The Best of . . .
"Prairieland Talk"
By ROMA INK SAUNDERS
Reprinted from March IS, IMS
(Editor's note: Seventy nine years ago In Febr
uary the Illustrious life of Kid Wade ended traglc
aliy at the hand* of a hand of “regulators”. The
recent anniversary of thl* ‘'whistling po*t'' hang
ing of one of this region’s brst-know'n historical
characters has promised the retelling of tills epic
story.)
Wednesday night, February G, 1H8-1, Kid Wade
was hung to an F. E. and M. V. whistling post one
half mile east of Bassett. A coroner’s jury empanel
ed in Brown county (of which Rock was then a
part) said he came to his death by hanging at the
hands of unknown individuals.
Those who knew considered it
a time when silence was golden.
After justice had laid an in
exorable hand on Doc Middle
ton, the Kid was the recognized
leader at the eastern end of a
hand of outlaws operating from
the Black Hills to the Missouri.
At the time of his apprehen
sion young Wade he was 22—
was under indictment in Iowa, _ _
Nebraska, Dakota, Wyoming
and Montana. .Some distinction Hn muter*
for a Holt county citizen!
He had been schooled in the craft of a horse
thief by the elder Wade, whose ranch on the Big
Sandy nearly due north from Atkinson was a ren
dezvous for the outlaws. There were always pro
visions in abundance in the Wade cabins. Hams,
sides of bacon, antelope meat and beef hung from
flora
The operations of the Middleton band caused
the settlers of the Niobrara valley to organize what
was known as regulators or vigilanters. They were
officed with captains and lieutenants. It was often
suspected but seldom proved that some of these
“regulators” were using the organization as a blind
to cover up their misdeeds.
On the strength of the various indictments as
well as general four Holt county citizens, "Capt.”
C. C. 1 >odge, “Lt.” Peter Hansen, Charles Mess
enger and Michael Coleman, undertook the task
of apprehending the Kid.
On January 12, 1881, they swung into their sad
dles, reining their horses eastward. Information had
l>ecn received that the Kid was near LeMars, la.
On the evening of the 16th they arrived in LeMars.
Here they learned that the object of their quest
was at Mansfield, 16 miles out. The morning of
the 17th Messenger, not known to the outlaw, rode
out to Mansfield and located Wade, with whom he
negotiated the purchase of a horse.
A forfeit was posted and Messenger informed
Wade if he would accompany him in to LeMars they
would get the money from the bank for full payment.
The Kid consented to this, not without some mis
givings. On the way into LeMars he cast frequent
searching glances at Messenger w'ho rode stoically
on.
As they were leaving their horses to the care
of the livery barn attendant in LeMars, the com
panions of Messenger quietly closed in from three
sides and drew their guns—and the Kid, the terror
of the Niobrara, was a prisoner.
After 24 hours in the saddle, the Kid in irons,
they .arrived in Yankton, S. D., the evening of Janu
ary 18. lie had agreed to accompany fhem without
a requisition on the promise of the four that he
should have a fair trial in Holt county. They re
mained two days in Yankton. Here they saw com
mercial possibilities with their prisoner. A hall was
engaged and it was advertised that Kid Wade would
give an exhibition of his skill with the six-shootei
at 50 cents admission He had the reputation o
toing the tost that ever flashed an ivory-handle<
.45 in his territory. That he went through this per
formance in good faith without making a kill ant
his get away clearly indicates his confidence in i
square deal toing given him. with no thought oi
the tragic end that awaited.
And looking back over the intervening yean
the retrospective forces the conclusion that the Kid
outlaw that he was, had high regard for his wort
of honor and a faith that was betrayed in thos<
qualities in others.
At Yankton, a second prisoner was taken. Jot
Jordon, a brother-in-law of young Wade. It appeari
that Jordon was released ui>on the arrival in Hoi
county with the two prisoners. Thus far the activ
ities of the regulators were clothed in the honorec
vestments of law and order.
