Whatever a horse does that dog
wants to do also. Last spring, when we came up from Camp Supply, he
actually tried to eat the corn that dropped from King's mouth as he
was getting his supper one night in camp. He has scarcely noticed
Powder-Face since the very day King was sent to me, but became devoted
to the new horse at once. I wonder if he could have seen that the new
horse was the faster of the two!
FORT LYON, COLORADO TERRITORY,
May, 1874.
THERE is such good news to send you to-day I can hardly write it fast
enough. The Territorial Court has been in session, and yesterday that
horse thief, Billy Oliver, was tried and sentenced to ten years'
imprisonment in the penitentiary! The sheriff and a posse started for
Canon City this morning with him and another prisoner, and I hope that
he will not make his escape on the way over. The sheriff told Faye
confidentially the route he intended to take, which is not at all the
one he is supposed to be going over, and threw out strong hints to the
effect that if he wanted to put an end to the man's vicious career
there would be no interference from him (the sheriff) or his posse. He
even told Faye of a lonesome spot where it could be accomplished
easily and safely!
This was a strange thing for a sheriff to do, even in this country of
desperadoes, and shows what a fiend he considers Oliver to be. He said
that the man was the leader of a gang of the lowest and boldest type
of villains, and that even now it would be safer to have him out of
the way. Sheriffs are afraid of these men, and do not like to be
obliged to arrest them.
The day of the trial, and as Faye was about to go to the court room, a
corporal came to the house and told him that he had just come from Las
Animas, where he had heard from a reliable source that many of
Oliver's friends were in the town, and that it was their intention to
kill Faye as he came in the court room. He even described the man who
was to do the dreadful work, and he told Faye that if he went over
without an escort he would certainly be killed.
This was simply maddening, and I begged Faye to ask for a guard, but
he would not, insisting that there was not the least danger, that even
a desperado would not dare shoot an army officer in Las Animas in a
public place, for he knew he would be hung the next moment. That was
all very well, but it seemed to me that it would be better to guard
against the murder itself rather than think of what would be done to
the murderer. I knew that the corporal would never have come to the
house if he had not heard much that was alarming.
So Faye went over without a guard, but did condescend to wear his
revolvers. He says that the first thing he saw as he entered the court
room were six big, brawny cavalrymen, each one a picked man, selected
for bravery and determination. Of course each trooper was armed with
large government revolvers and a belt full of cartridges. He also saw
that they were sitting near, and where they could watch every move of
a man who answered precisely to the corporal's description, and as he
passed on up through the crowd he almost touched him. His hair was
long and hung down on his shoulders about a face that was villainous,
and he was "armed to the teeth." There were other tough-looking men
seated near this mart, each one armed also.
Colonel Bissell had heard of the threat to kill Faye, and ordered a
corporal, the very man who searched so bravely through the dark house
for Oliver at Granada, and five privates to the court, with
instructions to shoot at once the first and every man who made the
slightest move to harm Faye! Those men knew very well what the
soldiers were there for, and I imagine that after one look at their
weather-beaten faces, which told of many an Indian campaign, the
villains decided that it would be better to keep quiet and let Oliver
manage his own affairs.
A sergeant and one or two privates were summoned by Oliver to give
testimony against Faye, but each one told the same story, and said
most emphatically that Faye had not done more than speak to the man in
the line of duty, and as any officer would have done. Directly after
guard mounting, and as the new guard marches up to the guardhouse, the
old guard is ordered out, also the prisoners, and the prisoners stand
in the middle of the line with soldiers at each end, and every man,
enlisted man and prisoner, is required to stand up straight and in
line. It was at One of these times that Oliver claimed that Faye
kicked him, when he was officer of the day. Faye and Major Tilford say
that the man was slouching, and Faye told him to stand up and take his
hands out of his pockets. A small thing to murder an officer for, but
I imagine that any sort of discipline to a man of his character was
most distasteful.
Of course Faye left the court room as soon as his testimony had been
given. When the sentence was pronounced the judge requested all
visitors to remain seated until after the prisoner had been removed,
which showed that he was a little afraid of trouble, and knew the
bitter feeling against the horse thief in the town.
