The Sunday Oregonian., December 31, 1922, SECTION TWO, Image 34

THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 31, 1923
WATT FAMILY IS SAID TO BE LARGEST
OF RELATED GROUPS LIVING IN OREGON
Descendants of Pioneers Declared to Number About 165, Including Many Who Took Prominent Part in
Upgrowth of State After Their Arrival Here From Missouri in 1847.
ft : t YM
LV'i " 1 v H !
: v
.-t
Above, left to rtcht Clara Watt Morton, Mr. Aurora Bowman and Mrs. Roxanna Watt Walte. Below, top row
Isabella B. Watt Breyman, Alice S. Watt, Mary Garrison. Middle row Elizabeth Allen, Levi Allen, Rox
I anna Watt White, Henry Garrison. Bottom Aurora Watt Bowman and Nancy Graham.
BY ADDISON BENNETT.
OF ALL the pioneers of 1845 no
family made a better showing
for the upgrowth of Oregon
than that of John Watt, who came
here with his large family from Mis
souri, their Missouri home being
on a farm, near Lineos, in Sulli
van county.
But before going deeply into the
story of John Watt, it will be neces
sary to take up a trip made to Ore
gon by Joseph Watt, the oldest child
of Mr. and Mrs. John Watt. Joe, as
he was always known, both here
and in his Ohio and Missouri homes,
was born in or near Mount Vernon,
O.. in 1817.
From Ohio the family moved to
Missouri. The elder Watt was a
carpenter, and Joe learned that
trade from his father. That both
John and his son Joe were good
workmen goes without saying, for
they came of Scotch descent, where
good workmen were always turned
out. And the Watt family, from
their arrival in this country, were
wanderers; they did not stay at
home overmuch, but traveled around,
getting work where they could, but
always saving their money. So
when Joe was about 20 he left home
and traveled over much of the mid
dle west, and even down to Texas
When he was about 25 years old he
returned home with a few Texas
Ipdnies as his capital, and in the
early spring of 1844 Joe and a num
ber of others, started across the
plains for Oregon. Joe had nothing
much but three or four ponies,
plenty of clothing, a gun and oodles
of ammunition.
Sabbath Is Observe.
It will not be necessary to go into
all of the details of that trip. Suf
fice it to say that most of the mem
bers were Christians who stayed In
camp every Sabbath day. When you
come to take the Sundays out of a
pix months' trip, you stand to lose
ebout 26 days, and that loss found
them attempting to cross the Blue
mountains In a deep snow. The
members were also shy of provi
sions and clothing. - There were sev
eral young, sturdy men in the out
fit, and with Joe at the head they
turifled in their clothing for the ben
efit of the women and children and
Joe and one other man started on
ahead with two ponies. They met
some Indians, and Joe was held up;
but before he was harmed his fellow
traveler came up and both were per
mitted to "mush" along. I do not
suppose - that "mush" and travel
were synonymous terms In the 40s,
but. anyhow, they , came on to The
Xialles.
There -was a flatboat with oars
at The Dalles about ready to leave,
and they climbed aboard, -the rule
of the boats being to "pay as you
enter." But Joe was shy of money,
and declared his willingness to pay
his way by doing any sort of work.
The captain asked him what he
could do. Joe said he was a 'car
penter. Having no carpenter work
the captain asked him if he could
sing. Joe replied that singing was
his long suit; so Joe sang his way
from The Dalles to Portland! Per
haps he was the only Oregon pio
neer who paid his fare by singing.
Job Obtained at Oregon City.
Oregon City was the metropolis
Of Oregon in those days, and Joe
made his way there. He found a
flour mill was being built, by Dr.
McLoughlin I think. When asked
it he was a ship carpenter, he re
plied that he had done some work
' on vessels. So he was put to work
with a promise of good pay "in
trade." He did not know what the
trade might me, but his board was
furnished and he was busy and
happy. It took several months to
complete the mill, and then Joe was
told that his trade would be In
clocks. It seems a large consign
inent of clocks had arrived for the
Hudson's Bay company, so Dr. Mc
I.oughlin was short of money but
long on clocks; and Joe took a few
dozen and then started out as
clock merchant, trading them for
anything he could drive, carry or
eat. But the young man had an eye
fur buciness, - so- be . traded for-as
- .t.vr - &wiw3r t.xj
&JKUSMxS&ai!x x iiS:-. - x..TTw, ifrWiMtgii6'VxffrixiMhfffiil
much wheat as he could, at a dollar
a bushel, and he sold It all during
the following winter for $5 a bushel.
Well, he was a thrifty chap, and
he made money on about everything
that he undertook, so that by early
spring of 1847 he had accumulated
about 84000, and he decided he
would strike out for home with his
little fortune. And not so little at
that. But tfew of the pioneers gar
nered that much money in so short
a time. He reached Sullivan county
and his home late in the fall.
Fortune Causes Surprise.