On February 1 a kangaroo court was held ai
Back Berry's at Paddock. Delegations of Browi
and Holt county, vigilanters were present to "exam
ine the Kid. A tragedy was averted at this meeting
by Mike Coleman relieving Henry Richardson ol
Brown county of his gun when he was in for shoot
ing the Kid on the spot for telling him "oh you art
as big a horse thief as I am".
Maybe desiring to shift further responsibility,
the majority of Holt county bunch favored turning
Wade over to the mercies of the men from Brown
and the Kid saw the promise of a fair trial and his
hopes vanish. The late S. J. Weekes, of the O’Neill
National Bank, was among the toys and men then
living in the neighborhood to congregate at Pad
dock to see the excitement”.
Coleman and Hugh O’Neill protested the turn
ing of the Kid over to the Brown county vigilanters.
He had been promised a fair trial at home and
should have it. They did more than protest. Hasten
ing into O’Neill they swore out a warrant for the
arrest of the Kid and sent Sheriff Ed Hershiser out
to bring him in. Ed, like the Northwest Mounted,
generally got his man. He trailed tlie group to the
vicinity of Long Pine.
The Brown county delegation, under the com
mand of “Capt.” A. J. Burnham, probably by this
time also inclined to shift responsibility, turned the
Kid over to Hershiser. "Capt.” Burnham and an
other of the party by the name of Matson, offered
to accompany the sheriff in with his prisoner.
These three with the Kid pulled into Bassett to
spend the night. Hotel rooms were all occupied but
they were told they could stay in the bar room. The
Kid rolled into a blanket and went to sleep on the
fhx>r. The sheriff with his two companions settled
at ease in their chairs. The cold February night
wore on. Suddenly a crash of glass as gun barrels
were thrust through the windows startled the watch
ers. At the same time, the door was flung open and
a txxly of grim and disguised men appeared. The
regulators had come.
The Kid was awakened and led to his doom.
One story was that he trembled with fear and
asked to be spared that he might have a chance
to mend his ways. Another was that he implored
his guards to give him a pair of 6-shooters and he
would get away from the mob and come into O’Neill
and surrender.
In telling of the affair when he got back to O’
Neill Sheriff Hershiser said the last words he heard
the Kid say were: “I have been feeding you fellows
and now >ou are going to hang me.”
Did the Kid recognize his abductors as his own
band of outlaws who resorted to a hanging to pro
tect themselves?
Editorial
Why Editors Get Grey
Dear Editor;
We’ve taken your paper for 20 years and like
it first rate. When it comes on a Thursday we look
up the grocery ads and then make our list for Sat
urday Buying. There is usually bargains and good
buys. There is news from all over the territory.
We've lived in different places and like that and
we always look for the farm sales. I am a big
reader and you put out a good paper but it could
be better, especially for us women.
We don't care so much for what’s went on
around here 50 years ago or for them notes about
big deals or law doings and such but what we feel
is that there is a lot of the best stuff is being held
back and what we’d like to hear is like I heard at
our little sewing club meeting last week.
There is 8 of us ladies and what all I heard at
the last meeting would just make the hair stand
on end. Such awful goings on by people right here
in town.
It is just awful but we can't judge each other
if we don't have the facts.
Of course I'm no newspaper man so I can’t
put these things out and anyway my man has put
uu “it. ne says one wora or mis slop as
he calls it and we could be sued and they’d take
every cent we’ve got and we’ve worked too hard
for our stuff but a newspaper is different and any
way they’re supposed to give us the news and I
figure if I heard that much at just one ladies club
meeting that you editors who go to lots of clubs
and meetings could hear enough to really get us
up a paper that would do something for you.
Don t thank me, it s just an outsider can some
times see a different move.
Sincerely,
A Faithful Subscriber
P.S. My husband says to tell you that our boy
wasn’t driving 1 mile over the speed limit the other
night and if you put his name in the paper in the
court news you can cancel our subscription.
