the sax fraxcisco sunday, april 3, rounding up … · rounding up outlaws in the colorado basin...
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ROUNDING UP OUTLAWSIN THE COLORADO BASIN
TERRITORY OVER WHICH THE OUTLAWS ROAM.
Active Campaign By the Governors ofFour States Against "Butch"
Cassidy and His 500Freebooters.
SALTLAKE, Utah, March 29.
IS9B.—"Butch" Cassldy is a badman. He is the worst man infour States. These States areUtah, Colorado, Idaho and Wy-
oming, and when the four Governorsmet in secret conclave on Monday it\u25a0was far the purpose of deciding upon
a plan of campaign against the most
notorious outlaw the West has ev*r
had to cope with. The achievements ofJesse James and his followers pale intotawdry insignr ance before those of"Butch" Cassidy and his five hundred.
For several years— in fact, ever sincethe Live Stock Commission drove theWyoming rustlers out of business injS92
—"Butch" his proven a thorn in theflesh of Lfle authorities of the four
States in which carries on his oper-
ations. He has laughed the militia toBcorn. Sheriffs and deputies he regards
with pity an 1 contempt. He is a pow-er unto himself.
After the ordinary methods of hunt-ing outlaws had been tried unsuccess-fullyit was decided that drastic meansmust be employed. Rewards have beenrepeatedly offered for "Butch" Cassidy,
dead or live, and after each fresh out-break these rewards have invariably
been increased. Ifall the offers whichhave been made from time to time holdgood, the slayer of "Butch
"should he
ever live to claim his reward, would beentitled to upward of $20,000 in bloodmoney.
But the rewards have proven as fu-tile as have the efforts of the militiaand the deputy sheriffs. And that iswhy Governor Wells of Utah, GovernorAdams of Colorado, Governor Richardsof Wyoming and Governor Steunen-berg of Idaho <"ot their heads togetherto see what could be done. Just whatthe result of thoir conference was hasnot been divulged.
The Governors believe in still huntmethods, and it is thought that a largenumber of experienced mountaineersand bandit hunters will be placed inthe field, each State to furnish its quo-ta, and that the bandits willbe round-ed up in much the same fashion thatcattle are. Any attempt to exterminatethis desperate band is certain to be at-tended by bloodshed.
"Butch" and his band are the out-growth of the rustlers of six years ago.Since then they have broadened theirfield and increased their numbers. Itis no idle boast to say that the leader ofthis notorious band has five hundredmen at his beck and call.
Their depredations are upon a scalenever before reached in the history offrontier crime. All the conditions arefavorable to them. They know everyfoot of the vast ter—itory in which theyoperate, taking in, as it does, the wild-est and most inaccessible portions offour States. Every man o£ them isthoroughly familiar with frontier lifeIn its rougher phases.
The forces are subdivided into five
bands, each controlled by its own lead-er, with Oassidy as the supreme power.The outlaws now practically controlthe sparsely settled region extendingfmm Central Wyoming southwesterlythrough Northwestern Colorado and
Utah, and almost to the Arizona line.Marauding and murderous bands con-duct their raids without restraint. Thethefts of livestock run into the mil-lions. Ranchmen are murdered anddriven out of business, and the officersof the law are powerless.
There are five camps where thevarious bands make their headquar-ters, each of which is well nigh inacces-sible except to the bandits themselves.Two of the most famous are "Robbers'Roost" and "Hole in the Wall." Theformer is in South Central Utah on theSan Rafaele River, a few miles west ofthe Green River. The latter is hiddenaway somewhere in that wild, moun-tainous district to the northwest ofCasper, Wyo.
The other camps are located in TetonBasin, near the eastern border ofIdaho and south of the Snake River;Powder Springs in Southwestern Wyo-ming, near Colorado, and about fiftymiles east of the Utah line; and BrownsPark, taking in the northwestern cor-ner of Colorado and the northeasternportion of Utah. Itis not definitelyknown in just which State the BrownsPark camp lies, but it is thought to beacross the line in Colorado. .
Never before in the record of borderoutlawry na.ve Western States bee.iforced to form an offensive and defen-sive alliance against bandits such aswas entered into last week at Salt Lakeby the Governors of these four States.The situation had become desperateand a desperate remedy was required.
The five camps form a chain extend-ing for hundreds of miles. Betweenthese posts communication is main-tained by a regular system of couriersand cipher dispatches, facilitating theco-operation of two or more bandswhen an enterprise of more than usualmagnitude is undertaken.
