Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1915-07-14
FIGHT OVER CASH
BURIED ON FARM
EXPOSES MURDER
Two Wealthy Iowa Men Charged
With Killing Cattle Buyer
and Young Son, Near
Siam, In 1863.
BURIED $4,000 IN CASH
Story Leads Back to Old Coun.
terfeit Gang-Recent Row
Over Division Leads
to Exposure.
BURIED $4,000 IN CASH
MISSOURI WOMAN SAYS
SHE WITNESSED MURDER


* .As %'4NMEs9.yeASs a sHxs !
I Quitman. Mo-. July 10.-Mrs. =
Maria Porter. wife OF Henry =
Porter. a coal miner here, admit =
ted today h witnessed the kill =
: ing Of the wealthy cattleman y
: near Siam. Ia, and declared she =
: would go to Bedford. Ia, to tes- :
! tify against the men under ar =
rest. i
.,s Des M4!nes. Ia: July 1o:1As:
was located at Villisca this after
noon. I'VE have discovered Marie
saw the men with the murdered
stockman." said Mr.. Robbins.
"Her name now is Mrs. Maria Por-
ter. n Is an old woman, aged 10.
n she assures us that h will
be at Bedford mex Tuesday and
Will testify that h saw the coun-
terfeiters carrying the corpse Of
the murdered man toward an old
well. She substantiates the states
case" MI. Robbins stated also
that the state can prove that at
least $4,000 Of the 100000 reported
O0A400 Id VIGIL 0A4Oo
letting gang Of the days when Iowa
vas wild and wolly." a buried treas
ure chest said to contain 100000, n
verification Of the old proverb that
settings in an alleged murder case
brought to light here, relating to the
murder OF a cattle buyer and his young
son In 1868. Four men were placed I'M
der arrest yesterday afternoon n to-
day in connection with the old case
Bates Huntsman. a prominent Bed
ford resident; Henry scribner. a
wealthy farmer; James and John Barr
wood. brothers, all aged men and with
out previous character stains.
Exposure of the crime came about
through a quarrel Owe the division Of
q farm near here n left I'M
disturbed for a period Of IS years. APP
parently the men had become stricken
with fear after committing the murder
and feared to put any Of the money in
to circulation. In connection with the
quarrel among the principals in the
case the officials find the possibility
that n member of the party MADE
secret inroads on the buried treasure
and that the discovery Of this fact.
later, by other members of the gang
| started trouble.
~ .NHOOS0 OSOUy
Court action, started by Samuel An
derson to recover his claimed proper
| ton of the Buried treasure, caused a
| general investigation by local officials
| and a call OF. che attorney general for
special assistance. A special agent from
the attorney generals office was as
signed to the case and sufficient facts
were brought to light to warrant the
arrest O the four men designated. An
derson apparently had no direct con-
nection with h ole gang and his al
legged employment. IL years ago., to dig
up the old treasure chest is something
Of a mystery. Anderson claims that he
was promised a definite proportion Of
the treasure and that an attempt was
made to defraud him of his share. This
induced him to start a court proceed
ing. Anderson apparently came into
possession Of the land IN which the
treasure was buried everal years aft
er the loot was deposited there, and 1t
became necessary to take him into the
unearthing operations.
james Gang Figures.
It was an old time Iowa counterfeit
ing gang that planned and executed the
murder of a cattle buyer and his young
son. whose identity so far has not been
disclosed. nand officials claim that
HVptsmaIfSwas connected with that or
gafization. which operated extensively
throughout the middle west in the PEE
riod following the civil war. At least
one member Of that old counterfeiting
gang seems to have become connected
later with h James gang and to have
given the famous Missouri bandits a
Tip" on the rich loot buried on a Tay-
lor county farm. It is known that
Frank and Jesse James visited this Sec
ton several times, making mysterious
explorations and excavations. and the
rumor became current that some Of
their own plumber had been buried
around here.
| Money Not Recovered.
The four men. Bates Huntsman,
Samuel Scribner and Henry and John
| Dainwood. under arrest here and at
Clarinda. will be arraigned in the dis
trict court here next Tuesday. It was
definitely stated by the attorney gen.
erals official representative, C.. A.
Robbins. here today that the treasure
chest. supposed to have contained $780,
400 belonging to the slain cattleman
md his son. was never located. unless
oy some members Of the James gang.
The famous Missouri bandits are
brought into the case in connection
with Jonathan Dark. one-time mem
Der Of the gang Of counterfeiters. It
was he who followed Maria Collins.
his young sistertnlaw. to her new home
near Hickman. Mo-. several years after
the tragedy in an effort to keep her
from disclosing the secret. He was
shot by Matte Collins. at the Collins
home. according to information here.
Maria Collins Is supposed to have told
II fhA I0HNn0 hA0y0 ahnvNt tt~ A.---.--FE-.