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Show wy!--: " """"'1 ) f ' "V,4 V , I; - .... . .v' ,- t -v ; . ;J ' ISOM DART Black cowbov. Isom Dart A little known facet of western history that has only come of age in the last decade or so is the study of Blacks in the development of the west. After the Civil War, thousands of black people migrated west to homestead, work for the cattle outfits, and generally try to get a new start in life and forget the horrors of the South. One such person who drifted into our region was a fellow with the handle of Isom Dart. Dart's real name was Ned - Hud-dlestone. Hud-dlestone. His other aliases include Nigger Ned. Quick Shot, and the Tan Mex. Dart is the most familiar name. Rom into slavery in Arkansas around 1849, he served the Confederacy during the Civil War while still a young boy. v- After the war he turned up in Texas and i-:-; . there learned the skills of cow pun-1 pun-1 ching. Years later many people remembered many stories about Isom Dart, but the one thing everyone seemed to share was the opinion that he was the finest all round cowboy they had ever known. Some of the stories say that Dart also learned the art of rustling in Texas and Mexico, and he first came to Hrown's Park driving a herd of stolen cattle Other versions have it that he originally came into the country with a herd of Texas animals while working for one of the big cow outfits. There is probably a measure of truth in all of them. Isom led a varied life on both sides of the law. He would be straight for awhile and then go back to rustling. Many of the tales of his adventures are colorful and exciting. Once he escaped ex-i ex-i termination while a member of the fault Gang by hiding in the grave of a fellow he was burying. One story has it that Dart was arrested on suspicion of a crime and thrown into a cell in the Rock Springs jail. The only other inmate at the time as the notorious Jesse Ewing. Ewing as quite a tough hombre and had a reputation for carving people like a Christmas goose. Anyway the locals started making bets as to who would be alive the next morning because the two men were certain to try to kill each ther. Well, the next morning when the Jailer took breakfast in, there was Dart , on his hands and knees. Ewing was "sing his back as a table. , Another time he was arrested for the old charge of rustling by the deputy Jiff of Sweetwater County. While "i&poiui.g tne prisoner to Kock ' Pnngs. the buckboard ran off the road nd mjured the deputy in the process. ; '"steac I of making his getaway. Dart ;. ae the man first aid, repaired the hi g"n- drve to Rock Springs and took v!,,10 the hospital. After doing all this - him ifPr0CWied t0 the jail and turned ei m For performing these good ., he was released. cnn?mJDart's death is shrouded in the ' llorn f'fCtl0nS and veils of the Tom rnurrl a' Horn is thought to have rolri w j Isom Dart at his cabin in u 'ood for a $500 bounty put up by j Thei cattlemen of Brown's Park. mak is clouded in mystery, and . re quite a story for another day. |