Thef=e reckless bands are composed ofmen of the most reckless and desperatecharacter, long accustomed to deeds ofcrime. Whenever a murder is com-mitted in the mountain States or a con-vict escapes from a penitentiary thecriminal flees to the nearest of theseretreats, where hVis safe from pursuit.In this manner the ranks of the ban-dits have been recruited up to astrength conservatively estimated atfive hundred. While each band has itschosen leader, "Butch" Cassidy exer-cises some sort of authority over thefederation.
Each of the strongholds is both a ren-dezvous and a fortress absolutely im-pregnable. They can only be reachedby traversing deep and narrow gorges,scaling lofty and rugged peaks andpenetrating the wildest recesses of theRocky Mountains. Inmany places theonly trail lies over a narrow shelf ora precipice. Holes have been drilled,into which in case of close pursuit dy-namite can be placed and the trailblown from the face of the cliff intothe chasm below, thus baffling all pur-suers.
There are also many places where onerobber can hold fifty officers at bay,
and as the bandits are armed to theteeth and will light to the last man.any effort to exterminate them by theordinary processes of law is regardedas a useless Sacrifice of life. In theirretreats are numerous caves, luxur-iously fitted up and containing subsis-tence sufficient for months. Thus arethe bandits enabled to set at defiancsall the forces of law and order.
The outlaws roam the adjacent coun-try and smaller settlements withoutmolestation. Many settlers purchaseimmunity by extending assistance invarious ways, and the robbers even ai-tend country dances and other func-tions, occasionally "shooting up" thetown or indulging in other forms of re-creation. It is only when close!-'- pur-sued by officers of the law that they ra-tlre to their mountain retreats.
"Butch" Cassidy, however, by reasonof the price upon his head, consider*the higher altitude more conducive \ohis health and seldom ventures intothe towns, unless he is making a raidor is surrounded by a band of his trustymen, in which case he never fears mo-lestation. As a killer he has earned areputation during the last ten yearsprobably equaled in the West only bythat of "Wild iiill"Hickok, peace to hisashes.
Few men who know him would car«to rouse his ire, for althoueh a man ofwonderful nerve, unlike most of hisclass, he is possessed of a fearful tem-per. Sometimes it gets beyond, his
control, and then he throws all cau-tion to the wind and becomes utterly-reckless.
About four years ago he was shot atfrom ambush near Green River by acowboy known as "Hackey" Hughes,whose only object was to secure thereward offered by the State authoritiesof Utah. lhe bullet pierced the lobeof his ear, and the blood streamingdown his face acted upon Cassidy as ared flag might to a maddenea bull.
With a howl of rage he turned hishorse just as another bullet passedthrough the rim of his sombrero. Apuff of smoke from a clump of bushesshowed where the assassin was con-cealed. For picturesque profanity"Butch" Cassidy hasn't his equal inthe States, and on that occasion he issaid to have fairly surpassed himself.Ripping out a string of oaths thatwould reach from Dan to Beersheba hejumped from his horse and dodged be-hind a bowlder.
He waited for twenty minutes, andthen the cowboy shot the outlaw'shorse, which had been grazing in theopen. That was more than "Butch"could stand. Throwing caution to thewinds he ran toward the clump ofbushes, with a pistol in each handbarking at every step.
But Hughes, considering discretionthe better part of valor, had jumped onhis horse and succeeded in makinggood his escape. But the vindictivenature of "Butch" Cassidy asserted it-self. He had recognized his assailant,and every member of the band re-ceived instructions to be on the watchfor him. Hughes left the Green Rivercountry, and it was not until sixmonths later that he was located, onthe north fork of the Powder River upin Wyoming.
Cassidy was notified, and with adozen picked men he reached the ranchwhere Hughes was working. It wasduring the spring roundup. The twomen met face to face. Hughes knewwhat was coming and pulled his gun.But he wasn't quick enough. Cassidy'spistol cracked first, and the cowb'o>dropped from his saddle with a bulletthrough his right eye.
"That's the way Iserve anyskunk that tries to shoot me in theback." remarked Cassidy. "Ifany ofhis friends want t take up the quar-rel I'm ready."
