Beaver County.--Peculiar Conditions in Vogue.--Good Men and Bad.--The
Vigilantes.--Personal Experiences.
About the year 1876, if I remember rightly, the U. S. Government made an
appropriation to have Beaver county surveyed. The contract was let and the
county divided up into sections or townships, each six miles square, and
zinc monuments were erected at the corners of each, but as the
appropriation was insufficient to meet the costs of the survey, the work
was abandoned for a considerable time, and it was not till some years
later that the completion of the undertaking took place.
It soon became known that there was no law in that section of the country;
nor had the U. S. Government any control over, nor authority to arrest
criminals, nor even to prosecute them there. Consequently it soon became
the dumping grounds for fugitives from justice and criminals of all kinds.
Saloon men who had been paying license for the sale of intoxicating
liquors, ceased contributing to the general fund, but continued to deal
out their wares with impunity. One man built a still and manufactured his
own whiskey and did a flourishing business, although he had to freight his
corn from Kansas to produce his wares. To give honor where honor is due, I
must confess that he produced a very good quality.
There was considerable immigration into this county in '79 and '80, as
most of the desirable land in Kansas had been pre-empted. Hundreds of good
men and women came in and selected homes, and those who could not find
locations along the water courses went out into the flat prairie lands,
erected houses, fenced their fields to protect them against the range
cattle, broke up as much land as they could conveniently handle, and made
what improvements their means would permit. As soon as the neighbors
became acquainted with one another, they organized Sunday Schools, held
meetings at some convenient place weekly, divided the districts into
school sections and built schools. Each school house served the purpose of
a meeting house for Sunday services as well as for any other business that
required a meeting of the people. In a short time the county began to
develop the earmarks of civilization.
Following in the footsteps of those law-abiding citizens came a class of
criminals who migrated from their native heaths expecting immunity from
the punishment due to the crimes they had committed, and which caused
their departure to this haven of refuge. Nor did they abstain from their
criminal pursuits while in this "refugium peccatorum," or asylum of the
wicked. As soon as they had become familiar with the topography of the
county, and, as they were too lazy to work, they soon took up their old
practice of lying in wait for the unsuspecting and carrying off his goods
when possible. They usually drifted from one ranch to another pretending
to look for work, and imposed upon the hospitality of the rancher, who
provided for their wants free of charge as long as they cared to remain. I
may here remark that the hospitality of the Western people has never been
surpassed, and I may say, never equalled. A cowman considered himself
insulted if one should leave or pass his ranch at meal time without
partaking of his hospitality. Not only this, but as nothing was ever
locked up, it was considered the proper etiquette if no one were at home,
to enter and help oneself to his supplies and to make oneself perfectly at
home. No one was ever asked whence he came or whither he was going. If he
volunteered the information without being asked, it was received, and if
not given the result was the same, namely, no questions asked. In this way
it was a very easy matter for the criminal to gain an intimate knowledge
of conditions, which they used to their own advantage later on to the
detriment of people generally. They did not confine their depredations to
Beaver county only, nor to No-Man's Land, but thoroughly organized
themselves into bands and extended their nefarious business to Western
Kansas, Indian Territory, and West Texas. Those who actually stole stock
from the farms and ranches, usually took them a few miles and passed them
on to their companions in crime, so that no familiar face was absent from
the scene of the theft, and thus they avoided suspicion. When a settler's
stock was stolen, he very seldom had the slightest idea of the direction
to be taken to recover them, and in most cases was financially unable to
make an extended search in any direction. Many a time the loss of a few
head of cattle meant all that he had, wiping out his whole accumulation of
years of hard work and privation and just at a time when he began to see
better times ahead as he was getting something to work with. This
condition of affairs could not be permitted to continue, and while the
means employed by the settlers to terminate this organized pilfering, and
at the same time make some return to the culprit for the wrongs suffered
at his hands, may seem hard to the people who were never subjected to
conditions such as prevailed in that country, they were as a matter of
fact nothing more nor less than cold-blooded Justice. Those who are
ignorant of the conditions must remember that the loss of a milch cow
meant the principal part of his family's support, and his wife and
children were thus put in a state of actual want thereby, and as there
were no means of obtaining legal redress for such losses, they had the law
of self-preservation to guide them and from it there was no appeal.