B J R
Dismal Prospect
The bill providing for health care for the elderly
which has been introduced in this Congress varies
from the Medicare bill of last year only in minor
details. It would bring everyone drawing social se
curity benefits under the federal tent — whether
or not they wanted or needed the aid. Administra
tion estimates place the cost at S5.6 billion over a
four-year period — and that is hardly pin money,
particularly when looked at in the light of current
budget and tax problems. Other estimates, from
informed sources, place the possible figure at twice
that sum.
Peter Edson, a well known Washington column
ist, provides an interesting footnote to the proposal.
An effort is being made to get rid of the name
Medicare, which is an obvious bad odor in and out
of Congress, and to substitute a term such as “hos
pital insurance’’.- But social security is not insur
ance in any accepted sense of the term — and the
Internal Revenue Service itself is authority for that
statement. In the case of an Amish farmer who
refused to make his social security payments on
the grounds it was insurance, the IRS ruled that
it was a tax. And it seized and sold the farmer’s
horses in order to meet the tax.
That aside, the American Medical Association
News does a good job of summing up the grave
faults in the bill in these words: “It would lower
the quality of health care, it would lead to the
decline of voluntary health insurance and prepay
ment plans, it would take another bite out of the
take-home pay of America's wage-earners to pro
vide benefits for millions who can well afford to
take care of themselves, and it would impose gov
ernment controls on medical practice.”
It would be hard to think of a more dismal
prospect than that.
GREENSBURG, IND.. TIMES: “Only 16 of the
nation’s 50 states have laws that guarantee all men
the right to work where and when they wish. And
these laws are jeopardized by whims of the courts."
BILL RICHARDSON, Publisher
BRUCE J. REHBERG, Editor
Terms at Subscription: In Nebraska, *2.50 ^ei
year; elsewhere in the United States, 53 per year
rate abroad provided upon request. All subscrip
tions payable in advance.
Entered at the postcffice in O’Neill, Holt coun
ty, Nebraska, as second-class mail matter under
the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. This news
paper 1S a member of the Nebraska Press Asso
ciation, National Editorial Association and the Audit
tureau of Circulations.
national editorial
lA#c6T,3N
Frontiers
Ago
' 54 YEARS AGO
Christian Spenler and Anna
1 Bellar, both of O’Neill, obtained
license to wed last Saturday. On
1 Monday Judge Carlon issued a
x similiar document for Albert
. Ziech of Boyd county and Annet
tie Smith of Holt county. . .Mr.
and Mrs. Anton Toy are the par
i ents of a girl born Monday. . .
Justus Spindler filed suit in dis
j trict court Tuesday against Ka
therine Spindler praying for di
' vorce. They were married in O’
Neill last October .. .Jesse Mills
, and Miss Maude Sruggs were
married at Orchard Wednesday.
i The wedding took place at the
1 home of the groom’s sister, Mrs.
Ray Scofield. . .Assessor Tom
i Coyne has been on the job the
past week getting the books,
, schedules and other supplies in
1 readiness for the precinct asses
> sors to begin work next month.
25 YEARS AGO
r
Last Thursday afternoon while
descending the back stairs at her
apartment home on south Fourth
street, Mrs. Emery Petersen slip
ped and fell to the bottom, a dis
tance of about ten feet, sustain- \
ing a fratcured collar bone. . .
Sheriff Peter Duffy filed last
Tuesday for reelection to the of
fice of sheriff, subject to the ac
tion of the democratic voters of \
the county at the primary elec
tion. . .Senator Frank Brady wil] \
address the Lions club of this |
city at a 6:30 luncheon at the ]
Golden Hotel. . .Henry Schacht
and Bill Egger returned last Sun- j
day evening from a two week aut- ,
omobile trip that took them thru ]
the southern states and over into ]
i .
Mexico. They traveled nearly 4,
ioo miles.
