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 THE OUTLAWS 
 
 OF 
 
 CAVE-IN-ROCK 
 
Cave-in-Rock 
 
 (From an original oil painting by J. Bernhard Alberts, made in 1916) 
 
THE OUTLAWS OF 
 CAVE-IN-ROCK 
 
 Historical Accounts of the Famous High- 
 waymen and River Pirates who operated 
 in Pioneer Days upon the Ohio and 
 Mississippi rivers and over the 
 old Natchez Trace 
 
 by 
 Otto A. Rothert 
 
 Secretary, The Filson Club 
 
 The Arthur H. Clark Company 
 Cleveland: 1924 
 
COPYRIGHT, I923, BY 
 
 OTTO A. ROTHERT 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
6- 
 
 -D 17 A . *JM //^&k. S^AAT 1 , 
 
 TO MY FRIEND 
 YOUNG E. ALLISON 
 
 -<P 
 
 670438 
 
Contents 
 
 The Purpose of this Narrative . . . . 13 
 
 The Lair of the Outlaws 17 
 
 Piracy and Rough Life on the River . . . . 37 
 
 The Harpes - A Terrible Frontier Story . . . 55 
 
 The Harpes - Renewal of the Terror ... 83 
 
 The Harpes -Big Harpe's Ride to Death . . . 107 
 
 The Harpes - Mysteries and Fate of Survivors . . 139 
 
 Mason - Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman . . . 157 
 
 Mason -On the Natchez Trace 179 
 
 Mason - Trapped and Tried 207 
 
 Mason and Harpe - Double-Cross and Double Death 241 
 
 Coiners at the Cave 267 
 
 The Ford's Ferry Mystery 283 
 
 Paying the Penalty 307 
 
 The Cave in Fiction 321 
 
 Bibliography- Manuscript Sources . . . 335 
 
 Bibliography - Printed Sources 336 
 
 Index . 347 
 
Illustrations 
 
 Cave-in-Rock Frontispiece 
 
 From an original oil painting by J. Bernhard Alberts, made 
 in 1916 
 
 Interior of Cave-in-Rock 21 
 
 From a drawing by J. Bernhard Alberts made in 1916 
 
 Interior of Cave-in-Rock about 1825 .... 33 
 
 From the original drawing by Charles Alexander Leseuer 
 
 Facsimile of News Item regarding Capture of Micajah 
 
 Harpe 123 
 
 Dated, Lexington, Kentucky, September 10, 1799, and pub- 
 lished in the Carolina Gazette, Charleston, S. C, October 24, 
 1799 
 
 Map showing Cave-in-Rock and the Natchez Trace, 
 
 1814 193 
 
 Facsimile of Passport issued to Samuel Mason . . 213 
 
 Written in French and issued by the Spanish Commandant 
 of the District of New Madrid, March 29, 1800 
 
 Gallows Field, Jefferson County, Mississippi . . 259 
 
 From a drawing by J. Bernhard Alberts, made in 1917 
 
 Implements and Weapons used by the Outlaws . 269 
 Entrance to the Cave and Lower End of Cave-in- 
 Rock Bluff 299 
 
 From an original photograph made in 1917 
 
 View of Cave-in-Rock and Vicinity, 1833 . . . 323 
 
 Reproduced from Charles Bodmer's drawing 
 
The Purpose of this Narrative 
 
 This book is intended to give the authentic story of 
 the famous Cave-in-Rock of the lower Ohio River, as 
 collected from historic and romantic sources, and to 
 present verified accounts of the most notorious of those 
 highwaymen and river pirates who in the early days of 
 the middle West and South filled the Mississippi basin 
 with the alarm and terror of their crimes and exploits. 
 
 All the criminals herein treated made their head- 
 quarters at one time or another in this famous cavern., 
 It became a natural, safe hiding-place for the pirates 
 who preyed on the flatboat traffic before the days of 
 steamboats. It came also to serve the same purpose for 
 highwaymen infesting the old Natchez Trace and other 
 land trails north and south. 
 
 A century ago and more, its rock-ribbed walls echoed 
 the drunken hilarity of villains and witnessed the death 
 struggles of many a vanished man. Today this former 
 haunt of criminals is as quiet as a tomb. Nothing is 
 left in the Cave to indicate the outrages that were com- 
 mitted there in the olden days. 
 
 One state historian of our own times - Parrish, of 
 Illinois - thus describes it: "The gruesome spot, which 
 in those old border days witnessed many a scene of 
 revelry and bloodshed, is today no more than a curi- 
 osity, its past victims, white and black, forgotten. Just 
 below it, where, in 1801, there stood one lone cabin, 
 there is today a thrifty village." In a sense the victims 
 have been forgotten ; yet they survive in the true stories 
 
14 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 of such of them as the preserved records can be made 
 to disclose. 
 
 The story of the Harpes is more than that of mere 
 criminals. They were arch-criminals among criminals, 
 apparently loving murder for its own sake. There was 
 a time when the whole of Kentucky and Tennessee was 
 terrorized at the possibility of their appearance at any 
 hour in any locality. Samuel Mason (or Meason) the 
 Wilsons, and others, measured up more nearly to the 
 standard of true highwaymen and pirates. If they had 
 lived in England their careers would have closed on 
 Tyburn Hill or at the rope's end on "Execution Dock." 
 The stories of James Ford show that his real classifica- 
 tion must forever remain largely a mystery. 
 
 Any history of these outlaws would doubtless be 
 looked upon as wild fiction unless the statements were 
 carefully verified by court records and contemporary 
 newspaper notices, and the records of early writers who 
 gathered the facts regarding them when these facts 
 were told by men and women who lived at the time the 
 atrocities were committed. The adage that "truth is 
 stranger than fiction" is exemplified fully in their 
 careers. 
 
 The lives and exploits of these men constitute an im- 
 portant phase in pioneer life because their deeds greatly 
 affected the settlement of the new country. Dread of 
 them brought peaceful settlers together in communities 
 and helped to hasten the establishment of law and 
 order. Their histories are therefore a part of the his- 
 tory of the country. The historian who passes them 
 over as mere blood-and-thunder tales misses entirely 
 one of the high lights in the great adventure of the 
 settling of the Mississippi basin. 
 
 Owing to the sparse population and the great dis- 
 
Purpose of this Narrative 15 
 
 tances between settlements in the West, the early 
 accounts of these criminals and their crimes were sub- 
 ject to change and to the effects of terrorizing rumor. 
 In time the deeds of one would be attributed to another, 
 and the circumstances of one crime confounded with 
 others. In the main, however, tradition preserved a 
 generally consistent story. Here and there men like 
 James Hall and the editors of early newspapers pre- 
 served accounts of them and so blazed the way to court 
 records and approximated the dates for private archives 
 to be consulted. The pages that follow contain the 
 result of years of patient investigation of these records 
 and of archives that have never been published. 
 
 Numbers in brackets inserted in the text refer to the 
 authorities as numbered in the bibliography. 
 
 Otto A. Rothert 
 
 Louisville, Kentucky, March 17, 1923. 
 
The Lair of the Outlaws 
 
 Nature has set her own seal of wonder and immortal- 
 ity upon some of her works. The cavern of Cave-in- 
 Rock, on the northern bank of the lower Ohio River, 
 bears such a seal. Lacking the adventitious aids of 
 immensity, depth, and remoteness, it was regarded with 
 religious interest in the vague traditions of the aborig- 
 ines, and has excited the curiosity, aroused the imagina- 
 tion and stirred the fear of white men since they first 
 discovered it. The Cave has been at once noted and 
 notorious, famous and infamous, and it remains today, 
 through all the changing years and diversities of its 
 use, actual or attributed, practically unchanged, still 
 challenging curiosity, surprise, fear, and admiration. 
 
 The scenery above and below the Cave attracted the 
 attention of the earliest western travelers. Much defor- 
 estation has taken place during the past century, but the 
 landscapes along the banks of that section of the Ohio 
 stand today, as they did in the olden days, unsurpassed 
 by any other along the river's course. The mouth of 
 the Cave is in a high bluff overlooking the Ohio, which 
 is the central link in a chain of majestic landscapes. It 
 seems almost a paradox that a spot so beautified by 
 nature should have been made the headquarters of out- 
 laws, and the scene of much that was hideous in crime. 
 
 Pioneers in the West were likely at any time to 
 encounter wild animals or to be forced to battle with 
 plundering or revenge-seeking Indians. Whether trav- 
 eling overland trails or upon navigable streams, the 
 
1 8 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 first-comers in the middle West were always in danger 
 of highway robbers or river pirates. The cruelest of all 
 highwaymen were the Harpes and the shrewdest of the 
 river pirates were the Masons. 
 
 Cave-in-Rock's history as a rendezvous of outlaws 
 does not begin until about 1795. The date of the dis- 
 covery by white men has not been ascertained. The 
 earliest record found is in The History of New France, 
 by Charlevoix, in 1744. It includes Bellin's Map of 
 Louisiana presenting the general course of the Ohio, 
 drawn from observations made by M. de Lery. When 
 this explorer came down the river in 1729 he noted the 
 location of the Cave by referring to it as "Caverne dans 
 le Roc." After 1778 it is indicated on many English 
 and American maps. Early travelers designated it by 
 various names, each of which, except "House of Na- 
 ture," contained the word "cave." Since 1800, Cave- 
 in-Rock has been practically the only name applied. 
 
 The early French called the Ohio "La Belle Ri- 
 viere." In the days of primeval forests it was one of 
 the most beautiful streams in the world. Evidences of 
 its former grandeur are nowhere so well retained as in 
 the neighborhood of Cave-in-Rock. The last of the 
 giants of the forests standing on the bluffs and in the 
 bottoms along the river will some day disappear, but 
 Cave-in-Rock will defy time and its changes, and ever 
 stand as a reminder of the days when wilderness was 
 king. 
 
 Cave-in-Rock is in Hardin County, Illinois, about 
 twenty miles below Shawneetown and twenty miles 
 above Golconda, or about eighty-five miles below 
 Evansville, Indiana, and fifty miles above Paducah, 
 Kentucky. It is about two and one-half miles below 
 Ford's Ferry and a half mile above the village of Cave- 
 
Lair of the Outlaws 19 
 
 in-Rock. Its position commands a long view up and 
 down the Ohio River. It has a large and dark tunnel- 
 like opening extending into a gray limestone bluff 
 which is partly hidden by shrubbery and small trees. 
 Whether one sees it while passing in a boat or ap- 
 proaching it from the shore the view invariably stirs the 
 beholder. It has the appearance of a large arched 
 crypt, imbedded in solid rock. It is a "house" built by 
 Nature, and is as solid as Gibraltar. It is sphynx-like 
 in its silence, and bewilders those who enter. 
 
 The mouth is an arched opening, semi-elliptical in 
 form, about fifty-five feet wide at the base. The cavern 
 extends back horizontally one hundred and sixty feet 
 with an almost uniform width of forty feet. The walls 
 and roof, which change to more or less of an ellipse 
 near the mouth, again change near the center into a 
 semi-ellipse and retain that curvature to the end. The 
 ceiling is horizontal throughout its length, while the 
 floor, beginning about seventy-five feet from the en- 
 trance, gradually inclines upward toward the rear, and 
 at the extreme end comes within a few feet of the 
 arched ceiling. At this end there is a hole large enough 
 to permit a man to climb out into a sinkhole in the 
 surface above. The upward incline of the floor in the 
 rear is due to a deposit of earth, washed there during 
 the past half-century by water coming down through 
 the sinkhole during heavy rains. Near the middle of 
 the ceiling are two perpendicular crevices with an aver- 
 age width of less than a foot, extending across and 
 beyond the Cave, and upward to within about fifteen 
 feet of the surface of the cliff. One of these narrow 
 crevices has, near the center, a chimney-like opening 
 sufficiently large to admit a man. It leads to a rough- 
 walled enlargement about four feet wide and ten feet 
 
20 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 high. This small place is known as the "upper cave," 
 and has a history and fiction of its own. 
 
 In the lower part of what may be designated the 
 lower lip of the mouth-like opening is a large, level, 
 wedge-shaped space about five feet lower than the floor 
 of the Cave. At its outer extremity this wedge-shaped 
 space is almost as wide as the mouth itself, but rapidly 
 tapers inward to a width of about four feet. It then 
 continues back into the mouth about twenty-five feet 
 through the solid rock, in the form of an excavated 
 channel or passage about three and one-half feet wide. 
 This narrow channel, about five feet deep at the begin- 
 ning, inclines upward until it reaches the general level 
 of the floor of the Cave. The top of the rock on either 
 side of the excavation is level and resembles a platform. 
 These two platforms or stage-like floors extend inward 
 and, like the inclined passage, soon reach the general 
 level of the Cave. This excavated channel and the part 
 of the wedge-shaped space from which it leads may 
 have been made by men, but whether by Indians or 
 early whites is not known. It may possibly be the 
 result of erosion. 
 
 At a normal stage of the river the mouth of the Cave 
 is, measured in the perpendicular, about half-way be- 
 tween the top of the bluff and the water's edge. In 
 spring the river frequently comes up to within a few 
 feet of the opening. When the water is extremely high 
 it enters; during great floods there is ample depth to 
 row a skiff the entire length of the Cave. 
 
 Such is Cave-in-Rock today, and such it was in pio- 
 neer times, except that in the rear a deposit of earth had 
 not been washed in, and that large trees, which stood in 
 front of the mouth and hid or partly concealed it, have 
 long since disappeared. It was an ideal lair for river 
 
Of THE 
 UMVtHSlTY OF ILU! 
 
Lair of the Outlaws 23 
 
 outlaws; it furnished shelter and gave them every 
 advantage over passing travelers. 
 
 In March, 1766, John Jennings, a Philadelphia mer- 
 chant, going down the Ohio with a cargo of goods for 
 Fort de Chartres, Illinois, notes in his Journal that he 
 stopped for an hour near "a large rock with a cave in 
 it," some twenty-five miles below the mouth of the 
 Wabash River. The earliest record of a homeseeking 
 pioneer who came to the Cave-in-Rock country and 
 there began an overland trip into Illinois dates back to 
 about 1780, when Captain Nathaniel Hull, of Massa- 
 chusetts, appeared at what later became Ford's Ferry. 
 "He and several other young men," writes Governor 
 John Reynolds in his Pioneer History of Illinois, 
 "descended the Ohio to a point near Ford's Ferry on 
 that river [for a while known as Hull's Landing and 
 later as Robin's Ferry] and came across by land to Kas- 
 kaskia ... At this day the Indians were not hostile as 
 afterwards, so that Hull and party escaped through the 
 wilderness without injury." Nor had any white man as 
 yet practiced piracy on the lower Ohio. 
 
 Victor Collot, a French engineer, is one of the first 
 writers who stopped at the Cave and published a brief 
 description of it. He knew of its existence long before 
 he arrived, for his book, A Journey in America, shows 
 that he had planned to stop at the "Big Cave," and did 
 so in the summer of 1796 when he went down the river 
 to New Orleans. 
 
 A few months later the place was visited by Andrew 
 Ellicott, then on his way to Natchez for the purpose of 
 determining the boundary line between the United 
 States and Spain. An entry in his Journal, dated De- 
 cember 15, 1796, shows he "dined at the Great Cave 
 . . . one of the greatest natural curiosities on the 
 river." 
 
24 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 On April 16, 1797, Francis Baily, the English astron- 
 omer, stopped there. His Journal of a Tour in the 
 Unsettled Parts of North America contains a few pages 
 on the "Big Cave." Among other things he says, "its 
 entrance was on a landing-place. It had somewhat the 
 appearance of an immense oven. We entered it and 
 found the sides very damp . . . We beheld a number 
 of names cut in the sides of the cave, which in this soli- 
 tary place, and cut of! as we were from society, gave us 
 a degree of pleasure to look over." Baily apparently 
 heard of no outlaws during his short stay. This prob- 
 ably was due to the fact that his visit was made at a 
 time when the Cave was very damp, as is frequently the 
 case in spring. Had he appeared later, he might not 
 have survived to tell of his interesting travels in Amer- 
 ica, for during the greater part of the year 1797 the 
 place was occupied by the notorious Mason family. 
 
 Perrin du Lac, in his Travels through the two Loui- 
 sianasj writes that he embarked at Pittsburgh, April 
 22, 1802, "in a pirogue thirty feet long and three feet 
 broad" and that a few weeks later he stopped at the 
 Cave. He says "it is considered one of the greatest 
 natural curiosities in North America." 
 
 The first detailed description of Cave-in-Rock ever 
 printed, as far as now known, appeared in one of the 
 earliest editions of Zadok Cramer's The Ohio and Mis- 
 sissippi Navigator and was republished in the appen- 
 dix of Journal of a Tour, 1805, by Thaddeus M. Har- 
 ris without credit to Cramer. 
 
 Thomas Ashe, an unreliable English traveler, wrote 
 an account of Cave-in-Rock shortly after the Cramer 
 or the so-called Harris description was published, and 
 at a time when reports of some of the early robberies 
 that had been committed there were still in fresh cir- 
 
Lair of the Outlaws 25 
 
 culation. His book entitled Travels in America per- 
 formed in 1806, contains a chapter of fabrications 
 headed "Cave in the Rock, Ohio Bank, September, 
 1806." 
 
 In July, 1807, Christian Schultz, then a young man, 
 started from Pittsburgh down the Ohio in a rlatboat. 
 He arrived at "The Cave in the Rock" about October 
 1, continued his trip to New Orleans, and returned, via 
 ship, to New York. In his Travels on an Inland Voy- 
 age he devotes a few pages to the Cave, saying, among 
 other things: 
 
 "It is a very curious cavern ... I could not help 
 observing what a very convenient situation this would 
 be for a hermit, or for a convent of monks. . . I have 
 no doubt that it has been the dwelling of some person 
 or persons, as the marks of smoke and likewise some 
 .wooden hooks affixed to the walls sufficiently prove. 
 Formerly, perhaps, it was inhabited by Indians; but 
 since, with more probability, by a gang of that banditti, 
 headed by Mason and others, who, a few years ago, 
 infested this part of the country and committed a great 
 number of robberies and murders . . ." 
 
 Fortesque Cuming, an unprejudiced Englishman, 
 wrote in his Tour to the Western Country that the Cave 
 is "one of the finest grottoes or caverns I have ever 
 seen." This interesting traveler, in January, 1807, pro- 
 ceeded to Maysville, Kentucky, by boat, and from there 
 made horseback trips to central Kentucky and Ohio. 
 Returning to Pittsburgh, he started, on May 7, down 
 the Ohio in a flatboat for New Orleans. From old 
 Bruinsburg, a few miles above Natchez, he visited old 
 Greenville. In this town about three years before, one 
 of the Cave-in-Rock outlaws had been convicted under 
 unusual circumstances and hanged and buried in an 
 
26 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 unusual manner. When traveling by boat Cuming al- 
 ways carried a few skiffs in order to get ashore more 
 easily. On May 18, 1807, a few minutes after passing 
 the head of Cave-in-Rock Island, he landed at what is 
 known as Cave Spring, a cave-like opening a few hun- 
 dred yards above Cave-in-Rock from which a strong 
 spring of water constantly flows. This crevice in Cave- 
 in-Rock bluff is about nine feet high, three feet wide, 
 and extends back some forty feet. Cuming at first mis- 
 took it for the famous Cave, as has been done by more 
 than one traveler since his day. In his sketch pertain- 
 ing to his visit to Cave-in-Rock he writes : 
 
 "Rowing along shore [below Cave Spring] with the 
 skiff, we were soon undeceived as to that's being the 
 Rocking Cave, as a third of a mile lower down, one of 
 the finest grottoes or caverns I have ever seen opened 
 suddenly to view, resembling the choir of a large 
 church as we looked directly into it. We landed im- 
 mediately under it and entered it. It is natural, but it 
 is evidently improved by art in the cutting of an entrance 
 three feet wide through the rock in the very center, 
 leaving a projection on each hand, excavated above to 
 the whole breadth of the cavern, the projections re- 
 sembling galleries ... It is crowned by large cedars, 
 and black and white oaks, some of which impend over, 
 and several beautiful shrubs and flowers, particularly 
 very rich columbines, are thickly scattered all around 
 the entrance . . . Standing on the outside, the appear- 
 ance of some of the company at the inner end of the 
 cave was truly picturesque, they being diminished on 
 the eye to half their size, and removed to three times 
 their real distance. 
 
 "There is a perpendicular rocky bluff just opposite 
 the lower end of Cave Island, about two hundred yards 
 
Lair of the Outlaws 27 
 
 above the Cave, where the river narrows to less than 
 half a mile wide, forming a fine situation for fortifica- 
 tion." 
 
 Thomas Nuttall probably was the last distinguished 
 traveler who came down the Ohio in a flatboat and 
 commented on the Cave. In his Journal of Travels 
 into the Arkansa Territory he states that he and his 
 party left Shawneetown December 14, 181 8. After 
 floating a short distance they came up with three other 
 flatboats and, lashing them together, proceeded upon 
 an all-night journey. He further comments: "The 
 river is here very wide and magnificent and chequered 
 with many islands. The banks of Battery Rock, Rock- 
 in-Cave, and other places are bold and rocky with 
 bordering cliffs. The Occidental wilderness appears 
 to here retain its primeval solitude; its gloomy forests 
 are yet unbroken by the hand of man; they are only 
 penetrated by the wandering hunter and the roaming 
 savage." 
 
 The early western travelers already cited, and a num- 
 ber of their contemporaries and followers who saw the 
 Cave, published descriptions or references that agree in 
 the main, but each, in his own way, was evidently more 
 impressed by certain of its various features than were 
 some of the others who visited the place. A few specu- 
 lated upon it as an Indian temple of prehistoric times. 
 Some commented upon it from a geological standpoint. 
 A number were especially interested in the names they 
 found carved on the walls ; some in the trees that grew 
 around the opening. Others dwelt upon it as a rendez- 
 vous of outlaws. 
 
 For what various purposes the Cave may have been 
 used in prehistoric times by Mound-builders and Indi- 
 ans, or even Cave Dwellers, is a question for archae- 
 
28 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 ologists and ethnologists. There is far less physical 
 evidence to indicate a previous presence of robbers and 
 counterfeiters than there is to prove that the place was 
 inhabited by prehistoric man. A rusty home-made 
 dagger blade and a part of a counterfeiter's mold are 
 the only relics that point toward the outlaw occupancy. 
 On the other hand, five well-defined mound sites in the 
 level fields above Cave-in-Rock bluff, and the many 
 flint and stone implements picked up during the past 
 century in and near the Cave indicate beyond doubt 
 the former presence of Indians and Mound-builders. 
 In April, 191 8, Robert L. Yeakey, while spading his 
 garden on this bluff, unearthed a carved stone image, 
 six inches high and four inches wide, weighing two 
 pounds, six ounces, representing a man in squatting 
 position. The probability that the image is an idol 
 gives strength to the inference that the Cave was used 
 as a temple some time in the prehistoric past. 
 
 The mounds are additional evidence to this effect. 
 These were opened many years ago and have since been 
 plowed over often. Each contained, it is said, from 
 five to ten human skeletons. The bodies had been 
 placed in a stone-walled sepulcher that was covered 
 with flags of stone a few inches thick, over which a cir- 
 cular mound of earth was thrown. The fact that each 
 of these mounds contained a number of skeletons, ap- 
 parently placed there at one time, leads many to the 
 conclusion that a battle, or battles, must have been 
 fought in or near the Cave and that all, or some, of the 
 dead were buried together. Scientists advance a plaus- 
 ible explanation of this : "We know not if these burials 
 indicate famine, pestilence, war, or unholy sacrifice. 
 We can only conjecture that they were not graves of 
 persons who had died a natural death." Because of 
 
Lair of the Outlaws 29 
 
 the Cave's temple-like form and its proximity to these 
 old mounds, it appears more probable that they were 
 erected in connection with the ceremony of "unholy 
 sacrifice" than for any of the three other suggested 
 causes. 
 
 The Harris description of the Cave, written about 
 1803, refers to it as "the habitation of the Great Spirit." 
 Some thirty years later, Edmund Flagg, in The Far 
 West, written after his visit to "Rock-Inn-Cave," says: 
 "Like all other curiosities of Nature, this cavern was, 
 by the Indian tribes, deemed the residence of a Manito, 
 or spirit, evil or propitious, concerning whom many a 
 wild legend yet lives among their simple-hearted pos- 
 terity. They never pass the dwelling place of the 
 divim.y wiihjut discharging their guns (an ordinary 
 'mark of respect) or making some other offering pro- 
 pitiatory of his favor." 
 
 From official records we learn that the section of the 
 country in which Cave-in-Rock is embraced was sold, 
 in 1803, to the United States by the Kaskaskia tribe. 
 In 181 8, when the sale was confirmed by the same Indi- 
 ans and the three other tribes then constituting the Illi- 
 nois confederacy, it became unchallenged government 
 property. Thus, when the Masons, the Harpes, and 
 other early outlaws held forth there, it was still in the 
 Indians' territory. 
 
 From a geological standpoint, the Cave is evidently 
 nothing more than a prosaic hole in a limestone bluff. 
 In neither the main cave nor the crevices above are 
 there any stalactites or stalagmites, but an incrustation 
 resembling such a formation occurs here and there on 
 the walls. In 181 8, Henry R. Schoolcraft, in his Per- 
 sonal Memoirs, says: "The cave itself is a striking ob- 
 ject for its large and yawning mouth, but to the geol- 
 
30 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 ogist presents nothing novel." Collot, in 1796, ex- 
 pressed the opinion that "it is an excavation made in the 
 rocks by the continual beating of the flood." In a Re- 
 port published in 1866, A. H. Worthen, director of the 
 Geological Survey of Illinois, states that "the limestone 
 (St. Louis limestone) is quite cherty and the Cave has 
 probably been formed by the action of water percolat- 
 ing through crevices of the rock and by the eroding 
 influences of the atmosphere." Neither of these ex- 
 planations is satisfactory. No other has been found. 
 Cave-in-Rock has the appearance of a section of a large 
 cave that was formed by an underground stream in 
 some remote geological age, and later disconnected, by 
 upheavals, from the other parts of the subterranean 
 passage. Some of the other parts may still exist. Sul- 
 phur Springs Cave, four miles southwest of Equality, 
 may be one. Bigsby Cave, eight miles north of Cave- 
 in-Rock, may be another. Hardin County is be- 
 sprinkled with many sinkholes, the outlets of which are 
 unknown. The "Big Sink," four miles north of the 
 Cave, covers about one hundred acres. Cave-in-Rock 
 may have been an outlet for some of these sinkholes 
 until upheavals made such drainage impossible. 
 
 In early days the virgin forests retarded, to a great 
 extent, the water of the heavy rains, and as a result 
 floods were less frequent and less severe. It is probable 
 that when Cave-in-Rock and the country about were 
 covered with trees the place was damper than now, for 
 the water then slowly seeped down from the tree-cov- 
 ered surface. Nevertheless, it was sufficiently dry to 
 serve as a good shelter not only for outlaws, who fre- 
 quently occupied it, but also for men and women going 
 down the river in flatboats. 
 
 Today it is comparatively dry, except during the 
 
Lair of the Outlaws 31 
 
 spring and shortly after a heavy rain. Practically all 
 the water running through the Cave now comes from a 
 narrow crevice in the rear, which drains a small sink- 
 hole in the surface. Through this opening, as already 
 stated, much soil has been deposited in the back part of 
 the Cave during the past fifty years. Nature has made 
 practically no changes in the Cave itself since its dis- 
 covery by white men, but the landscape has been af- 
 fected by the removal of the large trees that once 
 shaded its mouth. A decrepit sycamore, an ash or two, 
 a few small maple trees, some scrub cedars, and some 
 Virginia creeper constitute the only vegetation now 
 growing around the opening. 
 
 The travelers who visited Cave-in-Rock in flatboat 
 days gave the place more time and thought than did 
 those who appeared after the introduction of steam- 
 boats. The New Orleans, or Orleans, which was 
 the first steam-propelled boat to make a trip from 
 Pittsburgh to New Orleans, passed it in 181 1. Not 
 until fully five years thereafter was the practicability of 
 navigating the Ohio by steamboats satisfactorily de- 
 monstrated. Local tradition has it that the James 
 Monroe, coming down in 1816, was the first steamboat 
 to land at the Cave. Thomas Nuttall, who appeared 
 on the scene two years later, was, as already stated, one 
 of the last distinguished men who floated down the 
 river in a flatboat and commented on the place. Lei- 
 sure was an inseparable feature of flatboat travel. With 
 the coming of steamboats the lingering of travelers 
 along the river became a thing of the past. After 1820 
 comparatively few boats of any kind stopped at the 
 Cave. Boats became more numerous, but whether pro- 
 pelled by steam or oars, they traveled not only faster 
 but through a country rapidly increasing in population, 
 
32 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 and passengers and crew stopping in this section found 
 better shelter elsewhere. But Cave-in-Rock was ever 
 pointed out as a place that "in days gone by" had been 
 the den of flatboat robbers. Counterfeiters and other 
 outlaws, however, operated in the neighborhood until 
 as late as 1832. 
 
 The earliest record of a professional artist making a 
 sketch of the Cave dates back to May, 18 19, when Ma- 
 jor Stephen H. Long came down the Ohio on the 
 steamer Western Engineer, on his way to his Rocky 
 Mountains exploring expedition. In his notes on 
 "Cave-Inn-Rock or House of Nature" he gives a 
 description of the Cave, and says that Samuel Seymour, 
 the official artist of the expedition, "sketched two views 
 of the entrance." Edwin James's account of this expe- 
 dition contains many of Seymour's pictures, but none of 
 places east of the Mississippi. Efforts made in Wash- 
 ington to locate his original sketches were without suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Edmund Flagg, a traveler, journalist, and poet, who 
 lived the greater part of his life in Louisville and St. 
 Louis, spent a short time at the Cave in 1836, while on 
 a steamboat trip gathering material for his book, The 
 Far West. He gives some of the history of the outlaws 
 of "Cave-Inn-Rock" and then describes the Cave and 
 the Island. He says the place furnishes "a scene of 
 natural beauty worthy an Inman's pencil" and that "if 
 I mistake not an engraving of the spot has been pub- 
 lished: a ferocious-looking personage, pistol in hand, 
 crouched at the entrance, eagerly watching a descend- 
 ing boat." 
 
 Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, writes May 
 19, 1833: "We embarked on the Paragon steamboat at 
 Shawneetown . . . and after passing Cave-in-Rock 
 
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IW1YEKSITY OF ILLI 
 
Lair of the Outlaws 35 
 
 Island, a long wooded island, we glided past Cave-in- 
 Rock, a cavern which has been drawn by Lesueur." 
 Lesueur's drawing was made about 1825. It is an in- 
 terior view looking out over the river and conveys a 
 good idea of the Cave's size and form. However, the 
 opening to the small upper cavity and the leaning pole 
 for climbing into it are placed a little too far to the 
 left. 1 
 
 Maximilian was accompanied by his artist, Charles 
 Bodmer, who, during the course of his travels in North 
 America, made eighty-one pictures, all of which were 
 published in 1843 in the Maximilian Atlas. Most of 
 these drawings pertain to the life of the Indians of the 
 Upper Missouri, and stand today as the first and best 
 record of the costumes of these tribes. Among the sub- 
 jects presented is his Cave-in-Rock picture, one of the 
 two early views of the Cave now available. Bodmer 
 probably drew it from memory. It shows a landscape 
 interesting in itself, but it is an absolutely misleading 
 presentation of the actual scene. From no point or 
 angle does the view appear as drawn by him, or even 
 suggest such a scene. By the ordinary working of 
 nature no such changes could have been brought about 
 in many centuries. The mouth of the Cave is near the 
 lower end of a long bluff of almost uniform height and 
 opposite the lower end of Cave-in-Rock Island. A 
 camera picture of the lower end of this bluff, made in 
 1917, appears among the illustrations in this book. 
 Bodmer's view places the opening in a short bluff that 
 
 1 Charles Alexander Lesueur (1778-1857) French naturalist and artist, 
 was a member of Robert Dale Owen's communal colony at New Harmony, 
 Indiana, forty miles northeast of the cave. His drawing of Cave-in-Rock has 
 never been published except in a doctoral thesis by Mme. Adrien Loir 
 entitled, Charles Alexandre Lesueur, artiste et savant Francais en Amerique 
 de 1816 a 183Q', issued in 1920 by Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, Le Havre. 
 In this thesis are reproduced forty of Lesueur's drawings. 
 
36 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 is more or less cone-shaped and opposite or above the 
 head of an island. When high water reaches the mouth 
 of the Cave, as is shown by Bodmer, then Cave-in-Rock 
 Island is submerged many feet and its banks cannot 
 possibly be seen. This picture occurs in a number of 
 books, but without any comments on its gross inaccu- 
 racy. Some reproducers have taken the liberty of add- 
 ing a setting sun in the background. 
 
 In 1916, J. Bernhard Alberts, of Louisville, made an 
 impressionistic painting of the mouth of the Cave. His 
 painting is true to the scene as it was at the time of his 
 visit. He also drew a pencil sketch showing a general 
 view of the interior with the inner edge of the mouth 
 in the immediate foreground, the artist's point of view 
 being from just outside the mouth. 
 
Piracy and Rough Life on the River 
 
 It is not clear when Cave-in-Rock first became the 
 headquarters of the criminals who flourished on the 
 Ohio, and preyed upon primitive commerce and travel 
 between Pittsburgh and the Lower Mississippi. Shortly 
 after the Revolution was under way, renegades from 
 eastern communities, corrupt stragglers from the 
 American army, and villains who had had their brutal 
 training in western wilds, began to seek in the Ohio 
 valley refuge from the more orderly and well settled 
 communities. Samuel Mason, who had been an officer 
 in the Continental army,, converted the cavern into an 
 inn as early as 1797. While he occupied the Cave, and 
 a few years thereafter, it was known as "Cave-Inn- 
 Rock." It was ideally located. Every passing boat 
 must reveal itself to those in the Cave who had a long, 
 clear view up and down the river. A lookout could 
 detect boats long before boatmen could perceive the 
 Cave. The bold beauty of the bluff made it pleasant 
 for the boats to run in near the sharply shelving shore, 
 and many travelers were thus simply and easily deliv- 
 ered into the hands of the banditti. As an inn, where 
 drink and rest could be had, it decoyed them ; as a scene 
 for shrouded crime it was perfect. 
 
 The earliest travelers on the western rivers floated 
 or propelled themselves with paddles and oars in small, 
 clumsy craft. The Indian canoe or pirogue was heavy, 
 but was managed with skill by those accustomed to its 
 use. With the growing stream of settlers and the in- 
 
38 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 creasing number of settlements along the Ohio and 
 Mississippi, there arose a necessity for larger craft that 
 would bear heavier burdens. This brought the flatboat 
 era covering the period from 1795 to 1820- that quarter 
 of a century known as the Golden Age of Flatboating. 
 During that era river piracy was at its height. The 
 lighter boats, pirogues, skiffs, and batteaux were to the 
 clumsy rafts and flatboats bearing heavy cargoes what 
 submarines and torpedo boats have been to the heavier 
 ships in later warfare. Inland piracy had its advantage 
 in using the small craft on dark nights for sudden 
 descents and escapes. 
 
 In the midst of this period the stately steamboat age 
 began its development. It was inaugurated in 181 1 
 when the first steam-propelled "water-walker" made 
 its laborious and astonishing way from Pittsburgh to 
 New Orleans. By 1820 steamboats had become a de- 
 pendable factor in traffic, and were, to river travel, 
 what the railroad train was later to become to the slow 
 stagecoach and freight wagon. It was inevitable that 
 under steamboat influence flatboats of all types - arks, 
 broadhorns, Orleans boats, keel-boats, and flat-bottomed 
 barges -would follow the primitive pirogues, skiffs, 
 and batteaux into retirement, except for neighborhood 
 use. River piracy waned with the conditions it preyed 
 upon, but not until about 1830 did it cease utterly. 
 
 In society, as in nature, everything develops with 
 opportunity and disappears according to necessity. In 
 the primitive age of river craft many travelers were 
 captured or killed by Indians bent on revenge or pil- 
 lage. These marauders were sometimes led by white 
 renegades. Later, pioneers floating down the Ohio or 
 Mississippi on flatboats came in contact with compara- 
 tively few savages, but were exposed to a far more dar- 
 
Piracy and Rough Life 39 
 
 ing and dangerous enemy in the form of river pirates - 
 white men, many of them descendants of supposedly 
 civilized European families. These disappeared as 
 the population increased. Then ensued the reign of 
 the more diplomatic river pirates - the professional 
 gamblers who, for a half century, used cards and other 
 gaming devices as instruments with which to rob those 
 who ventured into their society. 
 
 Such were the types of craft and men operating upon 
 and infesting the rivers in the early days. The country 
 through which these boats moved was not the country 
 we see today. Changes in the shapes and channels of 
 the rivers have been numerous, only the rock-defined 
 reaches preserving their original contours. Appear- 
 ances in detail have greatly changed. The wonderful 
 unbroken forests are gone. Where they once stood are 
 now fields and farms or cut-over forests; every few 
 miles there is a town. The river channels once mysteri- 
 ous and uncertain are now carefully charted. 
 
 Early voyageurs going down the river had, of course, 
 no guides and there were no known marks to indicate 
 their approach to any of the features of the river as it 
 wound through the wild, uninhabited country. The 
 boatmen who came afterwards carrying maps rudely 
 scratched, found them unsatisfactory because of inac- 
 curacies or lack of detail. Not until a handbook was 
 made available, after some years of careful compilation 
 of river features, could the uninitiated navigate the 
 large rivers with any degree of safety. 2 
 
 The numerous charts in The Navigator show the 
 
 2 The first, and in a sense the only standard guide book of this kind ever 
 published, was Zadok Cramer's The Ohio and Mississippi Navigator. It 
 made its appearance about 1801 and was followed by a number of revised 
 and enlarged editions until 1824, when the last edition was printed. It was 
 practically the only printed guide for flatboats. 
 
4-0 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 curves, islands, sandbars, eddies, and channels, and 
 mark the location of towns and many other places of 
 significance. The accompanying text contains instruc- 
 tions of value to the boatman, and historical data of 
 interest. It is curious, however, that no section of either 
 the Mississippi or Ohio is designated as one where out- 
 laws were likely to be encountered - not even Cave-in- 
 Rock nor the mouth of Cache River, which were long 
 considered the most dangerous resorts on the Ohio. In 
 every edition of The Navigator about a page is devoted 
 to a description of the Cave and instructions to boatmen 
 passing it, but there is no reference to its grim history. 
 Zadok Cramer was evidently a practical man, with no 
 eye to the speculative. It was not until 1814 that he 
 added a few lines bearing on the Cave's "economic" 
 history: 
 
 "This cavern sometimes serves as a temporary abode 
 for those wanting shelter, in case of shipwreck, or other 
 accident, which happen on the river near it. Families 
 have been known to reside here tolerably comfortable 
 from the northern blasts of winter. The mouth of this 
 cave was formerly sheltered, and nearly hid by some 
 trees growing in front of it, but the rude axe has leveled 
 them to the earth and the cavern is exposed to the open 
 view of the passenger. Emigrants from the states, 
 twenty-seven years ago used to land here and wagon 
 their goods across the Illinois country, it not being more 
 than one hundred and twenty miles from this place to 
 Kaskaskia on the Mississippi." 
 