But if the dead cowboy had anyfriends they failed to respond. "Butch"Cassidy was well known, and it wasn'tsafe to pick quarrels with him. So herode away with his escort, cursing thecowboys for a pack of cowardly coyotes
Cattle-stealing is the chief source ofincome to Cassidy and his fdlowersOne company alone in Central Utahhas lost 2000 head during the past twoyears, worth at present prices $80 000These were driven through Coloradoand into New Mexico. Itis in drivingthese stolen cattle from one State toanother and out of the cou.itry thattheir system of co-operation is benefi-cial.
However, any operation that prom-ises adventure and financial reward isnever overlooked. Trains are held upexpress companies and banks arerobbed, and even individuals, whenknown to have money in their posses-sion, are relieved of their possessionsin true road-agent style.
There are women among these out-laws, too, who ride with them on theirAvild forays and take pride in their as-sociation with these bold and daringfreebooters. Even "Calamity Jane
"in
the old days of her association with"Deadwood Dick." cotild not surpassthese picturesque females in their wildcareer.
About a year ago "Butch" Cassidyand "Bill"Ferguson, one of his trustedlieutenants, dashed into the town ofPrice in broad daylight, held up thepaymaster of the coal company androde off with $8000 before the crowd ofbystanders realized what had hap-pened. This is but a sample exploit.
Bank robberies are but side issues•with them; merely incidental to theirgrand chief occupation of cattle-steal-ing. If a victim resists or an officerpursues murder is regarded as a pro-fessional duty, to be cheerfully per-formed, but they are not given towanton slaughter. Inseveral instances
foolhardy officers who have invadedtheir strongholds have been disarmed,dismounted and sent home.
An instance of this kind occurred justafter the raid on the coal company atPrice. Two deputies traced Cassidyand Ferguson to the lair at "Robbers'Roost.
'They were fully twenty-four
hours behind, and their approach wasknown long before they arrived at thenarrow trail leading up into the ren-dezvous. Cassidy was in a jovialmood,and he conceived that it would be morefun to capture the deputies and makesport of them than to kill them. So heacted accordingly.
The deputies were about half way upthe trail when, just at a bend arounda sharp noint of rocks, they heard theshar.> co.nmand "Hands up!"
Half a dozen -uns were staring- themin the face not twenty paces away. Thedeputies realized that not to obeymeant sudden death. Up went theirhands. Cassidy stepped up to them,roaring with laughter.
"You're a couple of fine dubs to comeand catch peaceable citizens, ain'tyou?" he cried. "Gimme your guns.Here, Buck," calling to one of his men"search these tenderfeet, and if they'vegot any tobacco you can keep it."
The outcome of it was that the depu-ties, relieved of everything but tjieirclothing, were bound hand and foot totheir horses, conducted to the foot ofthe pas» and sent about their business.To add to their discomfiture a rudely
scrawled note was pinned on the breastof each, which read:
WE ARE r>ETTTT SHERIFFS,Sent Out to Capture Butch Cainidy andHis Gang. When 'Found Send Us Home.
The Principal Strongholds of the Band— Teton Basin, Hole in the Wall, Brown's Park,Power Springs and Robber's Roost— Are Indicated on the Map.
CANNOT MARRY INKOREA AT PRESENT
Odd Law That Forbids Marriages Tillthe King Is Wedded, so Aff Good
Koreans Are PatientlyWaiting.
LLKoreans are overjoyed at theassurance that their King is go-
IJ ing to be married again at an
f\ early date. Legally, there hasI been no marriage in Korea since
/ the Queen's murder two years
ago. The King's marriage means agreat deal to the people of marriage-able age, for if the Kingbe single, thelaw says that no marriage may takeplace in the land till he marries. TheKing takes precedence in matters mat-rimonial and all good Koreans whoabide by the letter of the law religious-lyand patriotically postpone their wed-ding days till the King officially greetshis royal spouse.
The strict letter of this law is not de-voutly observed throughout all classesof Korea, The common people do prettymuch as they please in the matter, forthe authorities realizing the antag-onism it would raise, do not prosecutethem if they marry.
Among the better classes and the no-bility,though, no one thinks of marry-ing. To do so means instant loss ofcaste. The Korean four hundred willnever open its doors to people who havemarried while the King was single.
As marriages in Korea are arrange-ments in which personal inclinationsnever play any part, it is not so- diffi-cult to refrain from marrying. TheKorean never falls in love. Itis notconsidered the proper thing to do. Allnecessary arrangements are made bythe two families who wish their chil-dren to intermarry. The two peoplemost interested are never consulted atall.
