to Hoese THier cosiness
ISACOOTOEAO . .„
WHITE EAGLE
OF WYO
MING TELLS
HOW THE LAW
MAKES LIFE
UNHAPPY FOR
THE MEN WHO
i FOLLOW DIS
HONEST CALL
INQ IN THE
GREAT HORSE
AND CATTLE
STATES * * *
JCATTERED over the
ranges of Montana. Wyo
ming and the Dakotas are
more than six million
horses. These are round
ed up once a year by their
owners and those in shape
are sold. The rest of the
r 7 herds are left to roam at
will the wide ranges until the next
round-up.
Numbers of these range borse? are
often stolen. But not so frequently
d is one might at first imagine. The
Horseman's Protective association, a
• ery strong organization, with mem
oers scattered over all the range
3tates, and money to back it, is ever
active in attending to the matter of
thefts of range stock. Besides the
standing reward of the association of
five hundred dollars for the capture
of thieve3, the rancher whose stock
;s stolen always offers an additional
reward.
Sheriffs, stock inspectors, with fre
quently a posse of cattlemen, are the
thief hunters. The sheriffs are al
ways old-time cowboys, who know
the country and can shoot, ride, and
stand exposure with the best of them,
and it is seldom that a thief gets
clean away with a bunch of stock.
Horse thieves are still hated in the
West, but are net so summarily dealt
with now as in earlier days when the
jails and courts of iaw were few. Then
the thief generally made a swift exit
from earth at a rope's end. But law
has lcr.g ago found its way into Cat
tleland; telephones and telegraphs
carry swift messages and automobiles
make swift trips and the thieves gen
erally land in state'e prison.
However, there is one man who for
the last six years has not only stolen
almost wLen and where he pleased,
but sold stock back to the owners
after the brands had been worked
♦ over, at which art he is a past master.
This man, William McCracken, a
Texan, has repeatedly eluded and de
fied sheriffs and posses sent out to
capture him. He firs came to Belle
"ourche. S. D.. in the Spring cf 1904.
Belle Fourche, at that time, was the
largest shipping point for beef cattle
in the world. Shortly after his ar
rival McCracken got a job punching
cows for the 3-V outfit, then the larg
est in the West. He was a very quiet
young man, of good appearance and
education, a good cow hand, ar.d well
liked by his bosses and the riders of
the outfit.
Working for the outfit at this time
was Thomas „Tait, a young man since
elected sheriff of Campbell county,
Wyoming. From the time of Mc
Cracken's arrival and until his arrest
by J. T. Farrell, then sheriff of Crook
county. Wyoming, on information
from Texas, Tait and McCracken
were a good deal together as cow
boys in the same outfit. Since being
elected sheriff Tait has led in the
chase after his once friend and com
rade several times.
On a recent trip to Sturgis, S. D„
with stock inspector Chuck Fitch, ol
Gillette, and the sheriffs of Miles City
Mont., and Sun Dance, Wyo.. to in
spect a bunch of horses in that dis
trict, the party arrested three men
The horses belonged to H. J. Chassell
of Gillette and T. W. Matthews ol
Spearfish, S. D. The men arrested as
the thieves were members of Mc
Cracken's gang, and now await trial
at Sturgis.
After his arrest in 1907 by Sheriff
Farrell, McCracken was taken back tc
Texas, where he was wanted for
ihefts of stock, bank robbery, bond
(l jumping, and other crimes. He was
helped out of these troubles by his
f father and, soon after, returned to
Belle Fourche. accompanied by his
wife, a very intelligent woman, and
their little boy. and for a while, con
ducted a road house at Alzada, Mont..
but later took up a claim on the head
of Thompson creek and started in the
stock business.
Soon after McCracken located the
ranch horses in the vicinity began to
disappear by ones, twos, threes, and
GATHERED FACTS
In times of peace London contains
16 embassies and legations represent
ative of foreign countries.
The stilted plover is so named be
cause of its long, stiltlike legs. Only
one species is found in England.
In the calendar year 1915, in which
the United States made such marked
advances industrially and in trade,
the trade of the territory of Alaska
showed an increase of more than $12,
000,000 over the preceding year.
A globular lifeboat which can carry
16 persons safely through the rough
est water has been invented by a Dane
who once saw an iron water tank Boat
ing several weeks after a wreck.
Tc protect a person’s shoes from
*-ear when walking over rough ground
is the purpose of auxiliary soles to be
strapped upon them that have been
4 Invented by an Australian.
Sun glasses have been invented for
y baseball players, so hinged to a cap
7 that a touch will drop them into posi
tion for a man to see a ball coming
toward him white looking directly at
the sun
t
in wnoie Duncnes, ana ne was susiwu
ed at once. He had gathered around
him a bunch of old cowboys whose
reputations were as unsavory as his
own. They were Bobby Shorthandle.