 The Cave, of course, had more than criminal uses. 
 How on one occasion it served as a "temporary abode 
 for those wanting shelter" is recorded in The American 
 Pioneer, published in 1842. In this magazine Dr. 
 Samuel P. Hildreth, under the title of "History of a 
 
Piracy and Rough Life 41 
 
 Voyage from Marietta to New Orleans in 1805," gives 
 an interesting account of the schooner Nonpareil and 
 her voyage south, based on data furnished him by mem- 
 bers of her crew. The boat was built at Marietta and 
 started down the river April 21, 1805. She was a sea- 
 going vessel intended to run on the lakes near New 
 Orleans. The captain doubtless steered his course by a 
 copy of The Navigator. We quote from Hildreth's 
 account of what the crew found in 1805 at the well- 
 known lair of outlaws : 
 
 "As the Nonpareil approached near the mouth of 
 this dreaded cave, a little after twilight, they were 
 startled at seeing the bright blaze of a fire at its en- 
 trance. Knowing of its former fame as the den of a 
 band of robbers, they could not entirely suppress the 
 suspicion it awoke in their minds of its being again 
 occupied for the same purpose. Nevertheless, as they 
 had previously determined not to pass this noted spot 
 without making it a visit, they anchored the schooner 
 a little distance from the shore and landed in the skifT. 
 Being well armed with pistols they marched boldly up 
 to the cavern where, instead of being greeted with the 
 rough language and scowling visages of a band of rob- 
 bers, they found the cave occupied by smiling females 
 and sportive children. A part of the women were busily 
 occupied with their spinning wheels, while others pre- 
 pared the evening meal. Their suspicions were not, 
 however, fully removed by all these appearances of 
 domestic peace, still thinking that the men must be 
 secreted in some hidden corner of the cave ready to 
 fall on them unawares. On a little further conversa- 
 tion they found the present occupants of the dreaded 
 cave consisted of four young emigrant families from 
 Kentucky going to settle in Illinois. The females were 
 
42 Outlaws of Gave-in-Rock 
 
 yet in the bloom of life. Their husbands had bought or 
 taken up lands a few miles back from the river, and 
 after moving their families and household goods to this 
 spot had returned to their former residences to bring 
 out their cattle, in the meantime leaving their wives and 
 children in the occupancy of the cave till their return. 
 
 "Having brought, with their spinning wheels and 
 looms, an abundance of flax, the women spent the 
 weary days of their husbands' absence in the useful 
 employment of spinning. A large fire in the mouth of 
 the cave gave cheerfulness to the gloomy spot and 
 enabled them, at night, to proceed with their labors, 
 while its bright rays were reflected upon the looms, 
 beds, and household utensils which lay piled up along 
 the side of the cave. By day the sun afforded them 
 light, the mouth of the cave being capacious and ele- 
 vated, while the roof sheltered them from the rain. 
 They were in daily expectation of the arrival of their 
 husbands, when they would move out on to their farms 
 in company. 
 
 "A little conversation soon dissipated all suspicions 
 of harm from the minds of their visitors . . . and, bor- 
 rowing from them a torch, they explored the hidden 
 recesses of the cave. At this time no vestige of its 
 former occupants remained but a few scattered barrel 
 staves, and the traces of their fires against the blackened 
 sides of the rock. The walls, even at that early day, 
 were thickly scored with the names of former visitors, 
 to which they hastily added their own, and thousands 
 have no doubt been added since. Bidding a warm fare- 
 well to this singular and solitary community, they en- 
 tered their boat, greatly wondering at the courage and 
 confidence of these lonely females. Their surprise, 
 however, in a manner subsided when they reflected that 
 
Piracy and Rough Life 43 
 
 they were the daughters of Kentucky and from the land 
 of Daniel Boone." 
 
 The Nonpareil experienced no trouble with river 
 pirates, but was wrecked during a storm on the Mis- 
 sissippi and never reached her proposed destination. 
 So, in one form or another, every flatboat and other 
 early river craft suffered more or less trouble. History 
 records many robberies and other misfortunes, but its 
 pages also show that, notwithstanding the numerous 
 trials and tribulations, early river life, rough as it was, 
 was more of a romance than a tragedy. Going down 
 the Ohio and Mississippi proved, in many instances, 
 "easy sailing" compared to the flatboatman's overland 
 trip north over the Natchez Trace and other wilderness 
 roads infested with highwaymen. 
 
 The usual plan of the river robbers was to station one 
 or two of their men and women at some prominent 
 place on shore to hail a passing boat. These decoys 
 pleaded to be taken aboard, claiming they were alone 
 in the wilderness and wished to go to some settlement 
 further down the river, or that they desired to purchase 
 certain necessities which they lacked. If the boat was 
 thus enticed ashore, the crew saw their cargo unloaded, 
 and plundered, or beheld their craft continue its course 
 down the river in the hands of the enemy, themselves 
 held as hostages or murdered. 
 
 Boat wreckers were another common source of great 
 danger. Under one pretext or another they managed 
 to get aboard the boat and scuttle it near a place where 
 their confederates were prepared to make an attack. 
 Or, like Colonel Fluger, they waited until they found 
 a boat tied along the bank and then bored holes in the 
 bottom or dug out the caulking. When the ill-fated 
 boat began to sink, the fellow-wreckers rushed to the 
 
44 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 rescue and appropriated the goods for their own use. 
 killing part or all the crew if necessary. 
 
 Then, as now, a number of dangerous channels ex- 
 isted in the Ohio and Mississippi. They were desig- 
 nated as such in The Navigator. Near the head of 
 some of them lived reliable settlers who made it a busi- 
 ness to pilot boats through for pay. Pirates frequently 
 succeeded in passing themselves off as trustworthy local 
 pilots. Boats turned over to such men for safe steering 
 were usually grounded and immediately thereafter de- 
 livered into the hands of outlaws in waiting. 
 
 One of the dangerous channels, against which voy- 
 ageurs were warned by The Navigator, ran from the 
 head of Walker's Bar (a bar beginning about two miles 
 below Cave-in-Rock) down to Tower Rock, and from 
 there extended to the foot of Hurricane Island, a total 
 distance of about eight miles. The author of the river 
 guide, after devoting considerable space to directions 
 for navigating this channel and avoiding the Hurricane 
 Bars, adds a suggestion: "Just below the Cave, on the 
 right bank, there is a person who is sometimes em- 
 ployed to pilot boats through this serpentine channel, 
 and it is better for a stranger to pay a dollar or two for 
 this purpose, than run the risk of grounding on either 
 one or the other of these bars in low water. When the 
 water is high there is no occasion for a director." 
 
 The outlaws at Cave-in-Rock turned to their ad- 
 vantage the suggestion published in The Navigator. 
 About ten miles above the Cave, near Battery Rock, or 
 on what has long since been called the Jonathan Brown 
 Old Place, the robbers stationed a man who offered to 
 pilot, for a small sum, single boats or small fleets 
 through this "serpentine channel." He explained that 
 the person referred to by The Navigator as living "just 
 
Piracy and Rough Life 45 
 
 below the Cave" was out on a visit and would not 
 return for a week or more. In the event the first man 
 failed, another, standing ready a few miles further 
 down at Ford's Ferry, offered his services. The pilot 
 who succeeded in being employed grounded the boat 
 in front of the Cave if, by the time he reached the 
 place, he judged the cargo was worth the risk and the 
 crew could be overpowered. If more time was 
 required, he guided the boat to the head of Hurricane 
 Island. There it was either wrecked or taken safely 
 through the channel, the procedure depending on 
 whether or not he judged a profitable robbery possible. 
 Boatmen who declined to take a pilot aboard at Battery 
 Rock or Ford's Ferry were likely, if the water was 
 comparatively low, to inquire for a director "just below 
 the Cave." The man procured there, w T hether a mem- 
 ber of the Cave band or not, invariably guided the 
 boat safely through. Thus by helping to maintain one 
 reputable and reliable place near the Cave for pro- 
 curing the services of a pilot, the robbers experienced 
 little trouble in trapping the boats they selected for 
 that purpose. 
 
 Although most of the prospective victims were given 
 little consideration until after they had come within 
 ten or twenty miles of the Cave, in a number of in- 
 stances the river pirates began setting a trap for a boat 
 long before it arrived at Shawneetown. 
 
 The fact that the victims were piloted to the Cave by 
 certain members of a band, or enticed into the place by 
 some other means for the sole purpose of robbery, is 
 recorded by many early writers; none of them, how- 
 ever, gives any details. All authors who touch on the 
 Cave's history publish statements based on what other 
 men and women heard other people had experienced 
 
46 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 while in the hands of the outlaws. Only one instance 
 has been found in which the victim himself (Dr. 
 Charles H. Webb) recited to an author the details of 
 how he was decoyed to the Cave and how he escaped 
 from the men then occupying the place. The old flat- 
 boat robbers and flatboat wreckers left no first-hand 
 accounts of the methods they employed. 
 
 The year 1788 roughly marks the beginning of the 
 big inflow of settlers into the region west of the Alleghe- 
 nies, also the beginning of counterfeiting and other 
 outlawry at Cave-in-Rock. Many travelers and home- 
 seekers followed the trails and went into the interior 
 afoot, on horseback, or in wagons ; others took the river 
 to some river point and either settled there, or pro- 
 ceeded overland to an inland section. Thus, by "long 
 lines of wagons" and "great fleets of boats" the middle 
 West became settled. In the meantime many a small 
 party traveled alone over the trails or drifted down the 
 river in a single boat or in a small fleet, into the new and 
 sparsely populated country, and became easy prey for 
 highway robbers or river pirates who were likely to 
 appear at any time and in any disguise. 3 
 
 The earliest connection of the Cave with the name of 
 any outlaw who became famous was in 1797, when 
 Samuel Mason, of Revolutionary fame and hideous 
 fate, seems to have occupied it as a main trap for his 
 carefully worked out scheme of river piracy on a large 
 
 3 Conflict with pirates, cut-throats, and counterfeiters was only one of the 
 perils to which the boatmen were exposed on their long and trying trips into 
 the western wilds. Floating ice, heavy winds and rains, treacherous cur- 
 rents, hidden bars, and large snags were among the natural dangers that 
 constantly engaged the attention of the steersman. Many boats, managed by 
 careless or inexperienced men, were overturned, the craft and cargo dam- 
 aged or lost, and, as was frequently the case, some or all on board drowned. 
 Poorly constructed boats were put out of commission after meeting with 
 only a few minor obstacles. 
 
Piracy and Rough Life 47 
 
 scale. He erected a great rude sign on the river bank 
 near the mouth of the Cave, proclaiming to every pas- 
 serby that his "Liquor Vault and House for Entertain- 
 ment" was open to the public. Many captains and their 
 crews and many flatboat passengers were lured to it. 
 After Mason and his family left for the South, most of 
 the succeeding bands, during their necessarily short 
 stay, operated a gambling and drinking place on the 
 same principle. 
 
 It was a common practice among outlaws frequently 
 to change not only their headquarters but their names. 
 While at Cave-in-Rock Mason was also known as 
 "Wilson." Thomas Ashe, who wrote about it, prob- 
 ably did not know that the Wilson he described was 
 Samuel Mason. Among the various men who appeared 
 after the departure of Samuel Mason, alias "Wilson," 
 was one Jim Wilson. Whether Jim Wilson was his real 
 name is not known. However, between Samuel Mason 
 as "Wilson" and a later man known as "Jim Wilson" 
 there has been more or less confusion for almost a cen- 
 tury, especially in tradition. In 1897 William Court- 
 ney Watts wrote a historical romance, Chronicles of a 
 Kentucky Settlement, in which he presents James Ford, 
 of Ford's Ferry notoriety, as "James Wilson." James 
 Ford was in no way connected with Mason or with 
 Wilson, but his presentation under the fictitious name 
 of "James Wilson" had added to the already existing 
 confusion. 
 
 After James Ford's death, which occurred in 1833 - 
 and many years before Watts applied the name of 
 "James Wilson" to him - a writer published a sketch 
 of the career of one Jim Wilson at the Cave. This 
 sketch is here recapitulated, not as a story that can be 
 verified in all its details by history, but as a semi-histor- 
 
48 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 ical tale which may convey a better idea of the methods, 
 life, and fate of the Cave's outlaws than formal history. 
 Only one who will make a study of the Cave's past- 
 from the available authenticated records down to some 
 of its absurd traditions - will recognize this story as a 
 picture in which facts fairly divide the scene with fic- 
 tion, and painted in colors that bring joy to the hearts 
 of readers of dime novels. When and by whom it was 
 written or first published has not been ascertained. It 
 apparently was not written before 1836, for the author, 
 in his introduction, attempts a description of the Cave 
 as it appeared that year. The writer evidently had read 
 Thomas Ashe's account published in 1808, and was also 
 familiar with some of the Cave's printed history and 
 oral traditions. The story was probably first published 
 in an old magazine or newspaper. In 1893 it appeared, 
 anonymously and without credit, in the Crittenden 
 Press, of Marion, Kentucky. From that weekly it was 
 copied by many newspapers in the lower Ohio Valley, 
 and is now preserved, under various titles, in many a 
 scrap book. 
 
 This old story is interesting because it was written 
 when stories of the Cave were still fresh. Inaccuracies 
 and confusions of names and dates may have crept in, 
 but it remains the first concise and inherently reason- 
 able account of how the Cave was first occupied as a 
 den by river criminals. In the presentation of the 
 usual method of the Cave's renegades, it matters very 
 little whether the first of those desperate captains of 
 crime bore the name of Wilson, Mason, or Harpe. In 
 this case it seems clearly the story of Samuel Mason 
 about 1797. The names they assumed might vary with 
 every flatboat or raft that passed. An alias is ever the 
 shield of the criminal. The story describes not only a 
 
Piracy and Rough Life 49 
 
 method actually employed by the Cave's outlaws for 
 many years, but also a method by which the career of 
 more than one of these river pirates was, as we shall see 
 later, so tragically terminated. The story runs, as 
 follows : 
 
 "About the year 1809, one Jim Wilson, a flatboatman, 
 while passing down the Ohio, was overtaken by a ter- 
 rific storm. He steered his boat under the shelter of a 
 cliff. On landing he observed the opening of the cave. 
 He was attracted by the commodious rooms with dry 
 ceilings and sanded floors, and resolved that on his 
 return to Pittsburgh he would bring his family hither. 
 
 "In the following spring Wilson's boat again landed 
 at the foot of the cliff. This time he was not alone, but 
 with him came his wife, five children, two slaves, and 
 William Hall, the great counterfeiter. His boat was 
 loaded with provisions, stores, liquors, and arms, which 
 he had stolen from the government warehouse at Fort 
 Pitt on the night before his departure. The great cave 
 was soon transformed into a dwelling and tavern large 
 enough to accommodate several travelers. 
 
 "Wilson's object for landing and establishing himself 
 in so remote and romantic headquarters will be seen 
 hereafter. A sign was planted at the water's edge bear- 
 ing these words : 'Wilson's Liquor Vault and House for 
 Entertainment.' This novel sign had a magnetic effect 
 upon the boatmen who were almost daily passing en 
 route to southern markets, with flatboats loaded with 
 produce. The boat crews were generally jovial fel- 
 lows, fond of rum, rest, and merriment, and hardly a 
 boat passed without stopping. Many were the guests 
 at Wilson's Tavern; thieves and gamblers stopped off 
 here and in a few months the place became infamous 
 for its licentiousness and blasphemy. 
 
5<3 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 "Wilson had been for many years a deep-dyed crim- 
 inal and only came here that he might vary his crimes, 
 and have a wider field for operation. Out of his guests 
 he soon formed a band of the most noted robbers, mur- 
 derers, and counterfeiters that, for two years, had no 
 parallel in modern history. Their headquarters were 
 at the Cave, but they had many stations along the Ohio 
 above and below, which were maintained for the pur- 
 pose of preventing suspicion being cast upon the genial 
 landlord at the Cave. The principal station was at 
 Hurricane Island, where forty-five men were stationed 
 all the time. 
 
 "Each boat that landed at the Cave was captured and 
 such of the crew as would not join Wilson's Gang 
 were allowed to drift on to Hurricane Island where 
 they were again captured and the remainder of the 
 crew foully murdered and their bodies cast into the 
 Ohio. With new pilots and crews the boats and cargoes 
 were taken to New Orleans, and converted into cash 
 which was conveyed to the Cave through the wilder- 
 ness of Kentucky and Tennessee. 
 
 "Many boats loaded with valuable cargoes left port 
 on the upper Ohio and its tributaries, under the guid- 
 ance of experienced and trustworthy officers. The of- 
 ficers and crews never returned. No returns for sales 
 were ever received. It soon became a mystery that so 
 many honorable men never came back to pay over the 
 proceeds, and to tell the perils of their voyage. It was 
 many months before any serious suspicions were cre- 
 ated. After that it was found that the cargoes were 
 disposed of by entirely different crews from those en- 
 trusted with them. There was but limited postal or 
 other communication in those days - letters of special 
 importance were carried by messengers who often fell 
 
Piracy and Rough Life 51 
 
 into the hands of Wilson's men. Thereby they kept 
 posted and, by changing the communication to suit their 
 purposes, and forwarding them by different carriers, 
 often thwarted the attempt of justice, and kept their 
 whereabouts enveloped in mystery for many months. 
 'But it is a long lane that hath no turn.' It was finally 
 ascertained that no tidings could be had of any boat 
 after it had passed certain points on the Ohio near 
 Wilson's Tavern. 
 
 "A meeting of the Pittsburgh shippers was called 
 and it was determined to ferret out the mystery. This 
 would be a shrewd piece of detective work which 
 would be attended by many dangers. A large reward 
 was offered for information as to the exact location of 
 the robber band. John Waller, a determined and am- 
 bitious man of Maysville, Kentucky, resolved to secure 
 the reward or perish in the attempt. He was furnished 
 with a cargo contributed by various shippers along the 
 Ohio, and with five trusted companions he set out early 
 in the spring of 18 10. They floated with the current 
 many days. At last one evening they came in sight of 
 the Cave, and were attracted by the novel sign and also 
 the presence of several females on the bank, who made 
 gestures for them to land. They held a hasty consulta- 
 tion and resolved to land ; a few sweeps of the steering 
 oar brought them to the foot of the cliff." 
 
 That which follows this clear description of ordinary 
 circumstances is evidently a mixture of fact and fiction 
 that represents the imaginative style of the day. It is 
 quite plain that the author himself had not personally 
 visited the Cave, but had relied upon the fictions of 
 Thomas Ashe or the reflections from Ashe's account 
 that had gained circulation and belief. He accepts the 
 mythical "upper cave" and has the Cave divided off 
 
 UNIVERSITY ui- 
 
 1UJN01S LIBRARY 
 
 AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 
 
52 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 into rooms and a "council chamber," no relics of which 
 have ever been reported by any matter-of-fact observer 
 from that time to this. The leader, "Jim Wilson," he 
 converts into a semi-savage with matted and tangled 
 hair and beard, who is yet a shrewd trader and an 
 orator of no mean power for his day. On the occasion 
 of the initiation of new recruits Jim Wilson delivers a 
 romantic and argumentative speech that is equal to the 
 best fiction of the times. 
 
 The story narrates graphically how Waller and his 
 men were overawed and compelled, under fear, to 
 agree to join the robber band ; how they were received 
 into it with melodramatic ceremonies and then were 
 oath-bound, but not fully trusted ; how they made their 
 escape - the savage and astute robbers being, of course, 
 fooled for the exigencies of the event; how the Waller 
 force combined with its waiting reinforcements, re- 
 turned, captured Jim Wilson and then went to Hurri- 
 cane Island and destroyed that part of the band; and 
 how eventually "Jim Wilson's head was severed, his 
 body buried . . . the head identified and delivered 
 to the proper authorities at Pittsburgh . . . and the 
 captors received the merited reward." This last point 
 is plainly an echo of Mason's fate. 
 
 This story of the activities of the early renegades of 
 civilization, and of the river pirates who occupied the 
 Cave bears upon its face the stamp of truth that fits 
 neatly into practically all traditions from about 1795 
 to about 1820. 
 
 Before Mason became famous, however, greater 
 
 scoundrels than he were to attract public attention, and 
 
 hold it for some years. The story of the Harpes- 
 
 "Big" and "Little" Harpe - is one that may freeze the 
 
 blood as read now in the light of old records and per- 
 
Piracy and Rough Life 53 
 
 sonal accounts that seem to bring the reader into the 
 very presence of these two brutes. In the security of 
 law and order in these days the facts seem remote, but 
 when the sparse settlement of the West in 1799 is real- 
 ized, and the further fact that wilderness hospitality 
 opened doors to all travelers and admitted these mon- 
 sters freely with good people, it is possible then to con- 
 ceive the horror their deeds and presence aroused. 
 
The Harpes-A Terrible Frontier Story 
 
 The career of the two Harpes 4 in Tennessee, southern 
 Illinois, and Kentucky, particularly Kentucky, at the 
 close of the eighteenth century has rarely been equalled 
 in the history of crime, either in peace or war. Its 
 beginning was so sudden, its motives wrapped in such 
 mystery, its race so swift, and its circumstances so ter- 
 rible and unbelievably brutal as to justify Collins, the 
 distinguished historian of Kentucky, in referring to the 
 brothers as "the most brutal monsters of the human 
 race." 
 
 At that time, 1798-99, Kentucky had a pioneer popu- 
 lation of about two hundred thousand, which was 
 largely centered in the new trading and agricultural 
 towns in the eastern part and in the rich bluegrass 
 country. The remainder of the state, except along the 
 water courses, was well nigh a wilderness. In the 
 southern and western portions buffalo grazed, and bear 
 were plentiful. East Tennessee, where the scourge of 
 crime began, was even more sparsely settled. This 
 pioneer population was vigorous, rude, and accustomed 
 even to Indian atrocities. Among the settlers were 
 many who, as fugitives from justice, had deliberately 
 sought seclusion from the eastern states because of crim- 
 inal offenses. The Ohio River was infested with inland 
 pirates, and the early rivermen themselves were a rough 
 and violent type. Isolation led well-meaning pioneers 
 to be generous and confiding to those whom they had 
 
 4 Prior to about 1824 Harpe was spelled Harp. 
 
56 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 tested, but to a great degree might was right, and 
 strangers looked askance at each other and were pre- 
 pared for the worst. 
 
 Yet such a rude and hardy people as these were 
 gripped with horror at the atrocities of the Harpes, at 
 their often unmeaning and unprovoked murders. It 
 is difficult in these days of well ordered government to 
 realize the mysterious terror and excitement that began 
 near Knoxville in 1798 and swept through the wilder- 
 ness to the borders of the Mississippi, and across the 
 Ohio into Illinois like some sudden, creeping fire that 
 breaks out in underbrush, and grows steadily in intens- 
 ity and rage until it sweeps forests before it. All this 
 was, in a measure, realized in the breasts of human be- 
 ings as the hideous crimes of the Harpes increased. 
 
 Aside from the wars and the recorded importances 
 of political development, the episode of the Harpes is 
 the most astounding event in the early life of the 
 Middle West. It engaged the memory of men for forty 
 years, and the pens of numerous historians, and writers 
 of memoir have been occupied with it ever since. In 
 the main the story has been well preserved, but in the 
 details there has been the variation that grows with 
 repetition. The most dignified historians have not dis- 
 dained to seek the minute details attaching to the per- 
 sons and actions of these two men from the moment 
 they began their criminal career to the thrilling blood- 
 chase in which the older brother was captured and 
 killed, and the younger escaped into exile and to an 
 even more dramatic and terrible death. 
 
 To this day the story of "The Harpes" and "Harpe's 
 Head" is told about firesides in the Cave-in-Rock coun- 
 try, in southern and western Kentucky and in eastern 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 57 
 
 Tennessee. It has been perpetuated in folk ballads and 
 written by scores of pens. [93] 
 
 It is the purpose here to bring together the many 
 threads of the tale as they have been verified and cor- 
 rected by original records sought from Wisconsin to 
 New Orleans, and from Knoxville to Cave-in-Rock 
 and the Mississippi River. 
 
 Judge James Hall, while living in Illinois, wrote a 
 brief account of one of the crimes committed by these 
 outlaws, and in April, 1824, published it in The Port 
 Folio of Philadelphia. In his introductory remarks he 
 comments : "Neither avarice nor want nor any of the 
 usual inducements to the commission of crime, seemed 
 to govern their conduct. A savage thirst for blood - a 
 deep-rooted enmity against human nature, could alone 
 be discovered in their actions . . . Plunder was not 
 their object; they took only what would have been 
 freely given them, and no more than what was necessary 
 to supply the immediate wants of nature ; they destroyed 
 without having suffered injury, and without the pros- 
 pect of benefit . . . Mounted on fine horses they 
 plunged into the forest, eluded pursuit by frequently 
 changing their course, and appeared unexpectedly to 
 perpetrate new horrors, at points distant from those 
 where they were supposed to lurk." 
 
 Judge Hall, up to that time, had done little more than 
 describe one of their last crimes, yet The Cincinnati 
 Literary Gazette, May 28, 1825, came out with a state- 
 ment admitting that there may have been two outlaws 
 by the name of Harpe, but added : "We have no hesi- 
 tation in asserting that their history, as published in 
 The Port Folio, is unworthy of belief . . . The hor- 
 rible details concerning these men . . . such disgusting 
 
58 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 sketches of human depravity and barbarism manifest 
 either a vitiated taste or a total disregard of the morals 
 of the community." 
 
 As far as is now known, at least two papers published 
 in the month following came to the defense of Judge 
 Hall's account. The Illinois Gazette, of Shawneetown, 
 among other things, declared: "The depravity and 
 bloodshed which marked their existence . . . are cir- 
 cumstances too strongly impressed upon the recollec- 
 tions of our early settlers to be contradicted at this 
 date." 
 
 The Columbian, of Henderson, Kentucky, in a half 
 column article devoted to the same subject, asserts: 
 "The account published in The Port Folio is correct in 
 every essential point . . . However it may be regretted 
 that such monsters as the Harpes ever should have ex- 
 isted to disgrace humanity, yet it is an uncontrovert- 
 ible fact." [56] 
 
 In the August, 1825, issue of The Port Folio Judge 
 Hall published an account of another murder com- 
 mitted by the Harpes - the killing of Thomas Lang- 
 ford, who was among their first victims in Kentucky. 
 In the same number he devotes a few pages to a verifi- 
 cation of the statements he published then and a few 
 months previous. And before half had been told about 
 the Harpes, The Cincinnati Literary Gazette was con- 
 vinced of its error in doubting and disputing the verac- 
 ity of Judge Hall. Judge Hall wrote several pages 
 justifying the publication of the weird and wonderful 
 facts of the career of the Harpes. His arguments pub- 
 lished in 1825 in his own defense hold good today and 
 may be equally well applied to the story of the Harpes 
 here given, which, as far as is known, is the first attempt 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 59 
 
 to compile a complete history of these notorious out- 
 laws: 
 
 "If it is intended to be objected, that these 'horrid 
 details/ even if true, are not proper for publication - I 
 reply, that whatever tends to develop the history or 
 character of a people, is a legitimate subject of public 
 discussion. History to be of any value must be true. It 
 must disclose not only the truth but the whole truth. 
 In vain would the historian seek this in the frail monu- 
 ments vaguely preserved in the uncertain legend of tra- 
 dition. He must resort to national records and to the 
 testimony of writers contemporary with the events 
 which he attempts to describe, and if the latter abstain 
 from the narration of 'disgusting sketches of human 
 depravity and barbarism,' history must be curtailed of 
 her most fruitful source of incident, and men and na- 
 tions stripped of their boldest peculiarity. It is per- 
 haps forgotten that 'depravity and barbarism' consti- 
 tute almost the sole basis of history, tragedy, and the 
 epic song; that kings and courts are nothing without 
 them; that they revel amid 'the pomp, pride, and cir- 
 cumstance of glorious war;' and stand forth in bold 
 relief in every department of civil subordination. It 
 is to be deplored that such is the fact; but while crime 
 and folly continue to predominate in the affairs of men, 
 they will be found to swell the pages of those who 
 attempt to exhibit correct pictures of human nature. 
 
 "In describing the American backwoodsmen, a class 
 of men peculiar to our country, I have thought it 
 proper to introduce among other authentic anecdotes 
 the story of the Harpes. My object was to display as 
 well the extraordinary sufferings to which the earliest 
 emigrants to the western country were exposed, as the 
 
60 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 courage with which they met and repelled those hard- 
 ships." 
 
 The Harpes were believed to be brothers. They 
 were natives of North Carolina. Micajah, known as 
 Big Harpe, was born about 1768, and Wiley, known as 
 Little Harpe, was born about 1770. Their father was 
 said to have been a Tory who fought under the British 
 flag at King's Mountain and took part in a number of 
 other battles against the colonists. Before the close of 
 the Revolution and immediately thereafter many of the 
 Tories living in the south Atlantic colonies fled toward 
 the Mississippi. Those who still sympathized with the 
 King of England and continued to live in the "Old 
 States" were, in most sections, ostracized by their neigh- 
 bors. It was to this class that the parents of the Harpes 
 belonged ; and it was, therefore, in an environment of 
 hatred for and by neighbors that the two sons grew up. 
 
 About the year 1840 Colonel G. W. Sevier, son of 
 Governor John Sevier, in an interview with Lyman C. 
 Draper, the historian, stated that Big Harpe, when 
 asked shortly before he was killed why he had com- 
 mitted so many crimes, answered that he had been badly 
 treated and consequently had become disgusted with all 
 mankind. [12G] The same statement is made by J. W. 
 M. Breazeale, another well-known early Tennesseean, 
 who had lived in Knoxville the greater part of his life 
 and had investigated the careers of the outlaws. 
 
 One writer attributes their acts of fiendish inhuman- 
 ity to the fact that they believed every man's life, 
 whether good, indifferent or bad, was predestined and 
 that the All Wise had foreordained for them a hatred 
 of humanity and a career of crime. [121] Draper, in his 
 "Sketch of the Harpes," comments on the fact that 
 "their tawny appearance and dark curly hair betrayed 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 61 
 
 a tinge of African blood coursing through their veins." 
 Criminologists may or may not agree as to the under- 
 lying cause of the great thirst for blood possessed by 
 the Harpes, but the fact that they were the most savage 
 and terrible characters in this period of American his- 
 tory cannot be disputed. 
 
 About the year 1795 the two men, accompanied by 
 Susan Roberts and Betsey Roberts, left North Carolina 
 for Tennessee. Susan claimed to be the legal wife of 
 Big Harpe, whereas Betsey merely posed as such. Big 
 Harpe, however, claimed both women as his wives. 
 The Harpes cared as little for the laws of matrimony 
 as for any other laws and the legality or illegality of 
 anything they did was a matter of indifference to them. 
 The two men and their women roamed in central 
 Tennessee about two years. Most of their time was 
 spent with a few stray Creek and Cherokee Indians 
 who at the time were ostracized by their tribes and 
 were committing atrocities against their own people as 
 well as against the whites. The Harpes joined the 
 savages in their outrages, and not only encouraged them 
 in their bloody deeds, but gave them many demonstra- 
 tions showing to what extent barbarity could be prac- 
 ticed. Asleep or awake they were armed with toma- 
 hawks and knives and never took a step from camp 
 without a gun. They were always prepared to shed 
 blood for the satisfaction of shedding it, or to resist 
 arrest should any attempt be made to capture them. 
 They lived like man-eating animals. The women as 
 well as the men wore leather hunting shirts and mocca- 
 sins made from the untanned skin of animals they 
 killed. They never wore hats except in the coldest 
 weather and then used the kind they "whanged" to- 
 gether with deer skin thongs. [121] 
 
62 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Some time during 1797 the four left middle Ten- 
 nessee for the new settlement of Knoxville. While 
 wandering toward the eastern part of the state they 
 met a young Methodist preacher named William Lam- 
 buth, who was traveling through the wilderness alone. 
 They robbed him and among his belongings found 
 a Bible. In turning the leaves, looking for bank 
 bills, Big Harpe discovered on the front page, written 
 in plain letters the names "William Lambuth" and 
 "George Washington." Pointing to the name of the 
 General, Harpe remarked : "That is a brave and good 
 man, but a mighty rebel against the King." The ar- 
 ticles found in Lambuth's possession convinced the 
 Harpes that he was a preacher, whereupon they re- 
 turned to him not only his Bible but also the gun, the 
 little money, and the horse they had taken. Then 
 abruptly turning from him and shouting, "We are the 
 Harpes," they quickly disappeared. This is probably 
 the only instance in the lives of the Harpes, after the 
 beginning of their murderous career, when they had 
 anyone, old or young, in their power, and showed less 
 than a fiendish barbarity. [121] 
 
 Obeying the principle that birds of a feather flock 
 together, the Harpes, it seems, were attracted toward 
 the new settlement of Knoxville. In March, 1798, 
 James Weir, on his way from South Carolina to Ken- 
 tucky, spent a few days in the town. Writing of his 
 short stay there he says : 
 
 "In the infant town of Knox the houses are irregular 
 and interspersed. It was County Court day when I 
 came. The town was confused with a promiscuous 
 throng of every denomination. Some talked, some 
 sang, and mostly all did profanely swear. I stood 
 aghast, my soul shrank back to hear the horrid oaths 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 63 
 
 and dreadful indignities offered to the Supreme Gov- 
 ernor of the Universe, who with one frown is able to 
 shake them into non-existence. There was what I never 
 did see before, viz., on Sunday, dancing, singing, and 
 playing of cards, etc. ... It was said by a gentleman 
 of the neighborhood that 'the Devil is grown so old that 
 it renders him incapable of traveling and that he has 
 taken up in Knoxville and there hopes to spend the re- 
 maining part of his days in tranquility, as he believes 
 he is among his friends,' but as it is not a good principle 
 to criticise the conduct of others, I shall decline it with 
 this general reflection, that there are some men of good 
 principles in all places, but often more bad ones to 
 counterbalance them." [109] 
 
 The Harpes doubtless felt they could better gratify 
 their thirst for blood in the vicinity of a settlement like 
 Knoxville than in a wide wilderness where subjects for 
 their cruelty were too few. They found a small tract 
 of cleared land on Beaver Creek, about eight miles 
 west of Knoxville. Upon this they built a log cabin for 
 themselves, and a pen for their horses, and, in order to 
 conceal their motives, cultivated a few acres of ground. 
 Under this feint of honest occupation they experienced 
 no difficulty in gaining the confidence of their neigh- 
 bors. In fact, so easily had they made a favorable im- 
 pression that within a few weeks after their arrival 
 Little Harpe married Sarah or Sally Rice, a daughter 
 of John Rice, a preacher living about four miles north 
 of the Harpe hut. 
 
 In the meantime the two brothers made trips to the 
 seat of justice, for then, as now, the occasion and the 
 desire "to go to town" to see "what's going on" was a 
 common one among the people who lived in the coun- 
 try. Swapping horses was then, and still is to a great 
 
64 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 extent, one of the features of a day at the small court 
 house towns. So when, on one of their first trips to 
 Knoxville, the Harpes brought with them a fine three- 
 year-old mare and offered to run her in a race, no sus- 
 picion was aroused. The horse was apparently superior 
 to any other in town that day and no owner could be 
 induced to venture his quarter nag against her. A Mr. 
 Aycoff, recognizing the mare as an unusually good one, 
 bought her and became so attached to the animal that 
 he kept her almost a quarter of a century. It is inter- 
 esting to note that twenty years after he purchased her, 
 a gentleman from Georgia, visiting near Knoxville, 
 recognized her as the filly that had been stolen from 
 him many years before. [12G] 
 
 The Harpes rapidly increased the number of their 
 trips to town, but it was soon noticed that with each suc- 
 ceeding visit their supply of pork and mutton increased. 
 They sold this meat to John Miller, one of the most 
 respected merchants of Knoxville, through whom the 
 Harpe hams soon became well known. But the repu- 
 tation of the two brothers for drinking and gambling, 
 and the disturbances they raised in the village were 
 sufficient to arouse suspicion in the community. By 
 this and other evidence John Miller was convinced that 
 the Harpes were hog thieves, and suspected that their 
 dishonesty and meanness had no limit. [12G] 
 
 Soon after the arrival of the Harpes in east Tennes- 
 see a number of houses and stables near Knoxville were 
 set on fire and many of them burned to the ground. As 
 no motive for such destruction of property could be 
 discovered, the citizens attributed it to downright ras- 
 cality. So strong had become suspicion against the 
 Harpes that when Edward Tiel, who lived a mile from 
 Knoxville, discovered that several of his best horses had 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 65 
 
 been stolen, he enlisted a number of neighbors and im- 
 mediately proceeded to the home of the Harpes. The 
 investigators found that the cabin had been deserted 
 recently, but noticed indications that horses had been 
 tied to some near-by trees. Tiel and his men took up 
 the trail and followed it across Clinch River into the 
 Cumberland Mountains. There they captured the two 
 Harpes who were alone at the time. The stolen horses 
 were recovered, but when the captors and their prison- 
 ers reached a point about five miles northeast of Knox- 
 ville, the horse thieves made their escape. [21] 
 
 Tiel and his men tried to effect their recapture but, 
 failing in the attempt, returned to Knoxville. That 
 same night the two Harpes appeared at Hughes' 
 "rowdy groggery," a few miles west of Knoxville, 
 where they had gone to exercise their brutality before 
 leaving Tennessee. Hughes, his wife's two brothers, 
 named Metcalfe, and a man named Johnson, living in 
 Jefferson County, were present when the Harpes, who 
 knew the men, rushed in. Johnson was last seen alive 
 there. A few days later his body was discovered in the 
 Holstein River. It had been ripped open, filled with 
 stones, and thrown into the water. Notwithstanding 
 this excess of caution the stones became loosened and 
 the corpse rose to the surface. When the body was 
 discovered Hughes and the Metcalfes came forth with 
 a declaration that the Harpes had committed the crime. 
 Suspicion fell upon the accusers and as the two Harpes 
 were nowhere to be found, the three men were arrested 
 and put in jail. They were acquitted on trial, due to 
 lack of evidence. The Metcalfes immediately fled the 
 country. A party of "regulators" followed Hughes to 
 his groggery, gave him a whipping, pulled down his 
 house and drove him out of the country. [12G] 
 
66 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 The killing of Johnson, as far as is known, seems to 
 have been the first of the murders committed by the 
 Harpes. Up to this time they had apparently confined 
 their operations to stealing hogs and horses, and setting 
 fire to houses. They now began a career of ruthless 
 murder which was so bold that it not only terrified the 
 citizens of Tennessee and Kentucky, but also alarmed 
 settlers in many other sections of the Middle West. 
 
 The Harpes evidently had arranged to meet their 
 three women associates at some definite point if they 
 should for any reason find it necessary to separate. 
 Shortly after the killing of Johnson the five met in 
 western Virginia, near Cumberland Gap, and there, in 
 December, 1798, they entered Kentucky - the "dark and 
 bloody ground," to be made even darker by the deeds 
 they were to commit during the next twelve months. 
 
