The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1922-10-12

A0ooOStD;
his deputy, and Bob Hayes his under
sheriff in charge Of the jail in those
early days. Harrington and Nicker-
son were both arrested for horse
stealing and the evidence was con-
elusive. They were placed in the old
county Jail at Blackfoot, which then,
as now, was under the courthouse,
with a dozen or more other prison.
ers, one Of whom was q colored bar
Der from Pocatello who had killed
his wife with a razor near the old
Jake Keeney corral, located where
the high school now stands in Po-
-catello. This colored man was
sentenced to be executed.
/: Zone afternoon when Bob Hayes
was feeding the prisoners they over
powered him, took the keys of the
Jail, liberated the prisoners, rounded
up the county officials, herded them
down the stairway and into the Jail,
and locked. them in the cells, George
Robehtan, then county clerk, es-
capped by jumping out of the window
and ran to town giving the alarm
to the sheriff, who was over in the
business section OF the town. Traf-
ton, or Harrington, who managed
the escape, attended to the locking
of the doors and came out of the
Jail last, thru the sheriff's office.
Observing paper and ink on the desk
he could not resist farewell word
to Judge Hayes, who had recently
been appointed federal territorial
Judge of Idaho, from Wisconsin, and
whose severity in judgments struck
terror in the hearts of all offenders
Of the law. AS I recall Traitors
communication it read like this:
Judge Hayes: We have made
out getaway. We are off for the
hills. We know the mountain trails,
all of them, and they cannot catch
us. When I see you again, judge,
it will be in hell
"These outlaws went to the foot
hills Immediately and the sheriff's
posse prepare d to follow them on
horses. The colored prisoner ran
at once to the Indian tepees on the
Blackfoot river, one-haH mile south
It has always been an Indian trait to
defend any color against the white
man. The negro knew this and told
them his story. They Immediately
put ocher on his face, moccasins on
his feet, and gave him an Indian
| blanket.
I'm this disguise he walked up
town and watched the sheriff and
his deputies mount their horses and
start on their hunt for the prisoners
Presently a Utah Northern train
headed north came thru and several
of the Indians with the disguised
negro crawled on to ride blind bag
gage Some of them dropped of at
Eagle Rock, some at Camas, and the
last ones at Beaver Canyon. When
the train reached the Montana
Union at Silver Bow, w. B. Green,
conductor of the train, formerly Of
Eagle Rock and previously men,
Der of the Idaho legislature, recOg-
nized the blankets as foreign to that
locality. Having read in the papers
the story of the escape, he wired to
the Butte officials and the negro was
captured when the train pulled into
the station at Butte. / saw him as
Sam Taylor brought him back thru
Eagle Rock to Blackfoot, where a
few days later he was executed.
"The hunt for the horse thieves
was not so easy 1t lasted several
days thru the Wolverine country.
across the headwaters of Sand and
Willow creeks and finally in the up
per land of Pool island the men were
surrounded and after few days
they were captured and returned to
jail at Blackfoot. Charges of horse
stealing were changed to jail break
ing and they were found guilty. Ed
Harrington came before Judge
Hayes for sentence. The judge
looked down over his glasses at him
and said, well, Mr.. Harrington, we
have met again-but not in hell!'
He then sentenced him to thirty
years at hard labor in the Idaho
penitentiary.
Harrington was a clever fellow
and aside from his outlaw traits was
a pleasant companion, interesting
and truthful. These traits ELECTED
sympathy for him and petitions were
soon circulated for his release. In
1888 l saw Harrington in the peni.
Tertiary and in 1891 when I was
running newspaper in Rexburg he
was pardoned and I saw him in the
wild pose Of cowboy, once more
breathing the free mountain air, and
astride well gated cayuse, ride
down the streets Of Rexburg wildly
waving his broad trimmed hat at the
friends who greeted him from the
streets and store buildings, stopping
only long enough to shake hands
with those who had befriended him
and then hurryfng on to his old
haunts in the Teton basin and Jack
son Hole districts.
Zone day when was warden of
the penitentiary, ten years later, my
travelling guard drove up to the
prison gate with Harrington and
handed me a commitment for five
years-Harrington having been con-
victed and sentenced from st.
Anthony, Fremont county, for steal
ing cattle. We recognized each
other Immediately. Because of my
faith in him, and that of other
prison officials who knew him well,
within short time I took him out
Of the yard and made him my coach
man. In his devotion to me he was
loyalty itself.
Between his first and second
prison experiences in Idaho he mar