Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 99, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 May 1917 — "PUSSYFOOT” PERFORMS ONE OF MOST DARING DEEDS IN FRONTIER HISTORY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

"PUSSYFOOT” PERFORMS ONE OF MOST DARING DEEDS IN FRONTIER HISTORY

Single-Handed He Enters Outlaws’ Camp, Captures John Harris, Murderer of His Son-in-Law, Marches Him Three Miles Through a Forest Region in Darkness and Placed Him in Jail at Muskogee. MYSTERY OF THE MURDER OH THE HOUSEBOAT

Mr. William Eugene ('’Pussyfoot”) Johnson is a humane man. He balks at murder, .but he is more distressed at the sale of whisky to his Indian proteges. It was not so much because James Harris was a murderer “that he made his sensational capture of the man as because he heard that Harris was selling whisky to his Indians. That was enough for the Indian department’s chief special officer. He went after Harris, and, when Johnson goes after anybody, he gets him. "It wasn’t any business of mine whether Harris murdered his son-in-law or not/’ said “Pussyfoot" to the writer* “All I had against him was that he was peddling whisky along the Canadian river.” One day In October, 1906, a ferryman named Tate went down about a quarter of a mile below the Pawpaw ferry on the Arkansas river to set a fish net, and observed an object some 40 feet distant in the water. He rowed out to It and found it to be a sack containing the body of a dead man. The body had evidently been placed in the sack, weighted and flung into the stream, but after the lapse of a short period the body rose to the surface, the weights falling to the bottom of the sack and causing it to stand upright. Tate, unfastening the sack, was horrified to discover the corpse within it. He returned and notified the inhabitants of his village, and they notified the authorities at Sallisaw. The body was removed and found to be weighted with a piece of railroad iron weighing 28 pounds. The back of the head had been crushed in by 4 blow, which had evidently been the cause of death. On or about September 27 three men and two women, with some children, had landed near the Pawpaw ferry from two houseboats. For a month past they had been floating-idly down the Verdigris river, sustaining life with rod and gun, hunting along the banks, fishing from the boat, trapping small game. The party was composed of James Harris, fifty-eight years old, the stepfather of two young married women, who, with their husbands and children, completed the party Nora, a pretty girl of sixteen, was the wife of the murdered man, who was subsequently identified as James McKeeban. He had had a considerable sum of money in his possession. Nora’s sister and John Trumbly were the other pair. On or about October 4, a week after the arrival of the party at Pawpaw ferry, two of the men and the women disappeared. The man who was left behind stated that they had gone to trap and would return shortly. The sudden disappearance of the two men And the women aroused the suspicion of the Pawpaw people that one of them might be the murdered man and the other his murderer. The clothing worn by one of the men, who was said to have gone on the trapping journey, had been similar to, if not the same as that found on the corpse. On October 7 Trumbly told an acquaintance that he believed the others were on a drunken spree somewhere and not likely to return, so he Intended to proceed on his journey and overtake them. The citizens of Pawpaw, believing that two of the men had murdered the third, made up a purse to pay the expenses of two who were to follow them and endeavor to obtain particulars. On October 23 Martin and Tate started out to. locate them. They found, the two houseboats one mile below the Fort Smith bridge, and from information given by people In the vicinity were able to learn that there had been but one man and one woman there, with five children. Martin and Tate returned to Pawpaw with this intelligence. The authorities at Sallisaw were Informed of the facts and asked by the Pawpaw citizens to make further investigations. They refused unless someone would swear that John Doe was dead and that Richard Roe killed him. The evidence thus far secured did not justify any citizen in making oath to this effect. Being caught In this predicament, and being resolved to locate the murderers, two men named Watts and Shrum went to Fort Smith and secured the aid of Deputy Sheriff Charley Henderson. He requested Shrum and Watts to go to the houseboat and Investigate. They went to the shanty on the river bank which' the pair occupied temporarily and found some bedclothing saturated with blood. Trumbly was found mak ’ ing ready to ship some goods to John Harris at Eufaula, and was at once arrested. “Your father-in-law has been arrested and put in jail, so you may as well tell us all you know about the matter,” they said to Trumbly. Thereupon, while on the road to the Jail, Trumbly made a confession. He said that Harris had become Infatuated with •his pretty stepdaughter, and had quarreled with McKeehan many times, ostensibly because Mc-

