The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1922-10-15
When "PuSsyf0Of Tanned
The Territorial BOOHeqqeIs

The sportsmauship displayed by
the renowned "Pussyfoot' Johnson
many months ngo In London when
a playful mob of student anti-pro.
hihitionlsts played with him 90
roughly that hch lost an eve. did not
surprise old friends who know this
ardent llguor chaser back iu 1903.
says Diana Rice In the New NorK
Times
oklahoma was stl n territory
then. and United states marahals
stalkcd. with 1i.eiuElc. action Colts
ana steady nerves, tho streets of
Muskogcc, Tulsa and adjacent boot
lcgging villages iu those divs of0.
Gers OF the law shot to KIN aud the
bad" man had small chance uf the
lnNcndor-tIntcd, invcstigatory pro-
teCtlon said 10 be accorded him to-
day Then hootlcgElug was q scri.
uus business and houtlcrrors NE
"a negligible quantity william H..
johnson. otherwise "russyfoot" re.
Gently sailed for Australia. whore
he has gone to further the prohibit
tlun cause.
johnson arrived In Indian terri
tory when the a. colt was part u
tho wearing apparel ~ all bootleg
said Charlos LAW, for ~ years 4
member OF tho law firm ~ Inv,
Miller & Rlako, In Muskogoo, and
now rceidcnt OF New York
- United Statcs marshal had ~
be "A brave man IN those t!mcs !;
was no fob Tor moilycoddle. Buus
were not drawn for fun and men
INDUCED I'm few threats: absolute
fcarlossuess was nm essential attri-
butte, ana Johnson didn't know what
the word fear meant. llis assist.
ants, Rud Lcdbcttcr and Leo r..
Bonnett. were among the most er-
fcctivo officers who ever worked In
tho west They gave johnson 100
per cent cooperation.
"JohnaonH first raid wa made
In Tulsa, whore he arrived uncx-
pectedly ono night n was gcner.
ally known that whisky was pour
lnE into indian territory from kan
rns city. Fort Smith and joplin. the
throo principal points from which
most or j, was shipped into prohl
hltlon territory. That nirht tho
streets Of Tulsa literally ran red
not with blood. but with whlukv. Il
don't recall that any ono was Killed
IN the fracna. but u ia safe To aav
thht five or six thousand bottlns or
white mule and other brands of
whisky wcro thrown into the streets.
Ihore was no tlme wasted oxnnilu-
ing whisky IN those dave. That was
not tho johnson method. Many n
lme I've watched him take boftI,
after bottle. knock Off the ton and
empty tho contents Hundreds OF
GALLONS were poured into tho gut
tcrs whisky WAS selling then from
20 TO f6 quart. even to bootleg
gers
johnson went into places that
were owned by notorious gunmen.
sometimes with ono deputy---often
alone. Not only would no dunn
out all the beer nnd whisky, but |
no would haul out tho furniture, |
smash tho roulette whoels and other |
gambllng devices then sOt fire TO
mo pile. There wag no hesitation
when johnson got hunch. And
he soon acquired the reputation OF
always getting his bird Ia fact, the
nhme pussyfoor was given him IN
indian territory. Like n cat he
stealthlly sthlkcd ls prey, but no
one knew he was stalking Il. when
he dropped ho got It. lie never
failed.
II recall one time standing At
railroad station MP IA the hills |
where the train coming from Fort |
Smith usually stopped. II was n |
small station without station |
agent. | wns waiting 20 get south.
bound train. when the train from
Fort Smith pulled in. somebody got /
nff ana put wicker sultcase on
he platform and boarded tho train
nghin. In u few minutes johnson |
came up on horsoback. lio dis.
walked over toward the
looked at mo and then |
bnck at the bag. waiting, evidently. |
FOR mo 10 sny something about it,
I said 1 didn't own Il. johnson
picked mp the suitcase. walked |
icross tho track 10 an embankment.
and removed 10 quart bottles Of
whisky from the bag. These he
proceeded to crack open one by on"
When he had finished. he smiled
.lill without "A word -- and rode
iway.