Then he spread his gold dust, nug
gets and gold slugs out on the table
and pretty soon the news traveled
all over northern Missouri that Joe
Watt had returned home with 14000
in gold. Excitement? I rather sup
pose old Jefferson county was all
stirred up. and tretty soon a train
began to form for a movement Ore
gonward the following spring. But
Joe's first venture was to buy 400
sheep of good breed, for he knew
the want of them, and any other
livestock, in Oregon. He also made
a trip to Boston and brought a wool
carding machine, which was the
first to start here. Then he got
busy making wagons and harness,
bought a few yoke of oxen, made
ox yokes and bows, forged chains,
spent a busy winter getting ready
and advising the neighbors who
were coming with them as to what
to bring. And, perhaps, that was
the advent oftso many cows in 1848
into the state.
Note Since writing the forego
ing, the facts of which I received
from the three sisters of Joe Still
living, I have, had placed at my dis
posal further data furnished by Mrs.'
Ross, a daughter of Ahio Watt, who
seems to be the historian of the
family. She has a mass of printed
scraps and articles written and gath
ered by her father relating to the
early history of the family. The
account of Joe's advent into Oregon
differs somewhat from the way I
have already written it,' so I will
refer briefly to the notes of Ahio.
Do not think the name was taken
from his native state of Ohio. ' Read
the third verse of the sixth chapter
of Samuel II.
Clothing; Given Away.
When Joe reached The Dalles he
was a veritable scarecrow, so far as
olothing was concerned. The young
man had given away everything in
the way of clothes, except what he
was wearing, to the ' women and
children, with the snow a foot deep
on the ground this taking place
near the summit of the Blue moun
tains, and ' he and one companion
without food or money, rude on to
the west on their ponies., By the
time .they got to The Dalles Joe
was well draped in rags. Not a
thing in the-way of personal prop
erty had he;, even his pony was
gone. Let the reader stop here long
enough to consider his plight Did
a poorer man ever come to Oregon?
16 aid apply for passage, but was
refused, and left sitting in his rags
on the dock. But when about to
cast off the lines the good captain
took pity on him and remarked to
the mate, "We cannot leave that
poor devil here to starve." Then
came the singing episode about as
before written. And again I find a
difference upon his arrival at Ore
gon City. He went to Dr. McLough
lin and asked for some clothing, and
was refused. But in a few moments
the great and good McLoughlin
relented and told one of his clerks
to fit Joe out with a suit of cord
uroy, to be paid for whenever the
poor young man could pay.
Job Obtained on Church.
"He took the new suit of British
corduroy up the river to a spot
where there was some brush, took
a bath, put on his new suit, threw
the old rags away, and came back
to town scarcely recognizable to
McLoughl'n and the clerks. . In the
meantime a priest had come to town
from St. Paul, Or., and wanted a
good carpenter to finish a church
he was building at or near St. Paul,
and Joe got the Job and did the
work entirely satisfactorily, was
paid in British sold and went to -the
store and paid for his clothes. As
to the clock episode. It seems he
bought them from a ship capta'n,
with a part of this gold. But the
wheat he got in trade he shipped on
a ship to Europe, and that was the
first wheat ever shipped abroad
from Oregon. He got but a trifle
for it, for the reason that the ker
nels were so much larger than the
English had ever seen that they
thought the Americans were playing
a trick on them;- but thereafter
samples were sent ahead by Joe and
the cargo had to test out with the
sample.
To return to the westward trip
of the Watt family, I find that aside
from Mr. and Mrs. John Watt and
Joe, there were eight children, as
follows: Ahio, Sarah, Elizabeth, Isa
Delia, Roxanna, Anna, Aurora and
Clare. (The oldest daughter,. Ade-
lina was married and had three chll
dren. They did not come until
1849.)
Children Die In Infancy.
Four children, besides, had been
born to John Watt and his wife, but
they died in infancy. So the fam
ily that came to Oregon consisted of
father, mother, two sons and eight
daughters.
As stated before, the party was
organized and ready to make an
early start for Oregon in the spring
or 1818, ana they did leave their
home the latter part of February.
They reached St. Joe in good season
but there Mrs. Watt was taken ill
and the entire party remained, for
they would not leave her behind,
She was, for several days, expected
to die, and she made her husband
and son agree to bury her across the
Missouri river, in "free soil," for
Missouri was a slave state. But she
took a turn for the better and after
the lapse of two weeks they
plodded on.
As nearly as I can discover, there
were some 16 wagons. Joe was by
unanimous consent chosen to guide
them, for he had twice passed over
the trail. There were from two to
five yoke of oxen to .each wagon.
Aside rrom the ox wagons, one fam
ily had a spring, or express wagon
with a team of horses to draw it.
Joe had his 440 head of sheep (and
got through with about 340 head)
and there were .something like 45
yoke of oxen, about 15 horses, and
quite a number of milk cows, be
sides some poultry, a few fruit trees
and all of the furniture and bedding
tnat an outrit could carry.
: . Family Tree Traced.
First, let us trace the Watt fam
ily tree back to the father , of John
Watt. Samuel Watt, a silk weaver,
of Scotch-Irish parentage, came to
America from the north of Ireland
before the revolution, about 1760,
settling somewhere in the vicinity
of Philadelphia; his son, Joseph, in
1802, crossed the Alleghenies into
what became -Mercer county, Penn
sylvania, where he took up a dona
tion, or Tomahawk, claim of 400
acres of -land. At which time his
son, John Watt, was 10 years old
having been, born in 1792. , Young
jonn enlisted in the, war of 1812
serving with "Perry in his first
cruise of the great lakes, and after
wards stationed at Fort Erie.