At this point the idea forced itself upon the settlers that they must
organize, as it was a physical impossibility to combat a well-regulated
band of outlaws single-handed; so, after calling a meeting of the best
citizens and discussing the matter carefully, it was decided to organize a
Vigilance Committee and see what effect the hanging of a few of the
"rustlers" would have upon the remainder of them, and at the same time how
it would affect the welfare of the settlers. The moral effect of the
organization of the Committee resulted in checking to a certain degree the
depredations of the criminals, but it did not wipe it out entirely. A
great many of the more timid ones abandoned their evil ways, but the more
daring were willing to take a chance and abide by the consequences, which
several of them experienced. The Vigilantes occupied the positions of
Sheriff, Judge, Jury and Executioner, and when a culprit was caught
red-handed his case was summarily disposed of in about thirty minutes,
except for the funeral and burial services, which were left usually for
anybody that cared to participate in them.
I had a ranch in Texas during those troublous times, and was one time
wintering a herd of cattle near Fowler City, Kansas. Consequently I had to
make a number of trips through that unsettled district, sometimes on
horseback and at others in a buckboard, and it seemed almost invariably my
good or bad fortune, as you wish to call it, to enter some place or other
at a time when a tragedy was being enacted.
I was once crossing in a buckboard in the direction of Englewood, Kansas,
with a consignment of eggs that were beginning to suffer breakage owing to
the roughness of the journey, and I began to look for a place to dispose
of them to some settler. I soon reached a place that bore the sign,
"Groceries," and there sold my eggs, bought some tobacco and a few other
necessaries. While talking to the store-keeper, I noticed a group of men
at another sod building, and I inquired of him what they were doing. "Oh,
nothing much. They have just been hanging a man over there." I asked him
what the unfortunate had done. "Well," said he, "he has been stealing
horses." I went out to water my horses just as a part of the group were
passing. Recognizing two of them I inquired of them what the fellow had
done and where they had arrested him. They replied he had been stealing
horses both in the neighborhood and in Clark county, Kansas. The sheriff
had followed his trail and caught him South of where we were then, and was
taking him back to Kansas. He was bringing him through that section and
they took him away from the sheriff and hanged him. I asked him if he did
not think the punishment rather severe. He replied that he did not think
so, and besides there was no use of letting the sheriff take all the
trouble of bringing him back to Kansas where the judges would turn him
loose in ninety days and then he would be back at his criminality again.
Mike Shrugrue was the name of the sheriff who had the prisoner in charge,
and a braver man was not to be found in the State of Kansas, but he could
not stand off the Vigilantes. To attempt anything of the kind was to
invite disaster. It would be only throwing away another life needlessly,
as the one was doomed under any circumstances.
The difference between the Vigilantes and a mob must be thoroughly
understood to be appreciated. The one stood for law and order, was
organized from necessity, as there was not any law than theirs, and was
approved of by the residents of the country in which they operated in the
interests of justice; the other, the mob, is a hot-headed, angry, or
rather frenzied crowd that usually defeats the claims of justice by taking
the law into its own hands in most cases where the law would handle the
case in a more satisfactory manner, if allowed to take its course. This
mode of procedure is always condemned by the better class of citizens,
while the actions of the Vigilantes, who were, with few exceptions, of the
better class, were performed usually through stern necessity, rather than
from anger. The trial given was usually very short. In most cases the
guilt was very clear, as the criminal was nearly always taken manifest,
as he was usually taken in the act of committing a crime. If the prisoner
had a plausible story to tell, it was investigated before any further
proceedings took place. If he happened to be one of the notorious class of
criminals, which was commonly the case, the culprit was given short
shrift. Neither mode of procedure is to be recommended as the safest
course to attain the ends of justice.
The greatest difficulty to be met with in the interest of justice, was in
handling the cases of "rustlers," as there were always some of the same
ilk on hand to prove a complete alibi. Fifty men could be assembled on a
day's notice to prove that the accused was a hundred miles away from the
scene of the crime when it was committed. As a consequence of this, most
of the accused were released, or, if caught red-handed in their rascality,
were admitted to bail, which was furnished by their companions in crime,
and then they forfeited the bail and took leave to parts unknown.
