The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1917-06-02
"PUsSYFO0T" PERFORMS ONE OF MOST
DARING DEEDS IN Frontier history
Single Handed He Enters Outlaws Camp Captures John Harris
Murderer of His SonnLaW, Marches Him Three Miles
Through Forest Region in Darkness and
Places Him in Jail at Muskogee.
MYSTERY OF THE MURDER ON THE HOUSEBOAT

Mr. William Eugene ("Pussyfoot }
.gohnson is a humane man. He balks
ut murder, but he is more distressed at
the sale Of whisky to his Indian pro-
Eeges. 1t was not so much because
James Harris was a murderer that
Ire made his sensational capture of
sae man as because he heard that
Harris was selling whisky to his In
dams That was enough for the In
dian departments chief special officer.
He went after Harris, and, when John
aoR goes after anybody, he gets him.
Tt wasn't any business of mine
whether Harris murdered his son-in-
law or not" said "PussyfoOt" to the
writer. "All ! had against him was
that he was peddling whisky along the
Canadian river"
One day in October, 1906, ferry
1nan named Tate went down about q
quarter Of a mile below the Pawpaw
ferry on the Arkansas river to set a
FISH net, and observed an object some
40 feet distant in the water He
rowed out to it and found it to be a
sack containing the body Of dead
man. The body had evidently been
placed in the sack weighted and flung
Entn the stream, but after the lapse of
=. short period the body rose to the
surface, the weights falling to the bot
tom of the sack and causing 1t to
stand upright Tate, christening the
sack, was Mortified to discover the
corpse within 1t.
He returned and notified the inhabi-
&z1ts OF his village, and they notified
the authorities at Sallisaw The body
Was removed and found to be weight
ed with a piece Of railroad iron weigh
ing % pounds The back Of the head
had been crushed in by blow, which
had evidently been the cause OF death.
On or about September q three
nen and two women, with some chill
1uen, had landed near the Pawpaw
G2rry from two households. For
sssonth past they had been floating idly
.Lown the Verdigris river, sustaining
the banks, fishing from the boat, trap
ping small game. The party was COM
posed Of James Harris, fifty-eight
years old, the stepfather of two young
married women, who, with their hus-
Bands and children, completed the
party.
Nora, pretty girl Of sixteen, was
the wife of the murdered man, who
was subsequently identified as James
McKeehan. He had had a consider
able sum of money in his possession.
Morals sister and John Trumbly were
the other pair.
On or about October 4, week after
the arrival Of the party at Pawpaw
ferry, two of the men and the women
disappeared. The man who was left
behind stated that they had gone to
trap and would return shortly. The
sudden disappearance of the two men
and the women aroused the suspicion
of the Pawpaw people that one Of
them might be the murdered man and
the other his murderer. The clothing
worn by one of the men, who was said
TO have gone on the trapping journey,
had been similar to, If not the same
as that found on the corpse. On Oc-
kober z Trumbly told an acquaintance
fhat he believed the others were on a
drunken spree somewhere and not
likely to return, so he intended to pro-
coed on his journey and overtake
Unem. The citizens Of Pawpaw, be-
Neving that two of the men had MUIR
dered the third, made up purse to
uGy the expenses of two who were to
4anIlnw them and endeavor to obtain
Particulars. On October % Martin
.xnd Tate started out to locate them
They found the two Households one
mile below the Fort Smith bridge, and
from information given by people In
the vicinity were able to learn that
mere had been but one man and
ssue woman there, with five chill
aren. Martin and Tate returned to
Pswpaw with this intelligence.
The authorities at Sallisaw we're
Informed OF the facts and asked by
the Pawpaw citizens to make further
investigations. They refused unless
someone would swear that John Doe
gas dead and that Richard Roe killed
him. The evidence thus far secured
did not justify any citizen In making
oath to this effect Being caught in
this predicament, and being resolved
to locate the murderers, two men
named Watts and Shrum went to Fort
smith and secured the aid of Deputy
Sheriff Charley Henderson. He re-
auested Shrum and Watts to go to
the houseboat and investigate. They
went to the shanty on the river bank
which the pair occupied temporarily
and found some bedclothing saturated
with blood. Trumbly was found max
Ing ready to ship some goods to Jonn
Harris at Eufaula, and was at once
arrested.
~Your father-in-law has been arrest
ed and put in Jail, so you may as well
resl us all you know about the mat
ter" they said to Trumbly.
Thereupon, while on the road TO
the Jail, Trumbly made a confession.
He said that Harris had become In
fatuated with his pretty stepdaughter,
and had quarreled with Mcheehan
.;,,o, oetepcihly because Nc