The Tomahawk., 1917-05-03
HOW HPUSSYF0OT" JOHNSON WIPED OUT
THE MONTE CARLO OF NO MANS Land
Independent Kingdom Set Up by Three Scondres on the Kan
sas-ndjan Territory Border, Dees Authorities and Does
Thriyinu Business Until Johnson Takes Hold.
GIVES THE RuFFIANS THE LAWYERS ANSWER

the locality and found the stone still
in it's new position; and it was then
that his fertile brain conceived the
idea of setting up gambling estab-
lishment upon this No Mans Land
that he had created.
Since Kansas Is 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 near on either side
of the border. Accordingly. in the
center of the road they built house
sixty feet long by ten feet wide, with
a gambling den at one end and
saloon at the other, being financed
in their enterprise by two men who
preferred to take share of the prof
its and to remain in the background.
This extraordinary road-house
speedily became a. flourishing 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, as he was designated, did
roaring business under their noses.
Undoubtedly Lewis had hit upon
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
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
filed with men hurrying to court, and
with others struggling back. Drunken
men lay comfortably asleep In their
tracks all along the roads. 1t needed
Napoleon to evolve strategy
strong enough to pull King Lewis
from his throne.
The gambling outlay was the most
complete in the West. Games that
had passed from memory as the lid"
moved westward we're resurrected
from unhallowed graves. The roulette
ball clicked it's way round the wheel
increasingly, night and day. Mean
while, on one side of the line stood
Sheriff Paxton of Montgomery county,
Kansas, with his retainers, and, on
the other, Deputy Marshal Walker OF
the Territory. They looked at each
other across their twelve feet of No
Mans Land and licked their dry lips
as they heard corks popping. If they
did not, their ,henchmen did. They
listened, and the roulette ball spun
merrily, and the brazen dollars
clicked. Nobody paid the least at
tention to the outcast minions of the
law. Their only satisfaction lay in
nabbing those who strayed within
their own realms. An Indian, who
had just managed to get rid OF his
pension money, would stumble out of
the door, lose his steering powers,
and cross into his territory. The