My next experience occurred not long afterwards while making a trip from
Timms City, Texas, across the country to the Fred Taintor ranch. On this
occasion my family accompanied me in the then up-to-date means of travel,
namely, a lumber wagon. The trail was in good condition and we were making
good time. One day, about dinner time, I was keeping a lookout for a good
camping place for the purpose of supplying the needs of both the family
and the cattle. It was impossible to build a fire, as the wind was blowing
a gale, and the prairie was very dry and a fire would likely spread and
lay waste the whole county. Seeing the impossibility of camping, though I
had found a suitable place, I determined to push on to some ranch where
our wants would be supplied. I knew where a man by the name of Kingston,
from Illinois, had put up a small frame building and had laid in a stock
of groceries. I finally reached the object of my search and when
approaching the store I had to pass another building occupied by a family.
As I was passing a woman stepped out and asked me if I was going to the
store. I replied that I was, and told her what my business was there. She
informed me that it was of no use as Mr. Kingston had been murdered the
evening before. She showed me where they were burying him at that moment.
She also informed me that one of the bullets fired at Mr. Kingston had
passed under the cow she happened to be milking at the time. It is
needless to say that I did not tarry long in that neighborhood, but went
on until I finally reached the Taintor ranch, where the latch string
always hung on the outside of the door. The reception we had and the
supper provided soon made us forget that we had had no dinner. After a
good night's rest we proceeded on our way to sunny Kansas.
In the meantime I had learned the circumstances leading up to the Kingston
tragedy. It appeared that Mr. K--had received through the mail a draft for
several hundred dollars and the Postmaster had mentioned the fact to a
neighbor. The conversation had been overheard by two cut-throats who
waited until they thought it had been cashed and then hatched up a plan to
murder him for his money. It seemed from the appearance of things inside
the house that they had intended to hang him so as to give it the
appearance of suicide and then get away with the cash. The room was not
ceiled and a rope was found hanging over a joist with a noose in one end.
While making their preparations it seemed that he had broken away from
them and had reached the prairie in front of the store, where they shot
him.
Someone has said that the way of the transgressor is hard, and in this
instance it proved undoubtedly correct, for the Vigilants set out after
those men, ran them down in the brakes of a creek and sent sixteen bullets
through one of them; the other escaped and made his way to Dodge City,
Kan., where he proceeded to fill up on whiskey and made other arrangements
to take in the town. The City Marshall's opinion was that the town was too
small for two men to run at the same time, especially as one was a
stranger who had not been duly elected for the position. As a result, a
gun argument was introduced to settle the question and the bad man was
killed in the first round. His funeral occurred next day with all the
ceremonies befitting a man of his calling and he was interred on
"Boot-hill" without flowers on his casket, or tears shed over his demise.
It turned out afterwards that Mr. Kingston had not cashed the draft, so
all the money that the rogues obtained by murder and robbery was what was
in the cash drawer at the time.
The Vigilants, for the time being, performed valuable services for the
settlers and were largely instrumental in driving out of that country a
lot of thugs, thieves, and cut-throats, who were preying upon the people.
But, strange to say, time proved that some of themselves were not entirely
above suspicion, as the following incident will show. One day as I was
riding along the divide between Kiowa Creek and the Beaver, I met a man
whom I recognized to be Jake Smith. I use the name Smith for convenience,
as that was not his name, and I do not care to use his rightful cognomen
as he left that country shortly afterwards, went over to Kansas, married a
nice girl, went into business and became a leader socially and a pillar in
the Church, is generally respected and is living an upright life. Knowing
him well, I hailed him.
"Well, Jake," I said, "your horse looks pretty well jaded, you must have
had a long ride."
Said he, "Oh, that's nothing. I must ride to Alpine tonight as there is to
be a meeting of the Vigilants at eight o'clock and I want to be there."
"Do you belong to the Vigilants?" I asked.
"Why, yes," he replied. "I was one of the first to join them and have been
working with them ever since."
