Durant weekly news. (Durant, Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 190?-1944, 1920-08-27
WHAT HAPPENED TO HENDERSON
BY FRANK CLARK
Written for the Durant Ncws)

This story is ancient history an,
should have been written long ago
That It was not is due to very goo,
anri Sufficient reasons. the first bcini
1thht J do not yet really know al
.hat happened to Henderson the Fl
Nal chapter Of the story is still hid
den from mc--Thc second and NOR,
powerful reason that have ncvc
before told the story is that although
j love to tell a good story ! love life
better. and Henderson, who knew
that wrote a great many storie.
and occasionally succeeded in having
onc published assured me very ear
nes,ly that he would kill me if
avrr SO much as hinted at any of the
facts in the case. And Henderson
was very much in earnest couldn't
blame him much; had been in his
place should have wanted to have
committed murder and il would moi
have mattcrVd much who the victim
vas
J lhved Henderson like a brother
We had been "PardncrS' for many
years; had punched cattle together
in Texas. had hunted for gold in Ari-
zopa and fur, in Canada; We had
snow -.,hocd aero. $ the back bone of
tht- continent over now drifts fifty
feet deep when the temperature was
forty degree, below zero. and had
tr.mpcd across the Mojavc desert
Bhny thn a fnrnI tDD Ip-
yreeS IN the shade tor would have
Ion" 50 had there been any shade and
any mercury. In short we had eaten
AMI drunk and slept together, and
1ramped and frozen and roasted to-
gether for more years than would
like 10 tell; and this roasting -starv-
np-treezing proposition had bound us
.Ogcthcr closer than brothers, and
while of course we would on occasions
abusc each other in language mot fit
for publication" we would fight for
@ach other at the drop of the hat
and indeed had often done so.
Henderson had few trifling faults
ht drank occasionally, smoked in
cessantly and when the occasion de-
nan,lcd it he could use language
that would make Captain Kidd or any
Of the old pirates turn over in their
graves and groan with envy; but his
besrtting sin was invcnting- hc was
always inventing something, and his
inventions were all good ones too,
thet always worked; the only trouble
Sitk 7hem was that they never work
"a as he had intended that they
should. As ease in point ] recall
IN, :imc hr invented his dcad-shot,
- iouhie-acting bear trap. After
nnrths Of labor he completed the first
hne of the new design which was
destined to rcvolutionizc the trapping
industry. When it was finished he
set IT in II likely place and the first
thing ne caught was oo-G0o- Eyes,
In favorite squaw of old Ugly Mug,
tho famous chief who won so much
glory among his tribe at the time
rf the Meekcr massacre. That bunch
ut Indians chased us for two weeks
and would have caught us had we not
had the good fortune to run. into u
troop Of United Staes Cavalry just in
Jhr nick Of time.
In the course of time we tired of
the wandering life we had been lead
tng for so long and decided to set
aie down to the more civilized pur-
suits OF city life and picked on Dante
As che place where we would make
our debut AS staid and respectable
citizens. Dante was at that time a
thriving city situated II good many
miles from Nowhere and consisted
'of six saloons. general store, a
blacksmith shop a livery barn and a
hotel. The hotel and the livery barn
were under one management and were
'lnite prctentious and comfortable
olaces-at least the livery barn was.
Dances humorist said that the
place was so named on account of hay
any been the original inspiration of
Dante's Inferno; but he was liar
rs we'll as humorist The original
inhabitants of this dclcctablc spot
had been tarantulas, scorpions and
iiimond-backcd rattlcsnakeS and
VIII, the place was settled by mem
oe's OF the hlman race they had not
Moved away but had remained and
insisted on being Ola intimate terms
with the new cumcrs.
Previous to our descent on the I'M
susrrrting and dcfensclcss city Hen
-ters"n and myself had sent to an east
'ern mail order house and purchased
ourselves stunning outfit of store
clothes including stiff hats and red
neckties, and so we became at once
very prominent figures IN our new
nome. The boys objected to our stiff
mats at first and on one or two oc-
>:asiOns shot Il few holes in them, but
As we were somewhat handy with the
guns we soon put stop to that kind
If foolishness.
As our supply of coin was limited