Since the murder of the Queen noneof the members of good families havemarried. But the people have long beenimpatient for the King to marry, sothat it might be permissible for themto follow his example.
Over a year ago they began to ex-press their discontent openly TheKing's advisers pleaded with him thenand pointed out to him that unless hemarried, serious consequences might re-
The King looked about him for awife, and. forgetful of his three-scoreyears, hit upon a maiden of noble fam-ilynot yet sixteen years old.His Ministers frowned upon his choiceand used every effort to dissuade himThe King for some time declared thathe would marry the girl despite their
advice to the contrary, but the Minis*ters finally succeeded in convincing himthat it would be folly. For the Koreanswould rather that their Xi z. should re-main single forever than that he shouldso far forget time-honored customs asto marry a girl so much his junior.
The Koreans, like the Chinese andJapanese, do not countenance mar-riages when there is a great disparityin the ages. The sunbeam kisses notthe moonbeam they say.
Although the King was willing togive up the maiden of his choice, he re-fused for a long time to consider any ofthe other damsels that wereoffered himby his advisers. Of late the clamoringsof the people for the remarriage of theirKinc have grown so persistent that hehas yielded to the importunities of hisMinisters and has agreed to marry thelady they 'nave selected for him.
The future Korean Queen is said tobe about thirty years oid and veryhandsome, according to the orientalstandard of beauty. In this she differsfrom her predecessor, who was an ex-ceedingly plain-looking woman. Inad-dition, the future Queen is simply asintelligent, or rather, as unintelligent,as her countrywomen, while the mur-dered Queen was considered clever, andwas remarkably well informed consid-ering her advantages. Her influenceover the King was supreme, and heconsulted her on all matters of publicas well as private interest. Her judg-ment swayed all his actions and herpower was evident in every branch ofthe Government.
In selecting this wife for the.Kincr th9Ministers have been very careful tochoose one who will not usurp theirpower.
During the twenty-five years that themurdered Queen shared the throne •>£Korea, she practically ruled the nation.Like other Korean girls, she receivedlittle or no education, but she was aconstant and serious student. She readall tho books that could be obtainedat the English mission schools and wasaware that there were nations far moreadvanced than the Koreans. Never-theless she had that inborn hatred forthe Japanese which is the birthright ofevery Korean, and for this reason thereare some who believe she was put outof the way by a Japanese.
National Korean dislike for the Jap-anese dates back 400 years. A mijrhtyJapanese warrior, livingat that time,with but a handful of men succeededin conquering as large an army as K<->-rea could muster. Of this feat ofarms the Japanese are proud and intheir text books the warrior who ac-complished it is given the place ofhonor. The Koreans have never for-gotten the ignominy of the defeat andhave a deep-rooted aversion for every-thing Japanese. All their customs andlaws more clearly resemble the Chi-nese to whom they are veFy partial.
The murdered Queen did not hide herdislike for the Japanese, for in spiteof the knowledge she had acquired, shewas still a Korean, and as such couldnot tolerate the. Japanese The Minis-ter from Japan was subjected to allmanner of indignities. Her family,who were all-powerful in Korea, owingto her influence with the King, madethiners particularly uncomfortable fo..the Japanese located in Korea.
One night some one entered theapartments of the Queen by stealth andmurdered her. Itwas claimed that themurderer %vas a Japanese. An Amer-ican livingin the capital confirmed thisreport. He had seen the Japanese slipinto the royal house and come out withstains of blood on his garments.
The Koreans asserted that the p^sas-sin was but the instrument of the Jap-anese Minister in Korea, and that themurder had been done at his instiga-tion. Japan finally recalled the Min-ister and sent another in his place, thusaverting serious trouble.
The King, now that his wife is dead,is easily managed by his Ministers. Themurdered Queen's family have beenstripped of their power, and havesought refuge in China.
The new Queen will not occupy theprominent position of affairs that herpredecessor did. The people do notcare what manner of woman the Kin?marries, so long as she is of a suita-ble age. But what they do wq.nt Isthat he shall marry at once, so thatmarriage may again be strictly legal InKorea-
AN AMATEUR BAKER.There is a woman now in New York
who has had most serious misfortunes,and yet, in her grief and helplessness,has shown rare perseverance and ener-gy at the critical moment.