"Well, Jake," said I, "you're a jewel, a regular diamond. You know that
you have been stealing cattle and branding 'mavericks' ever since you
landed in this country, and all the old-timers know it, and now you are
running your horse to death to catch a rustler. That is a great joke!"
"I see plainly that you do not understand," said he. "The situation is
this: I had to join them for self-protection and also to look after the
interests of my friends. Talk of running my horse to death! I have just
been returning a favor. I have just been up to the head of Clear Creek to
tell Slim Jim to skip, because if they catch him he will stretch hemp for
stealing Old Dusenberry's mules, and besides, Slim ain't no bad fellow
when he has a good paying job."
I have never had the pleasure of meeting Jake since, but if I ever visit
Kansas I shall be certain to call and see him to find out how he managed
to keep from stealing his own goods and hiding them out in the canyons,
through force of habit after having resolved to leave other men's chattels
alone.
It seemed to be the custom whenever a small settlement was formed, for
some one to put up a grocery store, locate a postoffice and call it by
some high-sounding title and establish the nucleus of a city. For
instance, there was Boyd City, Beaver City, Benton City, Alpine City,
Neutral City, and Gate City, mostly located on the divides, or flat
prairie lands on the established trails. "Sod Town," whose name was not so
high-sounding as descriptive, soon sprang into existence as the Monte
Carlo, or sporting center of the whole country. It was there at round-up
time, each spring and fall, that the boys were accustomed to meet and run
their horses, discuss matters of common interest, and, in general, to have
a good time. As nearly every ranch had a fast horse or two, also a prize
roper, whenever the convention took place, things were bound to be lively
and at times quite a little money changed hands on the result of a horse
race, or other contest of skill.
Among the famous horses of that day that I recall, were "Old Pumpkin," a
general favorite, "Stick-in-the-Mud," "Greasy Heels," "Wobble Shanks," and
"Sore Toes" with a dozen or so of others to select from, and each and
every one had its backers and admirers.
Frank Biggers, Jim Mahoney, Sour-dough-Charlie, Heel-Fly Bill, Snake
Eater, and Bull Joe were generally the leading spirits at the race course,
and as Frank Biggers was a lover of fair play, he was usually chosen to
act as judge; besides, he had a manner of enforcing his decisions which
commanded respect and the compliance of the wildest and wooliest of the
assembly.
For the benefit of the readers who are unaccustomed to the ways and
phrases of the Western people, I shall here state that the nicknames of a
great many of them were acquired from their calling, or from some incident
or occurence on the range. If one were to drop into the Panhandle country
and inquire for Mr. Chas. Deitrich, Mr. Joseph Parish, or some others who
were mostly known by nickname, I doubt very much if the inquirer would
find his man, but if he were to ask for Sour-dough Charlie, or Bull Joe,
any one could tell them at once where to find them or what their business
was. Some of the names allotted to individuals may seem rude to the elite
of the East and give the impression of vulgarity and rudeness, but on
acquaintance one would find them good, kind, and obliging men as ever
saddled a broncho or branded a maverick. The congregation at Sod Town was
composed of men who knew one another and any money won or lost was taken
as a matter of course, and there was no grief over spilt milk. Theirs was
a vigorous life and healthy outdoor sport appealed to them. When their
sport was over, they were off to the ranch again in good spirits.
Among the early settlers of Sod Town were two young men, named Ellis and
Fiske, who opened a Grocery and Supply store. They kept a large stock of
provisions, as well as, boots, shoes, slickers, and other articles adapted
to the trade of the cattlemen. In a short time they built up a good trade
and were liked by all. One night, two bad men, or would-be road agents,
called at the store and rapped for admission. This was not at all out of
the ordinary as the cattleman's business kept him at all hours. It was
nothing unusual for him to rout out the store-keeper at any hour of the
night and have his wants supplied. On the night in question, when Ellis
heard the rapping, he donned his trousers and fortunately had his
six-shooters in his waistband. As soon as he opened the door of his store
he was commanded to put up his hands. He proceeded to do so, but in the
act of raising his hand he drew his gun and shot one of the bad men,
wounding him badly. Both turned to flee. Ellis pulled down on them in
their flight, and by the aid of light from a prairie fire that was burning
at the time, fired at the fleeing bad men and killed outright the man he
had wounded at the door. The other villian made his escape into the
darkness. Of course, Ellis was arrested and taken before the U. S. Court
for that district and was honorably discharged. He should not have been
arrested for a case of that kind, but there were milage fees to be
considered, and the marshall seldom if ever overlooked an opportunity of
the kind for increasing his wealth. I have never heard of any other bad
men calling on Ellis and Fiske in search of assistance in a financial way,
especially in the manner mentioned above.
