The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-01-17
TRY TO INVOLVE
XII KLUx KHAN
Opening of Sensational Trial I'm
Oklahoma May Mean Life or
Death to Order in State.

Ardmore, Okla, Jan. ia case
which, in the words of State Attor-
ney General S. P. Freelang, will
mean the life or death of the Ku
Klux Khan in Oklahoma" will be
called here today when II of Car
ter county's most prominent citi-
zens are to be arraigned before
Judge Thomas W. Champion in dis
trict court for trial on charges of
murder.
| The defendants, all well known
business and professional men of
! the county, were among II arrested
| following an attack by nine masked
| men upon Joe Carroll at his home
! in Wilson the night of Dec. Is when
| three men, one of them Carroll.
were fatally shot
| Originally, 10 were held for muir
| der and two as witnesses for the
state but at subsequent sessions of
the joint examining trial of seven
or the men before Justice d. W.
Butcher, the cases against four. one
OF them Baptist minister, were
dismissed on motion of the prose-
cutlon that no evidence was at
hand to connect them with the af-
fair.
JEFF Smith, the man who was
wounded in the ARRAY, guided the
authorities to the pasture when
Sims body was discovered and told
them, it was brought out at the pre-
l1minary trial, that the place had
frequently Eeen used as a meeting
place for the Citizens league or
X 4 n n l.
defendants in the case.
The custodian of a local lodge
hall, in which the Ku klux Khan
rents rooms. testified at the hear
ing that on the night of the killings.
one OF the defendants and another
man whom he did not recognize. left
the property room rented by the
hu hlux Khan with bundles under !
their arms. The defendant admit !
TED IN a signed staten ent to auth |
critics that he was one of those !
who later met in the pasture.
On this night in mid-December !
the state charges, more than 100 /!
men from Ardmore and the sur
rounding county, all masked and |
win buckets OF tar and pillows of |
feathers. gathered in a pasture just |
nVe miles south of Wilson and I
later sent eight of their number in
two automobiles under the leader
ship OF c. G. Sims, Ardmore police |
elective, to get" Joe Carroll. A
statement to authorities by one of
the defendants shortly after his ar
rest was to the effect that Sims had
persuaded the band of men to ac-
company him that night ito round
up several wet car dealers and
bootleggers.
Secure Guide.
Unable to find CarrolFs residence. J.
the eight men then called at the
home of John Smith in Wilson and |,
one OF their number, a relative of
Smith, made him leave a sick bed
and guide them to Carroll's house, /,
telling him, according to the testi-
nony OF Smiths wife at the prelim-
mary hearing. that you are forced
to do 1T as l have been forced" -
When the men called at CarroITs
nome he answered their summons .
to the front door and at their com
mand TO throw up his hands drew :
his revolver and wounded one of the !
men who attempted to Wrest it from
him.
Then amid the screams of women
and shouts Of men, a gun battle
ensued. also participated in by Car
rolls brother, who lived next door.
When the fierce exchange of rifle 1
and pistol shots subsidized and the {
men had fed in their auto f
mobiles, Carrol1's lifeless body was i
picked up. off his doorstep and Y
John Smith, a few minutes later.
was found on a street in Wilson {
lot far from the scene of the en- /
sagement, suffering from bullet / 7
wounds which within two hours f
;aused his death. {
Find Dead Body. j
The following day, shortly before
loon, Sims dead body, clad in a v
'ult OF Khaki unionalls, was found h
ylng IN the pasture where IL hours b
'eiore he had planned to admin i
ster punishment to Carroll for his
LIleged activities as bootlegger.
Efforts of the prosecution then
we're directed toward establishing
he Ku Klux Klan's connection with
he incident and the examination of
witnesses ended abruptly when o
rank Bourland, who, the lodge hall n
ustodian testified, paid rent on the n
Au klux Khan rooms. refused to V
estlfy as to his connection with S
ne organization. He also declined IT
answer the prosecution's query u
to what a large box in the prop
rty room contained. Nineteen g,
uestons, all pertaining to the Ku II
lux Man, were asked him and he N
eiuSed to answer all but one. h,
Accuses Beede. 81
"A sensation was produced at the
rst day of the hearing when Wall =
or Carroll, Joe Carrolrs brother
rose while on the witness stand
nd accused Ray L. Beede, local
utomobile dealer. and one of the
efendants, of killing his brother ',
uring the fight =,
Later, in a signed statement be- :
IRE a notary public at Wilson. Car :,
L repudiated his testimony at the