In- 1815 he migrated to Knox
county, Ohio, where he married
Mary Scott, and their first child,
Joseph, was born December 17, 1817,
In 1838 the family emigrated to Mis
souri, a part of the family remain
ing in Ohio until the following
spring, when they, also came to
Missouri.
Wedding- Dates Given.
I will now -take up the members of
the original Watt family and give
the dates of their marriages and the
number of children they had. Jo
was not married until 1860, when he
was 43 years old. He married a
Miss Logan, and they had three chil
dren, John Lyon, Arlington Earl and
"Cad." They are all now living. Ade
lina was married in Missouri, to a
man by the name of Leonard Full
quartz, from Denmark. They had
eight children, one of whom is still
living. Ahio S. married Mary Elder,
and they had seven children, Dr.
Watt of Hood River being one of
them. - And. by-the-way, Ahio was
for many years before his death an
important figure In Oregon. At first
he was a school teacher and taught
the first school in Amity. The old
homes of the family were in and
near Amity. The donation claims of
both John Watt and his eon Joe
were there. That whole neighbor
hood was filled "with the children,
grandchildren, great-grandchildren
and great-great-grandchildren, a
well as their parents lived there.
Ahio died in 1909. He was then,
and had been for many years, tax
agent for the O. R. & N. railway,
being . succeeded by Mr. Morrow.
Sarah married Martin Jesse, and
they had a hotel at Iafayette, Tarn
hill county. They had four chil
dren, three of whom are still living.
Mrs. Jesse died in 1886, and Mr.
Jesse died in 1902. One of their chil
dren has a responsible position in
the Ankeny bank of Walla Walla.
Elizabeth married John Wrenn, a
carpenter-farmer, near Albany. Both
she and her husband are dead. They
had 13 children, 11 of whom are still
living, the most of them in Albany
and Portland.
Isabella Watt Dead.
Isabella Watt married Werner
Breyman of Lafayette, and later
they removed to Salem, Both are
dead. They had three children, all
of whom are living. Roxanna mar
ried 'William G. White. of Yamhill
county. They had no children. Mr.
White died in 1878 and she has
never remarried. She lives with her
sister Aurora, Mrs. Bowman, at 535
Belmont street, across the street to
the west is St. David's church. Anna
married Erastus Holgate. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Holgate are dead, but their
five children are all living.
Almost from the time the Watts
came .to Oregon in 1848 Joe Watt
was one of the foremost men in the
state. You never hear of him as an
applicant for office. Neither he, his
father or brother, ever held a po
litical or public office. Joe did take
the position of president of the Pio
neer society long after the office
was due him. But nothing could
ar John Watt or his eon from their
fixed determination to be Just plain
farmers. When gold was discovered
in California, in Idaho, in Oregon,
the Watts determined to raise food
for the miners In place of joining
their neighbors and going in quest
of the gold.
In addition to bringing the first
sheep of any moment to Oregon, and
the first wool-carding machine, Joe
Watt was the first to ed-vocate the
building of a woolen mill, and he
and his associates worked for two
years at the project, finally starting
in 1858 the first mill of the kind
on the Pacific coast, located at
Salem.
Of the family of John Watt, three
are still living, all on the east side
of Portland: Mrs. Roxanna White,
who lives with her sister, Mrs. Au
rora Bowman, at 535 Belmont street,
and Mrs. Clara Morton, who lives at
Bast Burnside and East Eleventh
streets. All three are enjoying good
health and will probably live many
years.
Perhaps no woman In Oregon Is
an aunt, grand-aunt, great-grand-
aunt, or great-great-grand-aunt to
so many persons as those who came
to Oregon 74 years ago. The num
ber of the descendants of them and
their brothers and sisters will never
be known, but Mrs. Ross estimated
the number at more than 165, mak
ng the Watt family the largest In
Oregon.
Scientist Discusses Life on'
Planet Venus.
Conditions Declared Favorable for
Existence of Living Organisms.
TJOSTON, Dec SO. The existence of
U lire on the pia.net venus ma.
be considered highly probable. Dr.
Harlow Shapley, director of the
Harvard observatory, eald in a re
cent lecture here. He added that
the question of 111 on Mars was
controversial, but that Us Bmall
mass and its great distance from
the Bun counted heavily against the
probability of life there.
'Venus, he said, "is comparable
to the earth in many ways and If,
as 1b likely, living organisms de
velop wherever conditions are suit
able over a sufficient interval of
time, then It may be considered
that life on Venus Is highly prob
able. On no other bodies In the
solar system, however, are condi
tions at a,ll favorable -or the exist
ence of protoplasm."
Dr. Shapley said that acceptinc
the tidal evolutiou theory of
planetary system, even for stars
otherwise favorably located, an en
counter of just the right sort with
another star was necessary for the
birth of a planetary system.
"And once such a family is born,
he continued, "other stars must not.
disturb the family, and the star's
light intensity must remain essen
tially uniform for the enormous In
terval of time required for the
crustal evolution which must pre
cede animate origins.
