The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1930-01-24

Preel's liberality with his bottle
When the whiskey gave out, tbs
participants in the orgy retired t.
their shacks, one of the home
steaders accompanying Preel tC
the latter's home. The witness
was so thoroughly drunk that he
rolled into the bunk fully dressed
1t seems that Preel was the so
T berest of the entire group. Some
time during the night the witness
was brought to partial conscious.
ness by shooting and the firing
of shots. He recalled that he had
heard Preel moving about in the
room.
The story of another settler
who lived 200 feet away on the
opposite corner of the quadrangle
was to the effect that upon arts
ing the following morning he no
ticed that the door of Sutten's
shack was open and he saw a
pair OF feet sticking out over the
sill. Upon reaching the doorway
ne discovered that Sutten was
dead, two bullet holes showing
in the upper part of the chest.
There were other bullet holes in
the door.
Nothing of value was missing
from Sutten's shack. but a sur
vey of the barnyard proved that
Sutten's tall, rangy horse was
missing.
set out for Moosejaw to re-
port. Enroute l encountered two
persons who had seen Preel,
astride Sutten's horse, making
for the international boundary.
They described him accurately,
having been close enough as he
passed to discern his peaked cap
and the Winchester protruding
from his saddle scabbard. Upon
reaching the phone at Moosejaw,
1 advised Inspector "Bif" HefIer-
nan of what I had learned and
was ordered to proceed to the
point where Preel was last e e
and to follow the trail regard
less of time or expense.
It was 1920 that night when
l reached the Johnson Lake
Stopping House, four miles south
of the place where Preel vas
last seen by one of those who
recognized him. 1t had been
storming all day, and the roads
mere bottomless trails of mud
in that country-had made the
going slow and most exhausting
to my team. Johnson, the land
lord, told me that he was saving
wood about IL o'clock the previ-
Gus morning when he saw a man
on a large horse approaching
from the north. The rider was
evidently making for the Wood
Mountain or the Willow Bunch
trails, both Of which crossed the
boundary into the United States.
rested for an hour, resuming
the chase during a terrific wind
and rain storm. To one who has
not been subjected to the diff
culties OF following what is moth
ing more than a path in pitch
darkness and facing a rain that
was so driving that at times
stopped the horses, the mere
statement that the so-called road
was difficult to follow means lit
tie beyond obstacles overcome. 1t
was a prairie country, and losing
the trail meant hours of lost
time in getting back to the course
l sought to follow. Four miles
south of the Johnson place, the
trails split, one going the Willow
Bunch route, the other toward
Wood Mountain. The only mark
denoting the "y" in the road was
a rock, which, fortunately, l was
shown by al opportune flash of
lightning. Here l was confronted
with the necessity of deciding
which trail to take. By the light
of many matches l found in my
notes the name and address of
the girl to whom Preel had mail
ed the letter. My map told me
that the Willow Bunch trail
would take me closer to her
home than the road to Wood
Mountain. Time after time l found
off the trail during the
subsequent drive through the