r
VOL. XXXVIII. PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, NOVEMBER 9, 1910. ' NO- 45.
FIGHTING OREGON SHERIFFS ARE FEARED BY CRIMINALS
Lawful West Owes Its Unpopularity Among Desperadoes to Two-Handed Types of Battling Characters Who Enforce Laws.
,S'yw&ttw ------ aZ jr ? ':acnw' "V- v
.. ;yK ; j WS& - A.. A T
I A -Al , v VvSX , f , 'Vfc:A 5
w I " -. ''Ske; 3v'Ur j. ' w
v. ,-rt i v x' V J, .' t . "' J V - -;:.;., - , M,. ...vrt(Kv
r ' ;r- I - . : t.; x - 0-." - - '
I ' , ' ' I'A 4 M ; f" ' C ' c !
- 1 1 1 1 " U- -' ' - .J - ... -t 1 . .V W . ... ... .M . t' " " , ' ' . 1
BY DEWITT HARRY.
(Copyright by Emma Hyatt Morton.)
WHERE is the crime of yester
year? Where the bandit, the
cattle rustler, the stage-coach
robber, the masked highwayman and
all the other characters mo . vividly
portrayed in romance favored by the
messenger boy of yore? ' "Where Is the
wild and woolly west, the' gold rob
bers ,the hot-blooded cowboy, the
painted and feathered Indian, the
vigilance committee, the fearless
sheriff and all the pioneer personall-
, ties who craved action and would
risk their all to satisfy that desire?
On with the roll-call. Bandit, rob
ber, highwayman, in the west all fail
to answer, they are where they be
long, behind the bars or in more
genteel lines of endeavor. Vigilance
committee disbanded, nothing to do.
Cowboy tamed, ranges fenced and
no more bad whisky. Indian now
super-educated, wearing store clothes
and bad manners. ' Remains but the
sheriff, yet on the Job.
The Kant la Liitlen.
In the matter of crime it is now
accepted that the correct parlance is
to speak of the lawless 'east. There
is yet found the prototype of the
western bad man in the gangster, the
dope fiend, the red agitator. But the
west is not suffering as in pioneer
days. Criminally speaking this sec
tion of the United States is as clean
as a hound's tooth. All that remains
to remind residents of this most
peaceful part of the country of what
once existed is the old-time sheriff,
and in Oregon there are a number of
these men who have an active re
znembrance of conditions as they once
were.
Among the old-time sheriffs in Ore
Eon eight personalities stand out pre
eminently. They are Sheriffs Tilman
D. Taylor of Pendleton, W. G. Hender
eon of McMinnvllle, Levi Chrisman of
The Dalles, W. W. Gage of Coquille,
Lee Warnick of La Grande, John W.
Orr of Dallas, "W. A. Gellatly of Cor-
vallis and George K. Quine of Rose
burg. Each of these men might truly
be said to be of the old regime, two
fisted tested fighters nor dismayed
by any situation. All have been
residents of the state for almost their
entire lives, and they have been in
office long enough that they are
familiar with changing conditions.
Major Crimea Scarce.
Thanks mainly to their efforts the
west of touay, so far as Oregon is
concerned, is exceptionally clear o
crime of almost any description. In
deed deeds of violence are almost un
Known. i ne main misdeeds that oc
cur are at the present confined to the
Activities of bootleggers, and their
course Is daily becoming more beset
with difficulties. The holdups and
acts of similar stamp are rare. The
wild and uninhabited countryside is
no longer the favored -haunt of th
criminal, he has found that his
pernicious activities find better chance
of success when confined to the
crowded city. '
In Eastern Oregon are Immense
stretches of nearly wild countrysid
with ideal hiding places, but the ef
ficiency, daring and ability of th
sheriffs of that region has dis
couraged the activities fo those hardy
spirits who formerly haunted the re
gion. "With TH Taylor, dean of the
state sheriffs, sitting tightly in th
saddle at Pendleton, Lee "Warnick at
La Grande and Levi Chrisman at The
Dalles the way of the transgressor
is indeed hard. This does not mean
that the other Incumbents of the
office throughout the state are not
efficient, but th purpose of this
article is mainly to ehow, in their
proper light, what has been accom
plished by the real deans of the pro
fession in Oregon.
Possibly as an example of a typical
fearless western sheriff there can be
o peer to Til Taylor of Pendleton,
king of the roundup since its incep
tion and a real terror to evil doers.