Only a few weeks ago she and herhusband lived in a comfortable home ina western city. They owned the prop-erty and had been moderately well todo. But the husband died very sud-denly. Then the insurance on the houseran out, and soon the widow found Itnecessary to dispose of the property.Pending- the negotiations, the houseburned to the ground, and although thewidow escaped, everything in her pos-session had been consumed. She hadto borrow clothes before leaving forNew York, where she had friends.
She resolved not to allow her griefto have a serious effect upon her, butto find some immediate source of sup-port, and took the first opportunity thatoffered. She had made a speciallywholesome graham bread fo.r a friendhere who was suffering with indiges-tion, and his appreciation of itat oncesuggested a means of support— shewould bake and sell bread. Calling atneighboring residences and boardinghouses, she at once took orders for allshe could bake, delivered the bread thosame day, and secured regular custo-mers. With the proceeds of successivesales she took in a large supply of ma-terials, and is steadily increasing theprofits. She declares that with herambition she willnot remain poor long,and will soon make a big success of herundertaking.
WOMEN POLAR EXPLORERS.
THE no-table achievements ofwomen are not confined to thetemperate zones. Itis well knownthat in 1S&1 Mrs. Peary accom-panied her husband to McCor-
mlck Bay, on the northwestern coast ofGreenland, where she wintered withhim at "Red Cliff House" (built by theexpedition), in 77 degrees 43 minutesnorth latitude, and that last summershe and her little daughter, MariePeary, approached still nearer to thenorth pole, reaching Cape Sabine onthe Hope. This is the fatal spot fromwhich General Greely was rescued,
after the death of nineteen comrades,
and is 78 degrees north, within 6 de-grees of the "farthest north" on land,that of Lockwood and Brainard in ISB2.
Mrs. Peary does not stand alone inher achievements. Though her recordis spc-ken of as being unique, there aretwo women, long since dead, who havemore than equaled her record.
In July, 1735, there sailed from Ir-kutsk, Siberia, down the Lena River,into the Arctic seas, an expeditioncommanded by a Russian, LieutenantPronchistshef. He was in search of the"northeast passage." On board theship was his bride, who, rather than beseparated rrom the man she had jusc\u25a0wedded, cheerfully braved the penis
—more vrt>,ue and terrible then
—of the
m.-rth, at his side.The old records state that the ship
managed, despite the ice, to passthrough the most eastern mouth of theLena, and then sailed northwesterlyalong the coast, in a passage betweenthe ice, not more than 100 or 200 yardswide, almost reaching Cape Chelyuskin,the northernmost land in Siberia; buthere they were stopped by ice, and herethey were forced to winter in latitude77 degrees 4S minutes north. In orderto fully appreciate what- it meant for
a woman to do this, it must be remem-bered that in 1735 great ignorance pre-vailed as to the conditions of Arcticlife. The equipments of the Arctic ex-peditions on the miserable little sail-ing vessels, often hardly fit even tosleep upon, were extremely meager andcould in no way bear comparison withthe carefully fitted up ships sent northin this century.
The party of Pronchistshef livedthrough the winter, suffering frommany fearful privations, and in thespring they broke loose from the iceand headed the ship back. And here,near the mouth of the river Olenek, onthis homeward voyage, the courageouslittle bride died. Her death was fol-lowed in two days by that of her bravehusband. Lieutenant Pronchistshef.Thus ended the first Arctic romance.
This exploit remained unparalleledfor over a hundred years when Mine.d'Aunet. in 1539, visited the island ofSpitzbergen, on board the ship La Re-cherche, sent out by France, and com-manded Hy Captain Fabvre. There waaalso on board a committee of scientists,who accomplished much valuable work.La Recherche sailed to Magdalena Bay,Spitzbergen, which is "9 degrees 35 min-utes north, two degrees farther norththan Mrs. Pronchistshef and one anda half farther than Mrs. Peary. Mme.d'Aunet, on her safe return home, de-scribes the ,cemetery of fishers in Mag-dalena Bay, the men who lost theirlives on that bleak coast. It is the
farthest north of any burying groundin the world.
"Icounted fifty-two graves In thiscemetery," she says, "which is the mostforbidding in the wide world; a ceme-tery without epitaphs, without monu-ments, without flowers, without remem-brances, without tears, without regrets,without prayers; a cemetery of desola-tion, where oblivion doubly environsthe dead, where is heard no sigh, novoice, no human step; a terrifying soli-tude, a profound and frigid silence,broken only by the fierce growl of thepolar bear or the moaning of thestorm."
THE SAX FRAXCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, APRIL 3, 1893.20