Show AN K Y TRAGEDY nj aby JOHN BRAD BR AD atod tr r rk NOW HE stars and stripes la Is a dirty rag said gambler hunt apologize tor for that de banded the ser geant no said hunt sergeant hoeg leaned for ward and slapped the gam gain biers bler a face there was a flash the sharp crack of a six gun and the sergeant lay a crumpled heap on the barroom floor sergeant hoeg was taken to the hospital at fort willa mette a mile away gambler hunt was placed in the new county jail under the courthouse on the plaza in charge ol 01 the county sheriff and the town of willamette Wll lamette went its may ay but with a ith a difference no gamblers sunned themselves and trimmed their finger nails in front of the main street saloons no soldiers traveled to and from the tort fort across the dusty flat the awen teeth united states cavalry deserted the town and attended strictly to its own affairs on the military reservation stillness hung over the town the tense still ness that spells danger and waits tor for an event no crowds gathered citizens talked of the shoot ing ng with an unspoken q in their eyes as they looked out toward the fort the sheriff was mas uneasy u it if that man hoeg dies he said and shook his head out at the fort military routine ground along without a ripple stables guard mount drill pa rade and if the men were mere dangerously angry they gave not a hint of it the post commander who was wag also colonel of the twentieth eved them proudly they are taking it well he said aid to his officers I 1 know them they are veterans and obey orders the law will take care of that man hunt the officers agreed not a threatening or angry murmur reached cers row from the barracks As a matter of pre caution all parses passes were stopped and orders issued that no enlisted man should leave the reservation except on duty it was all that could be done the men meant ao 11 mischief but suppose they did dida the strongest guard would be a rope of sand around the cluster of frame buildings called fort the one only way to prevent any possible trouble would be to take the troops out on a hike practise march it was called then somewhere away from the place for a time but the colonel ild have had to ask orders from the war department to do this and when the war department heard the reason for the request it would have thrown an official fit and probably have convened a board of doctors to inquire into the sanity of the post commander at fort willamet Wll lamet e it is not probable however that such a thought en the veteran colonel colonels s head he knew his men they were veterans proud of the flag they served and the cloth they wore next day word came to the town that ser geant hoeg was dead the sheriff went to see the prosecuting attorney that hoeg man a dead I 1 don t like this business a heap he told the prosecutor the matter the towns quiet so s the fort too plenty much quiet if the Bold sold leis was buckin round in town or even out at the tort fort there I 1 wouldn t mind but they hey re quiet fightlin quiet they re keepin away from town and when they do come the sher iff wagged his bead head dismally very well said the prosecuting attorney well R ell go out to see the post commander and ask him to I 1 iut ut an extra guard on and keep his men away from the town until things quiet down the prosecuting attorney was vas young but he should have known better he had been a sol dier himself had studied law while wearing a blue uniform at this same fort willamette for chil authority to ghe ghie or suggest orders to an officer in the regular army Is to invite flat snub b ng he ile should have known but he bustled con fi dently out jo to the tort fort the sheriff followed pro testing were we re gom goin to the il n post he said the old tort fort smiled peacefully in the after noon sun blue shifted troopers lounged in the shade of barrack porches and corrals mhd guard dozed on the benches in the g aldhouse ard house sally pol t A casual officer sauntered along the board walk down officers row the canteen was deserted too plenty n uch quiet commented the sheriff at headquarters the colonel received them courteously blat can I 1 do for iou gentlemen 9 he asked we nae are afraid your men will lynch hunt my men have been forbidden t leave the reservation until further orders they obey or ders vve e ade heard rumors yo i n 1st put a r strong trong guard around I 1 comil an ani I 1 this post bentler en ell good after noon civil authority went back to town in a hurry tl ti e prosecutor angry the sheriff apprehensive tor bor the sheriff felt that he be knew the situation better than did the colonel the twentieth caa airy alry hal ha 1 not been stationed long it fort billa ilia mette they had come fresh from scouting and indian chasing in the southwest in joyous antici pation of the comforts of a quiet post and of a civilized sure enough reil town not a group of dobe shacks in a desert the enlisted men found a aate of things they t used to and dian t like vi 11 il lamette had long s nee forgotten the days lays when hen the fort was a protection and looked on it mainly as a source of revenue while the enl sted men were merely more or less of a nuisance like all oti er western towns in the and sab VI willamette Ail il lamette was kas wide open gamblers and garni ling were a strong element in its life from the suave an I 1 golf I 1 man of fam ily kiy vi 0 owned hib his home and business property and dealt pari tal discipline by b day and faro at night to 0 o the casual tin ho horn rn the tang fra was wag alwaes in evidence the eighteenth which had I 1 raced I 1 the twentieth at a arez av Y J t the tort fort had learned to let the gamblers alone whenever neNer a row occurred between the sport and the soldier the town marshal grabbed the soldier first and last generally then the unlucky sol dier was whipsawed fine and jail in town guardhouse and court martial when he went back to the post fighting B and drunken G and crazy I 1 troops of the old eighteenth grew dis dig erect creet if not wise they avoided trouble and the gamblers grew to think they owned the town the twentieth knew nothing of this and its en listed men were neither discreet nor wise the