 They traveled the Wilderness Road more or less 
 closely, leaving it only when they felt their safety de- 
 manded a detour. Their first victim in Kentucky was a 
 peddler named Peyton, whom they entcountered near 
 the Cumberland River in what is now Knox County. 
 They killed him and took his horse and some of his 
 goods, but the details of this deed are not known. [21] 
 
 The outlaws continued along this trail toward Crab 
 Orchard and Stanford, in Lincoln County, and over- 
 took two Marylanders named Paca and Bates. Night 
 came on and it was proposed that the party camp on 
 the first suitable spot. This was agreed upon, but the 
 Harpes managed not to find a desirable place until it 
 grew dark. Suddenly, as if by accident, the brothers 
 changed positions, Big Harpe getting behind Bates and 
 Little Harpe behind Paca, the women walking about 
 thirty feet in the rear. The Harpes fired and the two 
 unfortunate Marylanders fell. Bates died instantly. A 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 67 
 
 few minutes later Paca, who was badly crippled and 
 knocked speechless, attempted to rise. Big Harpe 
 rushed up to the struggling man, "splitting open his 
 head with a hatchet or tomahawk he carried in his 
 belt." The Harpes, being in need of some clothing, 
 appropriated only such garments as were immediately 
 useful. They took, however, all the gold and silver and 
 Continental coin found in possession of their victims. 
 
 [121] 
 
 The villains continued along the Wilderness Road 
 and one night in December, 1798, arrived at a public 
 house kept by John Farris in what is now Rockcastle 
 County, not many miles from Crab Orchard. With 
 them came Stephen Langford, of Virginia, who was on 
 his way to Crab Orchard to visit a kinsman and to con- 
 sider making that locality his home. Langford prob- 
 ably had not met the Harpes until that morning. The 
 story of what took place after they met was related 
 about a quarter of a century later by Judge James Hall, 
 who, in his day, ranked among the best living authors 
 in America, and whose statements were then, and have 
 been ever since, cited as high authority. His story of 
 their encounter with Langford was first published in 
 August, 1825, in The Port Folio. After making some 
 slight revisions in his "Story of the Harpes" he repub- 
 lished the sketch in 1828 in his Letters from the West, 
 from which book his account of the Langford tragedy 
 is here quoted : 
 
 "In the autumn of the year 1799, a young gentleman, 
 named Langford, of a respectable family in Mecklen- 
 burgh County, Virginia, set out from this state for Ken- 
 tucky, with the intention of passing through the Wil- 
 derness, as it was then called, by the route generally 
 known as Boone's Trace. On reaching the vicinity of 
 
68 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 the Wilderness, a mountainous and uninhabited tract, 
 which at that time separated the settled parts of Ken- 
 tucky from those of Virginia, he stopped to breakfast 
 at a public house near Big Rockcastle River. Travelers 
 of this description - any other indeed than hardy 
 wood men - were unwilling to pass singly through this 
 lonely region ; and they generally waited on its confines 
 for others, and traveled through in parties. Mr. Lang- 
 ford, either not dreading danger, or not choosing to de- 
 lay, determined to proceed alone. While breakfast was 
 preparing, the Harpes and their women came up. Their 
 appearance denoted poverty, with but little regard to 
 cleanliness; two very indifferent horses, with some bags 
 swung across them, and a rifle gun or two, comprised 
 nearly their whole equipage. Squalid and miserable, 
 they seemed objects of pity, rather than of fear, and 
 their ferocious glances were attributed more to hunger 
 than to guilty passion. They were entire strangers in 
 that neighborhood, and, like Mr. Langford, were about 
 to cross the Wilderness. When breakfast was served, 
 the landlord, as was customary at such places in those 
 times, invited all the persons who were assembled in 
 the common, perhaps the only room of his little inn, to 
 sit down; but the Harpes declined, alleging their want 
 of money as the reason. Langford, who was of a lively, 
 generous disposition, on hearing this, invited them to 
 partake of the meal at his expense; they accepted the 
 invitation, and ate voraciously. When they had thus 
 refreshed themselves, and were about to renew their 
 journey, Mr. Langford called for the bill, and in the 
 act of discharging it imprudently displayed a handful 
 of silver. They then set out together. 
 
 "A few days after, some men who were conducting 
 a drove of cattle to Virginia, by the same road which 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 69 
 
 had been traveled by Mr. Langford and the Harpes, 
 had arrived within a few miles of Big Rockcastle 
 River, when their cattle took fright, and, quitting the 
 road, rushed down a hill into the woods. In collecting 
 them, the drovers discovered the dead body of a man 
 concealed behind a log, and covered with brush and 
 leaves. It was now evident that the cattle had been 
 alarmed by the smell of blood in the road, and, as the 
 body exhibited marks of violence, it was at once sus- 
 pected that a murder had been perpetrated but recently. 
 The corpse was taken to the same house where the 
 Harpes had breakfasted, and recognized to be that of 
 Mr. Langford, whose name was marked upon several 
 parts of his dress. Suspicion fell upon the Harpes, 
 who were pursued and apprehended near Crab Or- 
 chard. They were taken to Stanford . . ." 
 
 The killing of the two Marylanders and the peddler 
 was not known until many weeks thereafter. The re- 
 port of the murder of Langford spread like wildfire. 
 The Kentucky Gazette, January 2, 1799, in a character- 
 istically brief paragraph gave sufficient details of the 
 discovery of the body on December 14 to impress its 
 readers with the seriousness of an act of barbarity that 
 might be repeated by the Harpes at any time. "We 
 also learn," says this paragraph, "that Mr. Ballenger is 
 in pursuit of them, with a determined resolution never 
 to quit the chase until he has secured them." 
 
 Captain Joseph Ballenger, the organizer and leader 
 of the pursuing party, was a prominent merchant of 
 Stanford, Lincoln County. He and his men trailed the 
 Harpes and their women to the neighborhood of what 
 was then Carpenter's Station, a settlement near the 
 present town of Hustonville and about eight miles 
 southwest of Stanford. There Ballenger discovered 
 
70 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 them sitting on a log, evidently confident that no one 
 could detect their whereabouts. [12F] The pursuers 
 rushed on them so suddenly that resistance or escape 
 was impossible. 5 
 
 The five prisoners were taken to Stanford, placed in 
 jail and, about ten days later, tried before the Court of 
 Quarter Sessions. 
 
 Hall's story of the frontier tragedy, based on personal 
 accounts that had survived for a quarter of a century, 
 has already been given. It is brief and is correct as far 
 as it goes, but while Hall was hearing it from the lips 
 of men who had it from those concerned with the 
 vengeance of the law, there lay in the custody of the 
 records of the backwoods court of Lincoln County, the 
 grim details of that crime of base ingratitude and cru- 
 elty in solitude which so shook the Wilderness. They 
 had lain there forgotten more than a century when they 
 were found and examined in 191 8. Yellowed with age, 
 written with the goose-quill pen of that period in a pen- 
 manship characteristic of the pioneers, a jumble of half 
 narrative, half legal style, much of which, however, is 
 in use in courts today, these records of a terrible episode 
 in history are eloquent with interest. 
 
 5 After killing Langford the Harpes probably continued to travel along 
 the Wilderness Road until they reached Crab Orchard, from which place 
 radiated, besides the Wilderness Road to Cumberland Gap, at least four 
 other routes: the Louisville route, the Frankfort and Cincinnati route, pass- 
 ing Logan's Fort (or Stanford) Danville, and Harrodsburg, the Maysville 
 route, and the Tennessee route. Crab Orchard, being a converging point of 
 roads, many travelers going east waited there until a crowd of a dozen or 
 more was organized, thus assuring each a greater safety in making the trip 
 through the Wilderness. Settlers passing through the Wilderness going 
 west usually left home in a crowd sufficiently large to protect itself. [123] 
 Langford, as is shown later, met the five Harpes in the Wilderness and, 
 notwithstanding their appearance, he doubtless felt that they would at least 
 serve as protection in the event of danger. The Harpes, after killing Lang- 
 ford, probably passed through Crab Orchard and continued northwest via 
 the Frankfort road, toward Stanford and in or near Stanford turned west 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 71 
 
 The piling up of item on item of court forms, of testi- 
 mony laboriously written out and signed, of official jail 
 accounts for the handling of the criminals, tells in its 
 own way every detail of a crime committed in fancied 
 obscurity yet which by a series of fortunate circum- 
 stances, was to blaze into a notoriety that set all the 
 West on fire with fear and horror. One who holds these 
 long-forgotten records in his hands and curiously 
 searches them could, with patience and without the aid 
 of imagination, build up the story of frontier life and 
 the people who lived it. The story would show that the 
 power of observation exercised by some of the pioneers 
 was equal to any ascribed to a Sherlock Holmes. It 
 would be a story of chance incidents woven into chains 
 of circumstances that were to reveal crime with unerr- 
 ing certainty - a story of the capture of the criminals, 
 of their life in jail, and of the destiny by which each of 
 the three women involved was to have her only child 
 born to her in that frontier jail, the branded fruit of 
 awful parentage. The mute entries in pounds, shillings, 
 and pence for every item, set down on these yellow 
 pages without malice or comment, tell their part of the 
 story as implacably and dispassionately as fate itself. 6 
 
 These records show that all the Harpes gave their 
 name as "Roberts," except Betsey Harpe, the supple- 
 mentary wife of Big Harpe, whose name is given as 
 
 for the purpose of misleading anyone who might pursue them as that course 
 threw them toward both Tennessee and western Kentucky. 
 
 6 In 1799 Stanford was a frontier settlement of less than 200 persons, 
 including slaves. In 1780, when Lincoln County was formed, Logan's Fort 
 or St. Asaph's became the seat of justice. In 1787 (on land presented by 
 Colonel Benjamin Logan, a site about half a mile east of the fort, where the 
 brick court house now stands) the county erected a log court house thirty 
 feet long and twenty feet wide, with a small jury room on each side, the 
 structure forming a T. Near it stood a log jail of two rooms, each twelve 
 feet square. [28] In these log buildings the Harpe9 were tried and con- 
 fined. 
 
72 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 "Elizabeth Walker." Five witnesses appeared against 
 them, two of whom- John Farris and his daughter-in- 
 law, Jane Farris - lived in the house near Rockcastle 
 River where Thomas Langford, or Lankford, was last 
 seen alive. The fugitives were captured December 25, 
 1798. On January 4, 1799, they appeared before the 
 three judges of the Lincoln County Court of Quarter 
 Sessions, as it is so recorded, by Willis Green, the clerk, 
 on the twenty-second page of the Record Book marked 
 "September 1798 -March 1802:" 
 
 "At a court called and held at Lincoln Courthouse 
 on Friday the 4th day of January 1799 for the examina- 
 tion of Micajah Roberts, Wiley Roberts, Susanna Ro- 
 berts, Sally Roberts, and Elizabeth Walker for the 
 murder of Thomas Langford. 
 
 "Present Hugh Logan, William Montgomery, and 
 Nathan Huston, Esquires, [the three judges who pre- 
 sided]. 
 
 "The said [naming the five prisoners] were lead to 
 the bar in custody of the Sheriff and charged with 
 feloniously and of their malice aforethought murdering 
 and robbing a certain Thomas Langford on Wednesday 
 the 1 2th day of December 1798 on the road leading 
 from Kentucky to Virginia through the Wilderness, 
 and denied the fact, sundry evidences were therefore 
 examined and the prisoners heard in their defense." 
 
 Five witnesses appeared on behalf of the Common- 
 wealth. The statement of each is written on loose 
 leaves and signed in the presence of Thomas Mont- 
 gomery, the official notary, and all were therefore in a 
 form to be turned over to a higher court should it be- 
 come necessary to do so. The affidavit of Captain Bal- 
 lenger, who lead the pursuing party, is here quoted in 
 full: 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 73 
 
 "Joseph Ballenger of lawful age, and sworn, de- 
 poseth and saith that at about the 19th or 20th day of 
 December 1798 he heard that a murder had been com- 
 mitted in the Wilderness on the body of a certain 
 Thomas Langford, as supposed ; that he, at the request 
 of James Blain the Attorney General of this Common- 
 wealth with others (including Thomas Welsh) went in 
 pursuit of some persons suspected of being the murder- 
 ers who had passed through Lincoln County; that they 
 went to the house of John Blain in Lincoln County 
 where they heard that persons similar to those they 
 were in pursuit of had left Brush Creek, a branch of 
 Green River, and passed over to the Rolling Fork of 
 Salt River; that they pursued them and overtook five 
 persons, the same who this day on their examinations 
 were called Micajah Roberts, Wiley Roberts, Susan- 
 na Roberts, Sally Roberts, and Elizabeth Walker; 
 that after taking them into custody they proceeded to 
 search them and found in their possession a pocket 
 book with the name of Thomas Langford, a great coat, 
 a grey coating cloth, a short coat -in the pocket of it 
 were broken pieces of glass - a mixed colored long 
 coat, a pair of breeches, a shaving glass, a whip, a pair 
 of wrappers, and a horse, this day proved to be the 
 property of Thomas Langford said to be the person 
 murdered in the Wilderness, and that they found also 
 a Free Mason's apron and many other things in their 
 possession said to be the property of Thomas Lang- 
 ford. Further saith not." 
 
 David Irby, in his sworn statement, explained that: 
 "he and Thomas Langford set out from Pittsylvania 
 County in Virginia for Kentucky, they traveled five 
 days journey together and sometimes one paid their 
 traveling expense and sometimes the other, all of which 
 
74 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Thomas Langford marked down in his pocket book. 
 Before they crossed Inglish's Ferry [Ingle's Ferry in 
 what is now Montgomery Country, Virginia] they got 
 a half bushel of oats which the deponent paid for and 
 also their f erryage at Inglish's Ferry in Wythe County 
 (Virginia) the deponent purchased a cheese which 
 Thomas Langford set down in his pocket book, he says 
 that the pocket book now before the examining court 
 is the said pocket book which Thomas Langford had 
 when they traveled together in Tennessee State. [The 
 trail from Virginia to Cumberland Gap extended into 
 northeastern Tennessee before reaching Kentucky]. 
 The deponent and Thomas Langford separated when 
 they agreed to meet at Frankfort in Kentucky; the de- 
 ponent heard in Kentucky that the said Thomas Lang- 
 ford was murdered on his way to Kentucky, he set out 
 towards the place where the crime was committed and 
 went to the place where the person who was killed was 
 buried and he, the deponent, and John Farris unburied 
 and raised the decedent and found him to be Thomas 
 Langford." 
 
 What Irby saw and heard he further declared con- 
 vinced him that the murdered man was no other than 
 his recent traveling companion. 
 
 John Farris Sr. swore that on Tuesday night, De- 
 cember 12, 1798 : "a man came to his house on the Wil- 
 derness Road who called himself Thomas Langford 
 and who, after he had told him his name, he recollected 
 to have been acquainted with in Pittsylvania County, 
 Virginia, in the youth of Thomas Langford." 
 
 He said his guest remained all night and started the 
 next morning for the settlements. In the meantime, 
 Farris had: "an opportunity of viewing his clothing 
 and actually did very curiously examine the outward 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 75 
 
 clothing of the said Thomas Langford." A few days 
 later he heard that "a man was killed on the Wilder- 
 ness Road, and on inquiring into the circumstances he 
 was induced to believe that the person murdered was 
 Thomas Langford . . . but not being fully satisfied 
 that the person found dead was Thomas Langford, he 
 went to the coroner of Lincoln County, obtained from 
 him an order - the said coroner having before that time 
 held an inquest on the body - and in pursuance of the 
 said order, in company with David Irby and Abraham 
 Anthony who buried the said Thomas Langford as he 
 supposed, raised him and inspected him . . . and that 
 the whole visage of the person, by him and others 
 raised, answered his idea of Thomas Langford, but he 
 knew him more particularly by the loss of a tooth in 
 the front part of his jaw." 
 
 His daughter-in-law, Jane Farris, wife of William 
 Farris, also identified various things found in the pos- 
 session of the outlaws as the property of the murdered 
 man. She evidently observed the actions of the trav- 
 elers closely, for she states : "Thomas Langford had on 
 leggins at her house and as part of the list of one of 
 them was torn Susan Roberts sewed it to the leggin 
 with white thread." She adds that the five prisoners 
 and their victim came to the house together and "All 
 appeared very cheerful with each other, Langford 
 seemed to be somewhat intoxicated, he had a small 
 glass bottle which was rilled with whiskey at their house 
 which Micajah Roberts and Wiley Roberts paid for." 
 The six left the Farris house together, but shortly 
 before leaving "there was some misunderstanding be- 
 tween Thomas Langford and Micajah and Wiley Ro- 
 berts . . . and Mr. Langford said to Mrs. Farris, in 
 the presence of all, that he would not offend her for all 
 
76 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 in his saddle bags which was worth five hundred 
 pounds." 
 
 The statement made by Thomas Welsh, who was in 
 the pursuing party, is practically the same as Captain 
 Ballenger's. He, however, adds "there was none of 
 the alteration in the great coat at the time of the find- 
 ing . . . and must have been made by the criminals 
 since they were taken into custody, they having, for 
 several days after they were taken in custody, the pos- 
 session of the great coat." 
 
 There is nothing in the records to indicate what was 
 said by the prisoners when they were heard in their 
 defense. The decision of the court was that the five 
 prisoners "ought to be tried for the murder of the said 
 Thomas Langford before the Judges of the District 
 Court holden for the Danville District at the next 
 April Term, and it is ordered that they be remanded 
 to jail." 
 
 Thomas Todd, the prosecuting attorney, in the re- 
 quirement of the law, "acknowledged himself indebt- 
 ed" to the Governor of the Commonwealth "in the sum 
 of ten thousand pounds current money" should he fail 
 to appear before the judges on the first day of the April 
 term of the Danville District Court then and there to 
 prosecute the prisoners. The witnesses "acknowledged 
 themselves severally indebted ... to the sum of five 
 hundred pounds current money" should they fail to 
 appear and give evidence on behalf of the Common- 
 wealth. 7 
 
 7 A perusal of the accounts kept by Joseph Welsh, the sheriff of Lincoln 
 County, reveals many interesting facts. John Gower against the Common- 
 wealth of Kentucky runs: 'Tor making a pair of handcuffs for Wiley Roberts 
 9s. And putting on and taking off when committed and before trial 2s. 6d. 
 To putting on and taking off the handcuffs after trial and before removal to 
 the District jail 2s 6d," making a total of 14s. For this same service on 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 77 
 
 On January 5 the five prisoners were taken by the 
 sheriff and a guard of seven men to Danville, there to 
 await trial before the District Court in April. The 
 distance from Stanford to Danville is about ten miles. 
 Neither history nor tradition tells how this cavalcade 
 made the trip over the trail, whether afoot, on horses ) 
 or in wagons, or by a combination of these means. The 
 condition then reached by the women may have neces- 
 sitated the use of a conveyance for them. This party of 
 thirteen doubtless attracted much attention along the 
 road, for five prisoners, of whom three were women, 
 was a sight not often seen. The ten mile trip to Dan- 
 ville made by the guards with the captured Harpes 
 along this historic highway, winding through an almost 
 unbroken forest, readily lends itself to anyone's fancy. 8 
 
 Evidently John Biegler, "Jailer of the District of 
 Danville," to whom the prisoners were delivered and 
 who had them in his custody several months, felt there 
 was some likelihood of his charges escaping. His ac- 
 count against the state shows that on January 20, 1799, 
 
 Micajah Roberts, Gower received, respectively 2s. 6d.; is. 3d., and is. 3d., 
 a total of only 5s. 
 
 The sheriff received the following sums: "For summoning a court for the 
 examination" of the five prisoners, £1. 5s. "For summoning twelve wit- 
 nesses vs. Micajah Roberts and others, at is. 3d. each, 15s." "For imprison- 
 ing, 2s. 6d., keeping in jail 10 days at is. a day, 10s., Removing to District 
 jail, 7s. 6d., total 20s.," making a total of £5. 
 
 Another bill presented by the sheriff was for eight men guarding the five 
 prisoners in the Lincoln County jail for fourteen days at 4s. 6d. each per 
 day, making a total of £25. 4s. The last bill shows he paid seven of the 
 guards "for one day and traveling twenty miles in removing the above 
 prisoners to the District jail and returning at 2d. per mile, 6s. 4d. [sic]" 
 making a total of £2. 4s. 4d. 
 
 The total of all these accounts is a little more than £35. or what would 
 today be about $175.00. 
 
 8 Danville, in 1799, with a population of a little over 200, was one of the 
 most important towns in Kentucky. In 1784 the court authorized the build- 
 ing of "a log house large enough for a court room in one end, and two jury 
 rooms in the other end on the same floor . . . and a prison of hewed or 
 
78 Outlaws of Gave-in-Rock 
 
 he bought "Two horse locks to chain the men's feet to 
 the ground, 12s. and 1 bolt, 3s." It seems to have be- 
 come necessary to fasten the front door more firmly, 
 for, on February 13, he purchased "one lock for front 
 jail door, 18s." Two weeks later he bought three 
 pounds of nails for 6s. "for the use of the jail." The 
 expense items further show that four men, two at a 
 time, were employed to guard the prisoners. 
 
 But with all these precautions, the two Harpes es- 
 caped on March 16, leaving their three women and 
 two new-born infants behind. There is nothing in the 
 court records indicating how they escaped. The jail- 
 er's expense account merely shows an item dated March 
 19: "Mending the wall in jail where the prisoners es- 
 caped, 12s." Breazeale, forty years later, wrote -but 
 cites no authority for his statement: "the jailer, soon 
 after their escape, resigned his office, left the jail, 
 bought a farm and settled himself in the country where 
 he very shortly became wealthy -no one ever knew 
 with certainty by what means, but the general suspicion 
 was that he had acquired his wealth by receiving a 
 large bribe from the Harpes to permit them to escape." 
 
 How they escaped was doubtless a subject of much 
 conjecture and discussion. Colonel Daniel Trabue in 
 his Autobiography says that the two men "took two 
 guns from the guard at Danville." Whether or not the 
 guard or guards were present and resisted the prison- 
 ers when they took the two guns is not stated. Judge 
 James Hall, continuing his brief account of the Lang- 
 ford murder, quoted a few pages back, gives no details, 
 but simply ends with the statement: "They were taken 
 to Stanford where they were examined and committed 
 
 sawed logs at least nine inches thick." [82] The buildings were still in use 
 when the Harpes were taken there to await trial. 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 79 
 
 by an enquiring court, sent to Danville for safe keeping, 
 and probably for trial. Previous to the time of trial 
 they made their escape." 
 
 Nor do the records contain any hint as to how the 
 two men passed the time of their imprisonment. Ly- 
 man C. Draper, in his "Sketch of the Harpes," says 
 that shortly before his escape Big Harpe, contending 
 it would answer the ends of justice as well, proposed 
 to whip at fisticuffs the two best fighters in Kentucky, 
 provided he be set free if he succeeded in whipping 
 the men, and should he fail he would abide by the 
 decision of the court. 
 
 The trial of the three women was set for April 15. 
 But during the hundred days they were immured in 
 the log jail there was happening to them the immortal 
 trial that comes to their sex under all conditions. 
 Yoked as they were irregularly, pursuing as they had 
 the lives of the hunted and outcast, they had to bear, in 
 the rigors of winter, in abandonment and in prison 
 charged with murder, the burdens of motherhood - and 
 to such fathers! These items from the jailer's accounts 
 of his expenditures on their behalf tell a story with 
 which imagination is free to work: 
 
 "February 8, % lb. Hyson tea, 3s. 9d., 1 lb. sugar, is. 
 6d. for Betsey Walker she being brought to bed by a 
 son the preceding night, 5s. 3d- February 10, *4 lb. 
 ginger, is. id., 1 lb. sugar, is. 6d., for ditto, and paid 
 cash to the wife and other assistance 21s. £1. 3s. 7d."- 
 total fi. 8s. iod. 
 
 "March 7, y 8 lb. tea, is. iod., 1 lb. sugar, is. 6d., for 
 the use of Susanna Harpe brought to bed by a daughter 
 the preceding night, 3s. 4d. Paid cash midwife for 
 ditto, 1 8s."- total £ 1. is. 4d. 
 
80 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 "April 9, % lb. tea, 3s. 9c!., 1 lb. sugar, is. 6d., 1 quart 
 whiskey, is. 6d. for the use of Sally Harp brought to 
 bed the preceding night by a daughter."- total 6s. 9d. 
 
 It will be noted that when the third child was born - 
 a week before the time set for trial -the second was 
 about a month old and the other two months old. 
 
 Such was the state of affairs when, on Monday, April 
 15, 1799, the clerk turned to page 314 of the Danville 
 District Court Order Book and there began his record 
 of the trial of the three women indicted for the murder 
 of Thomas Langf ord. The court was presided over by 
 Judge James G. Hunter and by Judge Samuel Mc- 
 Dowell, who served in the absence of Judge Stephen 
 Ormsby. "Susanna Roberts, spinster of Lincoln Coun- 
 ty was set to the bar in custody of the jailer," so runs the 
 record, and pleaded "not guilty;" but "for reasons ap- 
 pearing to the court" her trial was postponed until the 
 third day of the term. "Elizabeth Walker" and "Sally 
 Roberts" were not called on to appear personally that 
 day before the judges, but their cases were postponed 
 until the 18th. 
 
 On the 17th "Susanna Roberts" again appeared in 
 court. A jury of twelve men was sworn, which, after 
 hearing the same evidence given in Stanford, presented 
 in the form of written affidavits, declared her "guilty." 
 
 On the 1 8th another jury was sworn and "Elizabeth 
 Walker, spinster of Lincoln County," was tried on the 
 same evidence presented against "Susanna Roberts," 
 but found "not guilty." The court proceedings of 
 that afternoon show that the judge "saith he will not 
 further prosecute the said Sally Roberts (spinster of 
 Lincoln County) . . . and therefore it is considered 
 by the court that she be acquitted." 
 
A Terrible Frontier Story 81 
 
 Thus, with the same evidence against each woman, 
 one was found "guilty," and one "not guilty" and one 
 was "acquitted." 
 
 On the 19th Susanna, who had been found guilty, ap- 
 pealed for a new trial and it was granted. The Attor- 
 ney General, however, concluded not to prosecute her, 
 and, at his suggestion, the clerk was ordered to record 
 "certain of the reasons which moved him to enter into 
 nolle prosequi in this case . . . to-wit: Upon consider- 
 ing the circumstances attending the case of Susanna 
 Roberts and although she has been found guilty of the 
 charge in the indictment contained by a verdict of her 
 peers, yet as Eliza Walker has been tried on the same 
 indictment, on which trial the said Eliza was found 
 not guilty and the same proof produced against her as 
 was produced against the said Susanna, and in conse- 
 quence also of the Court having granted a new trial 
 and from the probability [of the evidence] which 
 would be produced on the trial of the said Susanna at 
 the next term by the two other women, in the same in- 
 dictment contained, who are acquitted and discharged, 
 operating in favor of the prisoner, and also by the 
 advice of the prosecutor and of the Court, and also to 
 save to the Commonwealth the expenses which attend 
 her long detention and further prosecution, I have 
 been induced to direct the Clerk to enter a nolle pro- 
 sequi as to the said Susanna Roberts." 9 
 
 9 The account of the Danville jailer shows that the two men had been 
 confined 71 days, Sally and Betsey 102 days, and Susanna 103 days, for 
 which a charge of is. per day for each was made ; 449 days £22. 9s. In the 
 same record is a memorandum to the effect that the three infants had been in 
 jail 69, 43, and 9 days, or a total of 121 days. The jailer evidently intended 
 to make a charge for this item, but there are no figures to indicate the con- 
 templated amount. Four men for guarding the jail 103 days received a total 
 of £6. 6s. An item shows: "April 12, 21^ cords wood from the 5th of 
 
82 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 January until this day for the use of guards, court, and prisoners @ 6 [sic] 
 cutting the wood for the above, 2s. 6d., £2. 14s. 4d." The total of the three 
 items is £31. 9s. 4d. The seven Danville items previously noted amount to 
 £5. 7s. 1 id. This makes the Danville expense a grand total of £36. 17s. 3d., 
 or what would today be about $185.00. This, with the $175.00 Stanford 
 account makes a grand total of the now known expense items a sum that 
 would today be about $360.00. 
 
The Harpes -Renewal of the Terror 
 
 What had happened to the Harpes and their women 
 was a natural outcome of the frontier outlook upon life. 
 The three mothers had gained the sympathy of the 
 court and the community in their apparent distress and 
 helplessness. It was believed that they had obtained a 
 happy release from their barbarous masters. It is prob- 
 able that many of the persons who now helped in the 
 hunt for the escaped Harpes did so not because they 
 were highway murderers and should therefore be shot 
 or hanged, but because they deserved particular punish- 
 ment for their brutal conduct toward the young women. 
 At any rate the settlements were united in the pursuit 
 of the two men, who had so curiously escaped. 
 
 The acquitted women declared that, above all things, 
 they desired to return to Knoxville and there start life 
 over again. A collection of clothes and money was 
 made among the citizens of Danville and an old mare 
 was given to help them on their way to Tennessee. The 
 three women, each with a bundle over her shoulder and 
 a child under her arm, and the old mare loaded down 
 with clothes and bedding, left the jail one morning on 
 what was considered no easy journey even when under- 
 taken with good horses and the best of equipment. They 
 walked down the street in Indian file, led by the jailer, 
 who accompanied them to the edge of town to point 
 out the road that led through Crab Orchard to Ten- 
 nessee. These forlorn and dejected travelers, however, 
 had covered less than thirty miles when they changed 
 
84 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 their course and went down along the banks of Green 
 River. A few days later they traded their horse for a 
 canoe and then went down the stream and were soon 
 lost sight of by the spies who attempted to watch them. 
 
 [I2F] 
 
 The brutal killing of Langford had stirred the coun- 
 try for almost two months, and now that the murderers 
 had escaped and the gnawed bones of the two Mary- 
 landers were found, with all evidence pointing to the 
 Harpes as the perpetrators of this terrible murder, the 
 citizens became even more enraged. They were aroused 
 to the realization that the villains must be captured and 
 disposed of at once. The case required prompt action 
 and any and all methods that might bring about the ex- 
 termination of the Harpes were endorsed. 
 
 On March 28, 1799, The Kentucky Gazette pub- 
 lished the following paragraph : "The criminals in the 
 Danville district jail for the murder of Mr. Langford, 
 (as mentioned in our paper of the 2nd of January last) 
 have made their escape. By an order from W. E. 
 Strong, Esq., a justice of the peace for Mercer County, 
 all sheriffs and constables are commanded to take and 
 re-commit them." 
 
 An entry in the Danville District Court Order Book, 
 page 370, under date of April 22, 1799, reads: "It is 
 ordered that the Commonwealth's writ of capias issue 
 from the clerk's office of this Court to the Sheriff of 
 Lincoln County commanding him to take Micajah Rob- 
 erts and Wiley Roberts who have lately broken the 
 jail of this District and are now running at large and 
 them, the said Micajah Roberts and Wiley Roberts, 
 safely to keep so that he have their bodies before the 
 Judges of the District Court holden for the Danville 
 District on the first day of their August Term, to answer 
 
Renewal of the Terror 85 
 
 for the felony and murder of a certain Thomas Lang- 
 ford whereof they stand indicted." 
 
 Lynching parties had been organized since the 
 middle of March and in the meantime a committee 
 was sent to James Garrard, Governor of Kentucky, pre- 
 senting to him the necessity of capturing the outlaws. 
 A memorandum on this subject in the Executive Jour- 
 nal, entered in the month of April, states that "the 
 governor authorized Josh Ballenger to pursue them 
 into the state of Tennessee and other states, and to ap- 
 ply to the executive authorities of such states to deliver 
 them up." 
 
 Ballenger and his men began their chase before they 
 received official notice of the governor's action, and 
 were soon on the trail. Near the headwaters of Rolling 
 Fork, a branch of Salt River, they suddenly found 
 themselves face to face with the Harpes, who, although 
 surprised, were prepared to shoot. The pursuers re- 
 treated in confusion and the Harpes, taking advantage 
 of the situation, made their escape. Henry Scaggs, one 
 of the party, suggested that the crowd go to his farm 
 and, with the aid of his dogs, continue the chase. 
 Scaggs was one of the "Long Hunters" who came to 
 Kentucky in 1770 with Colonel James Knox and a pio- 
 neer who had ever since been looked upon as "a valiant 
 man in battle and a great hunter." Urged by him they 
 resumed the pursuit and continued it until late that 
 night, when most of the men, becoming discouraged, 
 left the party because the trail of the Harpes led them 
 through very thick and almost impenetrable cane. 
 
 A few men, led by Ballenger, continued the search, 
 but in a section where the heavy cane was no impedi- 
 ment. Scaggs, believing the canebrake should be pene- 
 trated, went to a "log rolling" a few miles north of the 
 
86 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 home of Colonel Daniel Trabue, and there, with the 
 aid of Major James Blain, tried to organize another 
 party. But the men declared that the cane was too 
 thick and the chances of capture too slight to justify 
 the risk, and the "log rolling" went on. Scaggs then - 
 on or about April io-rode to the farm of Colonel 
 Daniel Trabue, a Revolutionary soldier and one of the 
 most prominent and altruistic of Kentucky pioneers, 
 who lived about three miles west of what is now 
 Columbia, Adair County. 
 
 While Scaggs was discussing his plans with Colonel 
 Trabue, the Colonel was patiently awaiting the return 
 of his son, John Trabue, a lad of thirteen, who had 
 been sent to one of the neighbors to borrow some flour 
 and seed beans. The boy was accompanied by a small 
 dog, and, in the midst of the discussion, the dog walked 
 into the yard badly wounded. [12E] An investigation 
 was immediately made. The neighbor reported that 
 the boy had left the house a few hours before with the 
 flour and beans. All efforts made that night to find him 
 were futile. They began to suspect that he might have 
 been kidnapped by the Harpes. The search continued 
 for many days, but all in vain. Evidence of the Harpes 
 was discovered by George Spears and five other men 
 about fifteen miles southwest of the Trabue farm, near 
 the East Fork of Barren River, where the outlaws had 
 killed a calf and made moccasins out of the skin, leav- 
 ing their old moccasins behind. The footprints indi- 
 cated the presence of two men, but there were no signs 
 to show that a boy was with them. [63] 
 
 Little did the pursuers realize what had actually 
 happened. The innocent lad, walking home over an 
 old buffalo trace, had met the Harpes as they were 
 crossing it. There they killed the little fellow, cut his 
 
Renewal of the Terror 87 
 
 body to pieces, and threw it into a sinkhole near the 
 path, where it remained hidden about two weeks and 
 was then discovered by accident. The murderers had 
 taken the flour but not the seed beans. 
 
 Colonel Trabue, in his autobiography or journal, 
 written some twenty-five years after this tragedy, de- 
 plores the fact that the log rollers did not continue the 
 pursuit: "It is a pity they did not go, for then John 
 Trabue might not have been killed." He adds that 
 these men ever after "reflected very much on them- 
 selves for their negligence, and said this ought to be a 
 warning to others hereafter to always do their duty." 
 
 In pioneer times the execution of the law by officials 
 was in many instances an unavoidably slow process, and 
 it therefore frequently became necessary for the law 
 abiding citizens to organize themselves into bands and, 
 by any method the emergency might demand, establish 
 order and safety. No matter how achieved, preserving 
 peace and fighting danger was looked upon by good 
 citizens as the imperative duty of all. Had the then 
 slow-acting laws been relied upon, the sly and quick- 
 traveling Harpes probably would not have been cap- 
 tured for years, and their victims might have been 
 numbered by the hundreds. On the other hand, as sug- 
 gested by Colonel Trabue, it is possible that had the 
 men who were called upon by Scaggs done what was 
 in those days considered a duty, Langford might have 
 been the last victim of the Harpes and their career 
 ended. 
 
 A report that mad dogs were running through the 
 country and were likely to spring from behind any bush 
 or tree at any time could not have alarmed the people 
 more than did the realization that the Harpes had es- 
 caped from jail and were killing all who chanced to be 
 
88 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 in their path. On April 22, the Governor of Kentucky 
 was again appealed to for help, and he immediately 
 signed a proclamation which was published in the 
 Frankfort Palladium on May 2 and May 9, 1799: 
 
 "BY THE GOVERNOR, A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 "Whereas it has been represented to me that MICA- 
 JAH HARP, alias ROBERTS, and WILEY HARP alias ROB- 
 ERTS, who were confined in the jail of the Danville dis- 
 trict under a charge of murder, did on the 16th day of 
 March last, break out of the said jail; -and whereas 
 the ordinary methods of pursuit have been found inef- 
 fectual for apprehending and restoring to confinement 
 the said fugitives, I have judged it necessary to the 
 safety and welfare of the community and to the main- 
 tenance of justice, to issue this my proclamation and do 
 hereby offer and promise a reward of THREE HUNDRED 
 DOLLARS to any person who shall apprehend and deliver 
 into the custody of the jailer of the Danville district 
 the said MICAJAH HARP alias ROBERTS and a like reward 
 of THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS for apprehending and 
 delivering as aforesaid the said WILEY HARP alias ROB- 
 ERTS, to be paid out of the public treasury agreeably to 
 law. 
 
 "In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand 
 and have caused the seal of the Commonwealth to be 
 affixed. 
 
 "Done at Frankfort on the 22nd day of April in the 
 year of our Lord 1799, and of the Commonwealth the 
 seventh. 
 
 "(L. S.) 
 
 "By the Governor JAMES GARRARD 
 
 "Harry Toulmin, Secretary. 
 
 "MICAJAH HARP alias ROBERTS is about six feet high - 
 
Renewal of the Terror 89 
 
 of a robust make, and is about 30 or 32 years of age. He 
 has an ill-looking, downcast countenance, and his hair 
 is black and short, but comes very much down his fore- 
 head. He is built very straight and is full fleshed in 
 the face. When he went away he had on a striped nan- 
 keen coat, dark blue woolen stockings- leggins of drab 
 cloth and trousers of the same as the coat. 
 
 "WILEY HARP alias ROBERTS is very meagre in his 
 face, has short black hair but not quite so curly as his 
 brother's; he looks older, though really younger, and 
 has likewise a downcast countenance. He had on a 
 coat of the same stuff as his brother's, and had a drab 
 surtout coat over the close-bodied one. His stockings 
 were dark blue woolen ones, and his leggins of drab 
 cloth." 
 
 Before this proclamation by the Governor had time 
 to circulate throughout the state, report reached the 
 people that the Harpes had killed a man named Doo- 
 ley, near what is now Edmonton, Metcalfe County, 
 [28] and had butchered another named Stump, who 
 lived on Barren River about eight miles below Bowl- 
 ing Green. [12D] 
 
 Stump was fishing, and seeing smoke rising on the 
 opposite side of the river, a little distance from the 
 bank, presumed some new arrivals were preparing to 
 settle. He stepped into his cabin and got his violin, 
 and then crossed the stream to greet the newcomers. 
 He was clad in his shirt and trousers, without hat or 
 shoes, but he probably felt that what he lacked in wear- 
 ing apparel would be more than counterbalanced by 
 the hearty welcome to the Wilderness he was prepared 
 to give his new neighbors. So, in this scant attire, and 
 with a turkey over his shoulder, a string of fish in one 
 
90 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 hand and his fiddle under his arm, he entered their 
 camp. He probably never realized that his good inten- 
 tions had led him into the hands of the Harpes. They 
 stabbed him, cut open his body, filled it with stones and 
 threw it into the river. [12F] Some of Stump's neigh- 
 bors, says The Kentucky Gazette, were suspected of 
 having committed the murder and were taken into 
 custody, but an investigation proved their innocence 
 and also proved beyond all doubt that the Harpes were 
 the perpetrators of the crime. 
 
