Democratic Sentinel, Volume 21, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 September 1897 — KILLED FROM AMBUSH. [ARTICLE]

KILLED FROM AMBUSH.

Arizona Moonshiners Waylay a Posse of United States Deputies. Six men were probably massacred in the wilds of the mountains of Pope County, Ark. Two were killed outright, two were fatally wounded and left for dead and two have mysteriously disappeared and aie either dead or being held captive by the bloodthirsty bandits who committed the awful crime. The victims were all officers, United States deputy marshals and deputy sheriffs, and the men who did the awful work of carnage are moonshiners of the boldest and most desperate class. The scene of the bloody crime was a gulch or ravine in the mountains of Pope County at an isolated spot thirty-five miles from Russellville, the nearest telegraph office, and ten miles from Will Springs. The region has for yea rs been the favorite rendezvous for counterfeiters and moonshiners and a district in which no lawabiding citizen could live.

Marshal Taylor, with his posse, located a large moonshine outfit Saturdiy night and decided to make the raid Sunday in daylight. Proceeding slightly in advance of his men, Taylor was within thirty feet of the distillery when he was suddenlyfired upon from ambush and instantly killed. As Dodson ran up to Taylor he was also shot dead in his tracks. Rifles began to crack in all directions and a terrific volley was fired into the officers. Two fell mortally wounded and lay by the roadside until later in the day, when a traveler named Pack chanced by. All traces of the bandits had disappeared, as well as two of the deputy sheriffs. The United States marshal will make a determined effort to capture the murderers.