Babe Ellis. "Poker Jim” Roberts, and
Garfield McCoy.
Two deputy sheriffs, after skulking
about among the hills and brush near
j the McCracken ranch, by the use of
strong spy glasses, saw McCracken
take a bunch of horses from a pasture
and drive them to a corral that was
hid in a washout. The officers fol
lowed and just as McCracken was
about to run the brand on a horse
which he had just roped from the
bunch and thrown, they rode up and
covered him with their guns.
The outlaw hesitated a little when
ordered to put his hands up. as if
he was measuring chances, but as
■ both guns were leveled at him. he
obeyed. The officers then disarmed
him, and as he seemed to be perfectly
willing to go with them, they did not
handcuff him or restrain him in any
way.
As it was almost night the officers
decided to go to the McCracken
' ranch and remain until morning. On
: their arrival Mrs. McCracken, who
kept perfectly cool and seemed not
: at all worried over her husband's ar
! rest, cooked a bountiful supper and all
1 sat down in apparent friendship to
eat.
The officers' skulking about in the
! hiiis so long on short rations had left
; them half famished, they ate prodig
iously, after which they moved t’aeir
chairs back from the tabie and lit
their pipes. That was the last they
remembered until morning, when they
awoke, rubbed their eyes and looked
( about stupidly. Their prisoner was
; gone. They looked at Mrs. McCracken
inquiringly and that lady laughingly
told them that she had placed some
sleep medicine in their coffee so that
her husband might make his escape
without having to resort to shooting.
The officers had to acknowledge them
selves beaten and went away empty
| handed.
Soon after this word was received
that McCracken was still around in
| the Thompson creek country, and
: staying with his family most of the
time. Then Sheriffs John Thom, of
Crook county, Wyoming, and Hy
Hance, of Butte county. South Dakota,
rode out to investigate.
They kept watch on the place for
several days by means of spy glasses
when they saw, one morning, Mc
Cracken come out, walk around, and
then re-enter the house. They then
rode up to the place and the Little
boy came odt to speak with them.
“Say, sonny," said Thorn. “Go iell
your dad to come out here and give
himself up. We know he is in there
and have come to take him. dead or
alive.”
Thorn then rode to the top of a
hill just in front of the house, while
Hance rode to the rear and took up
his position between the house and
bam.
The officers had hardly reached
their positions after sending the little
boy in with their message when the
door opened directly in front of Thorn.
Mrs. McCracken stood in the door
way, while behind her was her hus
band, with a Winchester rifle laid
across her shoulder.
A patent has been granted for a
handcuff that cannot be accidentally
locked, therefore always is ready for
use.
The tower of a tall church in Swit
zerland has been equipped to receive
the time signals sent out by wireless
telegraphy from the Eiffel tower in
Paris.
An induction balance has been de
vised for the purpose of finding bu
ried shells in the soil of a former
battlefield, so that the farmer may go
over it safely with the plow.
Some seeds have such hard cover
ings as to be almost impervious to wa
ter, but an Iowa man has invented a
machine to scarify them and thus im
prove their germinating qualities.
A calculator that shows the money
values of cne country in the terras of
several others and applies the values
to various weights and measures has
been invented by an Englishman.
As an addition to the Bertillon sys
tem of identification an Omaha dentist
has perfected a way to register the
ridges of upper gums, which, he says,
never change and are different in ev
ery individual.
oc«n ii, me outlaw yenea to
Thorn. Thorn hesitated, whereat the
outlaw fired, the bullet knocking the
dust beneath the feet of Thorn's horse.
But still the sheriff hesitated.
McCracken fired again and the bul
let went through Thorn's coat, be
neath his arm, and he hesitated no
longer, but fled.
Hance, realizing, as had Thorn, that
he could not shoot McCracken without
the risk of hitting Mrs. McCracken,
turned and was spurring his horse for j
the breaks as fast as he could go >
when McCracken ran around the
house and emptied his rifle at him.
After the shooting the outlaw went 1
to the barn, got his saddle horse and
started away. Thom and Hance got
together and followed him for several 1
I miles, but the outlaw was well mount- j
ed and they could not, or did not wish i
to get near enough to have a shoot
ing match with him.