 The criminals continued their raid down Barren 
 River into the lower Green River country to a point 
 near Henderson, Kentucky, and then, either by land 
 or water, rapidly worked their way to Diamond Island 
 in the Ohio and to Cave-in-Rock, in or near any of 
 which places they evidently had arranged to meet their 
 women. 
 
 How many men, women, and children these two 
 brothers killed and what course they followed while 
 rushing through the lower Green River country and 
 the Ohio Valley between Henderson and Cave-in-Rock 
 will never be known. Shortly before reaching the 
 Cave, they committed a murder in Illinois at the mouth 
 of Saline River, about twelve miles above Cave-in- 
 Rock. Twenty-six years later this incident was briefly 
 summed up in the Illinois Gazette, published at Shaw- 
 neetown: "There are persons living in this country 
 whom we have heard recount the story of the Harpes 
 with great minuteness, and the place is still pointed 
 out, on the plantation of Mr. Potts, near the mouth of 
 the Saline River, where they shot two or three persons 
 in cold blood by the fire where they had encamped." 
 
 [56] 
 
Renewal of the Terror 91 
 
 The many reports - some false and others only too 
 true - of the inhuman acts committed by the Harpes 
 had, in the meantime, put every community on its 
 guard. Captain Ballenger, after pursuing the outlaws 
 a few weeks, found that, owing to the many conflicting 
 rumors, he had been thrown off the trail and was mov- 
 ing in a direction opposite the one taken by the Harpes 
 and, therefore, he gave up the chase. 
 
 Captain Young, of Mercer County, in the meantime 
 organized a company with the determination to ex- 
 terminate the Harpes and all other outlaws, or at least 
 drive them out of the country. Commenting on Cap- 
 tain Young's expedition, Edmund L. Starling, author 
 of A History of Henderson County, Kentucky, writes : 
 "Captain Young and his men recognized the perils of 
 their undertaking; they understood the wily machina- 
 tions of the enemy, and, with blood for blood emblaz- 
 oned upon their banner, started upon their mission of 
 capture or death, utterly regardless of their own per- 
 sonal comforts or the hardships attending a campaign 
 in such a wild and comparatively unmarked country." 
 
 Having met with success in Mercer, Captain Young 
 and his men continued their pursuit and finally reached 
 Henderson County. There they were joined by a num- 
 ber of citizens. The combined forces swept over the 
 entire country, including Diamond Island, driving the 
 outlaws out of that part of Kentucky across the Ohio 
 River into Illinois. A number of the criminals fled to 
 Cave-in-Rock. The character of the men who usually 
 centered at the Cave was well known to the refugees, for 
 many of them had helped to make the place notorious. 
 
 Captain Young and his outlaw exterminators having 
 covered the territory they set out to relieve, left Hen- 
 
92 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 derson County and returned to Mercer County - a dis- 
 tance of more than one hundred and fifty miles - and 
 were there given a grand ovation. [124] 
 
 Governor Garrard, however, must have felt some- 
 what apprehensive regarding the return of the Harpes, 
 for the Executive Journal shows that on June 7 he 
 "deputed Alexander McFarland and brothers" to take 
 charge of "these inveterate enemies of human happi- 
 ness" should they be found "in any adjacent state." 
 
 It seems quite likely that while in the Danville jail 
 the Harpe women, by some means, sent a message to, or 
 received one from, "old man Roberts," the father-in-law 
 of Big Harpe, who then lived in Russell County, Ken- 
 tucky. At any rate, as already stated, they started down 
 Green River shortly after leaving Danville. They 
 paddled their way down that river until they reached 
 its mouth, a distance of more than two hundred miles. 
 After stopping in the neighborhood of Henderson, they 
 continued down the Ohio about ninety miles to Cave- 
 in-Rock. It was in this section of the Ohio Valley 
 that they expected, sooner or later, to meet the Harpes. 
 Tradition has it that shortly after the three women ar- 
 rived at Cave-in-Rock two of them proceeded up the 
 river, one to Diamond Island and the other to a neigh- 
 borhood south of Henderson, while the third remained 
 at the Cave ; and in this manner they watchfully awaited 
 the arrival of the Harpes. The two women who had 
 been loitering near Henderson and Diamond Island, 
 posing under assumed names as widows, either had left 
 their watching places voluntarily or were forced to flee 
 from them with their husbands. At any rate, they fin- 
 ally arrived at Cave-in-Rock and there, in a very short 
 time, the two Harpes and their three women and three 
 children were once more united. 
 
Renewal of the Terror 93 
 
 As a result of Captain Young's raid through Hender- 
 son County, Cave-in-Rock became somewhat crowded 
 with outlaws. Realizing that their number was too 
 great to maneuver with any secrecy and safety, many 
 left the place voluntarily, some continuing down the 
 river, others working their way inland, and a few re- 
 maining "to pursue their nefarious avocation." [124] 
 
 The Harpes, however, were driven from the Cave. 
 This aggregation of outlaws was doubtless a depraved 
 conglomeration of evil doers, but in the Harpes they 
 found two human brutes beyond even their toleration. 
 
 There is a tradition to the effect that the Harpes had 
 been at the Cave only a few days when they brazenly 
 related the performance of an act which, to their sur- 
 prise, was not cheered by their companions. A flatboat 
 had come down the river and its passengers, not realiz- 
 ing they were near the famous rendezvous of outlaws, 
 landed about a quarter of a mile above the Cave at the 
 foot of a small bluff, later known as Cedar Point. 
 Among the travelers on board were a young man and 
 his sweetheart who, while their companions were mak- 
 ing some repairs to the boat, strolled to the top of the 
 cliff and there sat down upon a rock. The view from 
 that point is still beautiful and was probably even 
 more so in primeval days. While the two lovers were 
 sitting on the edge of the cliff with their backs to the 
 wild woods behind them, leisurely considering the 
 landscape, or the life before them, the two Harpes 
 quietly approached from the forest and, without a word 
 of warning, pushed the lovers off the cliff. They fell 
 on a sandy beach forty feet below and, to the surprise 
 of all, escaped unhurt. The Harpes returned to the 
 Cave, and, as already stated, boasted, but without the 
 expected effect, of the prank they had played. 
 
94 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Shortly after this, two families, carrying a supply of 
 tools and provisions, were floating down the Ohio in a 
 flatboat, intending to settle in Smithland, but when they 
 came near Cave-in-Rock they were captured and 
 robbed by the outlaws. The two or three passengers 
 who were not killed in the battle preceding the robbery, 
 were brought ashore. The Harpes, seeing an oppor- 
 tunity to give their fellow criminals an exhibition of 
 brutality, stripped one of the captives, tied him to a 
 blindfolded horse and led the animal to the top of the 
 bluff over the Cave. By wild shouts and other means 
 the horse was frightened and at the same time forced 
 to run toward the edge of the cliff, and before long the 
 blindfolded animal with the naked man tied on its 
 back ran off the bluff and fell a distance of more than 
 one hundred feet to the rough and rocky shore below. 
 Then the Harpes pointed to the mangled remains of 
 man and horse as evidence of another triumph over law 
 and order. Their fellow cave dwellers probably had 
 never seen such a sight before and evidently did not 
 care to witness one again. It is likely that only sympa- 
 thy for their women and babies saved the Harpes from 
 death at the hands of the other outlaws. All the Harpes 
 left the Cave at once. 
 
 It is probable that their hasty departure took place 
 some time in May, 1799. Neither history nor tradi- 
 tion tells in what direction they fled. The people of 
 Kentucky doubtless concluded that since they had 
 driven these outlaws across the Ohio into Illinois, they 
 would continue their flight north or proceed by flatboat 
 to some section along the lower Mississippi. 
 
 About the middle of July east Tennessee was shocked 
 to hear of the cruel murder of a farmer named Brad- 
 bury, who was killed along the road in Roane County, 
 
Renewal of the Terror 95 
 
 about twenty-five miles west of Knoxville on what has 
 since been known as Bradbury's Ridge. [21] The 
 Harpes were not suspected of the crime, for the impres- 
 sion prevailed that they had fled permanently and, al- 
 though their whereabouts was unknown, it not only 
 seemed quite improbable but almost impossible that 
 they had returned in so short a time. It soon developed, 
 •however, that they actually had made their appearance 
 again, for a few days later- July 22, 1799 -they mur- 
 dered a young son of Chesley Coffey, on Black Oak 
 Ridge, about eight miles northwest of Knoxville. One 
 version has it that the boy was hunting strayed cows 
 and while in the woods was slain by the Harpes, who 
 took his gun and the shoes he wore, and left his body 
 lying under a tree. [12G] Another account is that 
 "Young Coffey was riding along the road one evening 
 to get a fiddle. These terrible men smeared a tree with 
 his brains, making out that his horse had run against 
 the tree." [63] 
 
 Two days later they killed a man named William 
 Ballard, who lived within a few miles of Knoxville. 
 "They cut him open and, putting stones in his body, 
 sank it in the river." [63] It was believed by the neigh- 
 bors that the Harpes mistook Ballard for Hugh Dun- 
 lap, who had been active in endeavoring to arrest them 
 the year before. [21] 
 
 The Harpes continued their course northward. They 
 crossed Emery River, near what is now Harriman 
 Junction, and, while their women were resting for a 
 few days in some secluded spot, the two men skirmished 
 alone in Morgan County. On July 29, on the spur of a 
 mountain since known as Brassel's Knob, they met 
 James and Robert Brassel. James Brassel was afoot 
 and carried a gun ; Robert was on horseback and un- 
 
96 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 armed. The Harpes, who were riding good horses, 
 pretended to be in a hurry, but seeming to have a desire 
 to comply with the custom of civilized travelers, slowed 
 up and saluted the men with the question: "What's the 
 news?" The Brassels related in detail an account of 
 the murder of William Ballard and young Coffey. The 
 Harpes replied that they had not only heard of these 
 tragedies, but that they were now in pursuit of the men 
 who had committed the crimes. They further asserted 
 that they were going to wait for the rest of the pursuing 
 party which was coming on behind, and requested the 
 Brassels to join them when the reinforcements arrived. 
 To this the two innocent brothers willingly agreed. 
 They had no more than done so when Big Harpe, 
 accusing them of being the Harpe brothers, seized 
 James Brassel's gun, threw it on the ground and imme- 
 diately began tying his hands and feet. Robert, suspect- 
 ing that he and his brother had fallen into the hands of 
 the dreaded Harpes themselves, jumped from his horse 
 and attempted to obtain his brother's gun in an effort to 
 rescue him. In this he failed and, realizing that his 
 only hope of escape was flight, he ran into the woods, 
 leaving his horse behind. He was pursued by Little 
 Harpe, whom he succeeded in outrunning, and, al- 
 though shot at, he was unhurt. 
 
 Robert continued his flight about ten miles when he 
 met a Mr. Dale, who, with two or three other men and 
 Mrs. Dale, was traveling toward Knoxville. He per- 
 suaded them to return with him to the place where he 
 had left his brother. The men had only one gun among 
 them for their protection; nevertheless they tried to 
 help the bewildered man. When they reached the spot 
 in the woods a short distance from the road where 
 Robert had left his brother, they were horrified to find 
 
Renewal of the Terror 97 
 
 that James was not only dead, but that his body had 
 been "much beaten and his throat cut." His gun was 
 broken to pieces. The tracks indicated that the two 
 Harpes had gone toward Knoxville, from which direc- 
 tion they were coming when they overtook the Brassel 
 brothers. After the pursuers had followed the tracks 
 a few miles, they were much surprised to find them- 
 selves running upon the Harpes coming back. At the 
 time the two Brassels were attacked by the Harpes the 
 outlaws were alone and had with them nothing but their 
 guns. But now, on their return, they were accompanied 
 by their women and children, heavily loaded with 
 clothing and provisions, apparently prepared for a long 
 journey and for battle and siege. 
 
 When this fierce procession of men and women on 
 horseback came in sight, one of Dale's men suggested 
 that if the approaching cavalcade showed no signs of 
 fight, no effort to arrest them should be made. This im- 
 mediately met with the approval of the majority. No 
 attempt to fight was made. The murderers, in the words 
 of Colonel Trabue, "looked very awful at them" and 
 then passed on. The pursuers, too, continued their 
 journey for a while in silence, lest any words they 
 should utter might be overheard and mistaken by the 
 Harpes as a threat. Robert Brassel complained bit- 
 terly of the lack of courage displayed by the men he 
 had relied upon to help capture or kill the murderers 
 of his brother. [63] 
 
 Thus, uninterrupted, the two Harpes and their 
 wives, with their stolen horses and other plunder, and 
 with an ever-increasing desire to shed blood, continued 
 their expedition to Kentucky. Somewhere near the 
 Tennessee-Kentucky line, either in what is now Pickett 
 County, Tennessee, or Clinton County, Kentucky, they 
 
98 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 killed John Tully, who lived in that section of Cumber- 
 land County which in 1835 became a part of Clinton 
 County. 
 
 In the meantime citizens of east Tennessee were 
 alarmed. They now fully realized that the Harpes had 
 actually returned and were likely to appear any day in 
 any neighborhood. Every man carried his gun, his 
 dirk, or carving knife, and made every preparation to 
 slay the monsters. 
 
 Robert Brassel resumed his pursuit of the Harpes 
 and was soon joined by William Wood and others. 
 When they arrived near the farm of John Tully they 
 met Nathaniel Stockton and a number of neighbors 
 looking for Tully, who they supposed was lost in the 
 woods. The search continued and "near the road they 
 found Mr. Tully, killed, and hidden under a log." [63] 
 The company buried him and some of the men agreed 
 they would pursue the murderers. 10 
 
 Immediately after it was discovered that Tully had 
 been murdered, William Wood and Nathaniel Stock- 
 ton started afoot to Colonel Daniel Trabue's farm, a 
 distance of forty miles. They suspected that because 
 Colonel Trabue had been active in the pursuit of the 
 Harpes after his son had been murdered, the monsters 
 
 10 A special act of the Kentucky legislature was passed and approved 
 December 18, 1800, for the relief of the widow of John Tully, extending the 
 statutory time of payment for lands taken up by him on the south side of 
 Green River under a settlement act and exempting her in the interval from 
 paying interest. The extension was given until December 1, 1810. The 
 preamble of the act recites its enactment because "Tully . . . having ob- 
 tained a certificate for a settlement of two hundred acres of land . . . having 
 settled on said land, was assassinated by the murderers called Harpes, and 
 consequently left his wife, Christiana Tully, a desolate widow with eight 
 small children." This is a notable instance of pioneer liberality and sym- 
 pathy for a widow in distress, particularly in spite of the fact that, according 
 to Colonel Trabue, Tully not only knew the Harpes, but also, less than a 
 year before they murdered him, had carried messages to them from the 
 Harpe women when the outlaws were making for Cave-in-Rock. 
 
Renewal of the Terror 99 
 
 were on their way to his home and store and might be 
 captured there. They related to the Colonel the details 
 of the crimes the Harpes had recently committed and 
 he, before they had finished, decided to forward the 
 news to the governor of Kentucky. In order to impress 
 the governor with the fact that the report was not an- 
 other wild rumor, Colonel Trabue, who was a justice of 
 the peace in Green County, prepared a written state- 
 ment, giving a brief account of the recent acts of the 
 Harpes, as related to him by Nathaniel Stockton and 
 William Wood, and forwarded it to him in the form of 
 an affidavit. [63] 
 
 This sworn statement, consisting of about five hun- 
 dred words, was published in the Kentucky Gazette on 
 August 15, 1799. From it some of the details of the 
 three crimes just related were taken. It begins with the 
 declaration: "About the middle of July there was a 
 man killed by the name of Hardin, about three miles 
 below Knoxville: he was ripped open and stones put 
 in his belly, and he was thrown into Holston River." 
 After briefly noting the circumstances and the exact 
 date of the killing of Coffey, James Brassel, and John 
 Tully, it calls attention to the fact that the night after 
 the Harpes murdered Tully "they passed by old Mr. 
 Stockton's going toward their father's-in-law, old Mr. 
 Roberts." A point of great human interest is the con- 
 cise and vivid description of the two Harpes given in 
 the affidavit prepared by Colonel Trabue: "The big 
 man is pale, dark, swarthy, bushy hair, had a reddish 
 gun stock - the little man had a blackish gunstock, with 
 a silver star with four straight points - they had short 
 sailor's coats, very dirty, and grey greatcoats." 
 
 Colonel Trabue, in his Autobiography, does not give 
 a copy of his affidavit, but relative to it, he writes: "I 
 
ioo Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 sent out that night for some neighbors and made ar- 
 rangements. We sent one man off the next morning by 
 sunrise to Frankfort to the Governor, that he might 
 have it published in the newspapers. Mr. Wood's and 
 Mr. Stockton's statement I wrote down and had them 
 swear to it, what they knew of their own knowledge 
 and what Robert Brassel had told them. I sent another 
 man down to Yellow Banks [should read Red Banks] 
 to General Samuel Hopkins with the news and the state- 
 ment. I directed the men to go as fast as they could, 
 and spread the news as they went; it was also immedi- 
 ately put in the newspapers. The man I sent to General 
 Hopkins was John Ellis. As he went on he spread the 
 news. He happened to go the same route the Harpes 
 had taken. When they heard of him they pursued and 
 tried to overtake him. Ellis had a good horse and went 
 sixty or seventy miles a day. The whole state got in a 
 great uproar, because it was uncertain which route the 
 murderers would take." 
 
 The two messengers sent by Colonel Trabue rode 
 over trails that wound through a sparsely populated 
 wilderness where danger in one form or another was 
 likely to be encountered at any moment. One rider 
 dashed in a northerly direction about ninety miles, 
 while the other rushed westward twice that distance. 
 Each "spread the news" along his route, and from 
 every settlement he passed, the report -"The Harpes are 
 here"- was hurriedly sent out. The warning, in com- 
 paratively little time, reached practically every family 
 in Kentucky and many in Tennessee. The press verified 
 the reports and soon the people saw for themselves in 
 "black and white," which was then considered the garb 
 of "gospel truth," that the Harpes had returned to Ken- 
 
Renewal of the Terror 101 
 
 tucky and were guilty of crimes even more brutal than 
 any heretofore perpetrated. 
 
 The Frankfort Palladium, on August 15, 1799, pub- 
 lished the names of four men and on what day in July 
 each was killed by the Harpes, and concludes its para- 
 graph with the statement that "we are happy to hear 
 they are closely pursued and sincerely hope they will 
 ere long meet the punishment which the atrocity of 
 their crimes demands." The Western Spy and Hamil- 
 ton Gazette, of Cincinnati, on September 3 published a 
 Frankfort news item giving practically the same facts 
 and expressing the same hope. 
 
 Such widespread terror and fear as was aroused by 
 the raid of the Harpes found expression, no doubt, not 
 only in the Kentucky Gazette and the Palladium, but 
 in all the papers published in Kentucky and Tennessee. 
 Stewart's Kentucky Herald, of Lexington, the Mirror, 
 of Washington, Mason County, Kentucky, and the Ga- 
 zette and the Impartial Observer, both of Knoxville, 
 Tennessee, were in existence at the time. Careful re- 
 search in these four papers has failed to reveal any allu- 
 sion to the Harpes, for the copies available are of other 
 dates than those likely to mention these outlaws in their 
 presentation of current events. It is possible that a 
 number of current newspapers in the east and south 
 printed more or less about the Harpes and thus warned 
 the people of the possibility of their sudden appearance. 
 As we shall see later, the Carolina Gazette, of Charles- 
 ton, South Carolina, in its issue of October 24, 1799, 
 devoted twenty-five lines to the Harpes. This story, in 
 all probability, was not its first and only paragraph 
 relative to them. 
 
 Although the alarm was being spread by the people 
 
102 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 and the press, and many a man had prepared to slay the 
 outlaws, the report of the latest butchery was soon fol- 
 lowed by another. The day after Colonel Trabue sent 
 the messengers to Frankfort and Henderson, the Harpes 
 traveled up Marrowbone Creek and, about twenty-five 
 miles south of Colonel Trabue's home, stopped at an 
 out-of-the-way place on which John Graves and his 
 thirteen-year-old son were cultivating a crop and mak- 
 ing preparations for the rest of the family to join them. 
 
 [63] 
 
 The Harpes arrived at their cabin late in the evening 
 and got permission to spend the night. "Early in the 
 morning, probably before the Graveses awoke, they, 
 with Graves' own axe, split the heads of both open and 
 threw the bodies of both in to the brush fence that sur- 
 rounded the house." "There they lay," writes Draper, 
 in one of his note books, "until some one, seeing so 
 many buzzards around, made an investigation and dis- 
 covered what had taken place." [12E] This tragedy was 
 announced in the Palladium of August 22, in a para- 
 graph quoted from the Guardian of Freedom, Frank- 
 fort, Kentucky. The statement then published is an- 
 other verification of the notes made by Draper many 
 years later. 
 
 From the Graves cabin they traveled north twenty 
 miles or more into Russell County to the home of old 
 man Roberts, the reputed father of the two women Big 
 Harpe claimed as wives. The only reference to this 
 "old Mr. Roberts" is in Colonel Trabue's affidavit sent 
 to the Governor of Kentucky in August, 1799. Local 
 tradition has nothing to say about Roberts -when he 
 came or left, or where his cabin stood. Evidently he 
 was still living in Russell County in 1802, for in No- 
 vember of that year Reverend Jacob Young, a Metho- 
 
Renewal of the Terror 103 
 
 dist preacher, met "a brother-in-law of the infamous 
 Micajah Harpe," who, although his name is not stated 
 in the preacher's autobiography, must have been a son 
 of the "old Mr. Roberts" in order to qualify for the 
 connection. At any rate, two of the Harpe women were 
 doubtless invited by their father to remain with him. 
 If, however, such an invitation was not extended, the 
 women would have appealed to him for help had they 
 been inclined to reform, and he, as many other fathers 
 would have done, might have consented to make an 
 effort to lead them from the vile associations into which 
 they had fallen. What these two daughters might and 
 should have done they failed to do. They clung to 
 their companions in crime and with them fled westward 
 south of Green River toward Mammoth Cave and Rus- 
 sellville. 
 
 While on the way the Harpes killed a little girl and 
 a negro boy. Writers do not agree as to just where and 
 when these two murders took place. It is likely they 
 were enacted while the Harpes were going to Logan 
 County and that they led up to a third child-murder 
 even more inhuman. The first of these tragedies, as 
 briefly related by Breazeale, is that "they met with a 
 negro boy going to mill, dashed the boy's brains out 
 against a tree, but left the horse and bag of grain un- 
 touched." The other recorded by Collins is equally 
 brief : "One of their victims was a little girl found at 
 some distance from her home, whose tender age and 
 helplessness would have been protection against any 
 but incarnate fiends." 
 
 They soon reached Logan County. There, according 
 to T. Marshall Smith, they discovered, about eight 
 miles from Drumgool's station, now Adairville, the two 
 Trisword brothers, who with their wives, several chil- 
 
104 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 dren, and a few black servants, were camping for the 
 night. The next morning before sunrise, while the 
 emigrants were still asleep, the Harpes and two Chero- 
 kee Indians made a wild attack on the tent occupied by 
 the travelers and killed the entire party except one of 
 the men, who ran for help. When the rescuing party 
 arrived upon the scene it found the ground covered 
 with the bodies of the dead, some of them badly 
 mangled. While several of the men were occupied 
 burying the dead, others were looking for evidence of 
 the direction the outlaws had taken. 
 
 This account, because it lacks verification, is not here 
 presented as one true in its details. It is known, how- 
 ever, that as a result of this tragedy or because of some 
 other atrocity committed about this time by the Harpes, 
 William Stewart, sheriff of Logan County, organized 
 a party of about a dozen men to search for the highway- 
 men. This pursuing party, having reason to believe 
 that the outlaws were traveling south, rushed toward 
 the Tennessee line. In the meantime, however, the cun- 
 ning Harpes were working their way northward. They 
 stopped a few hours about three miles northeast of Rus- 
 sellville, on the Samuel Wilson Old Place, about half 
 a mile up Mud River from what is now Duncan's 
 bridge over Mud River on the Russellville and Mor- 
 gantown road. There the Harpes watered their horses 
 at the same spring that quenched the thirst of the hun- 
 dreds of people who a few weeks before attended the 
 Great Revival conducted by the Reverends John and 
 William McGee and James M'Gready. Samuel Wil- 
 son, an eye witness, in his description of this religious 
 meeting, says : "Fires were built, cooking begun, and by 
 dark candles lighted and fixed on a hundred trees 
 around and interspersing the ground surrounded by 
 
Renewal of the Terror 105 
 
 tents, showing forth the first, and as I believe still, one 
 of the most beautiful camp meetings the world has ever 
 seen." This was one of the first of the Great Revival 
 meetings that so spontaneously stirred what was then 
 called the West. The Harpes doubtless knew or in- 
 ferred from the condition of the place that it had been 
 used recently for religious purposes. [121] 
 
 The Harpe men had no patience with their children 
 and often reprimanded the three women, declaring that 
 the crying infants would some day be the means of pur- 
 suers detecting their presence. They frequently threat- 
 ened to kill them. To protect their babies, the mothers 
 many a night went apart, carrying their children suf- 
 ficiently far away to prevent their cries being heard by 
 the unnatural fathers. But the long-feared threat was 
 at last carried out. [12F] 
 
 It is a strange sequence of events that on this same 
 camp ground and almost immediately after the Great 
 Revival, one of the Harpes killed his own child in the 
 presence of its mother. A large maple tree still marks 
 the spot near which this deed was enacted. 
 
 The details of this murder as given today by tradition 
 are practically the same as those published by T. Mar- 
 shall Smith: "Big Harpe snatched it -Susan's infant, 
 about nine months old - from its mother's arms, slung 
 it by the heels against a large tree by the path-side, and 
 literally bursting its head into a dozen pieces, threw it 
 from him as far as his great strength enabled him, into 
 the woods." This terrible tragedy is briefly referred to 
 by Hall and Breazeale, both of whom state that Big 
 Harpe, just before his death, declared he regretted none 
 of the many murders he had committed except "the 
 killing of his own child." 
 
 The traditions of today and the three early writers 
 
io6 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 just referred to are probably wrong as to the kinship 
 that existed between the murdered child and its mur- 
 derer. Draper, in his sketch of the Harpes, gives a 
 more flexible statement: "Tradition says they killed one 
 of their own children." They had only three children 
 and all of them were born in the Danville jail. Big 
 Harpe's boy, born to Betsey, and his girl, born to Susan, 
 lived many years, as is shown later. The child that was 
 so cruelly murdered by Big Harpe could have been no 
 other than the daughter of Sally, who had married 
 Little Harpe. So, in all probability, if Big Harpe 
 committed the crime, his brother's child was the victim. 
 
The Harpes-Big Harpe's Ride to Death 
 
 Rumor had it that the Harpes had left the neighbor- 
 hood of Russellville, going south, and were probably 
 making their way to west Tennessee. In the meantime, 
 however, two small families had wandered into Hen- 
 derson County, Kentucky, and were living in a rented 
 cabin on a small farm on Canoe Creek, some eight miles 
 south of Red Banks or Henderson. About twenty miles 
 southwest of this point, near the headwaters of High- 
 land Creek, were Robertson's Lick and, west of it, 
 Highland Lick. A few miles east of these, near the 
 present town of Sebree, was Knob Lick. 
 
 The Highland Lick road and a few trails led to these 
 salt licks, and, because of these roads and the salt wells 
 with their "salt works," many pioneers considered 
 the section a very desirable one in which to live. Set- 
 tlers were constantly coming for a bushel or two of salt 
 and then returning home. The coming and going of 
 people therefore attracted less attention along the High- 
 land Lick road and its by-paths than in most other 
 sections. And since only a few months before about 
 fifteen outlaws had been killed in Henderson County, 
 and all the others had been driven out [124] there was 
 little likelihood of undesirable persons appearing on 
 the scene. Principally for this reason, the two small 
 families of recent arrivals on Canoe Creek attracted no 
 particular attention, and least of all were they suspected 
 of being notorious criminals. A good description of 
 the Harpes was in wide circulation, and through Gen- 
 
108 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 eral Hopkins they became especially well known in 
 the lower Green River country. The return of the 
 Harpes seemed as improbable as a second bolt of light- 
 ning in the same spot. 
 
 John Slover lived about a mile from the cabin rented 
 by the new arrivals, but had seen them only once or 
 twice and then from a distance. Slover's career as an 
 Indian fighter in eastern Kentucky was well known to 
 his friends and acquaintances and was often the subject 
 of discussion at fireside talks. In fact, his escape from 
 Indian captivity was so singular and romantic that John 
 A. McClung devoted a whole chapter to it when, in 
 1832, he published his Sketches of Western Adventure. 
 
 One day Slover was hunting near Robertson's Lick, 
 writes Draper in his "Sketch of the Harpes," and, after 
 killing a bear in the woods, returned to a path leading 
 homeward. While leisurely riding along he heard the 
 snap of a gun that failed to fire. Quickly turning in 
 the direction of the sound he recognized his two new 
 neighbors, well-armed and wilder looking than Indians 
 in battle. Comprehending the great danger of an en- 
 counter with two fierce men apparently prepared for 
 murder, the experienced Indian fighter put spurs to his 
 horse and escaped. Slover reported this experience to 
 some of his friends and ventured the opinion that the 
 two men were the Harpes. None doubted that an un- 
 successful attempt had been made to shoot him but, on 
 the other hand, none agreed with him that the Harpes 
 had returned and were loitering around the licks. 
 
 A day or two later a man named Trowbridge left 
 Robertson's Lick to carry some salt to a farm on the 
 Ohio near the mouth of Highland Creek. Trowbridge 
 never returned, and his disappearance remained a mys- 
 tery until a few months later when one of the Harpe 
 
Big Harpe's Ride to Death 109 
 
 women made known the facts. Trowbridge was killed 
 by the Harpes about eight miles above the mouth of 
 Highland Creek and his body sunk in the stream. 
 
 When General Hopkins received a report of Slover's 
 narrow escape, although doubting the presence of the 
 Harpes, he detailed a number of men to watch the 
 place on Canoe Creek. While loitering around their 
 cabin the Harpes evidently not only wore clothes dif- 
 ferent from those in which they were seen by Slover, 
 but also managed to change their general appearance 
 to such an extent that Slover, inspecting them from a 
 distance, did not recognize the two men as the same 
 who had attempted to shoot him. The women were 
 nowhere seen by the spies, for, as learned later, they 
 were waiting for the Harpes to meet them at some 
 designated place and time. The guards, after watching 
 the house about a week without results, quietly returned 
 to their homes, not realizing that the two suspected men 
 were aware of their movements. 
 
 The next day the Harpes started toward the hiding 
 place of their women and children. They traveled 
 south about fifteen miles to the home of James Tomp- 
 kins on Deer Creek, not far from what was then known 
 as Steuben's Lick, near which place, according to one 
 tradition, General Steuben of Revolutionary fame was 
 wounded, some fifteen years before, by an Indian. They 
 rode good horses. Both were fairly well dressed and, 
 upon meeting Tompkins, represented themselves as 
 Methodist preachers. Their equipment aroused no 
 suspicion, for the country was almost an unbroken wil- 
 derness and preachers as well as most other pioneers, 
 were often seen traveling well armed. Tompkins in- 
 vited them to supper, and Big Harpe, to ward off sus- 
 picion, said a long grace at table. In the course of their 
 
no Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 conversation one of the Harpes asked their host about 
 his supply of venison. Tompkins, convinced that he 
 was dealing with men from whom he had nothing to 
 fear, admitted to shooting no deer lately for the simple 
 reason that his powder was exhausted and had been 
 for some time. Big Harpe, with affected generosity, 
 poured a teacupful from his powder horn and pre- 
 sented it to Tompkins. That same powder, as we shall 
 see, later performed a most singular service. [28] Bid- 
 ding their host a farewell, ministerial in its pretense, 
 the two desperadoes, pretending to have an engage- 
 ment some miles south, took the trail in that direction. 
 
 That same evening, however, they made their ap- 
 pearance on the farm of Squire Silas McBee, one-half 
 mile northwest of Tompkins' place. Squire McBee 
 was a justice of the peace and had been active in fight- 
 ing outlaws. The murderers were, therefore, very 
 much disposed to butcher him. It was early in the eve- 
 ning and the moon was shining brightly when they 
 approached his house. The Squire kept a half dozen 
 dogs for bear and deer hunting and, hearing an uproar 
 among them, the McBees went to the door to investi- 
 gate the cause. They saw the pack fiercely attacking 
 two men, but, suspecting that the intruders might be of 
 an unwelcome character, made no effort to restrain the 
 hounds. After a fierce fight with the dogs, the Harpes 
 withdrew. 
 
 Foiled in their attempt at Squire McBee's, they pro- 
 ceeded about four miles northwest and late that night 
 reached the house of Moses Stegall - about five miles 
 east of what later became the town of Dixon. Stegall 
 (also spelled Steigal, and various other ways) was 
 absent, but his wife and their only child, a boy of four 
 months, were at home and had, only a few hours before, 
 
Big Harpe's Ride to Death 1 1 1 
 
 admitted Major William Love, a surveyor, who had 
 come to see Stegall on business. Mrs. Stegall, express- 
 ing an opinion that her husband would return that 
 night, invited him to remain. He climbed to the loft 
 above on a ladder on the outside of the house and was 
 in bed when the new arrivals entered the cabin. [57] 
 Stegall at one time lived in Knox County, Tennessee, 
 [21] and evidently was acquainted with the Harpes, for 
 Mrs. Stegall knew them but had received instructions 
 from the Harpes never to address them by their real 
 names in the presence of a third person. [12E] Major 
 Love came down and met the two men, little suspecting 
 who they were. In the conversation that followed the 
 murderers themselves inquired about the Harpes and, 
 among other things, stated that, according to rumor, 
 the two outlaws were then prowling around in the 
 neighborhood. [27] 
 
 Mrs. Stegall, having only the one spare bed in the 
 loft, was obliged to assign it to the three men. After 
 Major Love had fallen asleep one of the Harpes took 
 an axe which he always carried in his belt and, with a 
 single blow, dashed out the brains of the sleeping man. 
 The two villains then went down to Mrs. Stegall's 
 room. She, knowing nothing to the contrary, presumed 
 Major Love was still asleep. While reprimanding her 
 for assigning them a bed with a man whose snoring 
 kept them awake, they proceeded to murder her and 
 her baby. After gathering some bedding and clothing, 
 among which was Major Love's hat, and leaving the 
 three bodies in the house, they set it afire. [27] It was 
 soon a smoking ruin. 11 
 
 11 Tradition says Major William Love's charred corpse was buried near 
 the site of the Stegall house. His widow survived him many years and is 
 buried at Piney Fork Camp Ground, about six miles east of Marion, Ken- 
 tucky. On the marble slab at the head of her grave is the inscription: "My 
 
112 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Such, briefly, is the account of the killing of Mrs. 
 Stegall as given by all writers who describe this tragedy 
 and as still told in western Kentucky by those who are 
 familiar with local traditions. Breazeale, however, 
 published some details which are very characteristic 
 of the inhumanity of the Harpes, but which are not 
 woven into any of the other versions. They are prob- 
 ably omitted more for the reason that the accounts are 
 sufficiently gruesome without them than because of the 
 possibility that such brutality might be questioned. 
 
 This version has it that on the morning the two 
 Harpes burnt Stegall's house, they arose and asked 
 Mrs. Stegall to prepare breakfast for them. She con- 
 sented to do so, explaining that since her child was not 
 well and she had no one to nurse it the meal would 
 necessarily be somewhat long in preparation. The men 
 then suggested that she place the baby in the cradle 
 and let them rock it. This she did. "After Mrs. Stegall 
 had prepared their breakfast and the ruthless and sav- 
 age murderers had partaken of her hospitality, she 
 went to the cradle to see if the child was asleep, expres- 
 sing some astonishment (as Micajah Harpe acknowl- 
 edged when he was afterward taken) that her child 
 should remain quiet for so great a length of time . . . 
 She beheld her tender, harmless, and helpless infant 
 lying breathless, with its throat cut from ear to ear . . . 
 But the relentless monsters stayed not their bloody 
 hands for the tears and heart-broken wailings of a be- 
 reaved mother. They instantly dispatched her, with 
 the same instrument (a butcher knife) with which they 
 
 name was Esther Love, daughter of Wm. & Nancy Calhoun of Abbeville, 
 South Carolina, born Sept. 30, 1765. died Mar. 2, 1844. My husband Wm. 
 Love was killed by the Harpes Aug. 1799. Blessed are the dead which die 
 in the Lord." 
 
Big Harpe s Ride to Death 113 
 
 had cut the throat of the child ; then set fire to the house 
 and fled." [21] 
 
 Before leaving the Stegall farm they stole Major 
 Love's horse and one belonging to Stegall. They con- 
 cealed themselves along the road that ran between Ste- 
 gall's and McBee's, reasoning that if the Squire saw 
 the light of the burning house, he would hasten there 
 in the morning over this road and thus easily become 
 their victim. While lying in wait for McBee, the out- 
 laws halted two men named Hudgens and Gilmore, who 
 were returning from Robertson's Lick with packs of 
 salt. The Harpes accused them of murdering the Ste- 
 gall family and burning the house. The charge was 
 denied, but when the two prisoners were told they must 
 appear before Squire McBee to prove their innocence, 
 they willingly submitted to arrest. While marching 
 them along, Big Harpe purposely dropped behind and 
 shot Gilmore through the head, killing him instantly. 
 Hudgens, seeing this, ran away, hoping to escape, but 
 was overtaken by Little Harpe, who snatched from him 
 his gun and with it beat out his brains. [12L] 
 
 The murderers then resumed their hiding place, 
 watching for the approach of the expected McBee. In 
 the meantime, John Pyles and four other men from 
 Christian County, returning from Robertson's Lick, 
 found the Stegall house a smouldering ruin, with not a 
 human being in sight. Surroundings indicating that 
 the disaster was still unknown in the neighborhood, 
 they proceeded to McBee to notify him of their discov- 
 ery. They were unmolested by the Harpes, who doubt- 
 less felt confident that the men would later return over 
 the same road with McBee and thus give them the 
 hoped for chance to shoot the justice of the peace from 
 ambush. 
 
114 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 McBee knew nothing of the fire until John Pyles 
 reported it. He immediately rode to the home of Wil- 
 liam Grissom (or Grisson) who lived about a mile 
 north of Stegall's. It so happened that he took a short 
 trail instead of the main road and thus providentially 
 escaped the Harpes. He and Grissom, armed and well 
 mounted, accompanied by Grissom's family, rode to 
 the Stegall home. They not only found the house 
 burned to the ground, as described by John Pyles, but 
 also discovered in the ashes the half-burned remains of 
 Mrs. Stegall and Major Love. They then proceeded 
 to McBee's house, fortunately taking the same short cut 
 over which the Squire had ridden in the morning. They 
 had scarcely dismounted when Moses Stegall rode up. 
 Then, for the first time, Stegall heard of what had hap- 
 pened to his family since he left home. The necessity 
 of organizing a pursuing party had already been agreed 
 upon and Stegall was sent to Robertson's Lick for vol- 
 unteers. [l2M] 
 
 That same afternoon or night the Harpes and their 
 women and two children, with all their goods and 
 horses, began their flight. The next morning Stegall 
 returned with John Leiper, Matthew Christian, and 
 Neville Lindsey. These four, with Silas McBee, Wil- 
 liam Grissom, and James Tompkins, constituted a party 
 of seven daring backwoodsmen, who were prepared to 
 pursue and capture the Harpes, regardless of what dan- 
 ger and hardship the effort might involve. 
 