Keehan failed to support her. The two men had traveled down the river on different houseboats. McKeehan was known to have money, and frequently lent small sums to his companions, taking their watches and other personal effects as security, and charging them a high rate of interest. An agreement was made among the members of the party to stop at Pawpaw and steal some sorghum cane. On the way to the field McKeehan dropped behind the others. Harris also stopped, according to Trumbly’s story, alleging that he wanted to get a burr out of his shoe. Harris let McKeehan pass him, and then, creeping up behind him. he struck him on the back of the head with an iron bolt, knocking him down, And afterward struck him twice more to make sure that he had killed him. Harris then took S7O from McKeehan’aclothing and threatened to kill Trumbly unless he remained with the body while he went for a sack. He got the sack, and the two men put the body in the sack, weighted it with the iron, and sank it in the river. Then Harris took his step-daughter into the boat and started for Eufaula, while Trumbly and his wife drifted down tbp river to Fort Smith. Trumbly was placed in the county jail, and the next move was to search for his wife and find out what -she knew about the murder. Mrs. Trumbly had not been in the shack at the time of her husband’s arrest, and did not know that he was in jail. Watts and Henderson accordingly went back and found her, informing her that she was under arrest. She stoutly denied having any knowledge of the matter. A few days previously Watts had sold McKeehan a pair of shoes, and on the way to the jail the party passed the goods that were marked for shipment to Harris at Eufaula. . “Why didn’t you leave McKeehan’s shoes on him when he was murdered?” inquired Watts of Mrs, Trumbly, “Where are they?” “My husband is ■wearing them,” answered the woman. Mrs. Trumbly was then asked -whether she had seen Tate and Martin atFort Smith. She said she had, Shrum, who had joined the party, then Informed her that he had been lying just outside the cabin and had heard her'and her husband discussing the murder, and the way in which It was committed, and added that Trumbly had already made a complete confession. Mrs. Trumbly then admitted her knowledge of it, telling the same story that Trumbly had told. Trumbly and his wife were then takefl to Judge Edmonson’s office, where they repeated their story. Watts then called up the authorities at.Sallisaw, detailed the story of the confession, and asked for a writ for the arrest of Harris. The Sallisaw authorities, however, insisted that an affidavit would have to be made at . Sallisaw before a writ could be issued. It was then decided to call in the Chief marshal of the Northern district. Meanwhile there was great excitement at Fort Smith on the arrival of the pair. William Eugene Johnson happened to be in town at the time. He was planning the series of sensational raids upon the Indian Territory bootleggers which were to make him famous, and he was not intensely. Interested In this news until somebody mentioned that Harris'and his party had been peddling whisky on their journey down the river. Instantly Johnson was a changed man. He buzzed to and fro like a bee, always In the thick of things, and, meeting Watts, offered to call up Marshal Bennet and secure a writ for Harris’ arrest, and that of the woman who was with him. Warrants were accordingly issued and sent to Eufaula, and officials of the government gathered there and began scouring the country to discover the whereabouts of the fugitives.* Meanwhile Johnson, having secured photography of Harris and his stepdaughter, joined the throng of searchers. It was at first believed that the murderer and the girl had gone to San Antonio, Texas, and this report led to a slackening of the pursuit. Johnson never slackens. He had started out to find the man who was debauching his Indians —and, incidentally, had murdered hia son-in-law, and he meant to get hlnL traveling on a train between McAlester and Muskogee, Johnson heard a casual remark dropped which led him to believe that the fugitives were still near Eufaula. He got off the train at the next stopping place, and; started out alone in a southeasterly direction, until he arrived, late in the afternoon, at a ferry station on the Canadian river. Just before he reached this place he met a bootlegger in a rig, conveying a two-gallon jar of whisky. Johnson let him pass. He was in search of larger game, and the welltrained bound never abandons his first quarry to take up another trail. Being a tenacious sleuth, Johnson prob-