His work is not to the grandstand.
but is thorough ana efficient. Taylor
has been in office as sheriff for 18
years and his election is foreordained
at the close of each term. He is a
emocrat but politics fail to count
when efficiency i weighed in the
Umatilla county scales. He is a na
tive of Oregon, and was born in
Marion county in, 1870. He was edu
cated in the common schools of the
state, was reared to farm life and
started in the business world as an
employe of a hardware store at
Athena. Til Taylor Is a master
horseman and has extensive stock
interests in Grant county. He has
also served as city treasurer of
Athena,
Some of the episodes of Til Taylor's
career as sheriff supply a few of the
real high lights in the criminal his
tory of the state. It has never been
Taylor's policy to delegate his au
thority in time of need and ' he has
uniformly led his deputies in person
when a chase was necessary. He gen
erally gets them before they have
gone far, with the result that he has
not much to do. the adventurous spir
its of the underworld preferring to
give his bailiwick a wide berth.
Oregon Soil Not Liked.
For instance: Mike Anderson, who
was arrested in Portland last month
with some odd 26,000 in securities in
his possession, was an old acquain
tance of Taylor's. Taylor got him in
1914 for robbing a merchandise store
at Hermiston, and secured his con
viction, as is generally the case. An
derson drew from two to five years
at Salem for this crime, and he had
sense enough to not try and put over
another stunt in Umatilla county, go
ing to Asotin, "Wash., for his last ef
fort, which netted him the large sum
when he looted the bank there.
Taylor caught so many of the stel
lar performers of outside-the-law
deeds that he has little to contend
with at the present day. The mere
mention of his name is enough to
make . the lawless extra wary. He
broke up all of the organized rustling
bands that operated in his county at
the time when he first took office
and most of the later comers in the
same line of endeavor left either on
account of being discouraged at the
slim opportunities that they had there
or in irons. Once in a while an out
sider or gang- of them will try and
pull an act there, uniformly with dire
consequences. So usual has this been
the case that a real holdup is a rarity.
Bandita Rob Kxpreaa Train.
' In 1914 came one- of the last of
these romance-tinged efforts when
the Union Pacific train was held up
by three men between Kamela and
Meacham. Deputy Sheriff George Mc
Duffee of Heppner was a passenger
and he opened fire and killed Charles
Manning, one of the bandit trio. In
the battle McDuffee was badly
wounded . himself and spent some
months in hospital. Taylor and Spe
cial Agent E. B. Wood of the railway
Orcgoo'i typical weatern aherlffai 1 TILmaa D. Taylor of Pendleton. 3 John W. Orr of Dallaa. 3 ItI Chris
man of The Dallea. 4 W. G. Ilenderaon of McMinnvllle. 6 W. A. Gellatly of CorvallU. 6 W. W. Gi(C of
Coquille. 7 Sheriff Til Taylor, kins; of Pendleton Roundup, s Lee Warnick of La Grande. D George K.
Quine of Roicburg. N
company took to the brush after the
remaining couple of outlaws, and
within four days the men were caught
when they ventured near the La
Grande yards. Albert Meaders, who
was recently caught again in Asto
ria as a suspect in a safe-cracking
Job, was one of the men; Clarence
Stoner was the other. They each re
ceived a maximum sentence of 13
years. Bloodhounds were used in this
chase and Taylor and Woods took the
trail 'from Meacham. The robbers
only managed to get some 1200 from
the train, overlooking a large sum
in the express safe. .
Again in 1917 Sheriff Taylor took
up a hot trail after a duo of sale
blowers who broke into the safe of
the Hermiston. postqffice. He caught
up witn tne men at tne entrance to
Ferry canyon, near Wallula, on the
Columbia river, and caught one of
them under a bridge there after a
spirited revolver duel. After exchang
ing a number of shots with the com
panion bandit the chase was abandoned
on account of darkness, and the man
was later caught and is now serving
time at McNeill's island. Taylor has
cleaned up numerous murder cases,
and there is hardly an unsolved crime
on the calendar in his county. His
life has been In danger many times,
and he has heard the whine of nunT-
berless leaden messengers dispatched
his way in a spirit far from friendly.
but he is always on the Jump and
first Jn the field when a fresh crime
is committed, and his name alone,
and the knowledge that he is yet
holding down the Job as sheriff, is
one of the best crime deterrents in
the state. Sheriff Taylor married Miss
Clara Nossu in 1909.
