The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1917-04-26
HOW APuSSyFOOT" JOHNSON WIPED0UT
The MONTE CARLO OF NO MANSLAND
Independent Kingdom Set Up by Three scoundreIs on the KAN
%sas-ndian Territory Border, Defes Authorities and Does
Thriving Business Until Johnson Takes Hold.
GIVES THE RUFF|ANS THE LAWYERS ANSWER"

the locality and found the stone still
in its new position; and it was then
that his fertile brain conceived the
idea of setting up a gambling estab-
lishment upon this No Mans Land
that he had created.
Since Kansas is a prohibition state,
and the sale Of liquor was forbidden
in what was then Indian Territory,
the three outlaws saw a fine oppor-
tunity of making a fortune in a quick
and not illegitimate manner by sell
ing whiskey on the tract of land over
which they claimed dominion. There
was no doubt that customers would
flock from far and nea on either side
of the border. Accordingly. in the
center of the road they built a house
sixty feet long by ten feet wide, with
q gambling den at one end and a
saloon ct the other, being financed
in their enterprise by two men who
preferred to take a share Of the prof
its and to remain in the background.
This extraordinary road-house
speedily became a tl%ourishing center
Of crime. Drink was sold freely to
whites, negroes and Indians alike, and
riot, robbery and murder were en-
acted there. The authorities were
quite helpless. They got as far as
the boundary on either side. and then
looked on helplessly, while king"
Lewis, al he was designated, did a
roaring business under their noses.
Undoubtedly Lewis had hit upon a
paying scheme. His kingdom pro-
duced a revenue, in proportion to its
size, greater than that of any other
kingdom on earth. Upon the wall a
federal license to sell liquor was
prominently displayed, and, armed
with this weapon and not amenable,
apparently, to the laws of either the
Territory or Kansas. he seemed to
stand we'll within his rights. At the
station at Caney, Kansas, one mile
away, stood long lines of conveyances
waiting for the nobility who came on
every train to pay their respects to
his majesty. The highways were
filled with men hurrying to court, and
with others struggling back. Drunken
men lay comfortably asleep in their
tracks all along the roads,. 1t needed
a Napoleon to evolve q strategy
strong enough. to pull King Lewis
from his throne.
The gambling outlay was the most
complete in the West. Games thai
had passed from memory as the cid
moved westward were resurrected
from unhallowed graves. The roulette
ball clicked it's way round the wheel
increasingly, night and day. Mean
while, on n side Of the line stood
Sheriff Paxton Of Montgomery county
Kansas, with his retainers, and, or
the other. Deputy Marshal Walker Of
the Territory. They looked at each
other across their twelve feet Of Nc
Mans Land and licked their dry lips
as they heard corks popping. If they
did not, their henchmen did. The,
listened, and the roulette ball spur
merrily, and the brazen dollars
clicked. Nobody paid the least at
tention to the outcast minions Of the
law. Their only satisfaction lay II
nabbing those who strayed within
their own realms. An Indian, who
had just managed to get rid Of his
pension money, would stumble out o.
the door, lose his steering powers
and into his territory. The