Wednesday
Wednesday, October 13, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Tillman Glaze’s
fiddle.
Prineville Sheriff James Blakely
life for many years. Till¾s
Prineville. Till¾s brother Joe
a summer evening. There¾s a
defense. When the man¾s
thought he couldn¾t get a fair
fence around Glaze Meadow
with Till¾s brother Joe.
Mossy later turned himself
in to the new county seat in
Prineville and was released
with a verdict of self-defense.
But many accounts written
of those years tie Mossy to
the reign of the Prineville
Vigilantes.
In 1902, 20 years after the
events occurred, a Portland
newspaper article called
it <Crook County¾s Reign
of Terror.” The Prineville
Vigilantes started from a
stockman¾s association for
protection from cattle thieves,
but somehow evolved into
masked men who left a skull
and crossbones death notice
on the doors of their enemies,
and then killed and hung them
from bridges and juniper
trees. Nine or more people in
Prineville were killed.
A d e e p e r d iv e in to
accounts from that time
revealed that Mossy Barnes
was believed to be one of the
Vigilantes. Despite his folksy
name, Mossy Barnes was no
poor country boy. He was
James Morse Barnes, the son
of Elijah Barnes, one of the
founders and first mayor of
Prineville. Elijah Barnes was
understandably bitter because
his first ranch in Prineville
was lost to the government¾s
land grant to Willamette
Valley and Cascade Mountain
Wagon-Road Company. He
was not compensated and the
road company was accused of
some fraud, not completing
the roadwork promised. Elijah
never recovered from the
unfairness of it.
Mossy, his father, Elijah,
and his brother George were
described as a “fighting
family,” and accounts alleged
that young Mossy helped
carry out a plan to pick a
fight with Mike Mogan after
a poker game, to create a
quarrel and kill him. Mossy
claimed the shooting was in
self-defense, but the dying
man identified the gun Mossy
used as belonging to a leader
of the Prineville Vigilantes.
Some accounts accused
Mossy of other Vigilante
murders. Mossy was advised
to hide out at Glaze Meadow.
Public opinion was first
with the Vigilantes due to
frustrations with lax local
Tillman Glaze
enforcem
law enforcement.
When the
new county seat was formed
in Prineville in 1883, the
appointed county officers and
court officials were nearly all
Vigilantes. Mossy returned
from his Glaze Meadow
hideout and was acquitted by
reason of self-defense.
After a string of killings
in Prineville, the public and
local rancher James Blakely
had had enough. When the
Vigilantes threatened him
with death, Blakely formed
“The Moonshiners,” citizens
who rode in the moonlight
looking for the masked riders.
Then the Vigilantes threatened
they would break up the
Moonshiners gang for good.
But many had joined
Blakely, and the Moonshiners
were 75 strong the night of a
showdown at Glaze¾s saloon.
orted to have
Till Glaze is reported
tried to stay neutral in the
dispute, considering Blakely a
friend. In 1884 The Oregonian
reported that Blakely said,
“The gang members were
looking out the windows of
Till Glaze¾s saloon, I was
fighting mad, and so were the
rest of us. We were ready to
fight it out right there. »If you
think you can stop us, come
on out and try it!¾ I hollered at
the gang.”
They didn¾t come out, and
it¾s said that on that night the
Vigilantes power was broken
and they never rode again.
A few months later, James
Blakely was elected sheriff.
The stories of Mossy
Barnes disappear after that.
His father, Elijah, still bitter
over the loss of his claim,
moved back to Missouri.
Brother George, a lawyer, died
in a gunfight in Canyon City.
In 1889, Till sold Glaze
Meadow to his friend, the
new Prineville sheriff James
Blakely, who reportedly used
the cabin in Sisters as a retreat.
Then, in 1894, Till got into a
dispute over a horse race in
Burns and died in a saloon
shootout. He and many of his
family rest together in Juniper
Haven Cemetery in Prineville.
Till¾s gun and beloved
violin are at the Bowman
Museum, carefully protected
13
by family and friends for 130
ye
years.
The beautifully tooled
le
leather
case is a marvel and
ha the words “Till Glaze
has
P
Prineville”
carved on the
co
cover.
The violin is inlayed
w a shell flower.
with
And 13 years after his
su
summer
of fence-building at
G
Glaze
Meadow, 36-year-old
M
Mossy
hung himself in the
upstairs of his family¾s house
in Prineville, a house that still
st
stands
today. Historian Steve
L at the Bowman Museum
Lent
and I agreed we don¾t really
be
believe
in ghosts, but then
St
Steve
paused and said “But...”
He explained that in his 20
ye
years
at the museum at least
12 renters of the Barnes house
ha come in asking, “What
had
happened in this house?”
They reported sightings of a
man sitting in the house and
walking the hallways.
Today if you wander
the wild reaches of Glaze
Meadow, there is no trace of
Till¾s cabin, but a small piece
of Mossy¾s fence still stands.
And on the right summer
evening in July, you may
think you hear a ghostly violin
tune as spirits of the wild and
tragic West gather and the
moon rises.
NOW
W O
OFFERING...”DESHROOMS!”
FFF E R IN
NG ... .””D E S H R O O M S !”
Indoor-grown,
Indo
oo r-- g r o w n , healthy,
h e allt h y,, fancy,
f a ncyy , and
a nd
delicci o uss
delicious
M U S H R O O M S !
MUSHROOMS!
243 N. Elm St., Sisters
541-549-8198
WE DELIVER!
MEAT S, GAME
ALASKAN SEAFOOD
CHEESES
SANDWICHES
BEER, WINE, CIDER
110 S. SPRUCE ST. | 541-719-1186
Fall Cleaning!
FREE
ESTIMATES!
• Window & gutter cleaning,
power washing
• Residential & commercial
screen cleaning/repair &
glass restoration
• Housekeeping &
deep cleaning
• Monthly, bi-monthly,
move in/out
Mendoza’s Cleaning Services LLC
541-610-5760 • Cesar
SCHEDULE YOUR
FENCING PROJECTS NOW!
The Law Offi ce of
JOHN H. MYERS,
S LLC C
— Downtown Sisters —
WILLS & TRUSTS
Make it easy for you and your loved ones.
Call for a free 30-minute consultation.
Protect what you’ve
worked for.
541-588-2414
204 W. Adams Ave., Ste 203
www.centraloregonattorney.com
Craftsman-Built
Custom Fencing,
Ranch & Agricultural,
Residential, Commercial 5 541-588-2062
CCB#228388
F FREE
R E E ESTIMATES
E S T I M A T E S & COMPETITIVE
C O M P E T I T I V PRICING
Locally Owned, Superior Customer Service
www.SistersFenceCompany.com