Sheriff Levi Chrisman of Wasco
county is another Oregon product,
born at Dufur in 1869. He has been
In office since 1906, when Multnomah
county extended way up the Colum
bia river. He is a thorn In the side
of the evildoer and they religiously
avoid The Dalles as much as possible
when practicing their nefarious pro
fession. Once in a while one of them
makes an error, and if he is captured
alive regrets it
Chrisman Cap t urea Murderer.
On New Year's day, 1915, Clarence
Pettit killed his employer, Ralph
Brown, at Kaskela. Brojvn was re
turning from a New Year's party at
Madras when he was shot'down. Pet
tit also fired three times at Mrs.
Brown. Pettit then ran amuck and
took several potshots at some hunt
ers. uy tnis time tne entire country
side was aroused and some 50 armed
men were scouring the hills in search
of Pettit., Sheriff Chrisman started
hotfoot for the scene and located the
heavily armed -murderer in a cabin
about three miles east of Kaskela.
Chrisman wasted no time, but slipped
up to the cabin, forced the door and
covered the astonished desperado be
fore he had time to fire ,his gun.
which he had in his hands. The ar
rest took place single-handed and at
4 A. M. ,
Sheriff Chrisman esfcorted the mnr
derer to The Dalles and had a great
deal of difficulty in keeping him from
being lynched. He was tried and con
victed and is now serving a life sen
tence at Salem. During the trip from
Kaskela to The Dalles Sheriff Chris
man had several times to defend his
prisoner at the point of his revolver.
Bold, Bnd Man Arrntcd.
Again the same year Sheriff Chris
man obtained his usual results when
he arrested J. Austin Hooper, wanted
throughout the Pacific coast. Hooper
was recognized from circulars and
after his arrest a search of his room
revealed a cache of merchandise and
assorted firearms. He was taken to
Grants Pass for trial, but broke Jail
there and afterward wrote a pal that
he would certainly Keep clear of The
Dalles. Hooper finally met his end
when he was killed by a deputy sher
iff in Missouri. He was wanted for
a number of crimes, including mur
der. In November last year Sheriff
Chrisman made another notable cap
ture when he rounded up Frank Sul
livan, Edward Miller and C. W. Darcy,
said to be three of the boldest bur
glars in the northwest. They had
escaped from the Shoshone, Idaho Jail,
where they were being held to an
swer charges of crand larceny. They
were arrested in the Idaho city only
alter tney were said to have been
involved in numerous escapades for
a number of months previous. Their
list, of crimes was said to embrace
notorious escapades in Montana-
Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.
During Sheriff Chrisman's entire
time in office there has not been
murder committed In Wasco county
but that the guilty person has been
apprehended, - and thre have been
number of such crimes. Of late
every automobile theft has been
cleared up. Sheriff Chrisman's-father
came to Oregon from Missouri In 1844
and, the sheriff was first a railroad
man and then ran a butcher shoD in
The Dalles, and has held the office
of. sheriff for seven consecutive terms
and seems as fixed as Gibraltar in
the position. His mother was thi
daughter of a minister, and the sher
ifrs .wife. died 11 years ago. He has
five .children, three daughters and
two sons.
Gunmen Easily Cancht
Contrary to the usual experience of
the sheriffs in the eastern part of
the state, the tenure of office of the
men in the Willamette valley is no
as hazardous in the ordinary run. It
appearing as if the major portion of
their activities consist of late years
in handling runners of contraband
wet goods. ' However, there is plenty
of action at times .and It is generally
found to be of the fast and furious
type when It does happen. Sheriff
W. A. Gellatly of Corvallis has had
some very exciting times. One of
these came in 1915 when he started
out after a man who had stolen a
revolver and some money from a
farmer. The thief, armed with the
gun, had about a seven-hour start
out of Corvallis and was headed for
the ..coast. The first definite report
showed the man as 25 miles from the
town, and when the sheriff arrived
at Summit he was reported as about
three hours ahead. Riding on a hand
car from then on, the thief was re
ported an hour in the lad at Nash
ville, and a short distance out of
that town Sheriff Gellatly found him
eating supper at a farmhouse. While
the sheriff was trying .to handcuff
the man the woman of the house
became excited and opened a door
Immediately in the rear of the crim
inal, through which he made a
leap and escaped, followed by a
fusillade of bullets from the sheriff's
revolver. Taking up the chase, the
man was found in hiding on a pile
of drift logs in the center of the
Yaqulna river, and after ha was ar
rested Sheriff Gellatly forced him to
pump the handcar back to Summit.