ably went after him and got him later. .. The ferryman had just returned after conveying the bootlegger across. During the voyage a small quantity of-liquid refreshment had passed from the mouth of the jar into the ferryman’s, and had unloosened the man’s tongue en route to its destination. Johnson began chatting with the man and soon elicited the fact that Harris and his stepdaughter were encamped at a place about three miles on the opposite bank of the stream, where they had beerj with some others for a period of about ten days. “I am authorized to arrest them,” said Johnson. “I want you to come with me and help.” “Sure," answered the ferryman, “only I haven’t got a gun.” That didn’t faze Johnson. He remounted his horse and rode across country until he came to a farmer’s house. Rapping at the door, he asked the man to lend him a shotgun. The farmer, not knowing Johnson, and doubtless scared by the formidable appearance of such a barrel of a man, refused in loud tones of anger. Johnson remounted and began riding away. No doubt he would have continued his journey without the ferryman's aid, but, as luck would, have it, he encountered a visitor riding up to the farmer’s house, who proved to be a Mr. Porter, a lawyer of Eufaula. Johnson knew him very well, for Porter had recently defended a druggist whose safe Johnson had smashed in with a sledge-hammer in order the whisky which was concealed inside. ...How.eyer. Mr. Porter .bore Johnson no ill-will, and, on learning of the big man’s situation, returned with him and identified him to the farmer. Thereupon the farmer handed over his fowling piece to Johnsen, and Johnson rode back once more. By this time it was beginning to grown dark, but that did not deter Johnson at all. He rode his horse on to the ferryboat, which started to make the trip. But the bootlegger’s whisky had what is called a “kick” to it, and, when the craft reached the middle of the

ow of the trees, Johnson went forward with his famous “Pussyfoot” tread, until he saw three men and three women grouped about the fire. A large tin coffee pot was bubbling upon a glowing log, and the smell of sizzling in a frying pan suggested to the sleuth his course of action. He knew that the murderer would resist capture to the utmost of his ability, and the situation was a difficult one. Few men would have tackled it single-handed, as Johnson did. Assuming his amiable but deceiving smile —afterward famous as the “safecracking smile,” from the fact that he generally wore it when wielding his ax or sledge-hammer—Johnson advanced boldly toward the group of men and women. As he advanced he was- able to pick out, from their resemblance to the photographs, Harris and his stepdaughter, at once. He saw the six start and glance nervously toward him. ~~ “Got any fish to sell?” asked Johnson. “We’re camped along the river, and we came away without our fishing gear. They told me at the camp below that you had had a good catch.” "How much do you want?" growled Harris, looking at Johnson suspiciously. Johnson began to dicker, and, while doing so, he took a hasty survey of his bearings. A tent stood behind the outlaws,, and he surmised that their shotguns were undoubtedly hidden inside., As he chaffered, he advanced until he stood' in the middle of the group; then he cautiously edged around until he stood between them and the tent. Then he suddenly whipped his Colt automatic out of his pocket. “Throwup your hands!”he shouted. Without a moment’s hesitation six pairs of hands went up in the air and stayed up. Johnson smiled; then he..whlstled sharply. and, to the fur : ther consternation of the camping party, the ferryman came out of the bushes at a run, armed with the farmer’s double-barreled shotgun, with which he at once covered the party. Johnson turned to me pair he was seeking. “You are John Harris. And

“I AM GOING-TO THE FERRY,” SAID JOHNSON. ’’THIS MAN AND .WOMAN ARE MY PRISONERS, AND IF ANY ATTEMPT IS MADE TO RESCUE THEM OR TO AMBUSH WE WILL KILL THEM FIRST, AND YOU AFTERWARDS."