'Nevertheless, it appears prob
able that among the thousands ot
millions of stars there are here and
there planets that conform to the
requirements. Although the animal
man is probably not duplicated in
the universe, there are doubtless
numerous oLher living earths, an-i
the chance that their life phenom
ena surpass in intricacy and 'high
ness" those on the earth is as good
as the chance that they fall below
our level. "
The search for habitable worlds,
he said, was largely a search for
conditions suitable for the exist
ence of water in a liquid form
This, he added, was an absolute
necessity for the development of
life such as that on the earth, and
a definite chemical constitution for
air, land and water also . was
necessary. A planet's days and
nights, therefore, .must not be so
long as to prevent the existence ot
water in a liquid form. '
"It seems certain." he said, "that
some water exists on Mars at
times in a liquid form. The average
astronomical opinion is that low
forms of organisms may exist on
Mars, that high forms are very im
probable and that beings phys
ically comparable with man are
absolutely impossible."
AUTOISrS BLUFF CALLED
Speeder Fined $50, Also Loses
Machine on Wager.
(By Chicago Tribune Leased Wire.)
CHICAGO, Dec. 30. Hyman Miller,
arrested for speeding, put up the
old, shelf-worn claim that his ma
chine could not make 40 miles an
hour. The policeman' who arrested
him said he was traveling 40 miles
an hour, endangering the lives of
all In his path.
"It can't be done," roared Hyman
and his father. "We will give the
bus to anyone who can get 40 miles
an hour out of her."
"Come on," said Judge Schwaba,
reaching for his hat and overcoat.
"I can drive a car a little, and we
will Bee what your boat can do."
Hyman and his father, a police
man and the judge piled into the
car and the judge took the wheel
and stepped on the gas. Half an
hour later they came back. The
speedometer showed 45 miles an
hour, so Hyman lost his car and
the judge also slapped a fine of S50
and costs on him.
LEADERS OF KLAN DRUNK WITH POWER
IS THEORY OF CITIZENS IN MER ROUGE
Captain J. E. Skipworth Likely to Be Big Figure in Investigation; Cyclops Said Never to Have Re
garded Himself as American, Being Devoted to Duties of Exalted Office. .
BY ROBERT LEE.
(By Chtcag-o Tribune Leased Wire.)
M"
ER ROUGE, La.. Deo. 30. Cap
tain J. K. Skipworth can
hardly escape being the big
figure in the Ku Klux Klan agita
tion which now is moving on to the
trial of those accused of the mur
ders of Watt Daniels and Thomas
Richards. 'He has been the big fig
ure for the last year and now it
seema inevitable that he is to be
regarded as the symbol of the klan.
He must be the symbol, because
Governor Parker, by enlarging the
scope of his investigation to a state
wide process and by enlisting the
aid of the federal government, has
surrounded his actions by all the
drapery of national interest.
It is important, therefore, to an
alyze the klan In Morehouse parish.
from the revolutionary town called
after Baron Bastrop to" the swampy
district called Bonne Idee bayou;
how it developed from a lodge to a
political machine and then hit the
rocks as a communistic tribunal.
Leaders Drunk With Power.
The temperate antl-klan people
will say: "Skipworth and McKoin
lost their heads. They were drunk
with secret power. They had power
over the lives of men and women
Skipworth could order this man or
that woman to leave town and it
was done. He could send for tnt
man and instantly a squad of hooded
riders went and fetched that man
before him.
Skipworth never regarded him
self as a citizen. He always was the
exalted cyclops of klan S4 of the
realm of Louisiana. He never ap
peared in any other capacity. Mc
Koin was his captain in Mer Rouge.
The Mer Rouge people resented Mc
Koin's presumptions.'
The case against the klan Is that
the members went under hood and
gown, that they took the law into
theirliand8, that they whipped men
ana exiiea women rrom tneir homes,
that they kidnaped men off the
streets, that they frightened out of
the country negroes peaceably em
ployed, that they controlled the par
ish offices to the obstruction of jus
tice and that they slaughtered two
reputable citizens.
Cyclops Sticks to Job.
So far as can be learned by the
department of justice operatives,
Skipworth has had no other occupa
tion In the last 14 months than that
of cyclops. He has held klan head
quarters in the parish courthouse.
He has damned the governor of
Louisiana in no uncertain terms.
When he was asked if he knew what
had become of Daniels and Richards
he said: 4
They didn't like me and they was
anti-klan. I don t give a d
where they are."
Although there wao direct evi
dence from klan members and from
returned victims pointing to the Au
gust kidnaping and murders, and
although there were constant and
agonizing appeals from the wife and
children of Richards and the old
father of Daniels and from hundreds
of their friends, the parish officials
never turned a hand to relieve the
tensity of the situation. The only
word from the headquarters of the
klandom was "Shut up!"
McKoin Once Popular.
McKoin has many friends. He was
once the most popular man in Mer
Rouge until he went crazy over
this klan business," his friends say,
and they say it with a note of
pathos. The attitude Is not of
hatred but of sorrow for a friend
gone wrong.
McKoin came to Mer Rouge as a
stripling. He obtained a place as
clerk inthe Davenport drug store.