result of several clashes with the town toun tin horns and sports had already made them feel that they were not getting an even break more over had not a man lust just been pardoned by the gobernor goNer nor atter after receiving a 20 ear sen tenc tor for a deliberate foul and unprovoked murder the case was an offense to justice still rankling in the mini of soll sollers fers and civilians alike every one said it was safer to kill a man than steal a cow the sheriff kne knew N all this and feared that this murder of sergeant ber geant hoeg one of the best liked men in the regiment would be more than they would stand an on his big return from the post he deputized twelve good men and placed them as guards in the jail gamblers eagerly volun leered but he would have none of them the town b izzea row soldiers were going to attack the jai jail it vas said but not a blue uniform was seen on the streets when taps had sounded across the flat the fort was silent with only the sentries pacing back ani an 1 forth in the moonlight just the same sheriff mcfarlind posted his men inythe jail and waited wafted near mid night a whisper went round the saloons they re coming the walks around the plaza filled with an expectant crowd the jail in the basement of the courthouse was dark but everyone knew that behana it was hunt guarded by the sheriff and gwehe determined men with winchesters an attempt nas yas made to notify the fort but wires were cut and messengers were all too slow across poverty flat lown main street into the swung a body of men in army over coats turned wrong side out campaign hats car bine at boulder shoulder colts colt s fort ali fhe e at hip it wag was the army trained machine in action swift silent certain it circled the plaza in column of tours fours sentries took post at a curt word of command the crowds tell fell back before threatening carbine muzzles up the broad stone walk right front into line halt and a grim platoon faced the jail door with carbines at the ready the leader stel ped out briskly and hammered with a pistol butt what do you want asked the sheriff from inside the door we want mant hunt now boas bo s you lont ion t began the sheriff but the leader leaders s voice cut in clear determined no talk sheriff olen oi en that door or we ly it dynamite the sheriff weakened he looked up at nis men standing with ready winchesters steTs at the head lead of the corridor steps where they could have held back a regiment they ve got din dynamite amite I 1 guess well have to let em in bo bos s don t said he be and opened the door what followed was short sharp and terrible three men took hunt from his cell and marchi marched him to front and center of the waiting platoon hae hane you anything to saya the leader asked no do you want to pray no he ile was given a shove shave forward the men held him stepped back to the ranks thirty fire firel united states carbines barked and gambler hunt fell to the walk a crumpled heap as sergeant hoeg had fallen to the barroom floor two days before there was no need for a second volley not a bullet went wild the platoon looked f I 1 tor for a moment at the riddled body then moved fours right across the plaza picked up its sentries ben tries and vanished at the end of main street the second act ot of the trag J j edy was over it had been staged and played in a very few minutes s to thinking men it held dis dig j quieting significance it trained fighting men could steal away from their officers defy law and add murder to murder the community was in peril the town wasted fl no sympathy on hunt but condemned the lynching they blamed the officers at the g tort fort tor for having as they put it allowed the outbreak to occur the gambling contingent held it only proved the army no good anyhow the to mork they did soldiers were loafers too lazy nothing but eat up the money ot of the taxpayers said the hardworking experts expert of the farland faro and monte tables the post commander could have prevented the lynching it he had done what the sheriff told him to do 1 I then the prosecuting attorney aid a most ama zing thing and the last act of the tragedy began bhough not a soldier was to be seen about the town he telegraphed to washington town in the hands of a military mob from the tort fort send help at once the message the national capital like a kansas cyclone thunder and light ning from the war department followed orders tor for arrests boards ot of inquiry ga lore chased each other after the first stuttering inquiries over the wires from stanch old officers who coulden t believe their military ears and eyes the court of inquiry developed little not already known hoeg was dead hunt had been killed by sl soldiers B t who were ere they As witnesses the enlisted met were a rost frost they stuck together and were either volubly ignorant or sullenly close douthe I 1 were convened A tew few a very few men were punished more or less several deserted when things grew warm and last ot of all happened a thing which must have caused the county officials who tailed failed to protect their pris prig oner much satisfaction io no hint was dropped of 0 the sheriff sheriffs s failure to do his sworn duty but the war department hid to save face somehow its action re reminds minds one of the chinese emperor who wh L Is army mutinied always beheaded the gen eral the post commander of fort willamette Wll lamette was court martl marti aled tor for neglect of duty he ile was al ready broken in a spirit weighed down by the j stain on the ahnor hi nor of his regiment but he mae as convicted and sentenced to confinement to reser limits and loss of pay tor for a year the sen tence ilan t count tor for much it was the stain on his record that must have most deeply wounded him the murder of sergeant hoeg just happened the lynching ot of gambler hunt might have been prevented it the army had bad not been tied hard and fast in red tape or it if among the officers civil and military on the spot there had bad been one big enough to meet the crisis As tor for tl P punishment of the enlisted men who opre pre the reri offenders well all this happened 20 years ago ghere was no big stick in the white house then |