stream, the ferryman contrived to run it upon a mud bank, and 'the united efforts of the two were unable to get it off again. The ferryman had his horse in the boat and, leaving the boat where It had stranded, the two leaped their steeds Into the river and, plunging in after them, led them ashore through the shallow water until at last they stood upon the opposite shore. There they mounted. It was now twilight, and the dense undergrowth made riding impossible after they had traversed a few dozen yards. They were compelled to dismount and lead their horses again, pushing aside the branches and the dense, tangled masses of vegetation that almost concealed the trail. Suddenly they saw a camp fire in the distance. The ferryman, at Johnson’s Instructions, remained ’ behind, holding the horses, while Johnson, his revolver in his hand, went cautiously forward. The quest was fruitless, for the camp was occupied by a perfectly respectable hunting party, none of whose members In the least resembled Harris. They told Johnson, however, that another camp existed further to the depths of the thickets. Johnson brought back the news to the ferryman, and so they made their way forward once again, in almost pitch black obscurity, until at length the gloom was dispelled by the leaping blaze of a roaring fire a short distance ahead of.them. “I guess we’ve got them now,” said Johnson. "You stand by and take charge of the horses, and wait until I give yon the signal. When I want yon ni whistle. Then leave the horses and come quickly with your gun.” . Leaving hfir companion in the shad-

you are Nora McKeehan!” he announced. The girl broke down and confessed her identity, while Harris, glaring at Johnson in fury and helplessness, alternately denied himself and upbraided his companion for betraying them. Johnson listened till they had stopped their recriminations and then formally f announced that they were under ar- ■ rest for the murder of McKeehan. Partly to allay the fears of the rest of the camping party, and more to smooth over the situation and render withdrawal possible, Johnson proceeded to deliver a harangue. He told them that if they played fair no harm would come to them, as he did not want anybody except Harris and his stepdaughter; but that at the first crooked move he and his companion would shoot, and moreover shoot to kill. "I am going to the ferry/’ said Johnson. “This man and woman are my prisoners, and if any attempt is made to rescue them or to ambush us we will kill them first and you afterward.” In fact, it was a ticklish place to be in. Johnson had little hopes of escaping either with his prisoners or his life. The night was dark and to the tangled undergrowth it would be the easiest thing tot the world to follow until a favorable opportunity of shooting presented itself. This was, to fact, what gave Johnson his reputation as "the shrewdest, justest, wisest, sandiest man in the Southwest,” as he has been described. Leaving the panic-stricken campers around their fire, Johnson and the ferryman started, back with their two prisoners along the trail. Not only were there the prisoner* to guard and

precautions to be taken against ambuscades, but the horses had to be led along the single path In the darkness. However, the three miles was tra* versed and the ferry reached at last without a mishap, and a rising moon made the remainder of the task less difficult. Then a new complication arose. The ferryman’s somewhat befuddled brain, and Johnson’s preoccupied one, had forgotten that the ferryboat was still stranded on the mudbank in the middle of the river. Upon the bank the prisoners were ordered to mount one of the horses. Johnson and the ferryman mounted the other, Johnson covering Harris with his pistol while his companion linked the two bridles into his hand and guided the horses into the water. The boat was reached and the horses embarked, the most difficult part of the entire proceeding, after Harris had been compelled to jump down into the river and assist in pushing the boat off the shoal. Finally the party reached the other bank. The ferryman then remembered that he had another horse loose in & P a8 ‘ ture, and went In search of It, while Johnson remained covering Harris. He found it after some delay and brought it back. The two captives were now mounted on this, and John-

son and his assistant rode with them into Eufaula, which they reached at ten at .night, overtaking at the town limits the other federal officers riding wearily homeward, having been un-able-to discover the campers. There was much chagrin when "Pussyfoot" revealed the identity of his convoy. The federal officers had learned of the tip that Johnson had received, and had ridden as far as the ferry, but, finding the ferryman gone and the boat apparently abandoned upon a mudbank in midstream, they had forthwith given up the chase and returned home. - Harris was placed in the local jail under a strong guard, and his stepdaughter taken to the hotel and kept there until the following day, when the two captives were removed to the town of Muskogee. The two women were soon afterward set at liberty and Harris and Trumbly placed on trial for murder. Both were convicted and sent to join Johnson’s colony of prisoners in the penitentiary at Leavenworth, for life. They are still there, it is believed, at the time of writing... A minor feature, of the case was the fact that McKeehan was proved 'to have had a wife living in Tennessee at the time he "married” Nora Harris. (Copyright, W. G. Chapman.)

THE DENSE UNDERGROWTH RIDING IMPOSSIBLE AFTER THEY HAD TRAVERSED A FEW DOZEN YARDS.