Arizona republican., 1922-05-02
BY Ripley.

| Olive, and Mary, the youngest, VINO
died soon after, were taken captive.
Lorenzo within few years made his
| escape, but it was many years after
| before Olivia was rescued. Capt.
| HIi Mcdonald of Phoenix was familiar
with the facts of the massacre, as he
was then a boy belonging to the
wagon train OF which the Oatmans
were members. The Oatmans. how
ever, left the train at Maricopa
| Wells, where it had halted for a fu-
neral, and pushed on TO the place
where in the afternoon they were
attacked by Indians. The bodies of
| Oatman and his wife were found the
| following day by Captain Mcdonald
and his grandmother, who We're NOV
| ing short distance ahead of the
train.
Captain Mcdonald was naturally
| interested in the subsequent fate OF
the Oatman children and collected all
bits of information or rumor con-
cerning them. He remembers the
negotiations that preceded the re-
turn of Olive Oatman, which was ef-
fected by an artny officer at the So
licitation of her brother who had
grown to manhood. Captain Nc
Donald had heard of the unwilling
ness of Olivia Oatman to leave the
tribe and her Indian husband and
child. He had understood too that
her mind was unhinged.
1t is possible that Mr. Watson has
confused the wife of Mr.. Fairchild
with another woman. From all the
| information that can be gathered 1t
was some time after 1868 that Olivia
Oatnnan was taken from the Indians.
Pictures Of her at that time show
| that she had been tattooed after the
manner of Mohave women with pail
allel lines running from the mouth to
the jaw.
| In the middle eighties Olivia Oat-
man was at Indianapolis, Ind, where
her brother at that time was lectur-
| ing and in the accounts of the local
newspapers she was then described
as having been recently removed
from captivity
Is the ku kiux klan American?
To the Editor of The Republican:
In answering the question, Is the
K. K. K American? we shall en-
deavor to be fair to the order as well
as true to real Americanism.
The order is founded upon the old
| heresy, ",rhe end justifies the
means This was the doctrine that
actuated the Spanish InQuisition,
during which blood flowed as freely
as water. But we are frank to say
the end never justifies the means
when the means are wrong. The or
| der Is organized TO punish criminals
when the courts fail to execute the
| law. When the courts do not func-
| ton they propose to take the law
| in their own hands and to punish
| the violators of law. independent of
the courts. The order does not hold
an investigation and allow the sup
posed offender to defend himself.
They simply gather evidence on one
side and with that they catch him
and administer the punishment that
| they think the supposed crime de-
| serves.
The X. *. X. is a secret order.
No one outside the order knows who
| compose the khan. When they go out
upon the streets and highways they
are thoroughly masked. so that their
identity can not be discovered. And
| they usually do their work under the
cover of night. Flogging and some
times taiTing and feathering are the
punishment they usually inflict.
They strip their prisoner and tie
him face foremost TO a post or tree
and then ply the whip till the blood
flies.
This we think is a fair repre-
sentation of the order and its work.
Now we ask is such an order Ameri
can? Is it in harmony with the
fundamentals of a democratic gov
ernment? If it is democratic and
American then it ought to be upheld
BY all true Americans. But If it is
not it should be most heartily con-
demned by ali right thinking people.
The law provides that any man
charged with crime shall be held in
uocent till he is proved guilty by
legally constituted power or au-
| thority. And it further provides that
he shall be tried by jury OF IL
Of his peers, who shall be without
bias or prejudice. That is the Amer
lean democratic way TO dispose of the
case. Does the X. X. K do 1t that
way? Not by any means. II they
believe a man to be guilty of crime,
and the courts do not deal with him,
they take him out at night, and with
out witness or jury or judge, pro-
ceed to flog him.
They tell us the courts are cor
rupt and will not punish crime and
| that the safety of society demands
and justifies the organization and
work of the Ku klux Klan
But we ask, What are the courts
| It is not a self constituted authority
1t is the creature of the people and
reflects the moral status of the peo-
| pie. If the courts are corrupt and
will not administer justice, let the
people choose better men for office
and create courts that will execute
the law. The officers and courts be-