| Show r a 7 sr i 1 t r. r sue 7 77 f Echoes from iho dust Stirring wild wig west episodes bound abound in early history of o Browns Brown's Park cattle cattlemen en The Echoes from the Dust tM feature ture is selected from tho the files tiles of or the Vernal Express and printed as they appeared on 00 the date noted at the top of ot each feature DECEMBER 19 1957 Last weeks week's story continuation W. W G. G gives a similar account of ot the destruction of ot the Tip Gault gang as that of ot Rankin which was quoted in this story According to account a Mexican by the name of ot Taresa was with the Gault gang when the newly arrived Texas cowmen wiped them out from ambush gives a most interesting account of what happened to Ned Huddleston during his two weeks after he escaped with his life when theother the theother theother other members of ot the Gault gang were killed MANY IIA HAVE VE discredited Mr accounts of early day happenings in Northwestern Colorado and Southern Wyoming It may well be 00 that Mr wrote his accounts many years after the events which he recites took place It would not be unlikely that he should embellish the tales with some fancy tancy in an effort to make a good story Then too his stories are replete with some rather remarkable coincidences He just happened to be in some places at the most opportune moments Nevertheless he lived through those wild and wooly days and his account must contain more of ot fact than of ot fancy and many contend that of of ot all the accounts of what happened in that area in those years his are taken on the whole the most factual writes his book not as an autobiography but in the third person The hero of ot his many tales if there is one is Billy Buck It doesn't require much discernment to recognize in Billy Buck the author W. W G G. G But to get on with what happened to the negro outlaw after the other members of his gang were wiped out in 1875 NIGHT TRIP We have seen how Ned after lifting the money belts of his dead companions and taking what provisions he could carry from the outlaw camp headed for the railroad on foot on his way out of ot the country He traveled by night and found shelter during the daylight hours This he did for a number of nights Then one evening as he started the night trek he heard the lowing of cattle and knew that a cow herd w was being moved through the country along the nearby trail HE liE WAITED until dark and after the night herd had been changed up to camp He lie found a horse tied to the camp wagon The horse was none too gentle and became restive This aroused one of the herdsmen who came out of camp with his gun ready By that time Ned was in the saddle and headed away The cowboy started shooting Ned felt a sharp twinge of ot a bullet in his thigh and one bullet cut away most of an ear The horse raced on but when well out of sight of camp faltered and finally fell over He too had been shot Ned was again left leet afoot now with a painful wound in his thigh and part of an ear shot away He lie continued on his way as best he could toward Rawlins or Ot Green River Finally he holed up in a grove of ot trees with witha a spring in it He shot a buck which came to the spring for tor water He had meat and the hide made a better bed than the buffalo robe alone which he had succeeded In carrying He thought to camp here until his wounds could heal and he could travel better BILLY BUCK It so happened that Billy Buck was traveling through the country after helping move a herd along the trail Billy met the cow outfit and was told that thata a couple of days before an Indian In Indian dian had stolen a horse and made good his getaway but probably had been wounded Billy decided to take a look through t the country that it wasn't an Indian at allbut all allbut allbut but might be Ned Huddles Huddleston ton AND SO it was that he found the negros negro's camp He lie ga gave ve first aid with salve which he e always carried in his saddle pocket He lie told Ned that he would see him tum through and seWed settled down to 4 nurse the injured man until he could ride again A couple of ot days later while making a trip around the grove in which the two men were camped Billy saw four tour horsemen approaching the grove lie He soon recognized the horse of or his partner Jim King so he knew he would have one friend at least in the group FOUR HORSEMEN mN The four tour horsemen stopped near the edge of ot the grove and Billy sneaked up as close as possible without being seen Then he learned who the men were and what they were doing In the group were Tom Crowley Johnny Simo and Charley Powe who had once been cronies of or Ned but who were now on his trail intending to make him share some of the loot or be shot THEY TilEY FOUND the trail of Billy Bucks Buck's horse and were on onit onit onit it thinking they had picked up the trail of the Negro Jim King had seen them from a distance and had joined them thinking rightly that they were on the trail of his partner Billy Buck After Arter some discussion with King the three outlaws decided to quit the country since it was getting pretty hot for all men who lived as they did They had seen what happened to Gault and his gang and suspected that Huddleston had taken the money from the dead bodies They wanted their share of that loot too which was another reason they are looking for Ned Huddleston The three horse and cattle didn't seem to be begetting begetting begetting getting along too well At any rate they sold the spare saddles and camp equipment of the Gault gang to King and set out presumably for the railroad where they could leave for tor other parts So the three rode off toward Rawlins As soon as they were gone Buck showed himself to King Buck told King what he was doing in the grove of trees That night the three men met in Neds Ned's camp