The Little River news. (Ashdown, Little River County, Ark.) 1897-current, 1917-06-23


have assaulted him into court When
the word reached him, Johnson sad
died his horse and rode into Bartley-
vile, and, in his own words, Il made
a little play at Lewis stable.
He wouldn't come out" says John
son. He wasn't just ready to come
out and have the shooting match in
the street. / saw that l had taken
the sand out of him, and l rode away
At last the day of statehood fer
/ Oklahoma and the Territory dawned,
and Johnson, who was now made chief
1 special officer over all the Indian res
ervations in the country, had no long
er power in Indian Territory. He had
no authority to arrest Lewis. How
ever he got two Of his men to swear
! in deputies and go down to the saloon
/ that Lewis had Immediately opened,
and smash it. Oklahoma was now a
/ prohibition state, under the terms Of
| her admission to the Union. One Of
| Johnson's deputies was Keller, who
had helped him to raid the Monte
| Carlo; the other was George Williams.
The intention was to carry out a sur
prise attack and make mincemeat of
the furnishings and smash the bot
ties that contained the stock in
trade.
The officers duly arrived outside the
saloon, which was running in full
blast. Lewis, however, had got wind
Of their approach, and was ready for
them. AS they entered Lewis pulled
revolver and fired. The bullet
pierced Williams through the heart,
and he fell dead across the threshold.
| Before ne could fire a second time,
Fred Keeler had drawn his weapon
and shot Lewis dead.
Three men had now died as the re-
suit of Johnson's raid on No Mans
Lands Monte Carlo More deaths
were to follow, though not in this i'm
mediate connection.
Johnson's activities in the terri
tory, and his increased powers, which
took him into practically every state
west of the Mississippi, had thorough.
ly alarmed the bootleggers all over
the country. They felt that, until he
was out Of the way, their traffic
would be Improbable and their lives
in jeopardy. Traps were carefully
laid, and gangs sought to ambush
Johnson and his deputies.
One of tho most jealous of these
was Harry Sanders, who lived near
Mckay, and had been specially
marked down by the bootleggers on
/ account of the zeal with which he had
helped Johnson in his work. Johnson
learned that the ruffians were OF
| Sanders track, and specially warned
him not to show himself outside his
door unless accompanied by others
| of the deputies. But Sanders, know
ing that the gangs were too cowardly
to attack in daylight, laughed at the
warning.
''All the same, mind they don't trick
| you," Johnson warned him.
A week or two went by, and Sand
ers begn to think that the bootleg
/ gers had decided to let him alone, for
he was handy man with gun, as
! they all knew. One night, just as he
was about to go to bed, there was q
| knock at the door. With his revolver
in his hand, Sanders went to the
door, and, before opening, asked who
the visitors we're, and what they want
| ed The reply came in voice which
sounded like that of woman, and
Sanders thought that he recognized it
as that of a ne1ghbor. He cautiously
! opened the door and peered round,
having his gun ready, as he was still
! suspicious. He got glimpse of
three men, but the outlaws were too
| quick for him, and before he could
fire he fell with a bullet through his
head. The rufIians at once made off,
and it was not until some hours later
/ that Sanders was discovered, upon
| the verge of death. Although shot
right through the side of the head. he
made miraculous recovery, and
lived to bring many more bootleggers
to justice, but he was never able to
discover the identity of the man who
/ shot him.
The shooting of Sanders was the
! beginning OF whole series of MUIR
derous exploits, in the course of which
eight or nine of Johnson's men were
either killed or badly injured. That
he himself escaped with his life was
contrary to his expectations, for,
brave as his men were, and animated
| by spirit of reckless loyalty to him,
Johnson went single-handed into dan
ger with the odds appallingly against
him, as will be instanced later in the
case of the murderer Harris, whom he
took single-handed out Of a camp OF
outlaws. He led his men in a re-
morseless chase. Stills and saloons
were raided, and bootleggers arrested
Revolver battles were constant. Prob
ably a score of outlaws were killed
by Johnson's deputies before he had
! finally cleaned the region.
/ After the death of Lewis and Will
liams in the saloon duel, one of john
sons most trusted aids was Robert
/ L. Bowman. who was indefatigable IN
hunting down bootleggers. He ac-
companied Johnson on most of his
raids in the Southwest, and the con.