 Then began the chase after the Harpes - a chase 
 made so cold and dramatic by its results, that for more 
 than a century every minute detail of it has been sought 
 by historians and by all who are curious about those full 
 moments when life and death look each other in the 
 eye with the event hanging on the balance of an instant. 
 
Big Harpe's Ride to Death 115 
 
 Various have been the accounts printed, nearly all 
 agreeing in the main features but differing in those 
 small details, the rendering of which seems to excite as 
 it satisfies the curiosity of the mind. The most accurate 
 account of this chase of death was published in Sep- 
 tember, 1842, in The Western Literary and Historical 
 Magazine. It was prepared by the distinguished his- 
 torical collector and author, Lyman C. Draper, who 
 rendered invaluable service to western annals by gather- 
 ing and preserving more data pertaining to the early 
 history of the Middle West than any other man of his 
 generation. His "Sketch of the Harpes" was written, 
 as he is careful to explain, after a long conversation 
 with Squire Silas McBee himself. After its publica- 
 tion the narrative was submitted for correction to Squire 
 McBee, who made but four almost immaterial changes, 
 all of which are noted in the account to follow. 
 
 It is well at the outset to point out that Silas McBee 
 was a man of education and wide experience, more 
 competent than any of the others engaged in this whirl- 
 wind chase to observe and give an account of all that 
 occurred. He was born in 1765, fought as a youth at 
 King's Mountain, as he had in other Revolutionary 
 battles and Indian wars. He was a brave soldier, an 
 enthusiastic hunter, and an ideal pioneer of public 
 spirit and character. In Alabama he served as a mem- 
 ber of its first legislature. After living in western Ken- 
 tucky, where for many years he did much for the gen- 
 eral good, he removed to Mississippi and died there in 
 1845 at the age of eighty. [41] One of his daughters 
 was the wife of Governor T. M. Tucker, of Missis- 
 sippi, and another the wife of United States Senator 
 Thomas H. Williams, of the same state. 
 
 Here is the McBee narrative of that famous chase: 
 
1 1 6 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 "Mounted, and equipped, and provisioned for a few 
 days, the little troop started about noon on their expe- 
 dition against the Harpes, leaving their women and a 
 faithful old negro servant with a few guns, to defend 
 the temporarily fortified domicil at McBee's. The trail 
 of the Harpes was soon struck south of the road leading 
 to the Lick; and after pursuing it a few miles, a spot 
 was reached where the outlaws had evidently dispersed 
 a large drove of buffaloes, with the design, doubtless, 
 of so tramping down and tangling the wild grass and 
 shrubbery as to render it difficult, if not impossible, to 
 discover their course of flight. The pursuing party 
 understood the stratagem, and though a little puzzled 
 at first, they soon regained the trail, which, however, 
 forked off at a little distance - the party dividing, fol- 
 lowed each for a mile or two when the elliptical forks 
 again united. After this they had no difficulty in keep- 
 ing the path. At nightfall they halted and camped on 
 the bottom of the western shore of Pond River, a con- 
 siderable tributary of Green River. Their simple re- 
 past despatched, and horses secured, they retired to 
 rest -the earth their bed, a wallet their pillow, and 
 their only covering the broad canopy of heaven. That 
 night they slept with an eye half open, but nothing 
 occurred, save a smart dash of rain, to require particu- 
 lar notice. 
 
 "Early the following morning the pursuit was re- 
 sumed, fording Pond River with ease, and riding on 
 rapidly till an hour after sun up, when a couple of dead 
 dogs were found in the trail, recognized as having be- 
 longed to the unfortunate Hutchins and Gillmore 
 whom the Harpes had so wantonly murdered. From 
 the fact that the bodies were not swollen in such hot 
 August weather, it was inferred that the dogs had not 
 
Big Harpe' s Ride to Death 117 
 
 long been killed, and that the fugitives could not be 
 far ahead. They had probably killed the dogs to pre- 
 vent their barking, and thus the better to enable them 
 to make good their escape. It was now proposed by 
 Squire McBee, in order to advance with the least noise, 
 that four of the most expert footmen should dismount 
 and push on as rapidly as due regard to caution would 
 permit, leaving the horses for the remaining three to 
 lead along more leisurely, yet keeping within hailing 
 distance in case of need. Leiper, Steigal, Christian, 
 and Lindsay, accordingly went ahead on foot, while 
 McBee, Grissom, and Tompkins followed with the 
 horses in charge. The pursuit continued in this man- 
 ner for a mile or so, when, not finding the outlaws, the 
 footmen again mounted their horses, and all went on 
 together. But a short time elapsed before Squire Mc- 
 Bee discovered the ruffians on a distant hill-side, a strip 
 of low land intervening - both on foot with guns in 
 hand, Big Harpe having a horse by his side, and both 
 holding a parley with a person on horseback [corrected 
 by Draper to afoot] whom they had apparently just 
 met. McBee exclaimed 'there they are,' pointing to- 
 wards them, and at the same time putting spurs to his 
 horse dashed over the low ground and made for the 
 spot. Big Harpe instantly mounted and darted off in 
 one direction, and Little Harpe on foot in another, 
 while the other individual rode [corrected by Draper 
 to ran] rapidly towards McBee, and when within sixty 
 or eighty yards suddenly dismounted [Draper elim- 
 inated 'dismounted'] and betook himself to a tree. See- 
 ing this bellicose demonstration on the part of an 
 armed man, McBee in the excitement of the moment, 
 drew up his gun, loaded with two balls, and 'blazed 
 away' at that part of the body exposed to view, both 
 
1 1 8 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 bullets taking effect, one passing through the right 
 thigh, and the other the right arm. At this moment 
 Steigal recognised the wounded man as a settler living 
 up Pond River some two or three miles; and perceiv- 
 ing some of the rest of the party in the act of levelling 
 their pieces, Steigal exclaimed 'don't shoot, it's George 
 Smith!' The unfortunate man, who knew Squire Mc- 
 Bee, now calling him by name apologised for his sin- 
 gular conduct by saying, that he was nearly bereft of 
 his senses, expecting every moment that the Harpes 
 would kill him, and when he treed he had not recov- 
 ered from his fright and was totally unfitted to per- 
 ceive the folly and madness of the act. Little Harpe, 
 he said, had met him with his gun in one hand, and a 
 kettle in the other, going after water; and made enquir- 
 ies about the settlements, speaking in an elevated tone, 
 evidently that his brother might hear from the camp, 
 not more than eighty rods distant, and come to his aid - 
 such at least was the effect, intentional or not, for Big 
 Harpe rode up and dismounted, and had been there 
 but a few moments when McBee and his party unex- 
 pectedly made their appearance. Smith desired Squire 
 McBee to assist him home, which with pleasure he con- 
 sented to do after the Harpes were secured. He re- 
 deemed his promise, and in time Smith recovered both 
 from his fright and his wounds [corrected by Draper 
 to read: 'Smith hobbled home by himself and in due 
 time etc.']. 
 
 "After they broke and ran, the outlaws were instantly 
 out of sight. A little search enabled the pursuers to 
 discover the camp, which proved to be a natural room 
 perhaps fifteen feet square, under a shelving rock pro- 
 jecting from the cliff of a ridge facing the south, with 
 a large rock directly in front, leaving but a narrow 
 
Big Harpe s Ride to Death 119 
 
 entrance - affording altogether a very secluded and safe 
 retreat, susceptible of easy defence. The pursuing party 
 were rather cautious in approaching the camp, but 
 Little Harpe's woman alone remained. When ques- 
 tioned about the Harpes, she frankly said that Big 
 Harpe had just been there, mounted each of his women 
 on a good horse, and darted off in great haste. She was 
 asked to point out the direction they had taken, which 
 she readily did - the men, however, in their hurry, over- 
 looked the trail and returned to the camp. Squire Mc- 
 Bee, thinking she had purposely deceived them to gain 
 time for Big Harpe and his women, raised his gun and 
 threatened to kill her instantly if she did not give the 
 correct information; upon which she went and pointed 
 it out precisely as she had described it. After perhaps 
 half an hour's delay in finding the camp and parleying 
 with the woman, the pursuers again proceeded with all 
 possible haste, bent on the destruction of Big Harpe, 
 and fully determined that nothing should divert them 
 from their purpose. 
 
 "Squire McBee was left to bring on the prisoner, 
 whom he mounted on one of the outlaw's horses, and, 
 though thus encumbered, he kept nearly up with the 
 party. When about two miles from the camp, Big 
 Harpe was again discovered on a ridge a short distance 
 ahead, and some of the party halloed to him to stop, 
 upon which he abandoned his women to their fate, and 
 dashed on alone - Leiper, in the meantime, making an 
 ineffectual shot at the fugitive. Tompkins and Lindsey 
 were left in charge of the two captured women, while 
 Leiper, Christian, Grisson, and Steigal renewed the 
 chase with increased animation. Leiper not being able 
 to draw his ramrod, owing to its swollen condition from 
 the rain of the preceding night, had exchanged guns 
 
120 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 with Tompkins. The fleeing outlaw was closely pressed, 
 Christian, Steigal, and Grisson each giving him a shot 
 in the pursuit- Christian's alone taking effect, wound- 
 ing him in the leg. Harpe, discovering that Leiper was 
 considerably in advance of the others, and supposing 
 his gun empty, concluded to take advantage, as he 
 thought, of the circumstance, and get a fair shot at his 
 dangerous adversary. He accordingly stopped his 
 horse, and while renewing his priming, Leiper took 
 unerring aim, and fired - and the same powder which 
 the outlaws had a few days previously given Tompkins, 
 now sped the ball that mortally wounded Big Harpe. 
 Though badly shot through the spine of his back, the 
 wounded ruffian, determined to sell his life as dearly as 
 possible, levelled his gun at Leiper; but even that de- 
 serted him in his hour of need - it snapped! and he 
 threw it away in disgust. As Leiper and Christian were 
 rapidly advancing upon him, Steigal and Grisson hav- 
 ing lagged far behind, Harpe drew a large tomahawk 
 and brandished it furiously to keep off his pursuers, at 
 the same time urging on his jaded horse as well as he 
 could. Leiper and Christian kept close at hand, repeat- 
 edly calling upon him to surrender, when he would 
 again brandish his tomahawk in savage defiance. He 
 finally agreed to surrender himself if they would stop 
 their horses; accordingly they all reined up, Leiper and 
 Christian dismounted and made some demonstrations 
 towards loading; perceiving which, Harpe suddenly 
 dashed off. Leiper's horse, which had been standing by 
 his side, though not held by him, now took fright and 
 darted off after Harpe's horse. Seeing the accident, 
 Christian instantly mounted his steed and quickly over- 
 took the runaway horse, returned him to Leiper, and 
 both without loading renewed the pursuit. They easily 
 
Big Harpe's Ride to Death 121 
 
 followed the trail through a small canebrake of thick 
 growth, and just as the fugitive was emerging from it 
 they overhauled him, not more than half a mile distant 
 from where he had taken French leave. His horse was 
 walking quite leisurely, and Harpe's wonted daring and 
 bravery seemed to have forsaken him ; and, faint from 
 the loss of blood, he had either lost his tomahawk or 
 thrown it away. They rode up and pulled him from 
 his horse without resistance. 
 
 "Just at this moment Squire McBee came up with 
 his prisoner in charge; and Steigal and Grisson soon 
 after joined the party. The dying outlaw, as he lay 
 stretched upon the ground, begged for water, and Lei- 
 per took a shoe from one of Harpe's feet, and with it 
 procured some for him near by. McBee now told him 
 that he was already dying, but they should hasten his 
 death; time, however, would be given him for prayer 
 and preparation for another world - to which he made 
 no reply, and appeared quite unconcerned. When asked 
 if he had not money concealed, he replied that he had 
 secreted a pair of saddle-bags full in the woods on an 
 eastern branch of Pond River, some twenty miles from 
 its mouth. From his description of the branch, and 
 their knowledge of the country, they concluded that 
 there was no such water-course, and gave little or no 
 heed to his story; but a report, however, has gained 
 some currency - for the truth of which we cannot 
 vouch, that a considerable sum of specie has been found, 
 within a few years, near the head waters of Pond River. 
 
 "Steigal, after reminding Harpe how unfeelingly 
 he had murdered his wife and only child, drew a knife, 
 and exhibiting it to him, said in plain terms that he 
 intended to cut his head off with that! 'I am,' said the 
 dying outlaw faintly, 'but a young man, but young as I 
 
122 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 am I feel the death-damp already upon my brow; and 
 before I die I could wish that old Baldwin might be 
 brought here, as he is the man who instigated me to the 
 commission of all my crimes.' This Baldwin, a very 
 suspicious character, lived at Green Tree Grove, in the 
 then adjoining county of Livingstone, now called Cald- 
 well ; and though subsequently tried, he was acquitted, 
 nothing positive being proven against him. When they 
 had somewhat recovered from the fatigue of the chase, 
 after perhaps an hour's delay - during which Harpe lay 
 on the ground upon his right side, unable from weak- 
 ness to raise himself, and rapidly ebbing his life away - 
 Steigal stepped forward and pointed the muzzle of his 
 gun at the head of the expiring outlaw, who conscious 
 of the intention, and desirous at least of procrastinating 
 it dodged his head to and fro with an agility unexpected 
 to the beholders, manifesting pretty plainly a strong 
 disrelish 'to shuffle off this mortal coil.' Perceiving this, 
 Steigal observed, 'very well, I believe I will not upon 
 reflection shoot him in the head, for I want to preserve 
 that as a trophy;' and thereupon shot him in the left 
 side - and Harpe almost instantly expired without a 
 struggle or a groan. Steigal, with the knife he had so 
 menacingly exhibited to Harpe, now cut off the out- 
 law's head. Squire McBee had with him a wallet in 
 which he had brought his provisions and provender- in 
 one end of this, Steigal placed the severed head, and 
 some articles of corresponding weight in the other, and 
 then slung it behind him across his horse, and all com- 
 menced their return. Thus died Big Harpe, long the 
 terror of the west, and his decapitated body was left in 
 the wilds of Muhlenberg county, as unsepulchred as 
 his merited death was unwept and unmourned. 
 
 "After the party left the scene of decapitation they 
 
has LEXINGTON, Sept. 10. 
 
 *&- The two murderers by the name of 
 
 an- I Harps, who killed Mr. Lang ford lafl 
 
 left, winter in the wildernefs, znd were af% 
 
 retted and broke the Danville goal, 
 .ck, killed a family on Pond river, by the 
 • in name of Staple on the aad day of 
 phe Auguft, and burnt thehoufe; a parry 
 nee of men purfued and overtook theirs 
 and and their women ; the Harps parted* 
 ard, Micajah Harp, took two of the 
 3yal | women off with him *, the men purfued 
 rich him, and in riding about 10 or *2 
 lips miles, caught him, having previously 
 
 (hot him. He confeffed the killing of 
 *»red Mr, Stump on Big Barren; he alfo 
 ton confeffed of their killing 17 or iB 
 rth, befides ; they killed two men near 
 lira! Robert Ion *s Lick, the day before they 
 3 yal ; burnt Staple's hoiife. They had with 
 gar- ! them eight horfes and a conuderable 
 5 ar- j quantity of plunder, feven pair of fad- 
 oy- die bags, &c. They cut off his head, 
 hu- The women were taken to the Red 
 that bank Si The above took place on Poml 
 1 — river in the county of Muhlenburg. 
 
 Facsimile of News Item regarding Capture of 
 Micajah Harpe 
 
 Dated Lexington, Kentucky, September 10, 1799, and published in the 
 Carolina Gazette, Charleston, S. C, October 24, 1799 
 
Big Harpe's Ride to Death 125 
 
 re-joined Tompkins and Lindsay, who had been left in 
 charge of the two women of Big Harpe, and they all 
 proceeded to the camp of the outlaws, which they gave 
 a careful examination. Nothing of any value was dis- 
 covered, save a dollar and a half in small change pieces. 
 Ten horses in all were recovered and restored to their 
 several owners. That noble animal which Big Harpe 
 rode, and which had belonged to Major Love, was con- 
 veyed to his widow, but did not long survive that ter- 
 rible ride. 
 
 "The head was conveyed to the cross-roads within 
 half a mile of Robertson's Lick, and there placed in the 
 forks of a tree, where for many years it remained a re- 
 volting object of horror. To this day the place where 
 that bloody trophy was deposited is known as Harpe's 
 Head, and the public road which passes by it from the 
 Deer Creek settlement to the 'Lick,' is still called 
 Harpe's Head Road. In subsequent years a superstiti- 
 ous old lady of the neighborhood, some member of 
 whose family was afflicted with fits, having been told 
 that the human skull pulverized, would effect a certain 
 cure, thus appropriated that of the memorable outlaw 
 of the west." 
 
 Thus ended the career of "one of the most brutal 
 monsters of the human race." And Little Harpe, hav- 
 ing escaped the pursuers, resumed elsewhere, as we 
 shall see later, his life of outlawry. The capture of 
 Big Harpe is briefly described by Breazeale, Collins, 
 Hall, and a few other historians, but none goes into 
 details as does Draper in the sketch quoted. Each of 
 these writers, however, presents some circumstance not 
 mentioned by the others. Some writers say Big Harpe 
 made a confession before he was killed ; others are ab- 
 solutely silent on that feature, neither affirming nor 
 
126 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 denying it. Local tradition, the current newspapers, 
 and Breazeale are among those who state that Big 
 Harpe made a confession. It is more than probable 
 that he did. The Kentucky Gazette of September 5, 
 1799, prints a statement to the effect that he confessed to 
 killing about twenty people. Colonel G. W. Sevier, 
 about 1840, recalled the number as about thirty-one. 
 [ 1 2G] The number of their victims noted in this sketch 
 up to the death of Big Harpe is twenty-eight, exclusive 
 of the Triswords of whom there were probably about 
 ten. 
 
 The report that Big Harpe had been captured and 
 beheaded and that Little Harpe had escaped spread 
 rapidly throughout Kentucky and Tennessee, and was 
 soon verified by the state press. Among the newspa- 
 pers beyond the boundaries of these two states that 
 announced this news was The Carolina Gazette, of 
 Charleston, which, in its issue of October 24, 1799, pub- 
 lished a paragraph on the subject, dated Lexington, 
 Kentucky, September 10, which is here reproduced in 
 facsimile. 
 
 History and local tradition have it that Big Harpe 
 was killed in Muhlenberg County, two miles west of 
 Unity Baptist Church [no] near what has since been 
 known as Harpe's Hill. An oak tree four feet in dia- 
 meter, which until 19 10 stood about a hundred yards 
 from Pond River on the old Slab Road leading from 
 Harpe's Hill to "Free Henry" Ford, was always 
 pointed out as the tree under which Big Harpe was 
 beheaded and his headless corpse lay until it was de- 
 voured by wild animals. On the south slope of Harpe's 
 Hill, about a mile and a half east of Pond River and 
 a few steps off the road leading to "Free Henry" Ford, 
 is a large isolated rock known as Harpe's "House." It 
 
Big Harpe's Ride to Death 127 
 
 was at this so-called "rock house" that the Harpes were 
 camping when overtaken by the pursuers. [109] 
 
 After Big Harpe had been disposed of and the 
 women held as prisoners, the pursuers began their vic- 
 torious march to Robertson's Lick, a distance of some 
 thirty-five miles, there to display the head and to warn 
 Little Harpe and all other outlaws what to expect 
 should they attempt any depredations. Draper, as we 
 have already seen, states that before the men started on 
 their return, Stegall placed the severed head in one end 
 of a wallet and some articles of corresponding weight 
 in the other end and then swung it across his horse. The 
 same historian, in one of his note books, wrote: "Big 
 Harpe's wife was made to carry the head by the hair 
 some distance; while slinging it along she kept mutter- 
 ing, 'damn the head!' " [12G] Another account is that 
 the men, knowing they would be obliged to camp out 
 for the night and require more food than still remained, 
 took some roasting ears from a field along the route 
 and having no other means of carrying them, put them 
 unhusked into the bag with Big Harpe's head. Later, 
 when the corn was taken out and prepared for supper, 
 one of the men refused to eat "because it had been put 
 into the bag with Harpe's head." [21] 
 
 The head was carried to the neighborhood where 
 the two Harpes had committed their last crime. Au- 
 thors vary somewhat in the details of just how this 
 gruesome object was displayed as a warning to outlaws, 
 but all agree that it was put up by the side of the high- 
 way (about three miles north of what later became the 
 town of Dixon) near the forks of the road running 
 south from Henderson, one branch of which extended 
 to Marion and Eddyville and the other to Madison- 
 ville and Russellville, Kentucky. The old road became 
 
128 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 known as Harpe's Head Road, and its successor, the 
 Henderson and Madisonville Pike, still bears that 
 name. 12 
 
 The captors had traveled about thirty-five miles be- 
 fore they reached the spot decided upon as the most fit- 
 ting place to display the head. Continuing their jour- 
 
 12 Draper in his "Sketch of the Harpes" places Big Harpe's head "in the 
 forks of a tree," but in a later note [12G] he has it "placed or rather stuck 
 on the sharpened end of the limb of a tree." Breazeale has it "upon the top 
 of a lofty pole, or in the fork of a tree." Collins, in one version, says the 
 men "stuck it upon a pole where the road crosses the creek," and in another, 
 that "a tall young tree, growing by the side of the trail or road, was selected 
 and trimmed of its lateral branches to its top, and then made sharp. On 
 this point the head was fastened. The skull and jaw-bones remained there 
 for many years - after all else had been decomposed and mingled with the 
 dust." In his sketch on Webster County, Kentucky, Collins states that "Big 
 Harpe's head was stuck upon a pole" near an oak tree which was still stand- 
 ing, and that the letters H.H. for Harpe's Head, carved upon it in 1799, 
 were still legible in 1874. 
 
 Robert Triplett, in his anonymous autobiography, Roland Trevor, pub- 
 lishes an absurd story to the effect that the two Harpes had stolen the 
 daughter of a pioneer living near Henderson. The father pursued Big 
 Harpe, wounded him, and shortly thereafter captured him. This confused 
 and confusing writer says: "Harpe lay near a tree. The father lifted him, 
 and set him up against it, and then went a little way to a branch, from 
 which, in the brim of his hat, he carried Harpe some water, and while he 
 was drinking reloaded his rifle, and shot him. Then with his knife he cut 
 off his head and stuck it on a pole at the fork of the road between Henderson 
 and Madisonville, which place, from that circumstance, was called, and is 
 to this day, 'Harpe's Head.'" 
 
 Another absurd story of the Harpes appears in History of Great American 
 Crimes, by Frank Triplett who with a few facts and a vivid imagination 
 succeeds in covering some twenty pages on the Harpes. According to his 
 account, Leiper and Stegall organized a pursuing party, and when the 
 wounded outlaw was overtaken one end of a rope was adjusted around Big 
 Harpe's neck and the other thrown over a limb of a large tree under which 
 the wounded man lay. "Appalled by the blasphemies of Harpe, the word 
 was given, and, with a strong pull, his body was run up some six or eight 
 feet from the ground, and whirling round and round in the rapidly gathering 
 twilight, it quivered convulsively for some moments ; there was a fierce death 
 struggle and the soul of the most demoniac murderer that ever cursed our 
 continent had gone out into the limitless realms of eternity. When satisfied 
 that Harpe was dead, the corpse was lowered to the ground, the head cut off 
 and fixed in the fork of the tree which had served his executioners as a 
 gallows." 
 
Big Harpe' s Ride to Death 129 
 
 ney some twenty miles further they arrived in Hender- 
 son and there placed the three women in "the little log 
 dungeon, then located on the river bank near the pre- 
 sent bridge"- the railroad bridge erected in 1885. [124] 
 About a week later they were taken to the court house 
 for trial. The minute book of the Court of Quarter 
 Sessions briefly shows, on pages 4 and 5, what disposi- 
 tion was made of them by that court, an exact copy of 
 which is here given as extracted from the records in 
 the curious courthouse jargon of that day: 
 
 "At a Court of Quarter Sessions called and held for 
 the County of Henderson on Wednesday the 4th day 
 of September, 1799, for the examination of Susanna 
 Harpe, Sally Harpe, and Betsey Roberts, committed 
 to the jail of this county for being parties in the mur- 
 der of Mary Stegall, James Stegall an infant, and Wil- 
 liam Love at the house of Moses Stegall in this County 
 and in burning his house and robbing and stealing the 
 horses, goods and effects of the said Moses Stegall on 
 the night of the 20th day of August last. 
 
 "Present Samuel Hopkins and Abraham Landers 
 Esquires. 
 
 "The said prisoners were set to the bar in custody of 
 the Sheriff of this County and being charged with the 
 felony aforesaid denied the fact sundry witnesses were 
 thereupon sworn and examined and the said prisoners 
 heard in their defence by their att'e on consideration 
 whereof it is the opinion of the Court that the said pri- 
 soners are guilty of the facts charged against them and 
 that they ought to be tried for the same before the 
 Judges of the District Court holden at Logan Court- 
 house on the first day of their next October Court, and 
 it is therefore ordered that the said prisoners be re- 
 
130 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 manded to the jail from whence they came there to 
 remain until removed by due course of law. 
 
 "John Leiper, Nevil Lindsey, Matthew Christian, 
 and Isham Sellers severally acknowledged themselves 
 indebted to his Excellency James Garrard Esquire, 
 Governor of this Commonwealth in the sum of fifty 
 pounds each to be levied on their lands and tenements 
 goods and chattels respectively and to our said Gover- 
 nor and his successors rendered in case they fail to ap- 
 pear as Witnesses, on behalf of the Commonwealth 
 before the Judges of the District Court holden at Lo- 
 gan Courthouse on the first day of their next October 
 Term, and then and there give evidence against Susan- 
 nah Harpe, Sally Harpe, and Betsey Roberts charged 
 with felony. 
 
 "(Signed) Sam Hopkins." 13 
 
 A search recently made for details regarding this 
 examining or preliminary trial resulted in the finding 
 of a bundle of papers labeled "1799," in which were 
 discovered four depositions pertaining to the arrest of 
 the Harpe women. They were made September 4, by 
 the four men who on that day were put under bond to 
 appear at the trial in Russellville, to which place the 
 case was ordered for trial. These old documents sub- 
 stantiate the statements made by Squire McBee to Ly- 
 man C. Draper who wove them, with other details, into 
 his account of the capture of the Harpes. The deposi- 
 tions show that Moses Stegall arrived at Robertson's 
 
 13 Samuel Hopkins was a Revolutionary general. He was born in Vir- 
 ginia and, in 1797 went to Henderson and there represented Richard Hen- 
 derson & Co., owners of a large tract of land lying in that section, granted 
 them by the legislature of Virginia. He continued to make Henderson his 
 home until 1819, the time of his death. He served several terms in the 
 Kentucky legislature and from 1813 to 1815 represented his district in Con- 
 gress. During the war of 1812 he was commissioned a major-general. [124] 
 
Big Harpes Ride to Death 131 
 
 Lick on August 22, 1799, to procure volunteers to join 
 in the chase. 
 
 Matthew Christian in his testimony recites that 
 immediately after Stegall came to Robertson's Lick 
 with the news of the murder he started for Stegall's 
 farm and became fully convinced that the report with 
 all its terrible details was true. He then proceeded to 
 Grissom's house, which had been designated as a rally- 
 ing point, preparatory to going to Squire McBee's the 
 following morning. Although it was not known that 
 Grissom's family had left home and gone to McBee's 
 to remain during the proposed pursuit, the men, never- 
 theless, met at this designated place "where they tarried 
 all night." Christian "found a paper fas'd to the door 
 of Wm. Grayson's [Grissom's] house, signed by Silas 
 Magby and directed to Moses Stegall in the following 
 words: 'Come to my house without delay,' and a jacket 
 hanging up at the said door supposed by the company 
 to belong to Major William Love. That he from there 
 went to Silas Magby's in company with John Leiper, 
 Nevil Lindsey, and Moses Stegall, that on their way to 
 Magby's he heard a gun go off which he supposed was 
 fired by one of the prisoners who had committed the 
 felony." This note was apparently a forgery and shows 
 that the Harpes had planned to kill Stegall; and since 
 it is more than likely that the outlaws had already 
 started on their flight, this attempt to waylay Stegall in- 
 dicates that the Harpes must have been associated with 
 some accomplice living in the neighborhood, with 
 whom they prearranged this move. 
 
 Isom Sellers' statement shows that on August 16, 
 four days before the Stegall fire, the three Harpe wo- 
 men stopped at John Leiper's house and inquired the 
 way to Moses Stegall's and that Sellers "being indebted 
 
132 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 to Susannah Harpe one dollar gave her an order upon 
 Moses Stegall for the said sum which this deponent 
 saith that Moses Stegall has informed him he has paid 
 agreeable to the aforesaid order." There is nothing to 
 indicate the specific purpose of this statement; however, 
 it is further evidence that Stegall was acquainted with 
 the Harpes and he may have served as a spy or messen- 
 ger for them. 
 
 Nevil Lindsey's deposition gives a detail not men- 
 tioned in any printed sketch or oral tradition : "Three 
 case-knives were stuck into the body of Mrs. Stegal, one 
 of them was buried in so deep that the fire which con- 
 sumed the house would not burn the handle." 
 
 John Leiper asserts that when they "had rode about 
 forty-five miles they came up with Sally Harpe stand- 
 ing on the ground and ... to show them the way they 
 had gone went with them for that purpose, that after 
 riding about a mile and a half they came up with Su- 
 sanna Harpe, Betsey Roberts, and Micajah Harpe, 
 they rode by the two women and followed Micajah 
 Harpe for about four miles, when this deponent over- 
 took and killed him." 
 
 Christian's deposition states that Big Harpe, before 
 he died, "asked for water and that John Leiper went to 
 Pond River and brought him some in a shoe." The 
 depositions of both Leiper and Christian end in prac- 
 tically the same words: "That the said Micajah Harpe 
 a little while before he expired told this deponent that 
 Susannah was his wife and that he wished she could 
 come up and wished her to do better in the future and 
 that the whole of them would do better in the future, 
 escrowed as he was, and that he would acquaint her 
 with one thing that was hid." 
 
 Two days after their examining or preliminary trial, 
 
Big Harpe's Ride to Death 133 
 
 the three women and two infants were sent, by order of 
 Judge Samuel Hopkins, to Russellville, Logan County, 
 there to appear before the judges of the District Court, 
 which court at that time embraced Henderson County. 
 There is no history or tradition as to how the three wo- 
 men were conducted to "Logan Courthouse." They 
 probably were taken on horseback. The minutes of the 
 next term of the court of Quarter Sessions held in Hen- 
 derson contain a few items that throw some light on 
 the expense of holding and then transferring the pri- 
 soners, the total being $281.78. 
 
 These entries indicate that the prisoners were accom- 
 panied by the sheriff and five guards and that the 
 county attorney and county clerk took part in the second 
 trial. The prisoners and their guard left Henderson 
 September 6, and after traveling the ninety-five miles, 
 the women were turned over to the sheriff to await their 
 trial, September 28. 14 
 
 Major William Stewart was sheriff of Logan County 
 at the time. He more than once had chased the Harpes 
 for many a mile, only to discover that he was going in 
 the wrong direction and to become irritated by his 
 failure. He was, notwithstanding his eccentricities, a 
 just man and one on whom a person in need might de- 
 pend, and the three women, realizing this, must have 
 
 14 The recorded expense items show six men were allowed $7.50 each for 
 guarding the Henderson jail during the ten days the Harpe women were 
 imprisoned. One man was given $4.32 "for victualling Susannah Harp, et 
 al. in the jail for eight days." Andrew Rowan, the sheriff, was allowed 
 $71.25 "for removing prisoners from Henderson to Logan jail, 190 miles" -95 
 miles one way -and also $4.54 for cash advanced for diet for said prisoners 
 from Henderson to Logan jail." Five men were allowed $5.70 each for 
 guarding the prisoners en route to Russellville. William B. Blackburn, "at- 
 torney for the Commonwealth in this county," received $60.00 and John D. 
 Haussmann, the county clerk, and the sheriff, each $30.00 "for his ex-officio 
 services." These items, with $4.17 paid the sheriff "for summoning and 
 attending the court," make a total of $281.78. 
 
134 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 felt encouraged, not only by the prospect of receiving 
 justice, but also of having mercy shown them. Draper, 
 in his notes on information supplied by George Hern- 
 don, a Revolutionary soldier, who long lived in Logan 
 County, writes: "The women were, of course, in his 
 charge, and lodged in the old log jail, becoming dirty 
 and lousy, Major Stewart, feeling for their miserable 
 situation, agreed to let them enjoy the liberty, provided 
 they promised not to attempt to escape and thus make 
 him liable, for he did the act on his individual responsi- 
 bility. They were rejoiced at the offer and he went 
 around the little town and collected some necessary 
 articles of clothing for them, had them and their chil- 
 dren cleaned up, placed them in the courthouse and got 
 a couple of spinning wheels and set them to spinning." 
 [I2F] 
 
 Smith says the murders committed by the Harpes in 
 this section of Kentucky were too fresh in the minds of 
 the people living in and near Russellville and the sus- 
 picion that the women had been accomplices in their 
 crimes was too strong to fail to arouse a hatred for the 
 three women. When threats were made to tear down 
 the log jail and lynch the prisoners, the sheriff secretly 
 conveyed them into the country, where they remained 
 until brought back for trial. 
 
 This statement probably is not true. It may have 
 originated from the fact that Stegall and some of his 
 friends rode to Russellville for the purpose of killing 
 the women should they be acquitted. Discovering Ste- 
 gall's motive, Stewart put the Harpe women back in 
 jail, pretending "it would never do to turn such charac- 
 ters loose upon society," but the next night he hid them 
 in a cave about five miles from town and thus shielded 
 
Big Harpe's Ride to Death 135 
 
 them from the revenge-seeking Stegall who, a few days 
 later, returned home. [28] 
 
 An examination of the minute book of the old Dis- 
 trict Court preserved in Russellville, shows that on 
 Monday, October 28, 1799, a grand jury having been 
 empaneled, "made the following presentment: Com- 
 monwealth against Susanna Harpe, Sally Harpe, and 
 Betsey Roberts, a true bill." A District Court was pre- 
 sided over by a judge and two associate judges, and 
 Judges Samuel McDowell and John Allen being ab- 
 sent, the women, rather than delay the trial, agreed to 
 be tried before the one who was present, namely, Judge 
 James G. Hunter. Judge Felix Grundy appeared in 
 behalf of the women, and no one, except the prosecut- 
 ing officer, against them. Each prisoner was tried by a 
 different jury, the three trials taking place on October 
 29th and 30th. "Susanna Harpe, late of the County 
 of Henderson and parish of Kentucky, spinster, who 
 stands indicted of felony was led to the bar in the cus- 
 tody of the public jailor and pleads not guilty to the 
 Indictment, and for her trial hath put herself upon God 
 and her Country and the Attorney General in behalf of 
 the Commonwealth, likewise whereupon came a jury, 
 to-wit: [twelve men are named] who being tried . . . 
 and having heard the evidence, upon their oaths do say 
 that the Susanna Harpe is not guilty of the murder 
 aforesaid." 
 
 Then followed the trials of "Betsey Roberts, spin- 
 ster," and "Sally Harpe, spinster," both of whom were 
 found "not guilty of the murder aforesaid." No depo- 
 sitions or other records of the proceedings of these three 
 trials can now be found among the various old docu- 
 ments still preserved in the Logan County Court House. 
 
136 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 The women were liberated and the act seems to have 
 met the approval of the public. 
 
 Major Stewart, in his capacity as sheriff, had many 
 opportunities to talk to his prisoners. Some of the inci- 
 dents in their lives could not have failed to touch the 
 heart of any man, especially when heard from the lips 
 of the women themselves. Forty years after the Harpe 
 women had been captured, an interview with him on 
 the subject was arranged to procure facts for publica- 
 tion. From this interview we quote : 
 
 "Major Stewart said the women seemed grateful to 
 him, and related with apparent candor the story of 
 their lives and their connection with the Harpes. They 
 told him that their husbands had once been put in jail 
 in Knoxville, Tennessee, upon suspicion of crime, when 
 they were innocent; when released, they declared war 
 against all mankind, and determined to murder and rob 
 until they were killed. They said they might have 
 escaped after the murder and robbery at Stegall's, but 
 for the detention at the branch where Smith was shot. 
 Big Harpe, expecting to be pursued, proposed that the 
 three children be killed, that the others might flee with- 
 out that encumbrance. His two wives and brother con- 
 sented after some discussion, but the wife of Little 
 Harpe took her child off to the branch where she had 
 seen a projecting, shelving rock, under which she placed 
 it, and lay down at its outer side, determined to remain 
 and die with her child. As her husband came to the 
 branch to let her know they had concluded to put the 
 children to death, he saw Smith, the horse hunter, ap- 
 proaching. He moved toward him, and sounded the 
 shrill whistle on his 'charger - the understood signal of 
 impending danger. Big Harpe almost in a moment 
 made his appearance at the branch mounted on Love's 
 
Big Harpe's Ride to Death 137 
 
 mare, when the firing commenced. Smith was shot 
 down and the Harpes fled. Big Harpe did not go di- 
 rectly to the camp, but circled around it, fearing the 
 pursuers might already have taken it. These sudden 
 and unexpected events saved the lives of the children by 
 allowing no time for their execution. Little Harpe's 
 wife and child hastily returned to the camp, when the 
 firing took place a little distance below the shelving 
 rock, and were made prisoners with the wives and chil- 
 dren of Big Harpe." [28] 
 
 The same delay that resulted in the capture and death 
 of Big Harpe brought about a great change in the lives 
 of the Harpe women. But Major Stewart, in the inter- 
 view given forty years after the women had been in his 
 charge, evidently was somewhat mistaken in some of the 
 details and in the identity of some of the characters he 
 recalled. There never were more than three Harpe 
 children and all of them were born in the Danville jail. 
 We have seen how the child of Little Harpe's wife was 
 killed a few weeks before the women were arrested and 
 taken to Henderson ; it is later shown what became of 
 Big Harpe's children, both of whom were with their 
 mothers in the Russellville jail. It is quite likely that 
 when Big Harpe realized the pursuers were close at 
 hand, he proposed that the children be killed and that 
 then Little Harpe's wife took the two infants and "de- 
 termined to remain and die" with them. A few weeks 
 before, she had seen her own child cruelly murdered by 
 Big Harpe, and probably had, ever since, awaited a 
 chance to escape from the violence and villainy of the 
 lives led by the Harpes. She doubtless concluded it 
 would be far better for her and the two infants to fall 
 into the hands of the pursuers than to kill the infants, 
 even though the killing of them would relieve the five 
 
138 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Harpes of an encumbrance which they considered suf- 
 ficient to interfere with their escape. At any rate, the 
 desire of Little Harpe's wife to free herself, combined 
 with her effort to save the two infants, exercising itself 
 as it did at this critical moment, delayed the attempt to 
 escape and resulted in the capture and killing of Big 
 Harpe. 15 
 
 15 Maj. William Stewart was one of the most eccentric characters in early 
 Kentucky history. His life is full of suggestions for romance and song. He 
 was born in South Carolina about 1772, and, at the age of eighteen, "getting 
 into some difficulties, he left his native state." He went to Nashville, says 
 Finley, and from there started for Henderson - possibly with the intention 
 of continuing to Cave-in-Rock. On his way north he joined a man and wife 
 going to the Green River country. To what extent they influenced him is 
 not known. However, when the three travelers reached the place that later 
 became Russellville, they decided to settle there. In 1791 he left Logan 
 County and "after years of toil, hunting, and nobody knows what else, he 
 finally settled in Stanford and, in 1795, became a dry goods clerk for one 
 Ballenger"-the same man who, a few years later, went in pursuit of the 
 Harpes. In 1796 he returned to Logan County and died there in 1852. He 
 was the first sheriff of Logan County. Collins says: "He was one of the 
 celebrities of the place . . . faithful to his friends, and dangerous to his 
 foes." 
 