10 YEARS AGO
Very Rev. Timothy O'Sullivan,
pastor of St. Patrick’s Catholic
:hurch escaped unhurt about 4 30
p m Friday when the car he was
Jrivmg left the road and twice
overturned. , .Mrs. Ruth Morgan
received a telephone call from
San Diego, Calif., Saturday from
Per PN1 Richard Morgan
that he was shipping out Mon
lay on the USS Boxer for Pearl
Harbor and then on to Japan
and China until November 21 . .
Duane Weier, 17. son of Mr. and
Mrs. Harold Weier, O’Neill has
seen selected by the Chamber of
Commerce as O’Neill's boy’s state
ilelegate. . .Mr. and Mrs. Neil
Davis have announctd they are
assuming management of the
0. K. Inn, well known Atkinson
:afe which formerly was operat
ed by Mrs. Opal Keating. . .
About two hundred persons at
:ended a membersh.p banquet
Sunday evening at the American
Legion auditorium sponsored by
the Saddle club.
5 YEARS AGO
Buv E Wanser, 67, well-known
n northeast and northci ntral Ne
braska livestock auctioneering
and race horse breed, ng circles
lied Wednesday, March 26, in St.
Anthony’s hospital. . Mrs. Delia
Harrison Sunday was honored at
ipen house at the home of her
laughter, Mrs. Elmer Devall,
lorth of O’Neill. She was observ
ng her 80th birthday. . Mike
Smith, 51, chief operator of the
Jpencer hydro-electric plant es
caped drowning Tuesday evening
n a harrowing experience at the
Niobrara river dam He fell from
i concrete ledge into the reser
voir water immediately behind
he dam, was flushed through the
;pillway into turbulent deep wa
er and had to swim to safety in
he ice-choked water. . .The Wade
Javis farm home, located three
niles south of the junction of
J. S highway 281 and state high
way 95 was completely destroyed
>y fire Thursday while Mr. and
drs. Davis were away.
The Long Ago
At Chambers
SO YEARS AGO
Dr Oxford reports the birth <tf a
large baby boy at the home of Mr
and Mrs. Charles Fleek . it is
reported that the A T. ranch
lost 34 head of cattle in the re
cent storm. They drifted into the
lake and perished. . .The Carpen
ters expect to commence work
on Will Blakes new house which
he wiU erect as soon as the wea
ther permits. . The play ”The
Comer Store" given by the band
boys in the hall Wednesday eve
ning had a large attendance in
spite of the bad roads. . Dr. Ox
ford reports the birth of a baby
girl at the home of Mr and Mrs
Ftay Northrup. . Dr Flemmgway
arrived today for a few days den
tal practice. . Frank Charles is
hauling lumber for the erection
of a new bain which he will
build on his lots in the north
part of town.
25 YEARS AGO
James C. Wilson was born near
Springfield, Nibr. Fabruary 14,
1858 and passed away at his
home about twenty miles south of
Ewing on March 18, 1938 at the
age of 81 years . Government
Contracts have been awarded to
Clyde R. Elkins and Arthur C.
Walters to carry the mail on the
Chambers star routes beginning
JUly 1st . A surprise dance was
held at the Kenneth Watt’s home,
Friday nite, the occasion being
Mrs. Watt’s birthday. . Word has
been received from the west that
Ernest Wilkinson and Almond
Jenkins arrived at Oscar Green
street’s in Sedro-Wooley, Wash.,
on March 26. . ,W. P A workers
arrived Tuesday at the farm oc
cupied by F D Anderson and
family, with over 17,000 shelter
belt trees for planting there. . .
Mrs. Gladys Oxford was having
some work done on the interior
of her building, that la uaed as
the Post Office, the latter part of
last week
Pages Past
50 YEARS AGO
Veterinary Me Kim of Norfolk
was here Wednesday to inspect
some liorses that R A Sarchcl
is preparing to ship to Canada
The Oliver Hill family moved in
to the house south of the Haey
residence Monday. . J. B Ander
son of Dorsey shipped a car load
of hogs to Sioos City last week
from this station. . .Rum turning
to snow last Friday turned into
a raging blizard, no trains run
ning and Northwestern still not
open a week later. . Born to Mr
and Mrs Oscar Leisy of Middle
Branch March 13. a daughter. . .
