He went out to the rig and then turned back to the shack several times. He didn�t seem to be able to make up his mind what to do. I fooled around about an hour with him, and then I told him he�d have to go to Hettinger whether he put up his team or not.
We went into the shack and, while he was getting his coat, the other fellow came at me with a big butcher knife. He said the man I had gone after hadn�t done anything wrong and didn�t have to go with me. I drew my gun and told him to sit down and shut up. He dropped to the floor as quickly as if he had been shot and I never heard another peep out of him. I got my man to town without any further trouble.
Another time we were raiding a place in North Lemmon. I sent a deputy around to the back and I went to the front door. I went through the place and when I got to the back I found the deputy had gone to the left after some occupants, but saw a man running to the right. I called to him to stop but he kept on running. I pulled out my automatic and he must have seen it out the corner of his eye, for he stopped right up short and never made a move until I got over to him.
When I went into office the county furnished me with a .38 automatic. Later I got a vest pocket .25 and a .32-20 on a .45 frame.
The only murderer I had in my charge as sheriff was Denver Woods, whose case had come before Adams county from Bowman county on a change of venue.
The evidence brought out in the trial showed that Denver and his brother, Laban, had gone to the homestead of a man near Marmarth to get the horses which they claimed belonged to them or a friend of theirs/ The evidence didn�t show this claim clearly.
The homesteader, whose name was Adelbert Crowe, refused to five up the horses, and after an argument, Denver shot and killed him. The trial took place in Hettinger. The killing had occurred in 1910.
Denver was given a sentence of 13 years in the penitentiary. Laban was held a year in the Adams county jail for his part in the affair. Their older brother Frank had come to me and asked me to be as good as possible to the boys. I told him I treated all the prisoners fairly. Denver was only about 22 years old, and wasn�t really a bad young fellow at heart, although of course he was found guilty of murder.
Laban was wanted in Bowman county in a robbery case. There were some other legal matters connected with the case, and if these were dismissed, Bowman county officers planned to pick up Laban.
While the matter was pending just before Laban�s term was up, somebody told me there was a pony with a saddle on in a stable about a block from the jail. Strapped to the saddle was a rifle. This looked bad to me and I sent for Frank Woods. I informed him that I thought the presence of that pony looked like a poor reward for doing what I could for his brothers. I didn�t accuse Frank. In fact, I don�t know for sure who was responsible. But a very short time after I had talked with Frank the pony was gone.
The court actions resulted in dismissal and the Bowman officials took charge of Leban, in open court and lodged him in the county jail at Bowman. He broke jail after five days, and, as far as I know, has not been heard from since.
Most of the boys carried guns in those days. They kept them out of sight in town, except when trouble developed, but some of them wore them in belt holsters in plain sight in the open country. Revolvers and automatics were used, the Colt .45 of course being the favorite revolver.
That�s what Denver shot Crowe with, and he told me it was his brother Frank�s gun and had been filed down for thumbing. He said he didn�t know that and merely intended to cock it to bluff Crowe.
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