 Smith in a chapter devoted to Stewart calls him William Stout: "Always 
 eccentric in his material and style of dress -often he appeared attired in an 
 entire suit made of various colored 'lists,' taken from the finest broadcloths 
 sewed together, fantastically cut and fitted to his person, while the buttons 
 on his coat and pantaloons were quarter dollars, United States coin, with 
 eyes attached by his own ingenuity (for he was a worker in metals) and 
 his vest buttoned with genuine United States dimes. This dress, however, 
 was rather for high days and holidays ... On the morning of the day on 
 which he died, he, with but little aid, drew on his curiously constituted, 
 many colored suit of clothes, and in that attire he died and was buried." [121] 
 
The Harpes - Mysteries and Fate of Survivors 
 
 Big Harpe was dead, Little Harpe had vanished into 
 the wilderness and the women had again been spared 
 through public sympathy with their apparent helpless- 
 ness and misfortunes. What was to become of them 
 and of Little Harpe and of the seven determined men 
 who had run down the gigantic monster? How were 
 these men rewarded for their heroism? The records, 
 hunted down with the utmost patience, constitute a new 
 story in which mystery, tragedy, suspicion and pathos 
 all enter to bring about poetic justice. It enables us 
 also to get closer to these terrible personalities. 
 
 First as to the seven avengers. On December 16, 
 1799, the Kentucky Legislature passed "An Act direct- 
 ing the payment of money to John Leiper and others." 
 The preamble stated that "Micajah Harpe, a notorious 
 offender" had committed "the most unheard of mur- 
 ders" and the Governor on April 22, had offered a re- 
 ward of three hundred dollars "for the apprehension of 
 said Harpe." It recites its enactment because "sundry 
 good citizens . . . were, while in the attempt to ap- 
 prehend him, reduced to the necessity of slaying him," 
 and further declares by its enactment all doubt as to the 
 right of these men to the reward is removed. The 
 money was ordered paid to "John Leiper, James Tomp- 
 kins, Silas McBee, Mathew Christian, Moses Stegall, 
 Neville Lindsey, and William Gresham . . . one hun- 
 dred of which shall be appropriated to the said John 
 Leiper, and the residue to be equally divided among 
 the others." 
 
140 Outlaws of Gave-in-Rock 
 
 The second clause shows that "Alexander M'Farling, 
 JohnM'Farling, Daniel M'Farling, and Robert White, 
 who from motives of public good incurred very con- 
 siderable expense and toil in the pursuit of the said 
 Harpe and his associates ... be allowed one hundred 
 and fifty dollars." These four men probably lived near 
 Danville, and, as previously noted, had been appointed 
 by the governor to take charge of the Harpes should 
 they be found "in any adjacent state." 
 
 Five of the men who captured and killed Big Harpe 
 fared well. Tompkins and Matthew Christian con- 
 tinued to live in Henderson County, where they died 
 old and highly respected citizens. William Grissom, 
 about 1 8 10, moved to southern Illinois where he con- 
 tinued the life of a well-to-do farmer. Neville Lind- 
 sey was identified with the development of west Ten- 
 nessee. Squire Silas McBee opened up a plantation in 
 Pontotoc County, Mississippi, and ranked among the 
 best and most prominent men in that state. It was there, 
 in 1 841, he met the historian Draper, to whom he sup- 
 plied much data relative to King's Mountain and also 
 the facts used for his "Sketch of the Harpes." 
 
 As for Stegall and Leiper, the immediate execution- 
 ers of Big Harpe, no sooner had they sprung into 
 public notice by reason of their acts, than they were 
 enveloped in a mystery of suspicion almost as deep as 
 that surrounding the Harpes themselves. It has grown 
 deeper with time, though their deaths within eight 
 years after the tragedy of the death chase rendered the 
 suspicion more sinister and seemed to confirm it. 
 
 It appears that John Leiper had not only seen the 
 Harpes before he joined the band in the chase, but was 
 strongly suspected of having been secretly involved in 
 some of their crimes committed in central Kentucky. 
 
Mysteries and Fate of Survivors 141 
 
 In April, 1799, when Colonel Trabue's boy was killed 
 by the Harpes, "Leiper then resided in Adair County 
 and knew the Trabue family well." [ 1 2E] He probably 
 lived near "old Mr. Roberts," the father-in-law of Big 
 Harpe, who then had a farm in that part of Adair 
 County which, in 1825, became a part of Russell Coun- 
 ty. Hypocrite that he was, in all likelihood, he joined 
 some of the men who had gone out to hunt the murderer 
 of John Trabue. For some reason he left that section 
 shortly after the Harpes appeared on the scene. He 
 may have feared that the two outlaws had planned to 
 establish themselves near "old man Roberts" and there- 
 fore went to Henderson County, where he was least 
 likely to see them again, and so escape any vengeance 
 they might see fit to execute upon him for joining the 
 posse. Thus, not to begin a better life but to escape 
 death, he left Adair County for parts unknown. On 
 July 3, of the same year, the Henderson County grand 
 jury found an indictment against him for "living in 
 adultery with Ann L. Allen, from the 20th day of last 
 May." 
 
 When Leiper was asked to join in the Harpe chase it 
 was observed that he hesitated, saying he had no proper 
 horse for such work, but that if Captain Robert Robert- 
 son's could be procured, he would go. When such ar- 
 rangement was made, Leiper boastingly declared that 
 if he got sight of either of the Harpes he "would stick 
 to the chase until he killed them or they killed him." 
 Later, when Leiper and Christian overtook Big Harpe, 
 shortly before he was killed, the outlaw called to Lei- 
 per, "I told you to stay back or I'd kill you," and Leiper 
 replied, "My business with you is for one or the other 
 of us to be killed." These and other remarks, as later 
 interpreted by the other pursuers, indicated that more 
 
142 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 than a casual acquaintance existed between Leiper and 
 the Harpes. Although applauded for taking part in 
 the killing of Big Harpe, and thus ridding the country 
 of a scourge, he was nevertheless condemned for his 
 motive in doing so. He "died suddenly of winter fever 
 some time during the winter of the cold Friday" (Fri- 
 day, February 6, 1807). Up to the day of his death he 
 was looked upon as a suspicious character by all his 
 neighbors and so, being unworthy of trust and an out- 
 cast, lived and died friendless. [12E] 
 
 Moses Stegall was at first the hero of heroes in the 
 returning band. He had suffered the loss of his wife, 
 child, and home, and it seems that fate itself had des- 
 tined him to strike the last deserved blow. He had been 
 regarded as a questionable character, yet no one could 
 trace any particular crime to him. The report of the 
 tragic manner in which he had put an end to Big Harpe 
 kept in the background, for a time, all unfavorable re- 
 ports heretofore heard. But it soon became apparent 
 that he, too, had a hidden motive in taking so active a 
 part in the pursuit of the outlaws. It was recalled that 
 when he discovered that Big Harpe had been wounded, 
 but was still able to talk, he had stepped forward and 
 deliberately cut off his head. This act was, at the dread- 
 ful instant, regarded by the excited spectators as one 
 highly deserved as far as Harpe was concerned, but 
 for Stegall it was soon suspected to have been an act 
 whereby he could silence the tongue of a dangerously 
 wounded man who might still survive sufficiently to 
 reveal some of the lawlessness in which Stegall himself 
 was implicated. That this was his motive is verified by 
 a number of authorities. Draper, after a conversation 
 with General Thomas Love, of Tennessee, who was a 
 cousin of Major William Love, and whose wife was a 
 
Mysteries and Fate of Survivors 143 
 
 cousin of Thomas Langford, noted this : "The company, 
 before his arrival, had some confession from Harpe, 
 and Stegall was afraid he would be implicated and 
 wanted him out of the way, for Stegall bore a bad char- 
 acter. Parson Henry says it was suspected that Stegall 
 purposely left his home to give the Harpes an oppor- 
 tunity to kill his victims." [12E] 
 
 Forty years after Big Harpe was killed, a preacher 
 traveling from Lexington, Kentucky, by way of the 
 Henderson and Harpe's Head Road to Mammoth 
 Cave, heard the tradition of the capture of Harpe as 
 then told in the neighborhood where Stegall lived. 
 Relative to Stegall's motive, he wrote: "As for Stegall, 
 he never bore a good character and his excessive zeal 
 and forwardness created new suspicions against him as 
 being an accomplice of Harpe whom he might wish 
 effectually to prevent from betraying him by a precipi- 
 tate death under colour of vengeance." [38] 
 
 Governor John Reynolds, in his comments on the 
 notoriety of some of the settlers who, in pioneer days, 
 lived in Illinois near Ford's Ferry and Cave-in-Rock, 
 pictures the last scene in Stegall's life: "In 1806, at the 
 place, ten miles from the Ohio, where Potts resided af- 
 terwards, on the road west of the river, a bloody tragedy 
 was acted. A man named Stegall - the same who as- 
 sisted to kill one of the Harpes in Kentucky - eloped 
 with a young girl and made the above place his resi- 
 dence . . . Two or three brothers of the seduced girl, 
 and her father, followed them from Trade Water, Ken- 
 tucky, the residence of the father . . . They found 
 Stegall and the others sitting up under a gallery outside 
 of the cabin, with a lamp burning. The assailing party 
 advanced in silence and secrecy, near Stegall, and shot 
 him without doing any of the others any injury what- 
 
144 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 ever . . . and brought back the deluded girl to her 
 home and family." [102] 
 
 Thus within about a half dozen years after Stegall 
 and Leiper helped to capture Big Harpe they had 
 passed into the Great Beyond. Tradition insists that 
 but for the persistence of these two men, the other five 
 would have abandoned the hunt for the Harpes-as 
 many others had done elsewhere - and both outlaws, in 
 all probability, would have escaped to add more 
 crimes to their long list. 16 
 
 Such is the story of the Harpes and their principal 
 crimes. No doubt regarding these crimes existed in 
 the various localities. How many similar deeds they 
 actually committed will never be discovered, for in the 
 sparsely settled country isolated settlers could, and often 
 did, disappear without leaving any trace of their fate 
 and in many instances travelers who were killed were 
 missed by no one. 
 
 There also hangs somewhat of a veil of personal 
 mystery over these criminals. Who were the Harpes 
 and what sort of men were they in appearance and 
 bearing? Who were the three women that, from 
 choice or because of terror of their mates, lived through 
 such terrible experience with them, bore children to 
 them and so became forever linked with the history of 
 these horrible outlaws? 
 
 Whether or not the two Harpes were brothers and 
 the two "wives" of Big Harpe sisters, is, after all, a 
 question that is not definitely settled by any authori- 
 
 16 When, in i860, the town of Dixon was laid out to be the seat of justice 
 for the newly established county of Webster, one of the principal streets 
 forming the court house square was named after John Lieper and another 
 after Moses Stegall. These pioneers were thus honored, not to show that 
 "the evil men do lives after them," but to reward two men whose names 
 were "linked with one virtue" at least -that of being responsible for the 
 capture and death of Big Harpe. 
 
Mysteries and Fate of Survivors 145 
 
 tative record or direct testimony that has yet been pro- 
 duced. At this date it seems unlikely that any further 
 proof of their origin, names or relationship will ever 
 be discovered. When they were active it was necessary 
 to their safety to assume various false names. They 
 changed clothing to such an extent as they could, in 
 order to avoid pursuit and capture, as well as to avoid 
 suspicion among those they might later approach as 
 intended victims. 
 
 They certainly seem to have been brothers in crime 
 and brutality; but were they brothers by birth? The 
 supposed wife and the "supplementary" wife of Big 
 Harpe were, in the same degree, sisters in their tolera- 
 tion of his crimes, but were they actually sisters 
 through one sire? Throughout the story the view has 
 been taken that the two men were brothers and the two 
 women sisters, for such was the prevailing belief. All 
 the contemporary and early subsequent accounts so re- 
 fer to them, except Smith, who, in his Legends of the 
 War of Independence, published in 1855, says the men 
 were first cousins. He designates Micajah or "Big" 
 Harpe as "William Harpe," a son of John Harpe, and 
 Wiley or "Little" Harpe as "Joshua Harpe," a son of 
 William Harpe, who was a brother of John Harpe. 
 Smith also represents Susan, the wife of Big Harpe, 
 as a daughter of Captain John Wood, and Betsey, Big 
 Harpe's supplementary wife, as Maria Davidson, a 
 daughter of Captain John Davidson. Their fathers, 
 he says, were North Carolinians, both captains in the 
 Revolutionary army, but in no wise related by blood. 
 Concerning the two women, he says that they were ab- 
 ducted by the Harpes and became their "involuntary 
 wives." He ignores the fact that the two women seem 
 to have taken no advantage of any of the chances they 
 
146 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 had to escape from these villains, and is likewise appar- 
 ently ignorant of the fact that the third woman, Sally- 
 Rice, the wife of Little Harpe, was associated with the 
 outlaws during their most outrageous actions. This 
 same writer says that "Big Harpe and Joshua Harpe" 
 fought at King's Mountain in October, 1780, and were 
 about twenty years old at that time, whereas all other 
 records show the two men could not then have reached 
 the age of ten. 
 
 Smith cites no authority for his various statements, 
 although in the preface to his book he declares that he 
 obtained his materials for his pioneer day sketches by 
 questioning survivors of the times and the events. It is 
 also observed that no other writers of that time present 
 authority for the statements they make as to the origin 
 and relationships of the Harpe band. 
 
 Breazeale, himself a resident of Knoxville, had op- 
 portunities to gather on the ground early recollections 
 of them. In 1842 he wrote that when the Harpes ap- 
 peared there in 1797 or 1798, they "professed" to have 
 come from Georgia, "represented" themselves to be 
 brothers, and "said" their name was Harpe. He is 
 careful to add, "whether their real name was Harpe 
 or not, no one knew; nor was it ever ascertained where 
 they had been born and brought up, or who were their 
 relatives." As they soon turned out to be thieves and 
 were driven away from the neighborhood of Knoxville, 
 it is at least possible that the relationship, the name and 
 all else they gave out might have been assumed and 
 false in order to cover their tracks from a former place. 
 After the murder of Langford in Lincoln County in 
 1799, they were both indicted under the name of Rob- 
 erts, which they had evidently assumed and under 
 which they pleaded and were held. It may be sug- 
 
Mysteries and Fate of Survivors 147 
 
 gested here that if Roberts was the true name of Big 
 Harpe's two "wives," a shrewd criminal would, it 
 seems, hesitate to assume it as an alias, for the name 
 would help identify him. After their escape from the 
 Danville jail the governor in his proclamation of re- 
 ward for their capture called them "Harpe alias Rob- 
 erts," which shows that their actual names were un- 
 known. It is reasonable to assume that they used false 
 names as the necessity arose. When, in Henderson 
 County, they represented themselves as "preachers," 
 they must have used fictitious names for the occasion. 
 The name of Harpe became so full of terror and their 
 description as "big" and "little" brothers was so broad- 
 cast, that change of name, appearance and pretended 
 occupation was necessary to their safe movement. It 
 will later appear that Little Harpe, after his escape 
 from Kentucky, assumed various names, none of which 
 he had used before and one of which he signed under 
 oath to an official document. 17 
 
 Having told of some of the deeds the Harpes com- 
 mitted, an effort is now made to picture to the readers 
 
 17 Whether or not the Harpes were brothers and Big Harpe's two 
 "wives" were sisters is a question that can never be decided definitely by- 
 history, but it is one over which psychologists may long argue. If the two 
 men actually were brothers and the two women actually were sisters, it is 
 an anomaly in nature. The Harpes were not ordinary criminals. They 
 were abnormalities in a type that is itself abnormal. It is well recognized 
 that abnormal products of all kinds in nature are exceptions or variations 
 and are not the rule, and that genius in creation, in destruction, in crime, in 
 art, etc. is very seldom duplicated by the same parentage. Abnormal crimi- 
 nals are extremes of a type opposed to abnormal geniuses of the creative or 
 imaginative type. Brothers or sisters in either class occur seldom, if ever. 
 For these reasons, a parental connection between the two Harpes and be- 
 tween the two women may properly be doubted. It is true that Big Harpe 
 was the heartless leader and that Little Harpe might have been an ordinary 
 weakling, obedient to Big Harpe because he feared him or because he failed 
 to recognize the inhumanity of the crimes he was called upon to commit. 
 No other record is now recalled showing such a horrible partnership between 
 blood brothers. 
 
148 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 how the monsters looked who could and did commit 
 these crimes. The career of the Harpes was so swift 
 and so veiled by its criminal nature, that the opportuni- 
 ties to examine in detail their appearance and manner 
 was very brief. "Dead men tell no tales" and since 
 those who saw the Harpes at their work were usually 
 victims, they could leave no record. Those who have 
 left descriptions received them from others who had had 
 them second hand. When the difference in observers 
 and conditions is considered, and when the disguises 
 and changes of attire and situation are allowed for, it is 
 surprising to find that a plausible and convincing por- 
 trait is made of Big Harpe. 
 
 As already stated, Judge James Hall, in April, 1824, 
 published in The Port Folio a brief account of one of 
 the crimes committed by the Harpes, and having been 
 accused of having written a story "unworthy of belief," 
 he published in the same magazine about a year later 
 an account of another of their murders and convinced 
 his critics and other readers that his stories of the 
 Harpe atrocities were true. Judge Hall evidently con- 
 tinued his investigation of the Harpes, and seems to 
 have made a special effort to gather data relative to their 
 personal appearance. He realized that fiction is often a 
 better visualizer of persons and their acts than is formal 
 history. So when, in 1833, ne published his romance 
 entitled Harpe 's Head, and later republished it under 
 the title of Kentucky, A Tale, his readers were given a 
 striking picture of the Harpes, and especially of Big 
 Harpe. In his preface to this romance he states that 
 although the tale is the "offspring of invention," never- 
 theless "two of the characters [the two Harpes] intro- 
 duced are historical and their deeds are still freshly 
 remembered by many of the early settlers of Kentucky." 
 
Mysteries and Fate of Survivors 149 
 
 Their acts were, he explains "of a character too atro- 
 cious for recital in a work of this description . . . 
 and have therefore been merely introduced into a tale 
 wholly fictitious." 
 
 Judge Hall's description of Big Harpe is as follows: 
 "His appearance was too striking not to rivet atten- 
 tion. In size he towered above the ordinary stature, his 
 frame was bony and muscular, his breast broad, his 
 limbs gigantic. His clothing was uncouth and shabby, 
 his exterior weatherbeaten and dirty, indicating con- 
 tinual exposure to the elements, and pointing out this 
 singular person as one who dwelt far from the habita- 
 tions of men, and who mingled not in the courtesies of 
 civilized life. He was completely armed, with the 
 exception of a rifle, which seemed to have only been 
 laid aside for a moment, for he carried the usual pow- 
 der horn and pouch of the backwoodsman. A broad 
 leathern belt, drawn closely around his waist, supported 
 a large and a smaller knife and a tomahawk. But that 
 which attracted the gaze of all . . . was his bold 
 and ferocious countenance, and its strongly marked ex- 
 pression of villainy. His face, which was larger than 
 ordinary, exhibited the lines of ungovernable passion, 
 but the complexion announced that the ordinary feel- 
 ings of the human breast were extinguished, and instead 
 of the healthy hue which indicates the social emotions, 
 there was a livid, unnatural redness, resembling that of 
 a dried and lifeless skin. The eye was fearless and 
 steady, but it was also artful and audacious, glaring 
 upon the beholder with an unpleasant fixedness and 
 brilliancy, like that of a ravenous animal gloating upon 
 its prey and concentrating all its malignity into one 
 fearful glance. He wore no covering on his head, and 
 the natural protection of thick, coarse hair, of a fiery 
 
150 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 redness, uncombed and matted, gave evidence of long 
 exposure to the rudest visitations of the sunbeam and 
 the tempest. He seemed some desperate outlaw, an 
 unnatural enemy of his species, destitute of the nobler 
 sympathies of human nature, and prepared at all points 
 for assault or defense." 18 
 
 It is a vivid, splendid sketch full-length; a portrai- 
 ture in full keeping with the idea of a super-criminal 
 and his crimes. In all points except one it is sustained 
 as to its faithfulness by the scattered fragments of 
 description that have come down to us from others 
 speaking independently. The disputed point is the 
 color of his hair. Instead of the "fiery redness" that 
 Hall has set down every other witness makes it black. 
 The fact quite well agreed upon that Little Harpe's 
 hair was red, suggests that in this particular Hall's 
 memory confounded the two. In Governor Garrard's 
 proclamation offering a reward for their capture, Big 
 Harpe is described as being "about six feet high, of 
 robust make," "built very straight," "full fleshed in the 
 face," "ill-looking downcast countenance," "his hair 
 black and short but comes very much down his fore- 
 head." Trabue says "the big man is pale, dark, swarthy, 
 has bushy hair." Breazeale says he was a "very large, 
 brawny-limbed, big-boned man" and "of a most vicious, 
 savage and ferocious countenance," while Stewart 
 [12F] reports him as "among the tallest class of men, 
 say six feet two to six feet four inches" and with "sun- 
 
 18 Lewis Collins prints this description of Big Harpe in his edition of 
 1847, and his son and successor, Richard H. Collins, likewise republished it 
 in his History of Kentucky in 1874. By both it is credited to Colonel James 
 Davidson. The elder Collins says Colonel Davidson was "personally cog- 
 nizant of most of the circumstances." Judge Hall's Harpe's Head had been 
 published in 1833 and there can be no doubt that Colonel Davidson copied 
 his description of Big Harpe, word for word, from the book, relying upon 
 Judge Hall's opportunities for and good character in accuracy. 
 
Mysteries and Fate of Survivors 151 
 
 ken black eyes, a downcast, sour look; dark hair and 
 high cheek bones." As to the hair being short or long, 
 Draper, as already stated, recorded in one of his unpub- 
 lished note books the pungent and grim picture of Big 
 Harpe's wife being compelled, after his death, to carry 
 his decapitated head some distance "by the hair." There 
 were evidently times when the hair of both Harpes was, 
 by force of circumstances, long and times when it was 
 short during that terrible year they scoured the wilder- 
 ness. But Big Harpe's hair was probably black or dark 
 and may have been curly. 
 
 Little Harpe seems to have passed comparatively un- 
 observed in the presence of his gigantic elder. Gov- 
 ernor Garrard's proclamation does not even mention 
 Little Harpe's height, but says he "is very meager in 
 his face, has short black hair, but not quite so curly as 
 his brother's, he looks older, though really younger." 
 His countenance was also "downcast." Hall says he 
 "was smaller in size, but having the same suspicious 
 exterior, his countenance equally fierce and sinister." 
 Breazeale passes his appearance over, while Stewart, 
 who probably got his account of Little Harpe from the 
 latter's wife while she was in his custody, merely says 
 he was "somewhat under common size, had light hair, 
 blue eyes and a handsome look." It may be thought 
 that the wife formulated that description to lead his 
 pursuers astray. But the Frankfort Guardian of Free- 
 dom, of February 29, 1804, four years after Big Harpe's 
 death, contained an extract "from a letter from a gen- 
 tleman in the Mississippi territory," written January 
 8, 1804, in which is noted the arrest and trial of two 
 outlaws in Greenville, Mississippi, one of whom, al- 
 though he gave another name, "was proved to be the 
 villain who was known by the name of Little or Red- 
 
152 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 headed Harpe and who committed so many acts of 
 cruelty in Kentucky." Red hair was the particular 
 mark of Little Harpe. 
 
 Curiosity as to the three women must be satisfied with 
 even a less personal account and description. Hall in 
 his Harpe' s Head, merely says of them : "Two of them 
 were coarse, sunburnt, and wretchedly attired and the 
 other somewhat more delicate and better dressed." 
 Major Stewart, who had them in personal charge for 
 some time and saved them from being lynched, says 
 that Susan, Big Harpe's first wife, was "rather tall, 
 rawboned, dark hair and eyes, and rather ugly," and 
 was about twenty-five years old. Betsey, the "supple- 
 mentary" wife, he described as "rather handsome, light 
 hair and blue eyes and a perfect contrast with her sis- 
 ter." Sally, the wife of Little Harpe, he records was 
 "really pretty and delicate," about twenty years old, but 
 he gives no word of description. It is to be assumed 
 that when Major Stewart saw them they had been re- 
 stored to cleanliness and decent attire. [12F] 
 
 One is tempted to pause and reflect upon these three 
 women, all young and once innocent as other girls, who 
 had so swiftly ridden the "hurricane of all horrors" 
 with two such men, had borne them children as nomads 
 do traveling the desert. One had had her child 
 snatched from her arm by Big Harpe and seen its brains 
 dashed out against a tree. Yet apparently not one of 
 the three attempted to escape her fate, although fre- 
 quently separated and having opportunity to do so. 
 The normal man accustomed to normal women wonders 
 what they looked like and in what respect the horrors 
 of their experience had affected them. In the absence 
 of all description that curiosity cannot be gratified. 
 
 The two wives of Big Harpe, if they were really 
 
Mysteries and Fate of Survivors 153 
 
 sisters, and daughters of "old Mr. Roberts" mentioned 
 but once in the pitiable record, had a brother of whom 
 the Reverend Jacob Young, in his Autobiography of a 
 Pioneer, has drawn a portrait scarcely less vivid than 
 that which Hall drew of his ferocious brother-in-law, 
 Big Harpe. It is a curious sensation to gaze even upon 
 this brother of two such women. The wandering 
 preacher tells how, in 1802, he entered a cabin in 
 Russell County, Kentucky, where he had an appoint- 
 ment to conduct religious services. While singing to a 
 small audience that came barefooted and bareheaded, a 
 man of remarkable size, who was even more poorly 
 clad than the others, walked into the room. Then fol- 
 low the preacher's words: 
 
 "Had I not been used to seeing rough men on the 
 frontier of Kentucky I should have been frightened. 
 I looked him fully in the eyes and scanned him closely. 
 His hair appeared as though it had never been combed, 
 and made me think of old Nebuchadnezzar and his 
 head 'like eagles' feathers.' He wore no hat; his collar 
 was open and his breast bare; there was neither shoe 
 nor moccasin on his feet. I finished my hymn, kneeled 
 down and prayed and took my text to preach. The 
 man looked for no seat, but stood erect gazing on the 
 preacher. Before I was half through I saw the tears 
 roll down his rough cheeks. I closed and told them 
 that on that day four weeks I would be there again. I 
 rode away, but could not forget the big man. I was 
 sure he had distinguished himself some way, which 
 made me anxious to find out his history. I soon found 
 out that he was brother-in-law to the infamous robber 
 Micajah Harpe, a character so well known in the his- 
 tory of Kentucky. No doubt they had been together in 
 many a bloody affray. On my next round he joined 
 
154 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 the church, and soon afterward became a Christian. He 
 could neither read nor write. I procured him a spell- 
 ing book. His wife taught him to read, and he soon 
 learned to write. On my fourth round I appointed 
 him class leader. He trimmed off his hair, bought a 
 new hat, clothed himself pretty well, and became a 
 respectable man. I heard of him several years after- 
 ward, and he was still holding on his heavenly way." 19 
 
 But what was the ultimate fate of the Harpe women, 
 whether hard, commonplace or tinged with compensa- 
 tory romance? Draper in one of his note books gives 
 these last glimpses of them: 
 
 "Betsey Roberts [the supplementary wife] was mar- 
 ried to John Hufstetter. They lived on Colonel An- 
 thony Butler's plantation [near Russellville] as a tenant, 
 and Mrs. Hufstetter became 'chicken raiser' to Mrs. 
 Butler. Many years ago they moved to Red River, in 
 Tennessee, and thence elsewhere, probably Duck Riv- 
 er. . . Her child grew up and was known as Joe 
 Roberts, and the last known of him he was enlisted in 
 the army. 
 
 "Susan Harpe, as she was called, also lived in a cabin 
 on Colonel Butler's plantation, six miles south of Rus- 
 sellville, and being industrious made a living chiefly by 
 weaving. Her daughter, 'Lovey,' grew up to woman- 
 
 19 It is probable that in the early days many an outlaw was "said to be" 
 a kinsman of the Harpes. The case of Mrs. George Heatherly, referred to 
 in the History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri, 1886, is one 
 instance discovered. The Heatherly Gang, according to this account, oper- 
 ated in the Upper Grand River country of northern Missouri in 1836 and a 
 few years preceding. They robbed many white settlers and often stole 
 horses from the Indians. "Old George Heatherly was regarded as a thief 
 in Kentucky and Mrs. Heatherly (his wife) was a sister of the notorious 
 Kentucky murderers and freebooters, Big and Little Harpe . . . Old Mrs. 
 Heatherly is said to have been the leading spirit of the gang, prompting and 
 planning many a dark deed, and often assisting in its execution." There is 
 no proof advanced, however, that this woman was a sister of the Harpes. 
 
Mysteries and Fate of Survivors 155 
 
 hood -very pretty, common size, round features, hand- 
 some form, black hair, rather dark skin and a dark and 
 sometimes bad, devilish eye. Her temper was bad at 
 school - always pouting and angry -no one associating 
 with her. Yet it is thought had Lovey Harpe, with her 
 beautiful form and naturally pretty appearance, been 
 properly brought up, under the circumstances she 
 would not only have been a belle, but really a fine 
 woman. But, soured from neglect and obloquy, it is no 
 wonder she threw herself away. And both herself and 
 her mother were finally driven from the neighborhood 
 for their bad character-went to Christian County on 
 the waters of Pond River, where Colonel Butler had a 
 mill -there old Susan died, and poor Lovey, destitute 
 and forsaken, went down the Mississippi to Pearl, 
 where, by this time, Colonel Butler had removed - and 
 with his family went to Texas. . . 20 
 
 "When Sally Harpe was tried, her father, Parson 
 Rice, was present, a man of fine, irreproachable char- 
 acter, and took his prodigal daughter home near Knox- 
 ville. It was said, and doubtless truly, that Sally was 
 thought a fine girl until she married Wiley Harpe. In 
 1820 Major Stewart was at Ford's Ferry on the Ohio (a 
 few miles above Cave-in-Rock) and saw Parson Rice, 
 
 20 It is interesting to note that Susan Harpe, wife of Big Harpe, many 
 years after his death tried to convey the impression that Little Harpe, not 
 Big Harpe, was the greater villain. Draper, recording some statements made 
 to him by George Herndon who lived near Russellville, says that Big Harpe's 
 wife told Mrs. Herndon that "Big Harpe said to Little Harpe that he thought 
 they had better quit killing people and go to some backwoods country, for if 
 they did not, he feared they would be detected and killed. Whereupon, Little 
 Harpe flew into a passion, cursed his brother for a coward, and said if he 
 ever talked that way again he would shoot him." In order to defend him 
 further, she declared that "Some days before Big Harpe's death he fancied 
 the ground continually trembling beneath his feet." In this way she tried 
 to show that Big Harpe actually did suffer great fear and remorse of con- 
 science and insinuated that Little Harpe was beyond the reach of such 
 feelings. [12F] 
 
156 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 his family, Sally and her [second] husband moving to 
 Illinois. He did not recognize them, but thought he 
 knew them, particularly Sally, who eyed him closely 
 and, after a little, went to one side, sat down and with 
 her face in her hands, had a weeping spell, doubtlessly 
 recounting her Harpe adventures, prompted by the 
 presence of one of the few persons who had treated her 
 with civility and kindness in her wayward career. After 
 he left them, Major Stewart recollected hearing the old 
 gentleman called Rice and the identity flashed upon his 
 mind. Sally Harpe's daughter had then grown to 
 womanhood and was a fine looking young lady." [12F] 
 The girl referred to by Stewart as Sally Harpe's daugh- 
 ter was, in all probability, not a daughter of Harpe. 
 
 And so vanished from the scene, swallowed up in the 
 events of the rapidly developing country, all the prin- 
 cipals in this terrible epic of pioneer days. 
 
 But Little Harpe's career was not finished. He con- 
 tinued the life of an outlaw and after a few years, as we 
 shall see, received his deserts at the hands of frontier 
 justice. 
 
Mason -Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman 
 
 In the pioneer history of the Ohio and Mississippi 
 valley, Samuel Mason stands as one of the shrewdest 
 and most resourceful of outlaws. The Harpes were 
 more widely known and were more terrible characters; 
 their notoriety was due to their great brutality. Mason 
 robbed along the roads and rivers solely for the purpose 
 of getting money; the Harpes killed men, women, and 
 children simply to gratify a lust for cruelty. The two 
 Harpes were the worst and most abnormal of their 
 kind, while Mason was one of the shrewdest and there- 
 fore one of the most "successful" of bandits. 
 
 These three offer the criminologist a field for study 
 of one of the phases of pioneer life- a life that has long 
 been of interest from a historical standpoint. Samuel 
 Mason will be cited in history and criminology as a 
 striking example of a lawless man receiving his just 
 reward. In the meantime, genealogists will probably 
 continue to exclude this "black sheep" from his family. 
 An attempt was made long ago to tear his "branch" 
 from the family tree so that his name and those of his 
 children would not mar the beauty of a stem honored 
 with the names of famous men and women. It was 
 without doubt the frontier life that Samuel Mason 
 entered, and not the family from which he sprang that 
 made him what he was. 
 
 Mason was a most striking and interesting figure. 
 He had excellent birth; he had been a fighting soldier 
 on the western frontier in the American Revolution, 
 
158 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 acquitting himself with courage. It is not clear how 
 such a man in time of peace developed into a highway- 
 man and after years of outlawry came to such a terrible 
 death. A portion of his history is missing and prob- 
 ably will always remain a mystery, but his criminal ex- 
 ploits will lack the proper contrast unless his origin and 
 his early services as a patriot are presented. 
 
 He was born in Virginia about the year 1750. Thir- 
 ty-five years after his death Draper recorded in one of 
 his note books that "Mason was connected by ties of 
 consanguinity with the distinguished Mason family of 
 Virginia, and grew up bad from his boyhood." [12H] 
 This has been assumed in some quarters to connect him 
 closely with George Mason, one of the signers of the 
 Declaration of Independence, but there is no proof of 
 it. He was a captain in the American Revolution. Two 
 of his brothers, Thomas and Joseph, were among the 
 useful, honest pioneers in the West. They started with 
 George Rogers Clark on his expedition to Vincennes, 
 but "when Clark reached Louisville he scattered some 
 of his men among the neighboring stations of Beargrass 
 [near Louisville]. . . Of this party were . . . 
 Thomas and Joseph Mason, brothers of Captain Sam- 
 uel Mason." [12C] Another brother, Isaac Mason, 
 married Catherine Harrison, sister of Benjamin and 
 William Harrison, and as early as 1770 moved from 
 Virginia to Pennsylvania where he became one of the 
 wealthiest and most influential citizens of Fayette 
 County. [76] These three Mason brothers, like Sam- 
 uel Mason himself, were, each in a different way, pro- 
 ducts of their environment and their times. Pioneer 
 times, like most other periods, produced a variety of 
 characters and Samuel Mason rapidly developed into a 
 product quite distinct from most men of his day. 
 
Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman 159 
 
 It is not often that the lineage of a highwayman can 
 be traced back to a position so honorably distinguished 
 as that of an officer in the American Revolution, yet 
 such was Samuel Mason. After fighting for the free- 
 dom of his country he drifted down the Ohio to west- 
 ern Kentucky and the Cave-in-Rock country and there 
 began a wild and free career unrestrained by either 
 human or divine law. 
 
 Before taking up Mason's military history it may be 
 well to recall a few facts pertaining to the American 
 Revolution : The first battle in that war was fought at 
 Lexington, Massachusetts, April 19, 1775; the sur- 
 render of Cornwallis took place at Yorktown, Virginia, 
 October 19, 1781. While these and other battles be- 
 tween were being fought in the colonies along the At- 
 lantic coast, the frontiersmen west of the Alleghenies 
 were engaged in the same war with the British and 
 their Indian allies. On June 24, 1778, George Rogers 
 Clark left Louisville with about one hundred and fifty 
 men and floated down the Ohio, passing Cave-in-Rock, 
 and at Fort Massac, near the mouth of the Cumber- 
 land, began his march through Illinois; he captured 
 Vincennes August 1 and thus saved the west for the 
 American colonies. Between Vincennes and the Old 
 Settlements lay a vast country held, after many hard 
 fights, by the settlers who occupied it. 
 
 It was in this frontier defense of the upper Ohio 
 River region that Samuel Mason took part. A com- 
 plete history of his career as a Revolutionary soldier 
 cannot, at this late day, be compiled ; but, from the few 
 statements regarding him that appear in printed his- 
 tory and from a few old documents still extant, suffi- 
 cient evidence can be gathered to show that Mason was 
 
160 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 not only a soldier, but that he took a very active part in 
 the struggle. 
 
 When and where he enlisted is not known. He prob- 
 ably did so in Ohio County, Virginia (now West Vir- 
 ginia). In the List of the Revolutionary Soldiers of 
 Virginia, issued in 191 2 by the Virginia State Library, 
 his name appears as a captain of the Ohio County 
 Militia. The earliest record of his military life is one 
 showing that in May, 1777, he pursued some Indians 
 who had robbed and killed a family about fifty miles 
 below Pittsburgh. Mason started from one of the forts 
 above Fort Henry, now Wheeling, West Virginia, and 
 "at the head of ten militia gallantly followed the mur- 
 derers." Although he killed only one Indian he 
 frightened and scattered the others so badly that the 
 expedition was regarded a success. "This brave young 
 man," says the report written a few days later, "will no 
 doubt meet a reward adequate to his merit." [131] 
 
 About two months later we find him at Grave Creek 
 Fort, twelve miles below Fort Henry. He started on 
 another Indian pursuit July 15. On the 17th he wrote 
 an account of this chase and forwarded it from Fort 
 Henry to General Edward Hand, whose headquarters 
 were at Pittsburgh. The original letter is in the Draper 
 Collection. More than a dozen documents signed by 
 Mason are preserved in the Draper Collection; all are 
 signed Samuel Mason, except one letter, dated August 
 12, 1777, which is signed Samuel Meason. 21 The letter 
 of July 17, 1777, like other documents just referred to, 
 shows that Samuel Mason was at least sufficiently 
 familiar with the "three Rs" to attempt to report in his 
 own handwriting some of the operations of the militia 
 
 21 Family names were spelled indifferently in colonial and republican 
 times. In the fashion of English speech Meason was pronounced Mason. 
 
Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman 161 
 
 under him. In it he describes how a number of men, 
 led first by Lieutenant Samuel Tomlinson and then by 
 himself, had gone in pursuit of Indians and returned 
 after two futile scouting expeditions. The suggestion 
 made in this letter that he and his company be trans- 
 ferred to Fort Henry was carried out. [12J] 
 
 Fort Henry was a comparatively old place when this 
 letter was written. The three Zane brothers and a 
 small party of emigrants had settled there in 1769. The 
 fort was built in 1774 and was at first called Fincastle. 
 In 1776 the name was changed to Fort Henry in honor 
 of Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia. Up to the 
 latter part of August, 1777, it was not garrisoned by 
 regular soldiery, but its defense, like that of some of 
 the other frontier forts, was left to those who might 
 seek shelter within its walls. By 1777 it had become a 
 flourishing settlement with about thirty houses around 
 it. Scouts were employed to watch for Indians and a 
 warning from the men on guard made it possible for all 
 the inhabitants of the place to retire to the fort on a 
 moment's notice. 
 
 General Hand, expecting an Indian attack on the 
 fort, ordered Captain Mason and his men to proceed 
 there immediately and help defend it. Captain Mason 
 arrived August 12, and sent a report the same day to 
 General Hand that he would "urge and push" the work 
 and expected to be fully prepared in a few days to 
 resist the enemy. [12J] By the middle of the month 
 there were less than one hundred militia stationed at 
 the fort. After all preparations had been completed 
 the men became impatient, for there was nothing to 
 indicate the approach of Indians. 
 
 On the night of August 31 Captain Joseph Ogle, 
 who with twelve other men had been watching the path 
 
1 62 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 leading to Fort Henry, came in and reported that no 
 signs of the enemy had been discovered. That same 
 night, however, four hundred Indians, led by a few 
 whites, succeeded in placing themselves in ambush near 
 the fort. They lay in two lines concealed by a corn 
 field. Between these lines, along a road leading through 
 the corn field, were stationed six Indians who could be 
 seen by any one entering the road from the fort, and 
 who were placed in that position for the purpose of 
 decoying some of the whites within the line. The next 
 morning- September i -two men going out after some 
 horses walked along the road and passed some of the 
 concealed Indians, unaware of their presence. They 
 had proceeded but a few steps when, to their great sur- 
 prise, they discovered the six Indians standing not far 
 ahead. The two men turned and ran for the fort. One 
 of them was shot, but the other was permitted to escape 
 that he might give the alarm. 
 
 Mason, hearing there were only six Indians near the 
 fort, proceeded with fourteen men to attack them. He 
 soon discovered that he had been trapped by several 
 hundred and that retreat was impossible. All of his 
 men were massacred. Captain Ogle and twelve scouts, 
 ignorant of the strength of the enemy, rushed from the 
 fort expecting to rescue their comrades, but most of 
 them were killed in the attempt. Of the twenty-eight 
 soldiers who took part in this bloody battle only five 
 escaped, among them Captains Mason and Ogle. 
 Mason, after being severely wounded, concealed him- 
 self behind a fallen tree until the Indians withdrew. 
 [140] 
 
 Mason's venture from the fort, it seems, was a daring 
 deed performed without consideration of its various 
 possible consequences. Dr. Joseph Doddridge, in one 
 
Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman 163 
 
 of his manuscripts written about 1820, says that the 
 garrison was too hasty in concluding that the warning 
 sent by General Hand was a false alarm, and further 
 comments that Mason's act was another instance of the 
 "folly and rashness of our militia of early times." [130] 
 
 In the light of a knowledge of Mason's later life, this 
 act of bravery, foolish though it may have been, sug- 
 gests that he then may have had in him the daring 
 necessary for an outlaw, whose self-assurance of success 
 was too great to give the possibility of failure serious 
 consideration. 
 
 Captain Mason remained at Fort Henry until the 
 autumn of 1779. His presence there is shown by a 
 score of receipts now in the Draper Collection, one of 
 which reads: "Fort Henry 27th April 1778 Received 
 fourteen Flints of Zephaniah Blackford for the Use of 
 my Company Given my hand. Samuel Mason Capt." 
 [12N] He was on Brodhead's Allegheny campaign in 
 August and September, 1779. [130] After this expedi- 
 tion he retired from active service at Fort Henry and 
 was succeeded by Captain Benjamin Briggs. Mason 
 was, however, militia captain in Ohio County, Vir- 
 ginia, as late as May, 1781, as his attendance at the 
 Courts Martial proves. [76] 
 
 Such is, in brief, a glimpse of Mason's military ca- 
 reer as gleaned from scattered records. In 1845 Draper 
 filed among his manuscripts a letter which states that 
 "Capt. Mason resided where Daniel Steenrod's house 
 now is, two miles east of Wheeling, and kept a tavern 
 there in 1780." [12M] Another of his notes is to the 
 effect that Mason lived on Wheeling Creek at the 
 Narrows, and that in the spring of 1782 Indians stole 
 some of his negroes. He and a man named Peter Stal- 
 naker went in pursuit. The Indians, seeing the two 
 
164 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 men coming, concealed themselves behind a large rock 
 a little above the Narrows and from that position they 
 shot and killed Stalnaker. Mason fled and escaped 
 unhurt. [12A] 
 
 Captain Samuel Murphy, whom Draper interviewed 
 in 1846, gave the historian a number of facts pertaining 
 to the siege of Wheeling and in his comments on Mason 
 said: "Mason, many years before [i.e. before he was 
 wounded at Wheeling] had stolen horses from Colonel 
 Hite [in Frederick County, Virginia] was pursued 
 and overtaken, and Mason wounded and the horses re- 
 covered. Mason's brother, Colonel Isaac Mason, was 
 a very respectable man. When Mason subsequently 
 turned robber, he would give the up-country people a 
 sufficient sum of money to take them home." [12B] 
 In The Casket Magazine of July, 1834, William Dar- 
 by writes: "Well would it have been for Captain 
 Samuel Mason if he had fallen with his gallant com- 
 panions on the field at Wheeling." Mason evidently 
 did not remain around Wheeling longer than a year or 
 two after the close of the Revolution. Why or when 
 he drifted to east Tennessee is not known. 
 
 What character of man Mason was when he reached 
 the prime of life can be gathered from an unpublished 
 paragraph written by Draper about 1840, after an inter- 
 view with Colonel G. W. Sevier: "He first took posses- 
 sion, without leave or license, of some unoccupied cab- 
 ins belonging to General John Sevier in Washington 
 County, east Tennessee, with several worthless louts 
 around him; one was named Barrow. Mason and his 
 party were not known to work and were soon charged 
 with stealing from negro cabins on Sabbath days when 
 their occupants were attending church; and articles 
 thus stolen were found in their possession. General 
 
Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman 165 
 
 Sevier gave notice to Mason, who had by sufferance 
 remained on his place, that he and his party must leave 
 the country within a specified time. Knowing the char- 
 acter of General Sevier, that he was a man not to be 
 trifled with, Mason and his friends wisely took them- 
 selves off." [12H] 
 
 We next hear of him in western Kentucky. It is 
 likely that one of his purposes in going to that section 
 of the country was to take up the land granted to him 
 for services rendered as a Virginia soldier in the Revo- 
 lution. When he moved west is not known. Finley 
 says he settled on Red River, south of Russellville, in 
 1 78 1. His youngest son, as we shall see later, was born 
 in western Kentucky about 1787, showing that the Ma- 
 sons had arrived some time during or before that year. 
 In 1790 a petition was circulated by the settlers in Lin- 
 coln County, Kentucky, who were living on the Vir- 
 ginia military grants between Green and Cumberland 
 Rivers, asking the General Assembly of Virginia to 
 establish a county south of Green River. As a result, 
 two years later, all western Kentucky was formed into 
 a new county called Logan. This petition was signed 
 by one hundred and fifteen men, among them Samuel 
 Mason and one named Thomas Mason, who may have 
 been the eldest son of, or one of the brothers of, Cap- 
 tain Samuel Mason. Inasmuch as its signers, as far as 
 is known, were "respectable citizens," it is likely that 
 Mason was considered such when he signed, either be- 
 cause he tried to be one or because he succeeded in pass- 
 ing as such. 
 
 The petition recites: "That your Petitioners find 
 themselves sensibly aggrieved by their distance from 
 Courts of Justice, it being near two hundred miles from 
 this settlement to Lincoln Court House, by which, when 
 
1 66 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 business renders our attendance indispensably neces- 
 sary, we are frequently exposed to much danger in 
 traveling through an uninhabited country, being subject 
 to fines and other inconveniences, when from high wa- 
 ters, enemies near our frontiers, or other causes, it is 
 impossible to attend." [106] Mason possibly did not 
 then dream that in the near future he himself would 
 become one of the worst "enemies near our frontiers" 
 and be regarded as one of the great dangers to which 
 men were exposed "in traveling through an uninhabited 
 country." 
 
 Mason's domestic life in the wilderness of the lower 
 Ohio evidently was, in the beginning, up to the standard 
 of the average early settler. But in the wild woods, far 
 away from companionship and influence of law-abiding 
 citizens, the best of men were subject to deterioration. 
 Men of education, illiterates, and all other pioneers 
 were alike exposed to this strong influence of frontier 
 life. Many men who, by their inborn nature or by their 
 own choice disregarded law and order, necessarily be- 
 came, by one route or another, outcasts. Mason fell and 
 fell fast, and became not only an outcast, but a notorious 
 outlaw. The only argument that can be presented in 
 his defense is that he was, to some extent, a peculiar 
 product of his times - only more "highly developed" 
 than contemporaneous outlaws who were products of 
 the same influences and environment. It should be 
 added in justice to Mason that, unlike the Harpes, he 
 was out for booty and that he personally never shed 
 blood unless it became absolutely necessary for his own 
 safety. 
 
 To what extent Mason had fallen by 1794 can be 
 gathered from an entry quoted from Benjamin Van 
 Cleve's diary, made in July of that year on his return 
 
Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman 167 
 
 to Cincinnati from Fort Massac. Van Cleve, with 
 Major Thomas Doyle and a number of other men, left 
 Fort Washington, now Cincinnati, on March 16, 1794, 
 with ten boats to repair Fort Massac and to supply the 
 place with provisions. They arrived at the fort June 
 12, and three weeks later some of the men, including 
 Van Cleve, started on their return up the river. On 
 July 8 they landed at Red Banks, now Henderson. 
 Here are the entries taken from The American Pioneer, 
 published in 1843 : 
 
 "July 8. [1794] Came to Red Banks. 
 
 "July 9. The weather unpleasant, and the company 
 of soldiers disagreeable. We [four men] determined 
 to quit the boat and travel the residue of the way by 
 land. Made preparations to set off in the morning. 
 This place is a refuge, not for the oppressed, but for all 
 the horse thieves, rogues, and outlaws that have been 
 able to effect their escape from justice in the neighbor- 
 ing states. Neither law nor gospel has been able to 
 reach here as yet. A commission of the peace had been 
 sent by Kentucky to one Mason ; and an effort had been 
 made by the south-west territory (Tennessee) to intro- 
 duce law as it was unknown as yet to which it belonged ; 
 but the inhabitants drove the persons away and insisted 
 on doing without. I inquired how they managed to 
 marry, and was told that the parties agreed to take each 
 other for husband and wife before their friends. I was 
 shown two cabins, with about the width of a street be- 
 tween them, where two men a short time ago had ex- 
 changed wives. An infair was given today by Mason 
 to a fellow named Kuykendall who had run away from 
 Carolina on account of crimes, and had run off with 
 Mason's daughter to Diamond Island station, a few 
 weeks ago. The father had forbid him the house and 
 
1 68 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 threatened to take his life, but had become reconciled, 
 and had sent for them to come home. The parents and 
 friends were highly diverted at the recital of the young 
 couple's ingenuity in the courtship, and laughed heart- 
 ily when the woman told it. She said she had come 
 down stairs after all the family had retired, having her 
 petticoat around her shoulders, and returned with him 
 through her parents' room, with the petticoat around 
 both ; and in the morning she brought him down in the 
 same manner before daylight. This Kuykendall, I was 
 told, always carried in his waistcoat pockets 'devil's 
 claws,' instruments, or rather weapons, that he could 
 slip his fingers in, and with which he could take off the 
 whole side of a man's face at one claw. We left them 
 holding their frolic. 
 
 "I afterwards heard that Kuykendall was killed by 
 some of the party at the close of the ball. 
 
 "July 10. Left Red Banks." 
 
 Ministers and certain others, in pioneer days as at 
 present were licensed to solemnize marriages according 
 to the laws established by the state. But a compliance 
 with the church law was, in the eyes of the Masons, a 
 useless form. They disregarded all laws, as it suited 
 them. In that section of Kentucky the execution of the 
 laws was in the hands of Captain John Dunn, a Revo- 
 lutionary soldier who was one of the first settlers at 
 Henderson and who, in 1792, was appointed its first 
 constable. Starling in his History of Henderson Coun- 
 ty, Kentucky, says that Captain Dunn was "the only 
 recognized officer of the law in all this territory" up to 
 September, 1796, when he was authorized to "raise 
 three men to act as patrol at the Red Banks." This in- 
 crease in patrol became necessary not only because the 
 
Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman 169 
 
 number of settlers was gradually growing larger, but 
 also because the wild conduct of such men as Mason 
 made it imperative. 
 
 That the presence or absence of the patrol was a 
 matter of equal indifference to the Masons is shown by 
 some notes Draper received from Mrs. William An- 
 thony, daughter of Captain John Dunn. [12K] In her 
 letter she writes that Mason and his family were among 
 the original settlers of Henderson County and that with 
 Samuel Mason were "a brother-in-law named Duff, 
 and perhaps a son-in-law." Whether or not this Duff 
 to whom she so briefly refers was the counterfeiter Duff 
 is not known. She states that about 1795 Samuel Ma- 
 son requested Captain Dunn to sign "some instruments 
 of writing." Captain Dunn declined to sign the paper, 
 saying he would have nothing to do with any such 
 "rascal" as he was. This refusal aroused Mason and a 
 few days later he and four of his men "fell upon Cap- 
 tain Dunn in Henderson, drew their concealed weap- 
 ons and beat him entirely senseless and until they 
 thought he was certainly dead, and then threw his body 
 over a fence close by. But Captain Dunn unexpectedly 
 recovered." Their hatred of Dunn then grew greater 
 than ever. 
 
 Shortly after Captain Dunn experienced this narrow 
 escape from death Hugh Knox, afterwards Judge 
 Knox, of Henderson, "incurring the displeasure of the 
 Masons, was badly beaten by them. Others fared no 
 better." One day the Masons stole a negro woman and 
 her two children belonging to Knox and took them to 
 "their then quarters at the mouth of Highland Creek." 
 Knox raised a party, including Captain Dunn, and 
 managed to regain the three negroes. Dunn's partici- 
 pation in this rescue aroused the Masons against him to 
 
170 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 an even greater degree. One day Thomas Mason, the 
 oldest son of Samuel Mason, came to Red Banks with 
 his rifle and threatened to kill Dunn. Mrs. Dunn, hear- 
 ing of the threat, begged Thomas Durbin, Dunn's cou- 
 sin, who had just arrived with a flatboat going down the 
 river, to try to pacify young Mason and take the gun 
 from him. Durbin being a stranger, it was thought he 
 would succeed. But Durbin had little more than begun 
 talking to Thomas Mason and made known the object 
 of his interview, when Mason, without any comment, 
 shot him dead, and fled. 
 
 Mrs. Anthony in the same letter to Draper writes: 
 "Late in December, 1797, early on a cold morning, 
 Captain Dunn, accompanied by Thomas Smith, started 
 on horseback for Knob Lick, carrying out corn meal 
 and intending to bring back salt. As they were coming 
 near the ford on Canoe Creek, three miles below Hen- 
 derson, Captain Dunn remarked that many a time, in 
 former years, he dreaded the crossing of that creek on 
 account of the Masons, as it was so well fitted to waylay 
 the unwary, but now that the Masons had gone so far 
 below [to Cave-in-Rock] he no longer apprehended 
 danger from them. The words were scarcely uttered - 
 they were about midway the small stream - when the 
 crack of a rifle told too plainly that villainy yet lurked 
 there. Captain Dunn fell from his horse into the partly 
 frozen stream. Thomas Smith got but a glimpse of the 
 person who did the deed ; he could not, in the confusion 
 of the moment, define his features. The wretch darted 
 off and Smith conveyed Dunn home, where he died in 
 a few hours. When asked if he knew the person who 
 shot him he answered that 'it was that bad man.' This 
 allusion was probably to Henry Havard, a young man 
 who was a friend and supposed accomplice of the Ma- 
 
Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman 171 
 
 sons." Thus ended the life of the first constable of Red 
 Banks, and with this killing the work of the Masons in 
 Henderson County ended. And with his departure 
 from there, Mason's life went from bad to worse. 22 
 
 About the time Mason and his gang left Henderson 
 County there appeared in Red Banks and on Diamond 
 Island a man named May. Mrs. Anthony calls him 
 Isaac May, some refer to the same man as Samuel May, 
 but he is best known as James May. He later played a 
 very important part in Mason's history. Writing of 
 this outlaw's early career, Mrs. Anthony says: "May 
 loitered about Henderson and had a lame sister with 
 him - at least she passed as such and thereby excited 
 some remarks. At length May stole some horses and 
 he and his sister made off and were pursued and over- 
 taken at Vincennes. May was brought back to Hender- 
 son, and the very first night after they got him there he 
 managed to break away and make his escape, which he 
 effected by making an extraordinary leap. He joined 
 Mason's gang . . ." He joined Mason in the South 
 and there performed another extraordinary act of 
 which, as is shown later, Mrs. Anthony has more or less 
 to say. 
 
 22 In her account to Draper Mrs. Anthony states that in addition to Henry 
 Havard, Samuel Mason had, besides his own family, at least two other 
 accomplices while living near Henderson: Nicholas Welsh and a man named 
 Hewitt. Henry Havard, after the assassination of Captain John Dunn, fled 
 to his father's home on Red River, Tennessee. The regulators there, upon 
 hearing that he had been employed by Mason to kill Dunn, "raised and went 
 to old Havard's, found Henry hid between two feather beds and shot 
 through the beds. They made the old man pull out the body of his son and 
 when they found his brains were oozing out they knew he was quite dead." 
 Hewitt was captured on the Kentucky shore opposite Diamond Island, by 
 regulators who were "strongly inclined to kill him, but finally refrained, but 
 made him break his gun." Nicholas Welsh, who ran the tavern in which 
 Mason and his men made their headquarters when in Red Banks, disap- 
 peared immediately after Captain John Dunn was shot, and was never 
 again heard of. 
 
172 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 During the greater part of 1797 the Masons were 
 established at Cave-in-Rock. Their headquarters while 
 in and near Henderson seems to have been changed 
 from time to time. For a while they had a camp at the 
 mouth of Highland Creek, as stated by Mrs. Anthony, 
 but most of their time previous to 1797 was spent not 
 far from what now is the town of Hitesville, in Union 
 County, Kentucky. A small stream, tributary to High- 
 land Creek, on or near which the Masons lived, still 
 bears the name of Mason's Creek. About twenty miles 
 south of this old camp is "Harpe's Head," where two 
 years later the head of Big Harpe was placed on the 
 end of a pole. About ten miles northeast of the Mason 
 Creek country is Diamond Island, where many early 
 pioneers going down the Ohio in flatboats became the 
 victims of the Masons. 
 
 Fortesque Cuming stopped at Diamond Island May 
 16, 1808, about ten years after Mason had left it. Com- 
 menting on the place, Cuming says, in his Tour to the 
 Western Country : "Nothing can be more beautifully 
 situated than this fine island ... It is owned by a Mr. 
 Alvis, a Scotchman, of great property in South Caro- 
 lina, who bought it about two years ago [1806] of one 
 Wells, the original locator. Alvis has a negro quarter, 
 and near one hundred and fifty acres of land cleared on 
 the Kentucky shore opposite the Island. This used to 
 be the principal haunt of banditti, from twenty to thirty 
 in number, amongst which the names of Harper [sic] 
 five Masons, and Corkendale [Kuykendall] were most 
 conspicuous. They attacked and plundered the passing 
 boats, and frequently murdered the crews and passen- 
 gers. At length the government of Kentucky sent a 
 detachment of militia against them. They were sur- 
 prised, and Harper, one of the Masons, and three or 
 
Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman 173 
 
 four more were shot, one in the arms of his wife, who 
 escaped unhurt though her husband received eleven 
 balls. The rest dispersed and again recruiting, became, 
 under Mason, the father, the terror of the road through 
 the wilderness between Nashville in Tennessee and the 
 Mississippi Territory." 
 
 Cuming's account is fairly accurate, but if by "Har- 
 per" he refers to Big Harpe or Little Harpe, he is mis- 
 taken. The "detachment of militia" that ran out this 
 band of Diamond Island outlaws could more properly 
 be called a "regiment" of local regulators, for there is 
 nothing on record to show that any state militia was ever 
 sent to the island. In pioneer days regulators, as a rule, 
 relied upon their own "military strength" and exercised 
 it without formal orders from "official headquarters." 
 
 Diamond Island is about fourteen miles below Hen- 
 derson. It is some three miles long and a half-mile 
 wide, and more or less diamond shaped. In Mason's 
 day it was covered with gigantic trees and luxurious 
 vines and presented so wonderful a scene that it at- 
 tracted early travelers who passed it. In pioneer days 
 it was, according to comments written by many travel- 
 ers, the most beautiful island in the Ohio. Zadok Cra- 
 mer in The Navigator, published in 1806, says it is a 
 "large and noble looking island." J. Addison Richards 
 in his Romance of American Landscape refers to it as 
 "the crown-jewel in this cluster of the Ohio brilliants." 
 Thomas Ashe, whose trip down the Ohio was "per- 
 formed in 1806," goes so far as to say it is "by far the 
 finest in the river, and perhaps the most beautiful in 
 the world !" About a generation after Mason and other 
 outlaws abandoned it as a trap for victims, Edmund 
 Flagg visited the Island and found that "it is said to be 
 haunted." In 1917 it was, according to one man's idea, 
 
174 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 "sure ha'nted." This once luxuriant forest island is 
 now a cornfield, celebrated for its wonderfully fertile 
 soil and for its "Diamond Island Canned Corn." All 
 that is left of its former splendor is its size. Its heavy 
 fringe of cottonwood and willow still attracts attention 
 and helps repicture the Island as it was in the olden 
 days. The gnaried roots along the bank and the drift- 
 wood piled here and there on the beach seem to hold 
 dumb the secrets of Mason and his men and the trage- 
 dies enacted there more than a century ago. 
 
 Robbery and its booty were uppermost in Mason's 
 mind and were the object of his every act. Neverthe- 
 less, in selecting Cave-in-Rock, seventy miles down the 
 Ohio River, as his next headquarters he chanced to 
 choose a place, judging from the present appearance of 
 the landscape, that was far more picturesque than Dia- 
 mond Island. All the primeval beauty of the Island 
 has long ago disappeared, and some of the wild charm 
 of Cave-in-Rock and its surroundings has vanished 
 with the original forest. Flatboat pirates have come and 
 gone ; the Ohio still flows on as majestically and as mys- 
 teriously as ever, but all its flood of waters will never 
 wash away the legends of tragedies connected with the 
 two places. 
 
 Mason made Cave-in-Rock his headquarters during 
 the greater part of 1797. River pirates were numerous 
 in the old flatboat days - especially before 181 1 when 
 the first steamboat was run from Pittsburgh to New 
 Orleans. Travelers were warned by those who had 
 made trips down the river and knew the usual methods 
 followed by river pirates; but with all their intended 
 precautions and in spite of all the instructions received 
 many of the inexperienced became easy prey for the 
 robbers. The Cave had often been used by travelers as 
 
Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman 175 
 
 a temporary stopping place and had become a well 
 known shelter. But the fact that it had also served as a 
 temporary abode for outlaws seems not to have been 
 widely circulated before this time. Mason recognized 
 in it a hiding place that offered him the shelter of a 
 good house and also one that was very convenient and 
 reasonably safe. Besides, it was peculiarly fitted for his 
 purpose, for its partially concealed entrance com- 
 manded a wide view both up and down the river. 
 
 He also recognized the necessity of enticing his in- 
 tended victims into the Cave in an innocent manner or 
 by some unusual method. Mason's reputation as an 
 outlaw was beginning to spread. He overcame the 
 obstacle of publicity by changing his name to "Wilson." 
 In order to lull any suspicion he concluded to convert 
 the Cave into an inn and he and his family therefore 
 fitted it up for the purpose of accommodating guests. 
 On the river bank where it could be seen by those going 
 down the stream he raised a large sign: "Wilson's 
 Liquor Vault and House for Entertainment." And 
 thus it came about that Cave-in-the-Rock was trans- 
 formed into Cave-Inn-Rock and finally to Cave-in- 
 Rock. 
 
 Daniel Blowe, in 1820, briefly recorded that "Ma- 
 son's gang of robbers made Cave-in-Rock their princi- 
 pal rendezvous in 1797, where they frequently plun- 
 dered or murdered the crews of boats descending the 
 Ohio." Most historians who touched on the subject 
 after Blowe's time publish, with equal brevity, the 
 same statement. Henry Howe, in his Historical Col- 
 lections of the Great West, published in 1852, says: 
 "Sometimes Mason plundered the descending boats 
 but more frequently preferred to wait and plunder the 
 owners of their money as they returned." Compara- 
 
176 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 tively few men returned north by river and it is there- 
 fore likely that not many single boats or small flotillas 
 going south floated by unmolested. In this connection 
 Judge James Hall comments that the boats that were 
 permitted to pass the Cave and Hurricane Island, six 
 miles below, were pointed out by Mason, who on such 
 occasions would jokingly remark: "These people are 
 taking produce to market for me." [61] 
 
 Mason discovered that many of his men who went 
 south with captured boats never returned to report, and 
 he realized that sooner or later an attempt would be 
 made to capture him if he continued his work at the 
 Cave. He therefore decided to go south. For these 
 and probably other reasons he, as stated by Monette, 
 "deserted the Cave in the Rock on the Ohio and began 
 to infest the great Natchez Trace where the rich pro- 
 ceeds of the river trade were the tempting prize." 
 
 By what means and under what circumstances Mason 
 and his family moved south is not known. After leav- 
 ing Henderson County he remained longer at Cave-in- 
 Rock than at any other one place. His name is insepar- 
 ably associated with Cave-in-Rock, both in history and 
 tradition, but neither history nor tradition has preserved 
 an account giving the details of any definite robbery 
 committed by him while there. It is likely that he left 
 the Cave in ample time to avoid being driven out by 
 a body of men who had been organized by the mer- 
 chants of Pittsburgh for the purpose of trying to ex- 
 terminate him and all other river pirates. No record 
 of Mason's whereabouts during 1798 and 1799 can now 
 be found. During these two years many robberies oc- 
 curred along the Mississippi River and along various 
 trails on the American side of the river from Kentucky 
 to New Orleans, but the guilty men were seldom cap- 
 
Soldier, Pirate, Highwayman 177 
 
 tured. A number of these robberies, on both river and 
 land, were doubtless perpetrated by Mason under one 
 or more assumed names. 
 
 According to Audubon, the ornithologist, the Masons 
 made their headquarters for a while on Wolf Island, 
 in the Mississippi, twenty-five miles below the mouth 
 of the Ohio. About 1815, or a number of years after 
 Mason's career was closed, Audubon gathered the fol- 
 lowing about the famous outlaw's stay on this island : 
 
 "The name of Mason is still familiar to many of the 
 navigators of the Lower Ohio and Mississippi. By dint 
 of industry in bad deeds, he became a notorious horse- 
 stealer, formed a line of worthless associates from the 
 eastern part of Virginia (a state greatly celebrated for 
 its fine breed of horses) to New Orleans, and had a 
 settlement on Wolf Island, not far from the confluence 
 of the Ohio and Mississippi, from which he issued to 
 stop the flatboats, and rifle them of such provisions and 
 other articles as he and his party needed. His depreda- 
 tions became the talk of the whole western country; and 
 to pass Wolf Island was not less to be dreaded than to 
 anchor under the walls of Algiers. The horses, the 
 negroes, and the cargoes, his gang carried off and sold." 
 
 In March, 1800, Mason appeared in New Madrid, 
 Missouri, then Spanish territory, and applied for a 
 passport. This was issued to him, as appears later, on 
 the recommendation of a man whom he had met casu- 
 ally at Red Banks (Henderson, Kentucky) and who 
 was unaware of the real character of the person he 
 introduced. The passport not only permitted Mason 
 to settle on Spanish territory with the privilege of pur- 
 chasing land, but it also served as a document designat- 
 ing him as a desirable citizen. When he applied for 
 this permit, he may have resolved to open up a farm 
 
178 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 and lead a respectable life. If so, the resolution to re- 
 form was of short duration, for he made no attempt to 
 select a site for a permanent home. In the meantime he 
 carefully preserved the passport, knowing it might some 
 day serve, in its way, as a letter of recommendation. It 
 would also serve as evidence that he had taken an initial 
 step toward becoming a Spanish subject. Should he 
 confine his land operations to the American side, and 
 his river piracy to the waters of the Mississippi, and 
 make none but American citizens his victims, the 
 chances were he might some day find a safe and con- 
 venient retreat in the Spanish domain west of the river. 
 During 1800 and the three years that followed, Ma- 
 son moved over the country with remarkable activity. 
 A report of a robbery committed by him on the Natchez 
 Trace, says Monette, was soon followed by an account 
 of another perpetrated on the Mississippi many miles 
 away, and vice versa. Men going down the Mississippi, 
 as those going down the Ohio, encountered many 
 troubles incidental to the running of boats. They were 
 always exposed to river pirates of whom Mason was 
 one. Among other hardships to which they were sub- 
 jected was the unrestrained authority of the Spanish, 
 who were then in possession of the land west of the Mis- 
 sissippi and who practically controlled the navigation 
 of that river. 
 
Mason On the Natchez Trace 
 
 Much has been written about the old Natchez Trace, 
 the narrow Indian trail leading from Natchez, Mis- 
 sissippi, to Nashville, Tennessee, at which place trav- 
 elers took other trails leading to Illinois, Kentucky, and 
 Virginia. In the rlatboat days many merchants who 
 had disposed of the goods they brought down the Ohio 
 and Mississippi returned north with the proceeds of 
 their sales by this overland route; others took the 
 ocean route by way of Philadelphia, back to their 
 homes. Many of these pioneer merchants refer to their 
 experience in this wilderness and many early western 
 travelers who rode over this old trail describe it in their 
 books. We shall, however, confine our glimpse of the 
 early days on this historic trace to the facts concerning 
 Mason. 
 
 It is more than likely that Mason had committed a 
 number of crimes along the Natchez Trace before he 
 appeared in New Madrid in March, 1800. Many 
 pioneers traveling over this route encountered high- 
 waymen, but none of them succeeded in identifying the 
 men by whom they had been robbed. The first record 
 of a case with which Mason is definitely connected is 
 that of a party of boatmen riding from Natchez to their 
 homes in Kentucky. An account of this incident is 
 told in Old Times in Tennessee, by Josephus C. Guild, 
 who received his information from John L. Swaney. 
 Swaney told Guild that more than fifty years before, 
 while carrying the mail over the old Natchez Trace, 
 
180 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 he frequently met Samuel Mason and talked with him. 
 
 Swaney began carrying the mail over this old Indian 
 trail about 1796 and was familiar with the route before 
 Mason appeared on the scene. The distance from 
 Nashville to Natchez he estimates at about five hundred 
 and fifty miles. It was, in his mail-carrying days, a 
 mere bridle path winding through an almost endless 
 wilderness. He rode it for eight years, making a round 
 trip every three weeks. Traveling at the rate of about 
 fifty-five miles a day permitted him a day's rest at 
 either end of his route. He frequently met Indians 
 along the Trace. At Colbert's Ferry, on the Tennessee 
 River, he always found the Indian ferrymen "contrary," 
 for they would not cross the river for him if he got to 
 the landing after bed time. At the Chickasaw Agency, 
 about half-way between the two places, he changed 
 horses. The only white men he saw were the few set- 
 tlers, scattered forty or more miles apart, the occasional 
 traveler returning north and, now and then, Samuel 
 Mason and some of his band. Swaney rode a good 
 horse and carried with him, besides the mail (consist- 
 ing of a few letters, newspapers, and government dis- 
 patches) a bushel of corn for his horse, provisions and 
 a blanket for himself, a pistol, a tin trumpet, and a 
 piece of flint and steel. 
 
 Merchants and boatmen brought their provisions and 
 other necessities on pack-horses or pack-mules. It was 
 from these that Mason captured much of the food and 
 most of the clothing he and his people required. These 
 travelers, as a rule, sewed their money in rawhides and 
 threw the hides in the packs with supplies. At night, 
 before making a fire, they hid their valuables in the 
 bushes some distance from the camp in the event of a 
 surprise at night by robbers. It was in this wilderness 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 181 
 
 that Mason looked for and found many of his victims. 
 He and his band were the terror of all who traveled 
 through the Indian nation, except Swaney. 
 
 Mason frequently sought interviews with Swaney, 
 with whom he had many friendly chats. The outlaw 
 often asked what was said about him by the public. He 
 told Swaney that no mail-carrier need fear being mo- 
 lested by him and his men, for mail was of no value to 
 them, and that he "did not desire to kill any man, for 
 money was all he was after and if he could not get it 
 without taking life, he certainly would shed no blood." 
 
 "Among Mason's first robberies," continues the his- 
 torian who interviewed the mail-carrier, "was that of 
 a party of Kentucky boatmen returning home from 
 Natchez. They had camped at what was called Gum 
 Springs, in the Choctaw Nation. They ate supper, 
 and, as a matter of precaution, were putting out pickets 
 before retiring for the night. In going to their posi- 
 tions one of the pickets stepped on one of Mason's men, 
 who were hidden in the grass awaiting an opportunity 
 to pounce upon the boatmen. The robber thus care- 
 lessly trod on jumped up, gave a yell, and fired off a 
 gun, calling upon his comrades to shoot and kill every 
 boatman. This was so unexpected to the Kentuckians 
 that they became panic stricken and ran off in the wild- 
 est confusion, leaving everything, some even their wear- 
 ing apparel. Mason and his men went to the camp and 
 carried away everything. 
 
 "The next morning, just at daylight, Mr. Swaney 
 came along, and seeing the camp fires burning, rode 
 out, but could find no one. He was going toward 
 Natchez, and having met no party that morning, he 
 instinctively knew that something was wrong, and be- 
 gan to blow his bugle. The boatmen recognized the 
 
182 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 familiar sound and commenced coming to Mr. Swaney, 
 one and two at a time. He asserted that they were the 
 worst scared, worst looking set of men he ever saw, 
 some of them having but little clothing on, and one big 
 fellow had only a shirt. They immediately held a sort 
 of council of war, and it was unanimously agreed to 
 follow the robbers and recapture their property. It 
 was an easy matter to follow their trail through the 
 cane and grass. Their plan was, as they had no arms, 
 to provide themselves with sticks and knives, and should 
 they overtake Mason and his men, attack them by a 
 vigorous charge, knocking them down right and left 
 with their shillelahs, and if those in front fell at the fire 
 of the robbers, those in the rear were to rush upon, 
 overpower and capture the robbers and recover their 
 property. 
 
 "They started in pursuit of the robbers under the 
 lead of the big Kentuckian. They had gone about a 
 mile when they began to find articles of clothing which 
 had been thrown away by the robbers. The big Ken- 
 tuckian found his pants, in the waistband of which he 
 had sewed four gold doubloons and, to his great joy, the 
 robbers had not found them. After this it was noticed 
 that the big Kentuckian's valor began to fail him, and 
 soon he was found in the rear. The pursuit was kept 
 up about two miles further, when they were suddenly 
 hailed by Mason and his men, who were hid behind 
 trees, with their guns presented, and who ordered them 
 to go back or they would kill the last one of them. This 
 caused a greater stampede than that of the night before, 
 and the big Kentuckian out distanced the whole party 
 in the race back to camp. They abused the big Ken- 
 tuckian at a round rate for his want of courage, but he 
 only laughed at them, saying he had everything to run 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 183 
 
 for. But, to his credit be it said, he spent his last dollar 
 in procuring supplies for his comrades." 
 
 Mason was an active man and this comparatively in- 
 significant robbery was doubtless preceded and fol- 
 lowed by others of greater consequence of which, how- 
 ever, no written record or oral tradition now exists. 
 Then occurred the Baker robbery on the old Natchez 
 Trace- a robbery that became widely known through 
 the current newspapers and soon convinced the public 
 that Mason was an outlaw of dangerous character, 
 working over a large territory. 
 
 Colonel Joshua Baker, the victim of this famous rob- 
 bery, was a merchant living in central Kentucky. In 
 his day he made a number of trips south, going down 
 in flatboats and returning by way of the old Natchez 
 Trace. Colonel Baker had the misfortune to come in 
 contact with Mason at least once on land and once on 
 water, and, as is later shown, played an important part 
 in the activities that resulted in ending Mason's career. 
 
 In the spring or summer of 1801, Colonel Baker took 
 several flatboats filled with produce and horses to New 
 Orleans. After disposing of his cargo, he set out on his 
 return home, accompanied by four men, each of whom 
 rode a horse. Besides the five riding horses there were 
 five pack-mules in the cavalcade loaded down with 
 provisions, and, among other things, the proceeds of 
 the sales made in New Orleans. Colonel Baker and 
 his men experienced no unusual trouble until they 
 reached the ford across what was then called Twelve 
 Mile Creek, but since known as Baker's Creek. The 
 place is in Hindes County, Mississippi, about twenty- 
 miles west of Jackson and near where the Battle of 
 Baker's Creek was fought on January 16, 1863. There, 
 August 14, 1801, the Baker party was surprised by 
 
184 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Samuel Mason and three of his men. A paragraph 
 relative to the robbery that followed was published in 
 The Kentucky Gazette, September 14, 1801. It is the 
 earliest printed record so far found of Mason's activi- 
 ties on the Natchez Trace: 
 
 "We are informed that on the 14th of August, about 
 sixty miles on this side of the Big Biopiere [Bayou 
 Pierre] River, Colonel Joshua Baker, a Mr. William 
 Baker and a Mr. Rogers of Natchez, were robbed of 
 their horses, traveling utensils, and about two thousand 
 three hundred dollars cash. It seems the company 
 had halted in the morning at a small, clear stream of 
 water in order to wash. As soon as they had dismount- 
 ed and gone to the water four men appeared, blacked, 
 between them and their horses and demanded the sur- 
 render of their money and property, which they were 
 obliged to comply with. Mr. W. Baker was more for- 
 tunate than his companions. A pack-horse, on which 
 was a considerable sum of money, being frightened at 
 the appearance of the robbers, ran away, and they being 
 in haste to escape could not pursue. Mr. W. Baker 
 recovered his horse [pack-mule] and money. He, 
 however, lost his riding horse, etc. Colonel Baker and 
 Mr. Rogers came to the first settlement, where they pro- 
 cured assistance and immediately went in pursuit of the 
 villains. It is to be hoped they will be apprehended. 
 One of them who was described by Colonel Baker, 
 formerly resided at Red Banks. A brother of Colonel 
 Baker, our informant, obtained this information from 
 Mr. W. Baker, who lodged at his house [in Lexington, 
 Kentucky] on Thursday night last." 
 
