Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-12-22
WITNESSES IN TRIAL AT OMAHA
SAY THEY SAW THOUSANDS
OF THEM.
DEFENDANT -lN-cHlEF
TELLS STORY ON STAND
Narrates How He Started in Buying
and Selling Wild Equines in Arizona
First Buy Of Twelve Hundred
Cost Him Less Than Nine Cents
Apiece.

Omaha, Dec. 22.-Twelve hundred
wild horses supposed to range the
Coconino government reservation, in
Arizona, were sold by John Sinclair, Of
Flagstaff, Ariz" to j. Sidney Smith, of
Omaha, for So cents a, head, Smith
told a jury in federal court here. Wit
testified they paid $40 tc SIS Pc head
for these horses.
Smith was a witness in his own be-
half in the governments suit asains.
the United States Live Stock Com
pany and the omaha Land and Invest
ment Company, charged with use OF
the mails to defraud III sales of more
wild horses than existed in Cocon!no
county, by Which the government al
leges a large numb,r Of persons were
swindled of a sum Iotaling 81, 00c. 600.
Smith is president Of the United
States Live Stock COMPANY.
In the beginning" said Smith l.
went into the business of buying n
selling wild horses 10 help Il friend,
4. O.. Perry. He was also indicted.
He bought the 1900 horses for Perry.
An Omaha banker, J. S. E1ack he
further testified advised him to in
corporate the United States Live Stock
Company when lie did for s250,000 to
buy and sell horses.
Bought $4,000 Wild Horses.
Smith testified he bought IS. coo wild
horses. 1000 of which he still owned.
He was of the opinion there were
20, 600 wild horses on the reservation.
None of the purchases he said in
sisted on the company catching the
horses. He denied that he represented
the horses as from tblcnded imported
stock but told purchasers they wera
of good bone and good co,or.
The horses he sold We're not phan-
tom and imaginary. he told the wild
horse" jury. And t" prove his stale
ment, he testified thai he made three
shipments Of horses, which he had
personally helped to capture, 10 mar
kets in Omaha, st. Louis AID Norfolk.
For the first shipment he received
about $50 a head, he said. ard Tor the
second. which was auctioned off ut
private sale n st. Louis, he averaged
about S15 each.
He became connected with the SELL
of wild horses when ne was III the
stock business at Newport, Neb., he
declared.
There he heard of the Coconino re-
serve animals and on Investigating
bought about $1,000 worth of brands.
He was told that the brands he pur-
chased were of Morgan stock and were
bred by Bishop Lot Smith, one OF the
Mormon founders, who had once estab-
lished a camp near Mormon lake on
the reserve.
Bluffs Farmer Testifies.
J. z. Adams, wealthy farmer OF
Council Bluffs. testified before the jury
that he went to the reserve to iuvestt-
gate the number and possibility OF
capturing some of the horses. for
which he was to trade some of his
farm land.
Il took a field glass along. he toio
the court. and | counted all the horses
| saw. ! then wrote the m down
in my dairy. l counted the sections OF
land over which we Travelled and estl-
mated from the number of horses l
saw on each section the entire total
that must have been on the range.
IF there were as many horses on
all the sections of the as tnere
were on the sections that | saw. !shc'e
must have been between $1,000 ana
100. 900 animals.
Can you produce your dairy re
was asked.
NO. ! locked the thing up Il my
safe and in some manner .ost the Key
We'll. did you buy or trade =" any
horses" he asked. - .
NO. I didn't think l could handle
them
why. we're they Wild"
Widest of the Wild.
Just as wild as any wild horses you
ever ~.
50 far all the WITNESSES testirylAs l"F
the defense saw tn 1sands If h1rses on
the range. Notwithstanding TIE TACT
that officials Of Coconino county a
earlier testified trat there were pnt
2. 500 horses on the en,ire reserve.
Everett. Mvars farmer. stock raiser
and connected with the Nebraska
Central College. testified that ne went
TO the Coconino reserve TO investigate
the cost Of catching the horses. He
said he saw between 500 and 1000
every day OF the three weeks he was
or the range.