Rev H. Jacobs has resigned as
pastor of the Page Presbyterian
church to take effect in April.
The Charles Spear family are
preparing to move to Murdo, S
D. . Miss Emily Auten was a
passenger to Iowa Thursday
R. P. Every of Kingfisher, Okla ,
arrived Tuesday and visited in
the Bartley Blain home. . Free
cane set'll to those planting for
my mill is offered by A. D Cana
day.
40 YEARS AGO
John R. Weber has shipped
each week for two months four
cars of hogs. . .W H Decker has
come to Page to live on hia 240
acre farm northwest of Page and
DR. D. E. DAVID
OPTOMETRIST
Complete VlnuaJ Care
Contact IjeimcM
By Appointment Phone SMI
Hi * leer, NehranSa
will alao deal la real estate . .
Robert Gray Hr. celebrated hi*
seventy six.n birthusy March 10.
That wax also the 17th anruver
»ury of Mr and Mrs J. 1 Gray‘a
marriage and from Sioux City
came a wireless telling of the
birth uf a daughter born oo that
date. Parents, grandparents and
great grandparent* note the Mar.
10th date uf 1M7. 18M and 1103. ,
Funeral service* were held Mar.
7 at Uie W:=ud home for Charles
U-land Wood. «>», who died at the
home of hi* brother in low, Mr.
arul Mrs Will.ant Lines In Ari
sons on til* way funne from
speioitng the winter m t aUforala,
Survivors me tale Mrs Min
nie Moffat, Gkarchle, Okla., Mrs
Emma Canaday of Guernsey,
Wyo., Mrs Mary Flora. Fred
Wood, Mrs Winnie Haynes, Mis
ses Grace. Nellie am! Fnye Wood
ami Edgar and I-ewia, all of
Page Deceased are his wife. Me
lissa. daughter*. !>>ra Belle, Ma
tie L. and sun* Clarence and
Charles L. . C A. Aut< n sold a
team of horses Friday lor $00 .
A K Riggs turned lumber into
a 0 by 7 playhouse for hi* child
ron . A C. Townsend Jr. la
aued an invitation to all to hear
Cuba voiced over his big radio. . .
Frank Allen built a h-use and
barn on hi* farm. . 11. K. Kern*,
an uncle of Mrs H. A. Rakow,
came to Page from Appleton,
Wise , for a voui Farmers
team smashed R. J. Ilry ana Fri
day. Dumage* $3.75 paid
Money To Loan!
Property, tVsr*. Trucks,
Farm Equipment
Household <iood*. Fersoaol
HARRINGTON
Loan and Investment
Company
ixm UAIM
1,600 VISITORS IN FIVE HOURS 11
case study AT ELECTRICALLY-HEATED HOME ■
“We can control the heat in each room — just as we like it... The even temperatures all over the
house are just wonderful... My cleaning problems are nothing compared to what I had to do with
the old-style heat.” This is what open house visitors heard last month when they stopped by the
new electrically-heated home of Roland and Frieda Weyers of Beatrice.
Mrs. Weyers, like all enthusiastic people, did most of the talking. She’s
sold on her new home and all-electric living. And so is Mr. Weyers. “I’ve
farmed most all of my life, and now I know what comfort really
means,” he said. The Weyers have 2,800 square feet on both the main
level and the completely-finished basement level. Baseboard heating units supply silent and fast
radiant electric warmth to both levels. An all-electric kitchen, full-house stereo sound and planned
lighting add to the attraction of the low-lying Bedford stone home. “And whether we just sit and
visit — or if we’re actively square dancing — electric heat provides just the right temperatures,”
Mrs. Weyers explains. Why don’t you investigate radiant, flameless electric heat. Your local utility
can tell you all about it — no obligation, of course.
NOTHING, BUT NOTHING SERVES LIKE ELECTRICITY