The Davenports, the Daniels and the
Andrews are the oldest families in
northern Louisiana. The Davenports
own lands and stores. McKoin won
their confidence. They helped him
to a medical education. They ad
vanced him politically and socially.
He was elected mayor.
"He never could have been all
those things without he was a popu
lar man," they will tell you In Mer
Rouge. "He has friends here who
would stand by him because he is
in trouble. We hate the kind of
trouble he is Into, but we don't like
to forget a friend."
Intent Declared Good.
The case In behalf of the klan is
that its energies were Initiated in' a
desire to accomplish some good, but
that these energies were misdirected
and became engines of evil. Even
the most persistent anti-klan of
the Mer Rouge citizens who have
been intimidated and beaten will
declare that the better, class of
klansmen are respectable and de
serving citizens who are shamed by
the wrong headedness of leaders
who acted without advice.
These .reputable klansmen repud
iate utterly the lawless deeds of the
hoodlums and sluggers. They did
not complain so long as the klan
worked as a vigilance society for
the suppression of moonshining
and bootlegging, but they began to
complain when the klan became the
instrument of political oppression.
Last night an admitted member
of the klan said this:
"We never set out to do the things
that happened. There will be plenty
of us to see that justice is done.
Nobody In his parish wants an antl
klan jury. We want just plain fair
play and I'll agree that plenty of
klux will back up whatever the court
says. Many of us belong to the
klan, but we are decent and law
abiding citizens of Morehouse parish
first." .
Victim Tells Views.
Sitting in the group of men of
which this klansman was a member
were two of the victims of the kid
naping of August 24, one who had
been selected for but escaped a
beating on that date, and two men
who have been notified to leave the
parish. One of these antl-klan men
said.:
"My father is on the jury list. He
is aft honest man. I think he is the
squarest man I know. But he
couldn't be fair on that jury. I
wouldn't see him on that jury. What
we. want is honest dealing. My
daddy would hang every damn one
of the klux. Maybe they should
be hung, but it has got to be done
square."
Thus the attitude is not that of
revenge or desire for extermination
of klan members. The good citi
zens, klan and anti-klan alike, com
pletely eliminate klanism from their
calculations. They are guided solely
by the rule of citizens. They think
as citizens, demand justice and ask
no favor. ,
Senator Scores Klan.
Senator Stuckey, a fine old type
of Louisiana judge and legislator,
has fought the klan for years. Some
time ago the marshal, Walter Camp
bell, told him this:
"A man came to me yesterday and
told me he felt sorry for you, sena
tor. He said the klan had passed
sentence on you. He said he liked
you and thought you was square."
Said the senator yesterday:
"No reputable citizen of More
house parish ever sat in a klan
I meeting where such a senteVice as
jthat was passed. But iey did send
me that word in a roundabout way
and there is no doubt where it came
from. The word came from one
man and that man controls the
sluggers."
In large cities 90 per cent of the
labor union members are self-respecting
and deserving of high
consideration, but many a labor con
flict has discredited a union be
cause of the employment by a busi
ness agent of a gang of selected
killers.
Sluggers Discredit Klan.
In this way the1 klan may be
analyzed in Morehouse parish. Skip-
worth is the business agent of an
organization which sought to ac
complish social reliefs. Whether the
activities of the mob of sluggers
operating as klansmen can be laid
at his door will be determined in
the trials.
The klan has its moral side. In
Mer Rouge this is represented, in a
manner of speaking, by the Rev.
James Roy, pastor of 'the Methodist
church. The klan presented him
with a sum of money for church
purposes. This sort of thing has
been done repeatedly In Chicago and
other cities.
After the klan had presented 2B
to Mr. Roy and this was subse
quent to the murder the choir sang
the national anthem and the pastor
offered a prayer for the success of
the klan's work.
Obviously, say the Mer Rouge peo
ple, where the pastor is moved by
such evidences of godliness there is
likely to, be a responsive note in
the congregation, and none is to be
blamed, because the klansmen do
such thine out of a generous heart
and not to purchase the applause
of the clergy.
Many Quitting Order.
Two things are spoken in favor of
the klansmen. - Scores of them are
resigning. Fifty resigned in a body
at Munroe, a small city south of
here. The other is that while many
are remaining in the order they
are doing so out of a determination
to aye the slate cleared. If the
klan has done wrong, they want it
published, if they must do it them
selves. And after that they are go
ing to quit.
"Old Skipworth Isn't so - cocky
now," said a Mer Rouge klansman
last night. He is one of those de
termined to see that the klan gets
justice.
Skipworth is what fiction terms
"the cynosure of all eyes." Not so
conspicuous iB old Mr. Daniels, tired
to death, as he shuffles about the
streets of Mer Rouge. Now and
again he says:
"Watt would of fought It out with
them If he had of had half a
chance ahd you can bet for one of
him he would have got plenty of
them."
Course Is Outlined.
Thursday, Governor Parker, At
torney-General Coco and Adjutant
General Toombs, together with fed
eral operatives and state military
officers, who have been in control
of the Mer Rouge region since the
Ku Klux Klan threw the parish into
a frenzy of gun toting and the ap
proach to anarchy, "prepared the
course of action to be pursued on
January 6, when an open hearing
into the klan'sactivities will be
convened.
