JOHN DOEN, A DESERTER, STEALS A HORSE FROM RUFUS CLARK, NEAR DENVER,
AND GOES TO CHEYENNE--DETECTIVE CARR NOTIFIED BY GEN. COOK, AND
BECOMES A PURCHASER OF THE STOLEN ANIMAL, ARRESTING DOEN AT THE SAME
TIME--THE PRISONER ATTEMPTS TO ESCAPE AND IS SHOT DOWN AFTER A RUNNING
FIGHT.
As a rule officers of the law are careful of the lives and general safety
of their prisoners, often taking great risk upon themselves to protect the
unfortunates who may chance to fall into their hands. Yet they are
occasionally compelled to resort to violence to protect themselves or to
prevent the escape of criminals from their custody. Sometimes the officer
brings his man down, and occasionally death is the result.
A man giving the name of John Doen became a victim to a fate of this kind
in Cheyenne, in the summer of 1876. Doen was a deserter from the army, who
had for several years been engaged in herding cattle on the plains, and he
had accumulated some cattle of his own. He appears to have been naturally
predisposed to rascality, and one night he happened along by the premises
of Rufus Clark, residing near Denver, and seeing a good looking horse, he
laid his hands upon him and rode him off. Mr. Clark brought the
information of the disappearance of the animal to Detective Cook, and
asked him to bring the skill of his association to bear in returning the
animal to him. He was able to give no clue, either as to the appearance of
the thief, or the route he had taken. After brief investigation of the
matter, Gen. Cook decided in his own mind that the horse and the thief had
gone in the direction of Cheyenne, and he determined to notify his
assistant superintendent at that place, Mr. T. Jeff Carr, to be on the
lookout for the pair. There was not a long waiting. Carr received the
notification at 9 o'clock in the morning, and at 10 the same forenoon
the thief rode into town with the animal, as Carr learned by a visit to
the livery stable kept by a Mr. Jeffrey. Doen had put the horse up at the
stable, and had stated that he meant to have him sold at auction that
afternoon. The animal answered the description which Cook had sent, to
perfection, and Carr determined to lose no time in taking possession of
him and in getting the thief. Hence he procured the services of an
assistant detective. Mr. Clark Devoe, also of the Rocky Mountain
Association, and they laid a plan to capture the thief at the same time
that they should take the horse. This was to lure Doen to the stable, and
this project was accomplished by getting the liveryman to send for Doen
and tell him that there was a man who wanted to buy his horse immediately,
and that it would be well for him to repair to the stable and put the
animal up for sale.
[Illustration: Shooting of John Doen, in Cheyenne, by Detective Carr and
Devoe.]
The plan worked. Doen soon put in an appearance. He found Carr and Devoe
awaiting his arrival. The animal was accordingly put up, and a mock
auction was gone through with. The horse was knocked down to Carr, and he
requested a bill of sale, which was made out and signed by Doen, giving a
description of the horse. Having procured this, Carr said:
"I think the description you have just given me corresponds exactly with
the one I received this morning of a horse stolen from Denver."
Doen seemed confused, and his confusion increased as Carr read the
description from Denver, and his attempted explanations were a series of
contradictions. Noticing the fellow's embarrassment, Devoe stepped up,
and, laying his hand upon Doen's shoulder, said:
"I guess this thing has gone about far enough. You are in possession of a
stolen horse, and I think you are the thief. I arrest you."
Doen made no resistance and said nothing. He seemed inclined to make the
best of a bad job, and the officers began to congratulate themselves that
they had disposed of a disagreeable duty with but little trouble. They
started off to the city jail with their man, and were proceeding leisurely
along Eddy street, the prisoner being some eight or ten feet in advance of
them. Having gained so much upon the detectives, the fellow started to
run, and broke out suddenly for liberty. The officers started in pursuit,
crying to the man to stop or be shot. But he paid no heed to their
warning. Two shots were then fired into the air to frighten him into a
surrender, but they had no more effect than the volley of words. Doen only
ran the faster, and was gaining upon his pursuers all the time. It became
apparent that he was in a fair way to make an effectual escape, and the
officers increased their speed. Still the thief kept in advance. When he
reached a point back of Recreation hall he placed his hands upon a high
board fence and began to clamber over. When he reached the top of the
fence he drew a pistol and leveled it at the officers. "Shoot him," said
Carr to Devoe. The officer sent a bullet whizzing through the air just as
the fugitive fired. When the smoke cleared away Doen had disappeared from
the fence. He was supposed to have continued his flight, and the officers
had begun to fear that they had lost their prize. But in this supposition
they were mistaken. When they came up to the fence they heard moans on the
opposite side, and glancing over saw their prisoner lying on the ground,
and the blood running from his wounds. He still held his pistol firmly,
and showed more disposition to fight than ever.
"Throw away your pistol," said Carr to him.
"I won't," was the reply. "I will fight to the last."
"Throw that pistol down, I tell you," again Carr commanded, as he drew a
bead on the fellow's forehead. "Will you put it down now?"
The thief relinquished the weapon reluctantly.
While Carr was examining the wounds, Devoe came up, and not noticing the
pistol as it lay on the ground, stepped upon it and caused it to explode,
creating a report which startled both prisoner and detectives but did no
other damage.
Doen was taken to the jail and his wounds examined. They were at first
pronounced not necessarily mortal, but a closer examination revealed the
fact that the bullet had entered the small of the back and passed into the
abdomen, causing internal hemorrhage, which resulted in death about ten
hours after the shooting.
Before he died, Doen stated that he was a native of Pennsylvania, and that
his real name was Edward W. Myers. He made no confession, however, and
continued to the last to tell conflicting stories about the affair. He was
a desperate man, and would undoubtedly have killed the officers if he
could have done so. The Cheyenne _Sun_ the next morning said:
"The unanimous sentiment of the community, so far as we are able to learn,
is that Officer Devoe was perfectly justifiable, under the circumstances,
and that he didn't shoot the fellow a minute too soon. Nine out of ten men
would not have exhibited half the leniency that these officers did on that
occasion. This arrest is one more of the many evidences of the efficiency
of the Rocky Mountain Detective Association. Within ninety minutes after
receiving Sheriff Cook's letter the criminal was in the county jail. Doen
is said to be a deserter from the regular army, and he has visited
Cheyenne several times before, and always as a dealer in horse flesh. That
he belongs to a regularly organized band of horse thieves there is little
doubt."
PUEBLO VENGEANCE.