Desperado Chased Poaae.
However. Sheriff Gellatlys best
case was when he chased Jesse Hall
to surrender to Governor West. Hall
was a holdup man from Multnomah
county and escaped from Salem. Hall
made his first reappearance in Cor
vallis when he held up a schoolbov.
and then started out for King's val
ley In the forced company of a mail
carrier. Thoroughly familiar with
the countryside. Sheriff Gellatly took
up the chase, and after two days and
nights managed to head him off on the
trail near Mary's peak. Hall came
along with his gun in one hand and
a bundle In the other, and when cor
ered tried to raise the gun, when
the sheriff fired with his shotgun.
which had been disabled, wounding
Hall 'in the" face and neck. The
escapade took place in the early
morning and Hall managed to wrig
gle away In the tall ferns and rolled
far enough to make a getaway. Gov
ernor West and his party had come
from Salem and Sheriff Gellatly
chased the fugitive into their arms
near Blodgett.
Sheriff Gellatly was born In Grass
valley, California, in 1864, and came
to Oregon with his Scotch parents in
1870. The family settled near Philo
math in Benton county and the sher
iff was educated in the country
schools and Philomath college. Sher
iff Gellatly has a farm near Corvallis
and was married in 1892 to Miss
Emma Taylor, and they have nine
children.
Sheriff Gagre Started In 1894.
Down on the coast at Coquille there
is another sheriff who is a terror to
evil doers. Sheriff W. W. Gaga. Sher
iff Gage is another of the pure Ore
gon products as he was born In 1850
on P. D. creek near Dallaa in Polk
county and has resided in the state
for his entire life. His parents
crossed the plains In 1844 in one of
the largest trains to reach the Oregon
country, 1300 souls in all being in the
company. These included the Gilllams,
Jenkins, Johnsons, Shaws, Howella
and others. Sheriff Gage Is a demo
crat and came to Coos county In 1888
when he drove a bull team in the
woods. He baa held office as sheriff
for 19 years in all, though he first I
took office in 1894, having missed
two short periods since then. Colonel
Cornelius Gilliam, after whom Gilliam
county Is named, was his grandfather.
Action started in Gape's office soon
after he first took office, in August.
1S94, when a case of burglary and
arson cropped up. Suspicion pointed
to John C. Manning and C. B. Owen,
and these two men tried to escape
by going up the beach from Coos
Bay to the mouth of the Umpqua
river. Assisted by a stage driver
named Bay,' Sheriff Gage made the
arrest on August 20, but on October 2
at 11:30 P. M. the two escaped by
sawing their way out of the old
wooden Jail at Empire City, then trie
county seat. The latter part of ttiat
month Owen was apprehended in Sac
ramento and in February of the fol
lowing year Manning was recaptured
in San Francisco. Sheriff Gage re
ceived a reward of JoOO for his work
in this case and paid out $150 for
the recapture. Owen was acquitted,
but Manning received five years in
the penitentiary, which he served.
Expreaa Office la Robbed.
In the fall of 1898 Tom Drew and
Ed White entered the store and Wells
Fargo Express office conducted by
N. Lorens in . Coquille and held up
Henry and Ed Lorenz. They tied and
gagged Ed and forced Henry to open
the safe at the point of a revolver
and secured about $S00 in cash and a
number of odd coins and nuggets.
They were arrested, but at the pre
liminary trial they had an indisput
able alibi and were turned loose. They
left Coquille a.nd on the road to Port
land separated and Drew stopped
Albany and started a Jag, spending
some 12.50 gold pieces obtained in the
robberys and nuggets. This aroused
Chief of Police Lee's suspicions and
Drew was thrown in Jail for being
drunk, and on his person was found
bill showing a balance due for eer
vices of $75 from T. S. Minot, an at
torney of Marshfield. Drew was held
and Sheriff Gage managed to locate
almost all of the stolen gold plec.es
and nuggets by visiting the various
resorts.