On January 5 there will be un
folded the swift drama that began
in Morehouse parish between friends
organizing under the simple cere
monies of a fraternal lodge, and
reached its tragic climax in flog
gings, deportations and murder;
and there will be related the reason
why Morehouse parish men today.
for the first time in years, are
walking the streets and driving the
roads armed with every manner of
weapon that haste and necessity can
suggest.
The thing that stamps an interro
gation, point on every anxious face
in Mer Rouge is the probability of
abolishing the Ku Klux Klan. These
citizens feel only a slight hope for
them if the prosecution of the klan
Is limited to Morehouse parish.
Natlon-WIde Aid Wanted.
Thev feel keenly their relation
ship to the great body politic of
America; and they despair lest their
fellow citizens everywhere perceive
in the Mer Rouge tragedy only a
local affliction, to be regarded
lightly and dismissed after the
usual conventions of headlines and
corner gossip. If the klan, pursuing
a policy of establishing political au
thority over the nation seieciea
Morehouse parish for a laboratory
test It could not have more nicely
chosen Its locale. A sociological his
torian will lay It down as a first
principle that the human mind is
most susceptible to the exigencies
of food, climate and soil and a
fourth consideration classified as
"the general aspects of nature. It
is known that the inhabitants of a
country distinguished by vast moun
tains, deep and unexplorable for
ests, by prodigious storms and by
great streams are superstitiously
impressed by these general aspects
of nature.
The vicinity of Mei Rouge is al
most oppressive in the dignity of
Its forests, the extent and solemnity
of its vast swamps and the aston
ishing suddenness with which one
approaches abrupt turns in the road
and is likely to drive precipitately
Into almost bottomless lakes.
' Lake Is Romantic.
Lake LaFourche, now indelibly a
part of the parish history for being
the grave of Watt Daniels and Sam
uel Richards for more than four
months of breathless and tragic sus
pense, has always been a spot of
mystery and romance. It is 15
miles in length and never more than
100 yards wide. But Its banks are
always sheer and its depth never
less than 90 feet. The mysteries of
that unexplained crack in the
earth's crust which is always kept
filled by hidden springs have been
multiplied manyfold by the hooded
executioners of the klan. In the
night no negro could be induced to
cross that bottomless Pit in the
ricketyferry that lags on a broken
steel cable; and it is as much as a
white man asks of his own courage.
The oppression of vast forests of
oaks and pines, "bearded with moss
and indistinct in the twilight" keeps
lips tight in the presence of masked
terror. But when they start to talk
in that open meeting of January 5
there will be a new page in the
hitherto meagre annals of this
parish.
Klan's History Known.
The history of the klan has been
pretty well established from the
time of its organization to the time
when Dr. B. M. McKoin, who was
the local klan boss of Mer Rouge,
fell afoul of the rebellion of Watt
Daniels. It was decreed in the klan
meeting that Daniels must go. .
The much discussed attempt upon
the life of Dr. McKoin is the im
mediate keynote to the klan's pres
ent predicament.
There are many in- Mer Rouge
today who have no more vindictive
comment to make on the actions of
McKoin than that he lost his head
in, the thrill of the weird, silent and
hooded authority which he repre
sented. McKoin denied to his own
townsmen that he was a klansman.
But his form of denial is only a
play of words. In the ritual of the
klan it is not a lie to deny that one
is a klansman. There is a fixed i
form of question, spoken only in a
whisper, by which one klansman
discovers the membership of an
other. Under klan ritual any varia
tion of this form is unlawful and
the answer Is not considered- an un
truth. Under such a diaphanous
veil the- doctor denied his allegiance
to the imperial wizard.
Attack Ia Reported.
Having returned from his night
visit and reported to his klan breth
ren that he had been the victim of
an attempt at assassination, McKoin
left Mer Rouge. There is question
of his presence in Morehouse par
ish after that time. All this was
prior to August 24, the date of the
murders.
The story of the kidnaping has
been often repeated. But it is im
portant to reflect that this was not
tne first kidnaping by the kljn.
There have been whinDina-s. Men
have time and again been taken off
the streets of Mer Rouge by hooded
Klansmen- in broad day. It was con
sidered worth one's life to talk. And
whenever one did talk, even guard
edly, he inevitably was reminded of
his error by being seized openly and
witn his friends looking on. It was
apparent that the klan leaders were
determined to imprint upon the
community the inexorable and in
escapable authority of the organi
zation. Of course, in these day
light kidnaplngs the klansmen wore
hoods and gowns. They paraded
boldly through the streets and
through the open country. A trav
eler might at any time find himself
confronted in some densely shaded
woodland road by a troop of flooded
klansmen.
Real Danger Held Unlikely.
But the reign of terror previous
to the murders of August 24 con
sisted largely of gestures towards
the better citizens. And for this
reason there was only slight appre
hension of real danger. But the re
peated successes of the klan en
couraged greater boldness. And so
on August 24 the display of author
ity surpassed anything theretofore
attempted.