and after a sumptuous n. n meal of w. w venison www n. n w. w www King set out to return to his camp with Buck remaining to look after Ned and help him to the railroad station READY FOR FOn TRAVEL After a few days Ned was able to travel and now with extra horses and saddles Billy Buck and Ned set off for the railroad They had not gone fa far r until they came upon a corpse with a horse nearby with a bridle and saddle on It turned ou out t to be the body of ot Johnny Simo with a bullet hole in his back They picked up the horse which had gotten the bridle reins caught in inthe inthe inthe the brush and found a bullet hole in the saddle It was getting late when the two horsemen made this gruesome find so they decided to camp nearby The next morning Buck in looking over the country with his glasses saw two horses with saddles and bridles on some distance away They started a search for the riders and soon found where they had made a short camp possibly for lunch Here they found the bodies of Crowley and Powe Crowley had been shot above the left eye His gun lay near the body with one empty shell it it On the other side of the camp was Powes Powe's body with two bullet holes in his lus chest Hisgun His Hisgun Hisgun gun was near the body with four empty shells in it indicating that he had had a chance to do some shooting THREE DEAD The three outlaws had evidently had a quarrel over the division of ot their loot Buck figured that Crowley had shot first as Simo was getting ready to mount his horse and had hit his saddle Simo had then fired tired and hit Crowley above the eye Powe may have been firing tiring wildly but Simos Simo's two shots hit him in the chest While dying Powe may have fired again and hit Simo in the back as he rode away avay At any rate three more mor bad men of the area were dead NED AND ANA Buck Ruck g gathered up the saddles the horses the guns and the money belts They divided the mone money although Ned insisted that Buck get much the larger share They waited wailed a da day for the horses to get their fill and continued on to Green River The They timed their arrival there in the earl early morning hours They went to the cabin of or orthe the owner of a livery stable and aroused him from sleep They told him the situation and he agreed to sell the extra saddles and horses for tor a commission TRAIN RIDE The next morning Ned boarded the train without being seen by anyone in Green River Ills His destination was Arkansas When Ned Huddleston boarded the U. U P P. train after his experience of ot being the only survivor of ot the Tip Gault gang gangin in 1875 he was firmly determined to go south somewhere and make a new start W W. V. V G. G who apparently knew more of his life than any anyone one other than Ned himself says that Ned went to Idaho for a short stay and then went south settling in Oklahoma ENGAGED IN FARMING It There he engaged in cotton farming and in the buying training and selling of ot horses For a number of years he remained there and according to contributed to the support of an Indian woman and her daughter without their knowledge Then when tragedy came to them he returned to his old haunts in Northwest Colorado and Southern Wyoming still determined to togo togo togo go straight He lie found employment at a number of ranches and at one onetime onetime onetime time worked for the Two Bar outfit then a big cattle company of western Routt County That must have been in inthe inthe inthe the Thus he was employed when he decided to go into the ca business himself These were the years when the big cattle outfits were in a adeath adeath adeath death struggle with the little stockmen of the area for the open range DISPUTES As in so many disputes there were two sides of this question The little stockmen termed nesters by the bigger outfits were striving for a place in the country where they could raise their cattle These people resented the fact that the big outfits with hundreds of cattle and hundreds of horses were using up all of the open range and the smaller stockmen had no chance to create a place for themselves There were a goodly number of smaller ca cattlemen in the Browns Brown's Park area a section most desirable because of its mild winters where stock could survive with little or no feed other than what was found on the open range The Two Bar Cattle Co with its thousands of cattle was encroaching on that range Finally an agreement was reached between the Two Bar outfit on the one side and the small homesteaders in the Park that the range would be divided with the Two Bar cattle to remain in one section while the smaller cattlemen were to tobe tobe tobe be safe sate in the use of the Browns Brown's Park area The arrangement worked fairly satisfactorily Whenever the Two Bar cattle drifted into the Browns Brown's Park range they were moved back by the Browns Brown's Park men The larger cattle companies like the Two Bar liar and some others constantly complained that many of ot their calves failed tailed to get the Two Bar liar brand when branding time came because some other brand might show up on them There can be no doubt that in those days of contest for tor the open range cattle rustling found a place but in all probability the amount of cattle rustling was greatly exaggerated But it would be too much to expect that under such circumstances circumstances cir clr- some of ot the small cattle herds did not grow too fast in those days when mostly every man was pretty much a law unto himself until such time as he might be caught with the goods on him Catching a cattle rustler was most difficult and it was harder to get a conviction even though the country was being settled up by most law abiding people TAKES A NI NC NEW V V NAME NA Next week conclusion Ned Huddleston returns to his old haunts under a new name |
