English, but. quite naturally, ac-
copied their prisoners vOlublc pro-
rs a sharp bit of pale-face
strategy, and only kept the closer
upon him. Chambers returned
to Kit-la-wah,. where he leisurely put
his affairs in order, babe good-by to
his devoted Indians in a thrce-day
"pot-latch' that consumed in one way
or another all his remaining POSSES
and "lnushcd" off down the
river to the coast. -
had heard fr=smcntary versions of
this story for some time along the
when q ycarrafter the events
place. Chambers found employ-
ment as an export machinist in a mine
near Juneau. at whiGh'.T had charge
of the ASSUMING department. What 7
ts.lieve to he a perfectly. authentic &C.
count of the affair. us set down here,
l gathered from him-along with
many other amusing and Sragic Incl
dents of the winter in which he reign
cd as king of the sticks" at4xhc Kit
la-wah bend nf the Alsek-during the
long winter evenings in the bunk.
house. I have lost all knowledge of
his Whereabouts for u number of
years but | am glad to say that neith-
or I nor amy else who knew him
during those stirring days on the
British Columbia Alaska frontier ever
gave any rredence whatever to the
story that he had any knowledge as to
the disappearance of his companions.