Even among the prosecuting au
thorities there is lacking an em
phatic belief that murder was con
templated against Watt Daniels and
Samuel Richards.
it is considered that the gang
spirit carried the night-riding ex
ploit so far that only the deaths of
the victims could abolish the threat
of exposure.
When the klan gathering had de
cided upon the form of procedure
tnere remained only the employ
ment of tactics. It has been de
clared by many who are pro-klan
that it was not the Ku Klux, out
only a mob of common ruffians
who conducted the attack on Aug
ust 24. Aside from the fact that the
federal investigators have estab
lished beyond question the identities
of many klansmen who participated
in the kidnaping, there is the un
likelihood that any organized
spontaneous collection of hoodlums,
acting without direction or previous
experience, could have managed so
skillfully the neat military exploit
ot August Z4.
Crowd on Way Home.
There had been a barbecue and
ball game in Bastrop. At the con
clusion of the game the Mer Rouge
people started driving home on the
only road between the town. Just
outside the town limits of Bastrop
there is a dip in the road. The bot
tom of this depression is not visible
from a distance. The Mer Rourse
people, men, women and children
drove straight into this trap before
they were aware of the ambush.
There was, in fact, a double am
bush. At the first point stood s
party of masked klansmen. One ty
one, as the cars drew up, they were
halted and searched. A hundred
yards further along at the bottom of
the depression, was another party
of masked men. After a car had
been searched by the first party it
was sent forward, only to be stopped
by the second party. The Becond
squad caused all the cars to gather
in an inextricable traffice tangle
at the bottom of the dip. Here a
small truck had been drawn up
across the road to prevent progress.
William Andrews First.
William Andrews was the first to
be taken. The cars ahead of him
had been searched and sent on.
Andrews was taken out, blindfolded
and bound. In the meantime the
terror of the women and children
was mounting to a shrieking cres
cendo. And as the cries of the chil
dren and the shrieks of the women
arose, the shrubbery, tall weeds and
bushes on both sides of the road
became alive with hooded forms flit
ting to and fro, and the scene made
doubly frightful by the first tinge
of dusk. Hooded forms stood behind
trees. The muzzles of rifles and
pistols projected sullenly from
shadowed nooks, contributing an
ominous decoration to the drab
solemnity of the moss-hung trees.
Quickly, skillfully the raiders
worked. Tod Davenport was next to
be taken out and bound. Then came
old J. L. Daniels. A pistol was thrust
into one side, a rifle into the other.
"Cross your hands." It was done.
The old man was bound. Then a
bandana handkerchief was tied
about his eyes:
"Gentlemen," he said, "I am an old
man and my eyes bother me. Could
I ask you to loosen a little." It was
done. But all without a word. The
search of cars continued. Richards
was next taken. Watt Daniels came
last.
"There wasn't a chance for us,"
said Andrews. "If we could have
known we might have made a run
to it."
"The boys there tried to get Watt
to turn back. Watt saw them in
time, but he wasn't afraid of a
mask. He said he told McKoin to
his face what he. thought of the
klan and he told old Skipworth, the
exalted cyclops: He said if they
wanted him they'd get him some
time, and It better be now." ,
So Watt Daniels went down into
the dip in the road; a half dozen
rifle muzzles were waiting for him;
he was trussed up and blindfolded.
There was a signal of mutual under
standing and the klansmen disap
peared in a string of automobiles.
The Mer Rouge people drove slowly
homeward.
The journey of the klansmen took
them both northeast and southeast
of Mer Rouge. So boldly did they
conduct their enterprise they drove
with a bombardment of cut-outs
through Mer Rouge itself as if in
defiance of its citizens. In a circle
of oaks, boarded with Spanish moss,
there was a halt.
The klansmen assembled in a cir
cle. Tod Davenport was taken out
of an auto. Then "followed a hasty
consultation. There was a shaking
of heads, and then young Daven
port was taken at a distance apart.
He was not beaten.
Old Mr. Daniels was brought Into
the circles.
"You know who shot at Dr. Mc
Koin," said a voice. "If you don't
tell we are going to flog you."
"Gentlemen." said -the old man,
"you are asking me something I
don't know anything about; on my
honor, gentlemen, I don't know."
The old man's clothes were cast
aside. He was laid on the ground
face downward. A klansman sat
on his head, two more held his feet,
another klansman poised a , great
leather strap, three feet long and
a half inch thick. It hissed through
the air. It was then Watt Daniels
knew the sweat of agony.
Mr. Daniels was taken apart.
William Andrews, young, like a bull
in strength, broad of chest and with
close-set Hps, was drawn into the
circle. The demand for the as
sailants of McKoin was made on
"him. He told them he didn't know.
He was stripped and again the mur
derous leather flail of the klansmen
sang through the air. Fifteen
bloody strokes fell on his hare body.
Victim Defies Tortures.
"Are you going to tell us?" de
manded the klux spokesman.
"Gentlemen," said Andrews, "you've
beat me now till it don't hurt no
more, you can beat me to death if
you want to, I don't know anything
about what you want and be damned
to you."
'Tfou're going to tell or we are
going to hang you," the spokesman
broke in.
"I expect you will," said Andrews,
and he patiently 'awaited the hang
ing. Again the leather fell, a hooded
man sat on his head, others" held
his feet. Blindfolded and hands
bound, he lay there supine and un
responsive to the merciless flogging
save for his unconscious quivering.
