The Oskaloosa herald., 1915-09-02
STORY OF THE MURDER
OF An Illinois Boy Who Has Rela-
tives In 0skaloOsa.

Roy Woods, of Sterling, Illinois,
who was murdered in Taos, New
Mexico, was a cousin of Mrs. L. r.
Rosebrook of Oskaloosa. The story
of the tragedy as told by his brother,
Chester Woods, is as follows: s
Roy came to his brother Wayne's
and they both came to my place, and
we went over the Continental Divide
together" said Mr.. Woods. Then we
went to Snow, in the peaks, got an
elk, wild deer, a lot of trout and
had good time together hunting
Roy had his camera and took pic
lures of everything. | brought home
eighteen rolls of films he snapped
He told me he had a mailing list of
400 friends he wanted to send pic
lures to. had to leave them and
go back home to Dawson, but Roy
and Wayne wanted to go to Taos,
where there is an Indian puebla.
Taos is almost entirely a Mexican
town and there is no love there for
Americans. Roy was in high spirits,
having enjoyed his. trip immensely,
the boys were leaving town, Wayne
in the wagon and Roy on his horse.
and when they got to the outskirts of
town, Roy shot few shots at, objects
along the road, the bullets striking
the ground along the road and no.
body being near. 1t harmed nobody,
but it gave the Mexican sheriff and
his deputies chance to get him.
and few such chances are passed by
in that country. 1t violated an ordi-
nance there just as shooting in the
city limits does in Sterling.
The boys were riding along a. mile
and half out of town and tending to
their own business when they saw an
auto coming behind them. A man
stood up in the auto and ordered
them to stop. Roy always was high
spirited and venturesome and he
jumped off of his horse instead OF
throwing up his hands at once.
That was the signal for all three
Mexicans to shoot him. The boy had
absolutely no chance. He was struck
and fell forward, and in falling he
grabbed his gun from his holster and
shot just once, catching a deputy in
the shoulder. AS he fell forward he
was shot again and lurehed back
ward. They kept right on shooting
him after he lay on the ground, and
hit him four times. If he had had
any intention of killing ANYBODY he
would have used his high power au-
tomato rife and staid in the saddle,
but he did not even draw his revolver
until after the Mexicans began shoot
ing.
Wayne was powerless to do any
thing, as he sat on the wagon seat,
and, knowing the danger, threw up
both hands at the first word. His gun
lay in the wagon behind him and he
was obliged to see his brother killed
before his eyes while he was covered
by the gun of one of the Mexicans.
Then they dubbed Wayne over the
head with the butt Of a revolver and
one of the Mexicans took Wayne's
own gun from the wagon, held it
against his stomach and said lynch
him. That's the way thew do it in
our country, and this was not the
first case of the kind | have known of
by a long ways ! could tell of lot
of men who have gone the same way.
Wayne was hauled back to Taos
and thrown into Jail. There are
, few MasonS in town, not many, but
! they demanded his release. The in
quest over ROy's body was conducted
: by a Mexican justice of the peace
who acted as coroner, and there were
no witnesses except the three MeXi-
cans who did the shooting. Every
officer in Taos is a Mexican. Wayne
was not allowed to testify, neither
was the American boy who acted as
chauffeur for the sheriffs party and
who staid by Wayne in the story of
the shooting. Three MeXicans and
three Americans were on the jury.
What could be expected but verdict
of killed while resisting an officer
went to Taos and had to carry Roy's
body 100 miles overland in an auto.
Wayne could not come with me to
Sterling with the body.
"Roy's death was due to the exub-
erance OF his nature. He had enjoy
ed every minute of his vacation and
Taos was the starting for the return
trip. Had he been quieter by nature
and slower in temperament, like
Wayne, he would have thrown up his
hands at once. and probably would
have escaped with a fine. But even
then, you can't be sure. They might
have shot him anyway. y was moth
ing short OF a miracle that Wayne
was not killed also. Only his quiet
way OF acting in the face Of outrage
saved him "