Sour-dough Charlie had a little ranch of his own on Wolf Creek where he
kept a few horses. He raised a few colts each year, and to fill in his odd
time he tanned deer skin, made gloves for the cow punchers, and at times
used to cook for a round-up as he was an artist in that line of work as
well as being a very entertaining fellow. His chief work of art was the
construction of sour dough bread and he had the reputation of being a
master in the work. One afternoon a cow-puncher pulled up to the wagon and
called for his chuck-a-way, and said he wanted it at once as he had to
return to the herd and stand guard while his partner came for his supply.
The cook told him he would have to wait for awhile as he did not have
things in shape to get an extra meal. Without further parley and without
any warning the puncher picked up a crock full of sour dough and struck
the cook over the head with it. The contents spilled over his head and ran
down into his eyes and mingled with his whiskers. Right then and there was
originated and conferred upon him the title of "Old Sour-dough Charlie," a
name that will remain with him as long as he lives.
Nicknames and titles, in this county, amount to about the same thing
although conferred in different ways according to conditions. The man who
succeeded in accumulating a herd of cattle amounting to one or two hundred
was given the name of Captain. If he acquired five or six hundred, he was
addressed as Major, and a man who through good management and perseverance
numbered his stock by thousands became the "Old Colonel." There was one
very noticeable change in the habits, manners, customs and character of
the men who had acquired the title of Captain, Major, or Colonel, and that
was shown in their dress. The styles of their garments differed, they
dispensed with the snake-skin band, they changed their underwear,
frequently had their whiskers trimmed and hair cut, and occasionally
became a power in local politics. The question was never asked when and
how these men became possessed of such large herds in such short time, but
to the old-timer it was plain that the Old Colonel was a great business
man, or was an expert with the lariat and an artist with the branding
iron.
How different is the conferring of titles in foreign lands, especially in
Great Britain, where titles have to be ratified by supreme authority and
approved of by local potentates, and even there we find some titles
resting on tottering foundations and others hang by a very slender thread
which is liable to part at any time and leave the possessor in a pitiable
mass of social wreckage. The ceremonies on such occasions are calculated
to dazzle the eye and deceive the judgement of the spectator. The
sleight-of-hand performer and the street fakir practice the same system
and the man with the three-shell game and the three card monte man are all
on the same level, but Royalty claims age and dignity wherever you find
it. When Capt. Drake returned to England after his expedition of murder,
plunder, and piracy, and his arrival was announced to the Good Queen Bess
who was on the throne at the time, she at once called for a royal banquet
to be held on board his vessel. After rounding up all her Royal
roustabouts, flunkeys, and followers, she proceeded direct to the ship
where she was going to preside in state until she had knighted the Capt.,
whose hands were still red with the blood of his murdered victims. When
the time for the ceremony was at hand, at a motion of her magic wand the
Captain dropped to his knees at her feet to receive the power and
authority to take and keep any property on the seas that he felt like
confiscating; which meant any that he might be able to lay his hands on.
The ceremony consisted of laying the sword of authority across his bald
pate and telling him that henceforth he was at liberty to do as he pleased
and that he should remain her loyal subject. She then commanded him to
arise and he did so, but was so dazzled with the great honor conferred
upon him that I do not suppose he could tell whether he was a duck or a
drake.
A prince can make a belted Knight,
A Marquis, duke, and a' that,
But an honest man's aboon his might,
Good faith he muna fa' that.
The price of titles, like other commodities, depends greatly upon the
locality where they are granted. In England, the title cost Sir W. Raleigh
his head; in Texas, a title cost Sour-dough Charley but a few loaves of
bread. Imagine the difference.