Sheriff Gage then proceeded .to
Portland In search of White and with
the assistance of city police arrested
him In Erlckson's place. The two
men were returned to Coquille and
Drew was held for having stolen
property in his possession. White
again came clear, but when word
passed about that he intended to go
to Mexico Drew confessed, implicat
ing White. After the confession was
properly signed and witnessed Sheriff
Gage started in pursuit of White
who was at Riverton, but he escaped
when being returned and Jumped
overboard. A posse of thirteen men
was organized and haunted the places
where White had friends, as he had
to discard his clothing in order to
make a quick getaway. That nigh
Sheriff Gage's son, W. A. Gage, who
has been his father's chief deputy
ever since 1896, and Jack Reece and
Joseph Collier again arrested White,
and later he confessed, telling practl
cally the same tale as that given out
by Drew. At the trial White got fif
teen years and Drew five and one
alibi witness, who was trapped, four
years for perjury. Another of the
alibi witnesses left tUe state before
he could be arrested and has not re
turned. White made his escape from
the state penitentiary soon after be
ing confined there and was later
killed by a deputy sheriff near Ya
qulna Bay.
Slna-le-Banded He Geta Mnrderer.
A bad murder case in Sheriff Gage's
erperlence was that of Roy Perkins
at the Eastslde slip In Marshfield.
Frank Garrison was arrested on sus
picion after a few days' investigation,
and this arrest shows clearly what
manner of man is the sheriff of Coos
county, for he slipped up to a win
dow of a cabin where the armed man
ay sleeping with five does on guard.
relieved Garrison of his gun and then
arrested him in the early hours of the
morning-. Garrison was held in the
Marshfield Jn il for about a week and
mainly through the efforts of Chief
of Police J. W. Carter a partial con
fession was obtained. He was In
dicted and convicted and sent to the
penitentiary to be hanged, but a sec
ond trial was secured with the same
result and he was then hanged.
Sheriff Gage married Lorena Alice
Knt in Jackson county in 1873 and
they have six children living.
Sheriff George K. Quine of Rose-
burg made a reputation all his own
when he ran to earth the notorious
Poole gang in Cow creek canyon af
ter they had robbed a boutnern t'a
clfic train. In the Farnum case he
had a difficult time to secure a con
viction and only accomplished this
after three trials, but his worn nas
mainly been in enforcing the dry laws
Douglas county was one of the
first local option spots in tne siaie.
Sheriff Quine first took office in
1910.
Lee Warnick, sheriff, of Lnion
county, was born 4J years as " i-
Warnick homestead cottage In la
Grande, which was bunt rjy nis pu-
neer father and which he occupied un
til this fall. In 1S71 the present sher
iffs father held the same office.
Though Union Is an unquesnonaui ,
rpnu blican county Sheriff
Warnick
continues to roll up
overwhelming
majorities, though he is a democrat.
Sheriff Warnick married jmss ui.
Jeanette Tuttle of Union. Oregon. In
1907 and they have three cnnoren.
Booze Ilnnnera Catch Sheriff.
Imagine having been held up when
sheriff of a county. But this experi
ence has hapened to Sheriff Warnick.
This all happened when trying to
break up the activities of a gang of
bootleggers. Sheriff Warnick and
Sheriff Anderson of Baker county ar
ranger for a parley with the booze
runners in the guise of prospective
purchasers. Sheriff Warnick was the
chauffeur for the booze purchasing:
crew, and as soon as the gang was
ready to deliver some $2500 worth of
contraband liquor he ordered "hands
up." However the leader of the gang;
had protected himself against such a
contingency and showed the sheriff
that he and his deputies were covered
plentifully by a crew of men posted
lrt the brush. The sheriffs posse
were disarmed, but when they arnve
at North Powder they made a hurried
set of telephone calls with the result
that the leader of the gang and his
men were arrested. Sheriff Warnick
owns, two splendid bloodhounds. He
finds them expensive to feed but is
more than repaid when they are used
at certain times.
Sheriff John W. Orr of Dallas Is 41
years of age and first took office in
1915. He was born in Rickreall. Ore
gon, and married Miss Wilma E. Dal
ton in 1904 and they have one daugh
ter. Sheriff Orr's mother resides in
Portland. Since his taking office
Sheriff Orr has been bad medicine for
the bootlegger and gambler and lays
claim to having one of the cleanest
counties in the state in this respect.
Sheriff W. G. Henderson of McMin
ville drove a four-mule team across
the plains with Captain Cox's com
pany and arrived in Yamhill county
in 1866. In 1877 he came to McMinn
vllle and has since made his home
there. He was first elected sheriff
In 1894, then In 1898. and again In
1910, since which time he has held
office continuously. Mr. Henderson
has four children and is a citizen with
an exceptionally large number of
friends in the state. His conduct of
the sheriffs office has been excep
tional, as Is attested by his frequent
re-election.