Next day a posse was formed, and j
with a blood bound, “Dude." famous
in that region, took up the outlaw's
trail again.
me nouna lonowea tne trau ior
: forty miles through that most deso
j iaie spot of land in al! the Northwest j
' the Badlands of southeastern Mon
I tana, finally bringing the outlaw to
j bay in a lonely patch of pines. The
sheriff then called upon him to sur
render The answer was a shot, fol
lowed by another and another, the
bullets whizzing so close that the
whole posse were held at hay until
darkness, when McCracken made good
his escape.
Mrs. McCracken and her little sod
still continue to reside at the Thomp !
son Creek ranch and there are stories
that the husband and father is a fre
quent visitor there, going and coming
about as he pleases.
It is also stated that there is a tun
j nel leading from the house to the
creek, and that a swift horse, fully
equipped, is kept tied in the creek
bed out of sight and when any sus
picious person is seen approaching
the outlaw reaches his horse through
the tunnel, mounts, and is soon far ;
aw-ay into the Badlands.
Horses are still being stolen In the
country around the McCracken ranch,
and officers have tried time and again
to capture McCracken, who they feel
sure is leader of the gang, but have
so far failed. This gang operates over
a large portion of Wyoming. Montana,
and South Dakota.
McCracken and those of his gang
still at liberty know every foot of the
desolate country that surrounds their
headquarters at the Thompson creek
ranch and have, besides, scores of
friends, who, while they would not
steal anything themselves, are true
Westerners, In that they will not re
fuse food and shelter to a friend, al
though he be a thief.
It is the opinion of Sheriff Taft, who
Is as loyal in his official duties as he
was in friendship when punching
cows on the open range, that the gang
is safe from capture for a long time.
The country is sparsely settled and
will so remain a great while, as few
people would desire or attempt to
make a home in that region, except
those of the outlaw's own kind, and
to anyone who craves fame or ad
venture the McCracken ranch on the
head of Thompson creek awaits inves
tigation.
Changefulness.
“A wise man may change his opin
ion.”
“Yes,” replied Senator Sorghum.
‘‘But it's like changing a twenty-dollar j
bill. If you're careless about it yon
finish with nothing worth mention
ing.”
Theory and Practice.
"Do you believe in the theory of re
incarnation ?”
"Yes. I think the -theory is all
right. But I have my doubts about
its practice amounting to much.”
Their Reading.
“In old times, when men chased
and knocked down maidens they
wanted to marry, they changed an
old proverb somewhat.”
"What was it?”
“With them it was hit and miss.”
Nonsense.
"A little nonsense, you know. Is
relished by the best of men.”
"Yes,” replied Senator Sorghum.
“But some of us get so proud of our
own particular product that we want
it taken seriously.”
THE EUROPEAN WAR A
YEAR AGO THIS WEEK
May 15. 1915.
Russians completely driven from
Jaroslav and all towns on west
bank of San.
Austrian Tenth army arrived In
front of Przemysl.
Russians drove Teutons back ten
miles in Bukowina.
Turks repulsed allies near Avi
Burnu.
American note on Lusitania de
livered to Germany.
Russian Black Sea fleet de
stroyed 24 Turkish vessels.
German submarine sank Danish
steamer Martha without warning.
May 16, 1915.
British broke German line near
La Bassee and won mile of terri
tory.
Lively fighting in Champagne.
Russians massed behind the San
and Austrians behind the Pruth.
Germans defeated by Russians
in Baltic provinces.
May 17, 1915.
British made more gains in La
Bassee region.
French and Belgians drove Ger
mans across Yser canal.
Austrians captured Drohobycz,
central Galicia.
Russians repulsed Germans at
Shavii.
Zeppelins dropped bombs on
Ramsgate.
May 18, 1915.
French made gains near Abiain.
Germans repulsed British south
of Neuve Chapelle.
Austro-Germans began bomfcard
ment of Przemysl forts.
Russians attacked vigorously in
South Poland.
Two Zeppelins destroyed by al
lies’ fire.
Premier Asquith announced reor
ganization of British cabinet.
i
May 19, 1915.
Germans Captured French
trenches on heights of Lorette.
British repulsed near Neuve
Chapelle.
Austro-Germans forced crossings
of the S3n river.
Russians broke Austrian right in
Bukowina.
Turks drove allies from advanced
positions near Kara Burnu, Gallip
cli.
German submarine sank two
British steamers.
May 20, 1315.
French advanced in Champagne
and near Bagatelle.
Tremendous fighting along the
San river.
Allies attacked Turkish positions
at Krithia and Atchi Baba, Gal
lipoli.
Continuous bombardment of Na
gara, Turkey, by allied fleet.
Przemysl bomtarded by squad
ron of Austrian aeroplanes.
May 21, 1915.
French drove Germans entirely
from Lorette heights.
Canadians captured German posi
tion north of Ypres.
Desperate battle below Przemysl.