At last, wearied by the beating of
senseless flesh, the klansmen quit.
They took Andrews, Davenport and
Mr. Daniels in a car to a small rail
road station. There they bought
gasoline, gave Davenport a dollar
for his fare, advised them all to live
virtuous lives thereafter and to
utter no word, of what happened.
The hoods disappeared. The three
victims hailed a man In- an auto
mobile and went back to Mer Rouge.
Andrews was in bed for a week;
Mr. Daniels was blackened from
the beating.
Two Prisoners Vanish.
Richards and Watt Daniels were
kept by the klansmen in that cir
cle of hooded mem under the dim
mists of the circling Spanish moss
trees in the forest. So far as Mer
Rouge was concerned they vanished
from the earth.
Mer Rouge was frozen in a terror
of silence. Men looked both ways
before whispering. A meeting was
held in Bastrop to decide upon a
plan of action. Three men went
from Mer Rouge, hoping to concil
iate and restore the ancient friend
ship and courtesy of Morehouse. The
minutes of the meeting were unpub
lished. No one talked. One day ex
Judge W. P. Stuckey, now state sen
ator from this district, sat on the
courthouse steps. Down the street
came Skipworth, the cyclops.
"Did you get things straightened
out in the meeting?" the senator
asked of old Skipworth.
"You bet I did," said Skipworth.
"I told them fellows that if anyone
In this parish ever talked again he
would get himself whipped until he
never sets down again."
Skipworth Shows Vanity.
"And," said the senator, recount
ing that occasion, "old Skipworth
swelled up and went off."
The murders blanketed the com
munity. Where men had been
peaceful for a century they began
carrying guns. Women came to
town with shotguns in the buggy.
Every coat tail bulged with a pistol.
Every man considered his .life in
danger. E. C. Whipple, owner of
the garage in which Samuel Rich
ards was employed, instituted a
search. One day Richards' widow
asked Mr. Whipple to telephone the
sheriff for aid.
"You mind your own business,"
said the sheriff to Whipple. "I'm
the sheriff of this parish."
Whipple has repeatedly been, given
notice to leave Mer Rouge. He is
still here. Notices direct from the
klan have been sent to A. H. Daven
port, father of the kidnaped boy;
J. R. Mcllwaln and Walter Camp
bell, the town marshal, to quit the
parish. Campbell describer himself
as living on borrowed time. These
notices have not been vague rumors,
but threats personally delivered by
klansmen.
United States Agents Arrive.
The first ray of light in this
gloomy village of Mer Rouge came
with the arrival of A. E. Farland.
chief of the squad of department of
justice agents. He was accompa
nied by W. F. Atkins and later was
joined by such distinguished secret
agents as James D. Rooney and
J. P. Huddleston, formerly a Texas
ranger. For the first time in. months
Mer Rouge found men who dis
missed the bombast and conceit ot
the klan with quiet determination
and swift action.
Headquarters was established, but
none came to tell their story. The
klan sent word to the federal men
to get out. Political wires were
pulled with United States district
attorneys and the finger even went
to Washington, but the secret
agents stayed. They stopped trying
to work by day; at night they drove
far into the country.
Witnesnes Are Protected.
At midnight a witness would be
smuggled into headquarters. Dr.
McKoin's office is within a stone's
throw of the federal camp. Spies
peered through the darkness to
identify those who were being ques
tioned. When a witness was ques
tioned he was returned to his home
by devious routes. Night after night
this went on. For two months the
secret agents have been known as
the angels of mercy.
From the day of the murders
there had been no apparent effort
by parish officials to find the bodies.
The rumor that Daniels and Rich
ards were being held was permitted
to gather weight. But when the
bodies were found, the coroner
hurried out to hold an inquest. Far
land waved him away. Governor
Parker's agents took charge. When
Burnett, the ex-deputy sheriff, was
arrested, the sheriff was pushed
aside. The jail in Bastrop is guard
ed by soldiers.
Discovery Thrills Parish.
The discovery of the bodies was
the enduring thrill in this com
munity. After Governor Parker
took charge of the investigation
the search began. A party of sol
diers guarded Lake Cooper, a shal
low pond, which could be waded.
Day after day wading parties
searched. But in the meantime
Farland sent for a diver. Only a
diver could hunt Lake LaFourche,
the bottomless. Word that the diver
was coming sped like wireless
through the community. On the day
the diver was testing his apparatus
there were signs of ominous activ
ity about Lake Cooper, 20 miles
away. When night came the brood
ing silence of woods and waters
did not fail to tingle the nerves of
the soldiers. Suddenly lights
flashed at various points about the
gloomy lake. A machine gun cut
loose with a patter of firing. Twe
soldiers ran all the way to Mer
Rouge to report the new danger.
They stumbled into camp, exhaust
ed. Reinforcements were sent to
the scene in a hurry. All attention
in this end of the parish was drawa
toward Lake Cooper. And then
with all interest elsewhere and no
one guarding the remote Lake La
Fourche, a half ton of dynamite
was dropped in it. The explosion
rocked houses for miles around. .