The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1915-04-06
AVENGERS end THE
CAREER OF BANDIT
SAID HE WAS TRAILED TO HIS
DEATH BY THE BROTHERS
OF MAN HE KILLED.
FOLLOWED TRAIL SEVERAL MILES
A Story of Crime and Revenge That
Reads Like the Old Days of the
West. Human BlOodhOunds DO
Their Work Well.

RGaOS Like JIIe OIu DdyS VI bhN
West. Human BIOodhOunds DO
Their Work Well.
DENVER, Col.-The body of Hen
ry Starr, bandit and escaped Colora-
do convict, lies half buried in shall
low grave in the wilds of the Oklaho-
ma hill country, according to the
belief of people in that state. He
was shot to death, it is reported, by
two ayenging brothers of a former
member of his gang of desperadoes
and bank robbers. They took his
trail, it is stated, several weeks ago
after taking an oath not to quit it
while Starr lived. They returned to
their home last week.
The discovery of the body of their
brother in a shallow grave at the
head of a deep ravine in a secluded
mountainous section near Blocker,
about 10 miles northeast of McAles-
ter, Okla, started these avengers up
on STAIRS trail. The dead man,
known to the officers. of the law as
Tom Spencer, had been a member of
STAIRS gang, and the indications were
that he had been murdered for his
share of the loot obtained in different
bank raids last September.
Had $500 in Belt.
Spencer was known to have had
$4,000 in a money belt about his
person when he started out on the
last ride with Starr and a member Of
the band known as Joe Davis. They
were bent on robbing another bank
the leader had 'staked out This
was the last seen of Tom Spencer
alive.
The body was discovered quite ac-
cidentally, a hunter stumbling upon
it. Wild beasts had torn and mutt
lated the features beyond recogni-
ton. Wrapped about the corpse was
a slicker rain coat, identified as the
property of Henry Starr No money
or valuables were found.
The two brothers, in common with
many persons, knew that Tom Spen-
Ger was with Starr. They knew also
that he had a large sum of money
with him when he started on his last
ride" They made their own deduc-
lions and concluded that Starr had
turned traitor and assassin to gain
this extra pile of gold.
Started on Their Mission.
The two brothers, both dead shots,
both fearless, both heavily armed,
both knowing every inch of the
rough country where the bandit had
his haunts, started out on their mis-
sion of vengeance. They were well
mounted and rode tirelessly day and
night.
They kept to the hard trail for
nearly a week, picking up enough in
formation now and then to convince
them that they were not far behind
their quarry. Then, one day down
in the hills where the Choctaw In
dams live, and where Henry Starr
was born they came upon a SquaW
man we'll known to them. He had
seen Starr, yes, and he was glad to
testify to that fact. And why not,
for the bandit had been liberal, very
liberal, paying him $40 gold certif-
icate for a nights lodging.
The brothers had not seen a $40
bill for so long they would like to ex-
anime it, they said jokingly. And in
that way, without arousing the suspi-
ciOns of the squaW man, they looked
over the gold certificate, finding that
which they had hoped but hardly
dared to expect they would find. This
was a dull red blood stain, compare
lively fresh, in one corner of the pa
per money, a mark indelibly stamped
there, they agreed, with the life
blood of their brother.
Human BIOodhOmds.
They followed this lead like blood
hounds They located other gold GER
tificates bearing the same dull red
stains and given to the holders, they
said, by Starr or Joe Davis. But the
avengers were unable to come up to
the man they so relentlessly sought,
and finally they lost the trail entirely.
Deciding to return to McAlester
and there start anew they headed
back for that town. Learning that
Joe Davis was on ranch not far
from there they caused a warrant
to be issued for his arrest on the
charge of murder. He was guilty,
they agreed, not as a principal, but
as having been present when his chief
committed the crime. They wanted
him punished, but were willing to
leave his sentence to a judge and
Jury. AS for Starr, tehy would con-
stitute their own tribunal in dealing
with him.
And so they rode out into another
section of the hills in the Kiamichi,
the Winding Stair and the Buffalo
mountains and the Potato Hill cOun-
try in a tireless search for the man
they had sworn to kill. If they found
him he should be accorded the same
burial rites he had granted to their
brother These would consist in
wrapping about the body the same
slicker raincoat he had wrapped
about his victim and the rolling of
his mortal remains into a shallow
grave where proving beasts might
find it or not, as fate decreed.
The two brothers rode back into
McAlester a few days ago. They were
silent and tacitUrn. But they return
ed to their ranch to work with the
spirit of men who had freed them
selves of a weighty problem. who had
accomplished a task satisfactorily
and are at peace with themselves.