British ship Glenholm sunk by
gunfire from submarine.
COLLECTED ITEMS
An electrically lighted cross revolves
on top of a San Francisco steeple.
The 554 people out of every thou
sand in Switzerland who save money
must be compared with a meager 108
in this country, the difference account
ing, according to a Chicago banker,
for the fact that in our large cities
one burial out of ten is made in a
potter's field.
Pellagra may be prevented or cured
by proper diet.
A large eastern railroad is instruct
ing its signal erectors and testing its
engineers’ knowledge of signals by
means of modern pictures shown in a
car which travels over its lines.
“The flowers of Hawaii declare the
glories of God. and the fish sboweth
his handiwork,” declares a realistic
writer in the Christian Herald, assert
ing, by the way. that nowhere else in
the world can fish be found in so many
and such variegated hues as in the
waters of these Paoific possessions of
ours.
Open air is the best spring tonic.
Typhoid fever is a disease peculiai
to man.
Mutual benefit insurance societies
have been established in the public
schools of Rome and other Italian
cities. The underlying idea is that
pupils shall pay small weekly sums to
a general fund, from which certain
amounts are paid out in case of sick
ness, accident or death. The system
is said to be growing rapidly.
There is an unquestionable record
of hearing the firing at Ypres at a dis
tance of 140 miles and a somewhat
doubtful one of 150 miles.
Complete Success.
"Somebody told Vanessa that it
she would walk backward down the
stairs she would see her intended."
“Did it work?"
"Completely. She fell down the
stairs and now she is engaged to the
young doctor they called in."
Feeding the Land.
“Is this land rich?” asked the pro
spective purchaser, cautiously.
“It certainly ought to be,” replied
the gentleman-farmer. “I have put
all the money I had into It"
FIRST PREPAREDNESS CAMP FOR WOMEN OPEN
Scenes at the opening of the first preparedness camp for women at Chevy Chase. Md.. near Washington, where a
thousand society women are learning the essentials of war-time duty. In the center is shown the raisin? of the camp
flag. Above :s President Wilson marching to the ceremony Below is a section of the khaki-dad campers.
AT THE END OF SIX DAYS’ HIKE
9 *
_
v, r, o, anu n arriving in camp somewntre in .Mexico ait
LEADERS OF THE SUFFRAGE PARADE
When the National American Woman Suffrage association stages its big
parade in Chicago on June 7, the opening day of the Republican convention,
the marchers will be led by these two elephants carrying the “suffrage plank.”
The combination will symbolize the demand of the women for a suffrage plank
in the Republican platform. The elephants will be driven by Miss Portia
Willis of New York, who is here shown between them.
HOME BUILT FOR VILLA’S FAVORITE
1
This residence in Chihuahua was erected by Villa at great cost for his
favorite wife, “Luz.” After he evacuated the city it was looted and partly
destroyed by a mob.
WORTH KNOWING
Michigan, with eighty-sis automobile
factories, leads the United States;
New York is second, with 60 fac
tories.
Statistics show that the number of
automobile accidents is decreasing
steadily as compared with the number
of machines in use.
Most of the cost of government in
Montana is paid by royalties on oil
and mining development and leases on
state lands.
Britain's regular army cost3 the
government *1.500 per year per man.
British life insurance companies, so
far, have paid more than *20.000.000 in
losses on war victims.
The chamber of commerce of Buf
falo. N. Y„ has gone on record as op
posed to tag days.
About 100 different species of
oysters have been classified by sci
entists.
Natives of Algeria bury with their
dead all the medicines used in their
last Illness.
E?r a six days aifce across tne desert.
VICTIM OF AERO ACCIDENT
l>e Lloyd Thompson, the aviator who
was seriously hurt in an aeroplane ac
cident on Long Island. He is wearing
the costume designed by Admiral
Peary for aviators who fly in the high
er altitudes.
RANGE FINDING IN MEXICO
Soldiers of the expeditionary ,orce
practicing with the rangefinder on the
open mesa of the Mexican plain.
Needed Repairing.
Tommy, aged three, had fallen and
hurt his knee, and as he sat rubbing
the injured part he suddenly looked
up and said: "Mamma, did God make
me?" “Yes, dear,” was the reply.
“Well, then," continued the youthful
philosopher, “if he had any pieces left.
I wish he’d mend my knee."
Too Much So.
“The ordinance for all vehicles to
carry a light was one much needed,
especially on the roads. They are not
enough lit up."
“But a good many of the speeders
are. ’
Prepared.
"Married a cooking school graduate,
you say?"
“Yes, but he's no fool."
“No?"
“The first household utensil ha
bought was a can opener."
