The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1912-09-20
CLINT in his eye.


and lorid in his denunciations of evil.
soothes not his heart in these latter
day OF bugscufflers. He says that the
kafr corn woolies are not to be trust
ed
An Oklahoma City lawyer, describ-
ing the trials and tribulations OF a
man who had risen from the obscurity
of backwoods region, said he had
been raised on red birds and slip
perry elm" While Dunn probably was
able to beat this in his steady diet, yet
he had a powerful hard time He was
born in Illinois, lived in Mississippi
long time after the civil war. and
was then exiled n western Kansas.
In the winter he lived on prairie
chicken until he longed for death, and
in the summer he fought grasshoppers
until even at this day he can turn a
better handspring and jump further
than any other man in oklahoma He
wandered down into southwestern
Kansas, landing at Hugoton with a
stock OF merchandise which his father
had staked him, and became so in
terested in the county seat war be-
tween Hugoton and Woodsdale that
he shot up all the ammunition in
stock practicing with firearms, and
barely by the skin of his teeth missed
going with Sheriff Cross and the posse
who were killed in the Hay Meadow
massacre in "No Mans Land"--he got
his horse, but could find no saddle and
dared not make the trip bareback.
Later, he went gallavantng around
the country with Buffalo" Jones and
a bunch OF brave lads from Dodge City
in kind of wild west performance.
At that time he had no thought of
law and the state of Oklahoma. But
Dunn followed the frontier, just as
prairie fire follows the grass, and it
was natural that he should come south
of the Arkansas.
When Dunn reached Alva he had
been admitted to the bar, and hung
up his shingle offering his services to
anybody that was in trouble. About
1896 the Populist party began making
a big noise in old Woods county. This
breaking of the primeval silence along
the turbid Salt Fort was music to
Dunn, and he ran for county attorney,
ran like jack rabbit, and was elected.
His appearance during that campaign
was a cross between a man who had
been in a railroad wreck and a scare
crow in garden patch He pattern
led costume to fit the oecasion-an
4 old black alpaca coat, split in the
back, overalls, and straw hat with
the crown off. But it set the grass on
fire and Dunn went under the wire
like a flash of lightning
From that day Dunn began doing
things in Oklahoma. He got acquaint-
ed with every man he met so we'll
THAT he knew him ever afterward. He
could tell more stories with the bark
on than the man who wrote the thou
sand and one tales in the Arabian
Nights" His first big splash into ter
ritorial politics was when he managed
the congressional campaign of Frank
Matthews in territorial days. He man
aged the campaign for statehood, and
cast his fortune with Lee Cruce when
the latter made his memorable cam
paign against c. n Haskell for the
gubernatorial nomination. Cruce was
defeated, and about all Dunn got out
of the wreck was the injunction of the
aforesaid Haskell to go to hell" when
Dunn innocently offered to shake
hands with him after the votes had
been counted But Dunn fatty refused
to travel in that direction, and lived
to confuse his enemy. Statehood gave
him place on the supreme bench. He
was elected chief justice and is serv-
ing his second term.
Will he be a candidate next time
for the democratic gubernatorial nom
ination? Well, ask Dunn-or Will
liams. He would have a quality of
backing that is put into artillery to
make the steel harder. He would
fight with smiles and humor where
other men fight with scowls and bill
lingsgate He has a woman's heart
for kindness, but can hit from the
shoulder like blacksmith when nee
essary.
Really, this thing of having two
good men in the predicament of Will
liams and Dunn gets ON ones nerves.
If they are going to run. why don't
they say so? Above all. Williams is
entitled to some consideration be-
cause of all ailments insomnia prob
ably is the worst.