Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1927-06-03

more whiskey than was good for him,
remarked that there was no horse IN the
country fast enough to take Slade out
of the n~eighborhood before he would kill
him Some Of SHADES men were in the
place at the time and they reported the
threat to their leader.
The next stagecoach from the west
was almost loaded down with men ready
to do anything that Slade asked or COM
manded. Slade had ordered them to go
down and clean out the Savaugh place.
They went down. ined up before the
bar and called for drinks.
One of the men said to Savaugh:
you're On the shoot, l underestimate"
The words had hardly escaped the
mans lips when the entire gang "tuIned
loose" and filled Savaugh and his squaw
full Of holes. The place was then set on
fire. A blacksmith was present when the
tragedy occurred and he at once left for
Fort Laramie where he reported lat
happened. There was a half-breed child
left by the killing OF the S%avaughs n
Slade adopted 1t. Both Savaugh and the
Slade gang were considered disreputable
and people at the stations paid little at
tention to what had happened.
Slade had frequent trouble with ranch
men and saloonkeepers. 1t has been told
OF him that once, while buying a stack
OF hay for the company. he discovered
that the stack was composed largely of
JUBILEE It tilftdJeutQ Vic ldilCiliildl
with death and actually began prepare
tions for tying the man to the stack n
burning him, but finally compromised
by permitting the man to leave the
country.
Raid on Fort Halleck
On another occasion, after a saloon
keeper had violated q second request that
the latter should sell no liquor to SHADES
employees, Slade riddled the saloon n
poured the liquor it contained into the
street.
Shortly after this. Slade and some Of
his men, without provocation, took pos
session of the suffers quarters at Fort
Halleck. He was followed to the vicinity
OF what is now Denver and arrested, and
the army officers would not release him
until the Overland company assured
them that he should leave the division.
This threw him out of employment, n
he thereupon cast himself carelessly into
a career Of lawlessness which ultimately
ushered him to the gallows.
Jules Renrs Ears
From Rocky Ridge, Slade and his wife
drifted from place to place, spending
some time in southern wyoming and
working back and forth along the Over
land line as far east as North Platte,
Nebraska. One old-timer, in narrating
his experiences with Slade along the
route Of the Overland, makes the follow
ing reference to Slade and Jules RENTS
ear which the desperate is said to have
carried in his pocket:
II knew Slade very we'll. indeed. When
he would be coming along the line to
attend to the stage with us, he would
always ask everybody to have a drink.
He was polite and gentlemanly when he
was sober, and. yet, always when he paid
for the drinks he would reach into his
pocket and pull out gold and silver and
Jules ear. He would place the money
and the ear in a line on the bar before
| him and push out to the bartender the
money for the drinks. Then he would
sweep the ysmaining money and the ear
into his left hand with his right II
put all in his pocket again. I've seen
that ear q dozen times"
Saved by His Wife
Finally occurred the killing of the bar
tender of which incident Mark Twain
made mention. Wanton killings such as
these cost Slade what little prestige he
still held. 1t was oon felt that no n
was safe in the settlements along the
route Of the Overland, and a vigilance
committee was organized against the
man. They captured him before he
knew anything of their intentions, n
it was at once decided that he should be
lynched.
When Slade was notified what was
about to happen, he begged them 10 per-
nit him to have a hnal interview with
his wife. Word was sent to her and she
came on a fast horse at all speed. With
out being searched, she was admitted to
the room where Slade was confined. The
guards left them alone. Mrs. S1ade drew
two loaded revoivers from under her
skirt, and gave them to her husband.
Thus armed, the pair stepped out and
defied the crowd. Slade and his wife
rode away unframed. This incident on
vinced Slade that he would live longer in
some other part Of the country; SO. with
his wife, he took the trail to Virginia
City, Montana Territory. which camp had
SO recently become amous as the center
of the greatest placer mining area of the
Rocky Mountain region.
Captain Jim" Williams
They Joined a party of emigrants and
a short distance along the trail, their
party overlook q larger train of argo-
nauts headed for the Montana mining
camps. from Cherry Creek where now
stands the city Of Denver, and under the
captaincy Of Captain James Williams
(later the leading light in the organiza-
ton Of the Montana Vigilance Commit
tee, and who figured SO strangely In the
fate Of Slade). Because 1t was necessary
for both of these parties to traverse a
territory infested by hostile Indians. they
decided to proceed together under a cap
tain to be selected by the Joint party.
Slade was q candidate for this ca%ptaincy;
and whether he adopted a we'll known
method of e~lectioneering then in vogue,
or not, he filled up on liquor, and as was
always true Of him when intoxicated, he
became quarrelsome and dangerous. He
announced that he would be captain, as
no one else would live to hold the Job.
AS Slade was given to protracted drink
ing, and as the country through which
the party was to pass was known to be
exceedingly dangerous, no one but him
self wanted Slade to be captain. The