4 October 2016 Wagons West Chronicles
Surrounded By Marshals from page 1 made by either party and then the officer in command of the party ordered his men to begin firing . The house is a simple weatherboard structure and not plastered and shots from the marshals ’ Winchesters quickly perforated the sides of the building . The caged bandits returned the fire and poured a rattling fire on the officers through the windows and crevices of the house . At 10 o ’ clock Mrs . Miller , who had been wounded left the house and crawled in where one of the marshals was located behind a tree .
She had received a flesh wound and begged that she might be allowed to ride to Ingalls for a doctor to attend herself and also her baby and hired man . The woman was permitted to saddle a horse and leave . She would not state how many outlaws were killed , but admitted that Bill Dalton and Bill Dolan had been seriously , if not fatally , wounded . The fight was kept up all day during Wednesday . Volley after volley was fired into the house by the officers and the constant crack of the bandits ’ Winchesters told of their determination to hold
Rounding Up Outlaws from page 1 insignificance before those of “ Butch ” Cassidy and his five hundred .
For several years – in fact , ever since the Live Stock Commission drove the Wyoming rustlers out of business in 1892 – “ Butch ” has proven a thorn in the flesh of the authorities of the four States in which he carries on his operations . He has laughed the militia to scorn . Sheriffs and deputies he regards with pity and contempt . He is a power unto himself .
After the ordinary methods of hunting outlaws had been tried unsuccessfully it was decided that drastic means must be employed . Rewards have been repeatedly offered for “ Butch ” Cassidy , dead or alive , and after each fresh outbreak these rewards have invariably been increased . If all the offers which have been made from time to time hold good , the slayer of “ Butch ” should he ever live to claim his reward , would be entitled to upward of $ 20,000 in blood money .
But the rewards have proven as futile as have the efforts of the militia and the deputy sheriffs . And that is why Governor Wells of Utah , Governor Adams of Colorado , Governor Richards of Wyoming and Governor Steunenberg of Idaho got their heads together to see what could be done . Just what the result of their conference was has not been divulged .
The Governors believe in still hunt methods , and it is thought that a large number of experienced mountaineers and bandit hunters will be placed in the field , each State to furnish its quota , and that the bandits will be rounded up in much the same fashion
out and refuse to surrender .
Shortly after nightfall during a lull in the firing two bandits made a break from the house and fled , followed by the deputies . They went in the direction of the Creek Indian country .
The messenger who brought this news did not learn whether or not Dalton and Dolan had been killed , but was told that three fatally wounded bandits were left in Miller ’ s house after their companions had broken through the lines of the officers . He states that two of the officers ’ posse were killed and three wounded .
Some of the bravest men in this territory are with the pursuing party , Bill Tillingham , Heck Thomas and Will Madsden are there . None of these men were ever known to flinch . They said on the night they left this city ; “ We will not return alive without our game with us .”
The messenger who brings in the above information says that Mrs . Miller is not dangerously wounded . The United States marshals started out another posse from this city today to assist in the chase .
that cattle are . Any attempt to exterminate this desperate band is certain to be attended by bloodshed .
“ Butch ” and his band are the outgrowth of the rustlers of six
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Rounding Up Outlaws from previous column years ago . Since then they have broadened their field and increased their numbers . It is no idle boast to say that the leader of this notorious band has five hundred men at his beck and call .
Their depredations are upon a scale never before reached in the history of frontier crime . All the conditions are favorable to them . They know every foot of the vast territory in which they operate , taking in , as it does , the wildest and most inaccessible portions of four States . Every man of them is thoroughly familiar with frontier life in its rougher phases .
The forces are subdivided into five bands , each controlled by its own leader , with Cassidy as the supreme power . The outlaws now practically control the sparsely settled region extending from Central Wyoming southwesterly through Northwestern Colorado and Utah , and almost to the Arizona line . Marauding and murderous bands conduct their raids without restraint . The thefts of livestock run into the millions . Ranchmen are murdered and driven out of business , and the officers of the law are powerless .
There are five camps where the various bands make their headquarters , each of which is wellnigh inaccessible except to the bandits themselves . Two of the most famous are “ Robbers ’ Roost ” and “ Hole in the Wall .” The former is in South Central Utah on the San Rafaele River , a few miles west of the Green River . The latter is hidden away somewhere in that wild , mountainous district to the northwest of Casper , Wyoming .
The other camps are located in Teton Basin , near the eastern border of Idaho and south of Snake River ; Powder Springs in Southwestern Wyoming , near Colorado , and about fifty miles east of the Utah line ; and Browns Park camp lies , but it is thought to be across the line in Colorado .
Never before in the record of border outlawry have Western States been forced to form an offensive and defensive alliance against bandits such as was entered into last week at Salt Lake by the governors of these four states . The five camps form a chain extending for hundreds of miles . Between these posts communication is maintained by a regular system of couriers and cipher dispatches , facilitating the co-operation of two or more than usual magnitude is undertaken .
These reckless bands are composed of men of the most reckless and desperate character , long accustomed to deeds of crime . Whenever a murder is committed in the mountain States or a convict escapes from a penitentiary the
criminal flees to the nearest of these retreats , where he is safe from pursuit . In this manner the ranks of the bandits have been recruited up to a strength conservatively estimated at five hundred . While each band has its chosen leader , “ Butch ” Cassidy exercises some sort of authority over the federation .
Each of the strong holds is both a rendezvous and a fortress absolutely impregnable . They can only be reached by traveling deep and narrow gorges , scaling lofty and rugged peaks and penetrating the wildest recesses of the Rocky Mountains . In many places the only trail lies over a narrow shelf or a precipice . Holes have been drilled into which in case of close pursuit dynamite can be placed and the trail blown from the face of the cliff into the chasm below , thus baffling all pursuers .
There are also many places where one robber can hold fifty officers at bay , control , and then he throws all caution to the wind and becomes utterly reckless .
About four years ago he was shot at from ambush near Green River by a cowboy known as “ Hackey ” Hughes , whose only object was to secure the reward offered by the State authorities of Utah . The bullet pierced the lobe of his ear , and the blood streaming down his face acted upon Cassidy as a red flag might to a maddened bull .
With a howl of rage he turned his horse just as another bullet passed through the rim of his sombrero . A puff of smoke from a clump of bushes showed where the assassin was concealed . For picturesque profanity “ Butch ” Cassidy hasn ’ t his equal in the States , and on that occasion he is said to have Continued on page 5