Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1917-05-11
SngIeHanded He Enters Outlaws Camp Captures John Harris
Murderer of His Son-n-Law, Marches Him Three Miles
Through Forest Region in Darkness and
Places Him in Jail at Muskogee
MYSTERY OF THE MURDER ON THE HOUsEBOAT

at murder, but ne Is more distressed at
the sale of whisky to his Indian pro-
teges. It was not SO much because
James Harris was a murderer that
he made his sensational capture Of
the man as because he heard that
Harris was selling whisky 10 lis In
dams. That was enough for the In
dian departments chief special officer.
He went after Harris, and, when John
son goes after anybody, he gets him.
IT 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. a ferry
man named Tate went down about z
quarter of a mile below the Pawpaw
ferry on the Arkansas river to set q
fish net, and observed an object some
40 feet distant IN the water. He
rowed out TO il and found it to be q
sack containing the body Of a dead
man. The body had evidently been
placed in the sack, weighted and flung
into the stream, but after the lapse Of
q short period the body rose to the
surface, the weights falling to the bot
tom OF the sack and causing It TO
stand upright. Tate, unfastening the
sack, was Mortified TO discover the
corpse within it.
He returned and notified the inhahi-
tants 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 Is 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
men and two women, with some chill
dren, had landed near the Pawpaw
ferry from two houseboats For a
month past they had been floating idly
down the Verdigris river, sustaining
life with rod and gun. hunting along
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. a 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.
Nora's sister and John Trumbly were
the other pair.
On or about October 4. a 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, IL not the same
as that found on the corpse. On Oc-
tober Trumbly told an acquaintance
that he believed the others were on
drunken spree somewhere and not
likely to return, so he intended TO pro-
coed on his journey and oyertake
them. The citizens Of Pawpaw, be-
lieving that two OF the men had muir
dered the third. made up a purse to
pay the expenses OF two who were to
follow them and endeavor to obtain
orffr
and 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 we're able 10 learn that
there had been but one man and
one woman there, with FIVE chill
dren. Martin and Tate returned TO
Pawpaw with this intelligence.
The authorities at Sallisaw were
informed Of the facts and asked by
the Pawpaw citizens to make further
investigations. They refused unless
someone would swear that John Doe
was 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-
quested 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 Johu
Harris at Eufaula, and was st once
arrested.
Your father-inlav has been arrest
ed and put in jail. so you may as well
tell US all you know about the mat
ter" thew said To Trumhly