Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 November 1885 — THE WEST. [ARTICLE]

THE WEST.

The meteor which recently fell near Owatonna, Minnesota, has been blasted with dynamite, and half a ton of fragments is being sent to various parts of the country. Oklahoma has agiin been invaded by the “boomers.” A dispatch from Leavenworth, Kansas, says: “Gen. Miles, commanding the Department of the Missouri, with headquarters at Fort Leavenworth, received official information thislifternootr that about 4,000 well armed and equipped men are on their way to Oklahoma territory. uuder the leadership of Copt- Couch, 'and announce their determination to stay- , and fight, if necessary, for possession of the land. ‘ Capt. Couch has organized a staff, and the main body of the boomers are marching with military precision and determination. They expect to occupy the lands and hold them until Congress r declares them open for settlement. Some of the invaders have already reached Oklahoma and staked out claims and put up signs, “No trespassing allowed on this farm.” General Miles has ordered Maior Sumner to proceed to Oklahoma and eject those there, and head off and put out aiy on the way. Major Sumner can utilize, if necessary, 1,200 regular troops at Forte Reno and 5i11.”... .Two men stopped a street-car at Omaha, covered the driver with revolvers, seized the cash-box, and walked off. The driver opened fire-on the retreating robbers, killing one of them, the other making his escape. The robber shot dead by a street-car driver in Omaha proved to be Water Ruckle, a cowboy from Montana, and halfbrother of a prominent furniture-dealer named Martin. He was the best shot in the city. The Coroner’s jury exonerated Woodbridge, the driver,-- and the citizens are raising a purse of $1,004) to be presented to him. Ruckle's body has been identified as that of the highwayman who had operated so boldly along the car track for the past month... .George Miller, aged 19, bom in Ohio, was executed at Grand Forks, Dak., for the atrocious murder of Mrs. Abbie Snell, wife bf the Rev. C. Y. Snell, and their ten-year-old son Herbie, the night of Jan. 24 last, while they were asleep in bed at their fann-hpuse at Inkster, forty miles wesfcof Grand Forks. A Detroit dispatch says that “the tug Frank Moffat, bound down with four barges, rounded to because of thick weather at the wharf at Sarnia, opposite Marine City. A line was taken ashore and made fast, but the current was so strong that the Captain thought to ease up a trifle on the hawser, and rang one bell to go ahead. As he did so the boiler of. the tug exploded without a sign of warning and with a terrific report. John Ward, first engineer, of Detroit; William Miller, second engineer, of Port Huron, James Wylie, home unknown, and Walter Fisher, of Port Huron, fireman.-were at their posts, and all were killed. The captain, Thomas Carrey, had a leg broken and was otherwise bruised. Frank Furtah. wheelman, was also badly scalded, and Andrew Reid, a deck-hand, was badly scalded. Maud Bennet, the cook, who was in the after cabin at the time of the explosion, was blown into the river, from which she was rescued, uninjured. Robert Goodwin, the mate, who ,was ashore handling the line, was- blown over a wood-pile and had his side injured.”.... Arthur Doggett, of Minto, D. T., and Henry Burnett-, of Grand Forks, were playing Jesse James with a pistol, when the latter was killed... .The chiefs of the Northern Minnesota Indians have agreed to go on the White Earth Reservation, and allow the* land to be thrown open to settlement.