 John L. Swaney, the mail-carrier, whose reminis- 
 cences have been drawn upon, gives some different 
 details of this incident. The banks at Baker's Creek 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 185 
 
 are high and steep and at this crossing there was then 
 nothing more than a deep-cut bridle path on either 
 bank leading into or out of the stream. The Baker 
 party, after more or less difficulty, rode down to the 
 creek. While their horses and mules were drinking, 
 says Swaney, Mason and his men jumped up from 
 where they had concealed themselves. The victims, 
 realizing they had been trapped and were at the mercy 
 of the outlaws, surrendered. Mason made them drive 
 the pack-mules over to his side of the creek, where two 
 of his men took charge of them but permitted Baker 
 and his companions to keep their riding horses and 
 side arms. Colonel Baker then rode to Grindstone 
 Ford, a distance of about forty miles, and there raised 
 a company to pursue the outlaws. 
 
 They followed the trail of the robbers to Pearl River, 
 near Jackson, Mississippi, and there learned that 
 Mason had crossed the stream only a few hours before. 
 In the pursuing party was a man named Brokus, a 
 quadroon Indian. Brokus, according to Swaney, 
 stripped and swam down the river to ascertain, if pos- 
 sible, what route Mason's men had taken. While he 
 was climbing up the bank one of the robbers punched 
 him in the breast with a gun. Brokus thought he was 
 shot and, losing his grip on the sapling to which he was 
 holding, fell back into the river. After considerable 
 swimming and diving he reached the opposite shore. 
 Swaney ends his story of this chase by saying: "Mason 
 then made his appearance and notified Colonel Baker 
 that he would never recover his money. This seemed 
 to be accepted as the final arbitrament, for the pursuit 
 of the robbers was abandoned." 
 
 A contributor to The Natchez Galaxy in 1829, in a 
 short article entitled "The Robber of the Wilderness," 
 
1 86 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 gives another account of how Mason made his appear- 
 ance on the banks of Pearl River and under what cir- 
 cumstances Colonel Baker abandoned the chase. This 
 Natchez writer has it that when Colonel Baker reached 
 the river the pursuers took the saddles of! their horses 
 and made preparations to rest for a few hours before 
 resuming the chase. The tracks made by Mason's 
 horses showed that his party was much smaller than 
 theirs. The pursuers therefore anticipated nothing 
 other than an unconditional surrender. They did not 
 realize how quickly Mason could turn to his advantage 
 any condition that presented itself. How the outlaw 
 mastered the present situation is best told by the con- 
 tributor to The Natchez Galaxy: 
 
 "Those preliminaries being disposed of, two of the 
 party strolled to the bank of the river and, tempted by 
 the coolness and beauty of the stream, went in to bathe. 
 In the course of their gambol they crossed to the op- 
 posite shore, where they encountered an individual 
 whose society, under the present circumstances, afford- 
 ed them very little satisfaction. 
 
 "Mason, aware that he was pursued and having as- 
 certained the superior force of his pursuers, determined 
 to effect by strategem what he could not hope to do by 
 open contest. The path into the forest was narrow 
 here and much beset with undergrowth; and he placed 
 his men in ambush so that by a sudden onset the party 
 of Colonel Baker on entering the woods would be 
 thrown into confusion, and thus be easily despatched or 
 routed. Chance, however, produced a success more 
 complete than any he could have anticipated. No 
 sooner had the two naked and unarmed men reached 
 the eastern shore of the Pearl, than Mason rushed upon 
 them before they could collect their thoughts or com- 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 187 
 
 prehend their danger. He was a hale, athletic figure, 
 and roughly clad in the leather shirt and leggins, com- 
 mon to the Indians and hunters of the frontier. 
 
 " 'I am glad to see you, gentlemen,' said he sarcas- 
 tically, 'and though our meeting did not promise to be 
 quite so friendly, I am just as well satisfied; my arms 
 and ammunition will cost less than I expected.' 
 
 "His prisoners were thunderstruck and totally in- 
 capable of reply. Having placed a guard over them, 
 Mason walked deliberately down to the shore and 
 hailed the party on the opposite bank, who had wit- 
 nessed the scene, that has been detailed, in amazement 
 and apprehension. As he approached they instinctive- 
 ly seized their arms. 
 
 " 'If you approach one step or raise a rifle/ cried the 
 robber, 'you may bid your friends farewell. There is 
 no hope for them but in your obedience. I want noth- 
 ing but security against danger to myself and party and 
 this I mean to have. Stack your arms and deposit your 
 ammunition on the beach near the water. I will send 
 for them. Any violence to my messenger or the least 
 hesitation to perform my orders will prove certain and 
 sudden death to your companions. Your compliance 
 will insure their release, and I pledge my honor as a 
 man to take no other advantage of my victory.' 
 
 "There was no alternative. The arms and ammuni- 
 tion were deposited as Mason directed. Two of the 
 band were despatched for them, while a rifle was held 
 to the head of each prisoner. No resistance was at- 
 tempted, however, by Colonel Baker or his party, and 
 the arms were brought across. The banditti were soon 
 in readiness for a march; the prisoners were dismissed 
 with a good humored farewell; and the dreaded 
 Mason, true to his word, was soon lost in the depths of 
 
1 88 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 the wilderness. It is hardly necessary to say that the 
 pursuers, disarmed, discomfitted, and a little chapf alien 
 made the best of their way back to 'the settlement'. " 
 [12L] 
 
 Shortly after the Baker robbery John Mason, a son 
 of Samuel Mason, was lodged in the Natchez jail 
 charged with taking part in the affair. It is more than 
 likely that John Mason happened to be in town when 
 he was accused and arrested than that an officer brought 
 him in from the country. At any rate, he was tried, 
 convicted, and punished by whipping. It is possible 
 that he was innocent of the specific crime for which he 
 was punished, for he may not have been present when 
 the Mason band robbed Colonel Baker. About seven- 
 ty years later George Wiley, who was a mere lad at the 
 time this whipping occurred, wrote a sketch on 
 "Natchez in the Olden Times." In it he says : 
 
 "The old jail, too, was the scene of the first public 
 disgrace to the noted Mason, who afterwards, with his 
 robber band, became the terror of travelers from the 
 Ohio River to New Orleans. Mason and his son were 
 brought to Natchez and lodged in jail, charged with 
 the robbery of a man named Baker, at a place now in 
 Hindes County where the road crosses a creek still 
 known as Baker's Creek. They were defended at their 
 trial by a distinguished lawyer named Wallace. He, 
 after the manner so common with lawyers, went to 
 work to get up a public feeling in favor of his clients, 
 and succeeded so well that, although the Masons were 
 convicted, the general sentiment was that they were 
 innocently punished. They were both convicted and 
 sentenced to receive the punishment of thirty-nine 
 lashes and exposure in the pillory. I witnessed the 
 flogging and shall never forget their cries of 'innocent' 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 189 
 
 at every blow of the cowhide which tore the flesh from 
 their quivering limbs, and until the last lash was given 
 they shrieked the same despairing cry of 'innocent,' 
 'innocent.' After they were released the elder Mason 
 said to the surrounding crowd, 'You have witnessed our 
 punishment for a crime we never committed; some of 
 you may see me punished again but it shall be for some- 
 thing worthy of punishment' He and his son then 
 shaved their heads, and stripping themselves naked, 
 mounted their horses and yelling like Indians, rode 
 through and out of the town." [26] 
 
 This account appears correct in all its details except 
 two. Samuel Mason's son, John, was the only member 
 of the Mason family arrested and whipped. If, as 
 stated by Wiley, two men were punished on this occa- 
 sion, the other may have been a member of Samuel 
 Mason's gang. The other error is in the statement 
 that the two prisoners were released. It is shown later 
 that after they were whipped they escaped from jail 
 by the aid of some of Mason's men. 
 
 William Darby, another citizen of Natchez, in an 
 account published in The Casket Magazine, in 1834, 
 tells what occurred shortly after John Mason was 
 whipped: "One of the jury, whose name I omit," 
 writes Darby, "made himself very conspicuous at the 
 trial of John Mason, wishing before the whole court 
 and audience, that 'the rascal might be hung.' " By 
 some means Samuel Mason received a report of the 
 juryman's statement. A few weeks later this same 
 juror, returning to Natchez from one of the settlements, 
 had occasion to ride over a bridle path through a heavy 
 canebreak. He was suddenly confronted by Samuel 
 Mason who stepped out of the cane, armed with a toma- 
 hawk and rifle, and, raising the rifle, pointed it at the 
 
190 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 surprised rider, who immediately threw up his hands. 
 Mason very calmly informed the juror that he had 
 waited for him for two days "to blow your brains out." 
 The frightened man begged to be spared for the sake 
 of his wife and children. Mason replied that he, too, 
 had children and loved them as much as any other 
 father loved his own, and that this was his first chance 
 to extend to him the same mercy he had shown toward 
 his son John. Then, as if to further prepare the cap- 
 tive for the worst, Mason asked: "Did John Mason 
 ever do you any harm? Did I myself ever do you any 
 injury? Did you ever hear of me committing murder, 
 or suffering murder to be committed?" Mason 
 shrewdly omitted the words, "except when necessary." 
 The juror answered: "Never in my life." "Thank 
 God, I have never shed blood," declared Mason with 
 great earnestness, "but now, come down off your horse, 
 Sir. If you have anything to say to your Maker, I'll 
 give you five minutes to say it." 
 
 "The terrified man," continues Darby, "sank off the 
 horse and fell on his knees, uttering a fervent prayer, 
 addressed rather to the man who stood beside him with 
 his gun cocked. At length, his words failed him and 
 he burst into a violent shower of tears. The man him- 
 self, who afterward related the whole circumstance, and 
 could scarce ever do so without tears at the remem- 
 brance, said he every moment expected death; but 
 Mason, regarding him with a bitter smile, swore his 
 life was not worth taking, wheeled around and in an 
 instant disappeared amongst the cane." 
 
 Colonel Baker returned to Kentucky and reports of 
 the daring robbery on the Natchez Trace and of his 
 unsuccessful attempt to capture Samuel Mason were 
 circulated throughout the country. Monette says that 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 191 
 
 about the time the Baker robbery occurred "the out- 
 rages of Mason became more frequent and sanguinary" 
 and that "the name of Mason and his band was known 
 and dreaded from the morasses of the southern frontier 
 to the silent shades of the Tennessee River." Mason's 
 depredations must have been many, although authenti- 
 cated records of only a few specific instances are now 
 found. 
 
 It is probable a number of his victims did not survive 
 to tell the tale, for the wide-awake outlaw realized that 
 along the trails and on the river, as at Cavern-Rock, his 
 greatest safety lay in the fact that "dead men tell no 
 tales." Those who were permitted to survive had been 
 treated in such a manner that they would be more likely 
 to describe Mason as a shrewd robber than a cruel 
 murderer, and, it seems, most survivors were careful 
 not to condemn him too severely lest one of his "agents" 
 silence their tongues with a dagger. Mason usually 
 kept an intelligent man at Natchez to observe the char- 
 acter of the outfits obtained by those preparing to 
 travel over the trail. Thus he often received advance 
 notice of the approach of travelers and information in 
 regard to their strength. [26] As is shown later, Mason 
 had at least one agent, Anthony Gass, of Natchez, who 
 managed to dispose of the stolen goods turned over to 
 him. The probabilities were, as asserted by a Spanish 
 official, that this robber had "firm abettors" throughout 
 the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. 
 
 In those days many a traveler was never heard from 
 after he left home. In some instances it was because he 
 died a stranger in a strange land, or was murdered but 
 never missed except by his people far away, who had 
 no means of learning of his whereabouts or fate. Soon- 
 er or later, the impression would prevail among them 
 
192 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 that the missing man was actually or probably killed 
 and robbed. And since Mason was the most widely 
 known among the outlaws in his day, he was usually 
 selected as the man at the bottom of the mystery. 
 
 An example of such a supposition occurs as an inci- 
 dent in the life of the grandmother of W. L. Harper, 
 of Jefferson County, Mississippi. She lived along the 
 old Natchez Trace and frequently accommodated trav- 
 elers with food and shelter. On one occasion a young 
 Kentuckian stopped at her house and, becoming ill, was 
 obliged to remain several weeks. His conduct and 
 bearing were such that the old lady took a motherly 
 interest in him. Before he left "she actually quilted 
 all his six hundred dollars in his coat and vest, partly 
 to distribute his load, but chiefly to deceive the robbers 
 then infesting the road. She heard no more of him, 
 but the supposition was that he was another of Mason's 
 victims." [81] 
 
 A few months after William C. C. Claiborne took 
 his seat as governor of the Mississippi Territory he 
 found it necessary to make an investigation of the 
 robberies on the Mississippi River. On February 10, 
 1802, he wrote to Manuel de Salcedo, the Spanish Gov- 
 ernor General of the Province of Louisiana, residing at 
 New Orleans, informing him that he had received 
 notice of "a daring robbery which had lately been 
 committed upon some citizens of the United States 
 who were descending the River Mississippi on their 
 passage to this town" -Natchez -and that it was uncer- 
 tain whether the persons guilty of this act of piracy 
 were Spanish subjects or American citizens. 
 
 To this the Governor General replied on February 
 28, saying among other things that "It is truly impos- 
 sible to determine whether the delinquents are Span- 
 
Map showing Cave-in-Rock and the Natchez Trace, 1814 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 195 
 
 iards or Americans" and that he had given his officers 
 "the most positive orders ... to take the most 
 efficacious means of discovering and apprehending the 
 criminal or criminals that can be adopted . . . 
 and I assure your Excellency that if the criminals are 
 taken they will be punished in such a manner as to 
 serve as an example to others." He complained that 
 the people of "the States and Western Settlements . . . 
 having the freedom and use of the navigation of the 
 Mississippi" came down into the Spanish territory in 
 great numbers, among whom are "vagabonds . . . 
 who have fled from, or who do not, or can not return 
 to, the United States." [113] 
 
 Each governor was willing to arrest highway robbers 
 and river pirates on his own side of the Mississippi, but 
 neither could suggest to the other that if it became 
 necessary for any pursuing party to cross the river into 
 foreign territory, such pursuers might continue the 
 chase without a special permit. Samuel Mason evi- 
 dently understood and foresaw this condition of inter- 
 national affairs. He had purposely avoided commit- 
 ting crimes on the Spanish side, and now that his no- 
 toriety would, in all probability, result in his being 
 hunted along the Natchez Trace, he moved to the Mis- 
 sissippi, there to confine his operations to the river and 
 its American bank, on the very border of a compara- 
 tively safe and easily reached land of refuge. 
 
 The Baker robbery was in a sense nothing more than 
 another link in Mason's long chain of crimes. Colonel 
 Baker was not daunted by the loss of his money and his 
 failure to capture Mason, for the following spring he 
 started down the river again in a flatboat loaded with 
 merchandise. He supplied himself with guns, not only 
 to protect his boat, but also to better prepare himself 
 
196 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 for his return home over the dangerous Trace. Some 
 time in April, 1802, when his boat reached a point be- 
 low Vicksburg, then known as Walnut Hills and No- 
 gales, he came in contact with Mason and some of his 
 men. Colonel Baker wrote a statement giving the de- 
 tails of this attack and forwarded it to Governor Clai- 
 borne of Mississippi. Colonel Baker's written state- 
 ment cannot be found. Its effect, however, is shown 
 by the fact that upon receipt of it Governor Claiborne, 
 who was aware that outlaws had long infested the 
 frontier, more fully realized the necessity for action. 
 The governor sent out three official letters from the 
 capital of Mississippi Territory, each dated, "Town of 
 Washington, April 27, 1802." [113] 
 
 The first was written to Colonel Daniel Burnett, at 
 Fort Gibson, who was in command of the militia in 
 Claiborne County. It is here quoted in full from 
 Dunbar Rowland's Official Letter Books of W. C. C. 
 Claiborne : 
 
 Town of Washington, April 27, 1802- 
 "Sir, - I have received information that a set of pirates 
 and robbers who alternately infest the Mississippi Riv- 
 er and the road leading from this district to Tennessee, 
 rendezvous at or near the Walnut Hills, in the County 
 of Claiborne:- a certain Samuel Mason and a man by 
 the name of Harp, are said to be the leaders of this 
 banditti: -they lately attempted in a hostile manner to 
 board the boat of Colo[nel] Joshua Baker, between the 
 mouth of Yazou River, and the Walnut Hills, but were 
 prevented by Colo[nel] Baker's making a shew of arms, 
 and manifesting a great share of firmness. These men 
 must be arrested ; the honor of our country, the interest 
 of society, and the feelings of humanity, proclaim that 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 197 
 
 it is time to stop their career; The crimes of Harp, are 
 many and great, and in point of baseness, Mason is 
 nearly as celebrated:- While these sons of rapine and 
 murder are permitted to rove at large, we may expect 
 daily to hear of outrages upon the lives and properties 
 of our fellow citizens. 
 
 "The militia of your regiment not being organized, 
 I presume it would not be in your power, to execute 
 (strictly) a military order, I shall therefore only re- 
 quest, that you will immediately endeavor to procure 
 fifteen or twenty men as volunteers, and place yourself, 
 or some confidential character at their head. 
 
 "This little force will then proceed to the Walnut 
 Hills, and after making the due examination and en- 
 quiry at that place, they will examine the woods in the 
 neighborhood of the Mississippi as high up as Yazou; 
 If you should fall in with Mason and his party you will 
 use all the means in your power to arrest them, or any 
 of them, and I desire, that the person or persons arrest- 
 ed, may immediately be conveyed under a strong guard 
 to Natchez. 
 
 "I hope that the honor of taking these lawless men, 
 will be conferred upon the citizens of your neighbor- 
 hood; should they succeed, I promise them a very gen- 
 erous reward. 
 
 "I have written to Lieutenant Rennick upon this sub- 
 ject, and it is probable, he will give you all the aid in 
 his power. 
 
 "With great respect & esteem. 
 
 "I am sir, your Hble-Servt: 
 "William C. C. Claiborne 
 
 "p. S. For your information, I have enclosed you the 
 
198 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 statement made by Colo[nel] Baker to me, of the late 
 attempt made to rob him. 
 
 "W. c. c. c. 
 
 "Colo[nel] Daniel Burnett-" 
 
 Another letter was sent to Lieutenant Seymour Ren- 
 nick, who was in command of a detachment of United 
 States troops at Grindstone Ford on the Natchez Trace. 
 In it the governor referred to the attack made on 
 Colonel Baker's boat and stated that "a certain Samuel 
 Mason and a certain Wiley Harp . . . have been 
 in the habit of committing with impunity murders and 
 robberies ... I think it is probable they may be 
 found at or near the Walnut Hills; at that place the 
 wife of John Mason resides." He suggested to this 
 officer that the federal government furnish Colonel 
 Burnett with a sergeant and twelve men. 
 
 The third letter was addressed "To the Officer com- 
 manding the United States Troops near the mouth of 
 Bear Creek on the Tennessee River." In it Governor 
 Claiborne writes that: "I have received information 
 that the road from this territory to Tennessee is infested 
 by a daring set of robbers, among them are a certain 
 Samuel Mason and a certain Wiley Harp ... I 
 hope, Sir, that if you should receive information of any 
 mischief being done or attempted in the wilderness you 
 will immediately order out a party of men, and make 
 the necessary exertions to arrest the offenders." 
 
 The lower Mississippi valley was now aroused. 
 Mason had become a terror in a frontier country that 
 was more or less accustomed to lawlessness and blood- 
 shed. His robberies were current history and the 
 whereabouts of Wiley Harpe was a discussed but un- 
 solved question. A little more than two years before 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 199 
 
 Governor Claiborne began to move toward the arrest 
 of Mason, the news that Big Harpe had been captured 
 and beheaded in Kentucky near Cave-in-Rock (Ma- 
 son's one-time headquarters) had rapidly spread 
 throughout the country. With the report also had 
 come the warning that Little, or Wiley Harpe, had es- 
 caped and fled south. Up to this time -April, 1802- 
 there was nothing to point out the actual or probable 
 whereabouts of the missing Harpe. No mention of 
 any murders committed by him appeared in the cur- 
 rent newspapers. Indications and hopes were that he 
 had left the country for good or had been killed. Gov- 
 ernor Claiborne probably had heard from others be- 
 sides Colonel Baker that Wiley Harpe was one of Ma- 
 son's men. Even though he was not convinced of 
 Harpe's presence on the Mississippi, he knew that by 
 linking the names of these two notorious outlaws to- 
 gether, the public would more fully realize the desper- 
 ate character of Mason and therefore take a more active 
 interest in his capture. 
 
 As indicated in his letter to Colonel Burnett, the gov- 
 ernor of Mississippi Territory promised "a very gen- 
 erous reward" for the capture of Samuel Mason and 
 Wiley Harpe. Monette says the governor "offered a 
 liberal reward for the robber Mason, dead or alive, and 
 the proclamation was widely distributed." J. F. H. 
 Claiborne, in his History of Mississippi, states that the 
 proclamation was issued and a reward of two thousand 
 dollars was offered for the capture of Mason and 
 Harpe. No two historians make precisely the same 
 statements regarding the reward. It is more than like- 
 ly that a printed proclamation was issued, although an 
 effort to find a copy or reprint has been futile. The 
 proclamation in all probability gave, among other 
 
200 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 things, the facts embraced in the following statement 
 quoted from a letter written two years later by Gov- 
 ernor Claiborne to James Madison, who was then Sec- 
 retary of State at Washington: "A reward of four 
 hundred dollars for apprehending them was offered by 
 the Secretary of War, and five hundred dollars by my- 
 self, in my character as Governor of the Territory." 
 
 The extermination of Mason and his band was a mat- 
 ter of serious importance to the law abiding and peace 
 loving citizens of the Territory. And now that a re- 
 ward of at least nine hundred dollars had been offered 
 and the militia directed to search for the outlaws, the 
 prospects of capture appeared very encouraging. It 
 was known that Mason and Harpe had lived in Ken- 
 tucky and at Cave-in-Rock, and it was therefore appar- 
 ently presumed that they were old and constant asso- 
 ciates. The two outlaws, however, may never have 
 met in Kentucky nor at the Cave. Whether or not 
 Mason the robber and Harpe the brute were in the 
 same band, both, nevertheless, deserved the severest 
 punishment that could be inflicted by a pioneer people. 
 
 A number of highway robbers and river pirates had 
 been arrested during the time Mason was working in 
 Mississippi, but Samuel Mason and Wiley Harpe, the 
 most notorious of them all, had evaded arrest. Where 
 were they likely to be found? As a matter of fact out- 
 laws camped at any place they found convenient and 
 well adapted for their work, but never remained long 
 at any one spot. It was known that Samuel Mason 
 had, at one time, lived about twenty miles northeast of 
 Natchez, near what is now Fayette. [81] Shortly after 
 the Baker highway robbery had taken place it was dis- 
 covered that at the time of the robbery Mason's head- 
 quarters was near Rocky Springs, a stopping place on 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 201 
 
 the old Natchez Trace some forty miles northeast of 
 Natchez and twenty miles south of Vicksburg. 23 
 
 Draper in a brief note [12H] says Mason spent much 
 time at Palmyra and on Stack Island. Palmyra then, 
 as now, was a very small settlement on the Mississippi, 
 about twenty miles below Vicksburg. Stack Island, 
 also known as Crow's Nest or Island No. 94, was 
 washed away shortly after Mason's day, and in time 
 most of its traditions disappeared. It was on Stack 
 Island, near the mouth of Lake Providence, about 
 fifty-five miles below Vicksburg, that we first hear of 
 Mason -after organized bands began to search for him. 
 
 Claiborne, the historian, states that: "After the 
 Governor's proclamation had been issued Mason and 
 his gang were closely hunted by the whites and Indians 
 and, having made some narrow escapes, they quit the 
 country and crossed the Mississippi to somewhere about 
 Lake Providence [Louisiana] in the then Spanish ter- 
 
 23 One of Mason's daughters-in-law, Mrs. Tom Mason, continued to live 
 for a short time at the Rocky Springs rendezvous after the camp had been 
 abandoned by the others, who rightly suspected that the governor's reward 
 would result in a thorough search along the Trace. It is possible Mrs. 
 Mason's condition made flight impossible, but it is more probable she con- 
 cluded to remain behind and, in time, find a home in some law-abiding com- 
 munity. Guild, who interviewed Swaney, gives us only one glimpse of this 
 woman : 
 
 "After the band had left she started to the Chickasaw Agency where she 
 would be able to communicate with her friends. When Mr. Swaney met 
 her she was on her way, carrying her babe, together with some provisions. 
 Mrs. Mason begged Mr. Swaney to assist her ... He spent nearly a whole 
 day in assisting the woman, and then made up lost time by riding all night. 
 Mrs. Mason told Mr. Swaney that Mason's band was safe out of reach of 
 their pursuers, and that before leaving they buried their gold in the bottoms 
 near the river and cut the initials 'T.M.' on trees near the spot so they could 
 easily find it in the future." 
 
 According to one tradition [114] Mason crossed the Mississippi River and 
 went westward to the highlands northwest of Vicksburg "which are known 
 to this day as Mason Hills" and there hid some booty. "To the present day," 
 continues this chronicle, "many people believe that rich treasures lie buried 
 out in the Mason Hills." 
 
202 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 ritory." Whether at Lake Providence (which is on 
 the Spanish side of the Mississippi but practically on 
 the river) or on the nearby Stack Island in the river, 
 Mason was in a position to flee easily into that part of 
 the great Spanish wilderness which today is northern 
 Louisiana and the state of Arkansas. There he could 
 not only conceal himself more effectually, but also live 
 with some confidence that the Spanish authorities would 
 not attempt to capture him. 
 
 At Stack Island Mason laid his hand upon fate. 
 The band robbed a traveler and found among his ef- 
 fects a copy of Governor Claiborne's proclamation. 
 [26] Monette says that Mason read it aloud and "in- 
 dulged in much merriment on the occasion." The 
 statement in the proclamation that Wiley (or Little) 
 Harpe, the Kentucky desperado, was a member of his 
 gang convinced Mason that the authorities were in 
 great fear of the prowess of his band and were driven 
 to arouse the public to terror and activity by conjuring 
 with the dreadful name of Harpe. Mason was feeling 
 good, notwithstanding the hue and cry raised by the 
 promise of rewards for his capture dead or alive. He 
 was perfectly confident of his ability to escape any 
 American militiamen or Mississippi posse. He could 
 afford to laugh at the additional incitement to his cap- 
 ture contained in the declaration that he had joined 
 forces with Harpe. 
 
 Nobody can say positively that Little Harpe was at 
 that date a member of the band. It is more than prob- 
 able that Mason would not knowingly have permitted 
 Harpe to join him. The reputation of the Harpes for 
 brutality was sufficient to condemn them in the estima- 
 tion of even such outcasts as Mason and his men. Some- 
 where in that southwest wilderness, however, Little 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 203 
 
 Harpe was concealing himself from the fate that pur- 
 sued him. He was hiding under assumed names, not 
 daring to reveal his own even to the most abandoned 
 persons he met for fear of capture. Hunted like a wild 
 animal, it was necessary to lose his identity beyond the 
 most remote chance of discovery. 
 
 The question is was Harpe with Mason when the 
 latter read his name aloud and made merriment about 
 it? Was the headsman of fate stalking there at Ma- 
 son's elbow, compelled to keep silence and join in the 
 laughter in that hour of grim jocularity? It was not 
 until April, 1802, that John Setton appears of record 
 as one of Mason's band, was captured with him, tried 
 with him, and escaped with him. It was not until 
 almost two years later, under most dramatic circum- 
 stances, that Setton was to be identified as Little Harpe- 
 as the man who brought fate home to Mason and him- 
 self and immediately met the pitiless fate he had so 
 long and well deserved. All this will be shown later, 
 but it is one of the mysteries of history whether that 
 day at Stack Island Mason laughed himself out of the 
 fear of Governor Claiborne and committed himself 
 into the hands of fate in the person of Little Harpe. 
 There is a further doubt whether Mason ever did act- 
 ually discover that John Setton was Little Harpe. 24 
 
 In May, 1802, we find Mason's band at the mouth of 
 White River, about one hundred and fifty miles above 
 
 24 Cramer's Navigator, 1818, says: "Stack or Crow's Nest Island has been 
 sunk by the earthquake [of 181 1] or swept by the floods . . . Stack not long 
 since was famed for a band of counterfeiters, horse thieves, robbers, mur- 
 derers, etc. who made this part of the Mississippi a place of manufacture 
 and deposit. From hence they would sally forth, stop boats, buy horses, 
 flour, whiskey, etc. and pay for all in fine, new notes of the 'first water.' 
 Their villainies (after many severe losses sustained by innocent, good men, 
 unsuspecting the cheat) became notorious, and after several years' search 
 and pursuit of the civil law, and in some cases the club-law, against this 
 band of monsters, they have at length disappeared." 
 
204 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Stack Island. The Palladium on August 12, 1802, in 
 a news item dated Cincinnati, North West Territory, 
 July 31, says: 
 
 "A letter dated, Natchez, June 11, from a gentle- 
 man who lately descended the river, contains the fol- 
 lowing interesting intelligence: 'We were attacked by 
 robbers near the mouth of White River and a breeze 
 springing up, prevented us from being boarded by two 
 pirogues, having in each six men well armed. They 
 hailed us from the shore, telling us they wished to pur- 
 chase some rifles, and on our refusing to land, they com- 
 menced the pursuit. They originally consisted of 
 three companies, and were commanded by a person 
 named Mason, who has left the camp at White River, 
 and scours the road through the wilderness. About 
 two weeks ago they attacked a merchant boat and took 
 possession of her, after having killed one of the people 
 on board.' " 
 
 Other robberies in 1802 and in the summer and fall 
 of 1803 were reported, but by whom they were com- 
 mitted is not stated in the current newspapers. The 
 one just cited, however, was without doubt some of 
 Mason's work. It occurred about one hundred and 
 fifty miles above Stack Island and three hundred miles 
 above Natchez, and some three hundred miles below 
 New Madrid, which was then the principal town in 
 the Spanish territory of upper Louisiana. New Ma- 
 drid is now the county seat of New Madrid County, 
 Missouri. The New Madrid country was six hundred 
 miles from Natchez, out of the Mississippi territory 
 and in a field where Mason felt he could carry on his 
 usual activities, unhindered by the men who were pur- 
 suing him for the nine hundred dollars reward. Mason 
 went up the river and had taken steps toward establish- 
 
Mason on the Natchez Trace 205 
 
 ing himself a few miles below the town of New Ma- 
 drid, in a small settlement known as Little Prairie, 
 when in January, 1803, he was trapped and captured. 
 He was arrested, not by the American officials he so 
 much feared, but by the Spanish authorities who sus- 
 pected that he was guilty of many of the crimes that 
 had been committed on their side of the Mississippi 
 River. The curious story of that frontier pursuit and 
 trial is now to be told from the French records for the 
 first time. 
 
Mason -Trapped and Tried 
 
 The official record of the arrest of the Masons at 
 Little Prairie and their trial at New Madrid is still in 
 existence. The whereabouts of this old document has 
 been noted by a few historians who briefly state that 
 "There is in the Mississippi Department of Archives 
 and History a record in French of the trial of Mason 
 for robbery, by the military authorities of New Madrid, 
 dated January, 1803." But no writer has heretofore 
 penetrated into this manuscript to discover what the 
 trial revealed or how it ended. It was found among 
 the papers belonging to J. F. H. Claiborne, the his- 
 torian, and is now preserved in Jackson. 25 
 
 The document covers one hundred and eighty-two 
 pages. Many of the leaves are badly faded. Although 
 the penmanship is far from good, every word, with few 
 exceptions, can be deciphered. It is filled with inter- 
 esting facts and equally interesting perjury. From the 
 beginning of legislation down through the pioneer 
 days humanity has ever been the same, and facts and 
 fabrications have been paraded together before officials 
 who are to pass judgment on the evidence presented. 
 The Mason trial is no exception to this old practice in 
 courts, but is rather an exaggerated instance of the 
 tendency, as common in the "good old days" as in our 
 own times. 
 
 The manuscript gives a complete history not only of 
 
 25 The author is indebted to Dr. Dunbar Rowland, of the Mississippi De- 
 partment of Archives and History, for the privilege of having a translation 
 made of the record of Mason's trial. 
 
208 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 the proceedings during the trial, but also of the arrests 
 that preceded it. It begins with the day New Madrid 
 officials were notified that the Masons were seen at 
 Little Prairie, thirty miles down the river. A clerk 
 then, and every day thereafter, carefully noted what 
 action had been taken by the pursuers and what evi- 
 dence had been gathered against the suspects, and con- 
 tinued the record through all the other proceedings. 
 
 The commandant at New Madrid, by whom the pur- 
 suit was ordered and before whom the captives were 
 tried, evidently did not understand English, which was 
 the only language spoken by nearly all the persons who 
 appeared before him. Questions and answers were 
 transmitted through an official interpreter. 
 
 There were fifteen witnesses. Eight made declara- 
 tions regarding their knowledge of Mason and his 
 family; the other seven were the prisoners themselves, 
 who testified in their own behalf. Every witness took 
 "an oath on the cross of his sword" to speak the truth. 
 In a few instances "and by the Holy Scriptures" was 
 added. As a witness was being heard the substance of 
 his statements was recorded in French and after he fin- 
 ished, his testimony was read to him, transposed into 
 English, and he, "maintaining it contained the truth to 
 which nothing could be added or unsaid," signed it as 
 did the presiding officials. Four of these signatures are 
 here reproduced in facsimile. 
 
 In the official document many statements and legal 
 phrases are often repeated; they add to its length but 
 
Trapped and Tried 209 
 
 throw no new light on the subject. In the following 
 more or less paraphrased condensation the number of 
 words is greatly reduced but the substance of the orig- 
 inal is, in the main, retained. 
 
 The first entry in the old record is dated January 11, 
 1803. It shows that one Pierre Dapron, a citizen of 
 New Madrid, appeared in court and made a declara- 
 
 tion before three officials : the Commandant, Don Henri 
 Peyroux de la Coudreniere, "Captain of the Army, 
 Civil and Military Commander of the District of New 
 
 ofsU d3V&n 
 
 Madrid;" Don Pierre Antoine LaForge, "Commis- 
 sioner of Police and Officer of the Militia," and Don 
 Joseph Charpentier, "Interpreter for His Majesty in 
 the English Language." Dapron explained to these 
 officials that he had returned from Little Prairie and 
 considered it his duty to declare that Ignace Belan had 
 informed him that on his way to New Orleans with a 
 cargo of salt pork he had seen four persons at Little 
 
210 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Prairie whom he suspected of being members of the 
 Mason band and although they did not attempt to rob 
 his boat, he felt their presence should be reported. 
 
 George Ruddell, a citizen of Little Prairie, appeared 
 before the court the same day and "told us by means of 
 the interpreter that a party of eight men and one wo- 
 man," well armed and mounted, had arrived in town 
 about two weeks before and had taken possession of an 
 empty house belonging to an American citizen, Lesieur, 
 who had not been consulted by them nor had they 
 shown any passports. In the meantime, they rented a 
 ten-acre tract from John Ruddell and bought a cow and 
 sundry provisions. Among other things that aroused 
 the suspicion of the neighborhood was the careful man- 
 ner in which the house was guarded by the occupants. 
 Ruddell expressed the opinion that if this was not the 
 Mason band, then it was probably a part, explaining 
 that "since the Governor of Natchez had the militia on 
 the lookout for these robbers, the original crowd may 
 have separated into smaller groups." He was inclined 
 to think that although the man called "father" was not 
 the exact size of Samuel Mason, whom he had seen 
 some years before, he nevertheless felt confident that 
 "father" Mason was among the members of this gang. 
 He concluded his declaration by stating that he was act- 
 ing in behalf of the citizens of Little Prairie who sug- 
 gested that these suspects be arrested and their effects 
 examined. 
 
 The next day, "in view of the above cited declara- 
 tions," the Commandant ordered four persons, Joseph 
 Charpentier, LaForge, George Ruddell, and Don Rob- 
 ert McCoy, "Captain of the Militia," to proceed to 
 Little Prairie -a distance of about thirty miles -and 
 there meet a division of regulars commanded by Cor- 
 
Trapped and Tried 211 
 
 poral Felipo Canot, who had been ordered to the scene. 
 Upon their arrival at the place further investigation 
 convinced the officers that the new suspects were Samuel 
 Mason and some of his followers, and that about half 
 the number had left the Lesieur house and moved over 
 to a house owned by Francois Langlois. Realizing that 
 the pursuing party would soon be scented by the sus- 
 pects, it was decided to invade the two houses early in 
 the morning. 
 
 At six o'clock in the morning George Ruddell in- 
 formed Captain McCoy that the Masons had their 
 horses saddled and loaded with baggage and were on 
 the point of leaving for New Madrid, but Samuel Ma- 
 son, known as "Father Mason," hearing that the inter- 
 preter was in town, expressed a desire to see him and 
 explain that he wished to go to New Madrid to "justify 
 himself' and clear himself of the crimes of which he 
 was "falsely accused." Captain McCoy, George Rud- 
 dell, and the interpreter walked to the house occupied 
 by Samuel Mason and suggested to him that, in view 
 of his intention to volunteer a justification, he and those 
 of his people with him would do well to go over to the 
 house occupied by his other associates where he would 
 be given a hearing and could make explanations which 
 would be forwarded to the Commandant at New Ma- 
 drid. To this Mason consented and by eight o'clock his 
 party, consisting of six men, one woman, and three chil- 
 dren, was assembled in the Lesieur house which, unsus- 
 pected by the Masons, was guarded by concealed mili- 
 tia. Samuel Mason, turning to Captain McCoy, im- 
 mediately referred to the "unjust imputations" made 
 against him and his people. The Captain expressed the 
 opinion that his explanation and justification had better 
 be made in person to the Commandant. A signal was 
 
212 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 given by Captain McCoy, and before the Masons real- 
 ized it, they were "in handcuffs and chains." 
 
 Then, in the words of the clerk, "We immediately 
 asked said prisoners their names and the father or oldest 
 gave his as Samuel Mason;" those of his four sons, in 
 order of age, were given as Thomas, John, Samuel 
 Jr. (about eighteen years of age) and Magnus Mason 
 (about sixteen years of age) . Another man called him- 
 self John Taylor (later in the trial known as John Set- 
 ton). The woman had three children with her and gave 
 her name as Marguerite Douglas, wife of John Mason. 
 Upon being questioned by McCoy and Charpentier, 
 Samuel Mason answered that they had come from No- 
 gales (Vicksburg) and intended to establish themselves 
 in or near Little Prairie, in accordance with a passport 
 given him. When asked to produce a passport issued 
 "by the authorities of the locality from whence he 
 came," it was discovered he had "none other than the 
 one we ourselves had given, dated New Madrid, March 
 29th, 1800." This he surrendered to Captain McCoy, 
 who agreed with the other officials present that it was 
 genuine. 
 
 The original passport was inserted between two 
 leaves of the record book where it has ever since re- 
 mained. The following is a translation : 
 
 "New Madrid, March 29th, 1800. 
 
 "Whereas Samuel Masson, Esqr. has expressed a 
 wish to settle in this district and wishes to arrange his 
 business affairs, We, Don Henri Peyroux de la Coun- 
 dreniere, Captain of the Armies of His Majesty, Civil 
 and Military Commander of this Post and District of 
 New Madrid, hereby grant permission to said Samuel 
 Masson to proceed to Natchez per boat, and on his 
 
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Trapped and Tried 215 
 
 return from there, said Samuel Masson may select a 
 suitable place in this District for himself and family. 
 He, Samuel Masson, having by oath attested his loy- 
 alty and fidelity to us, we pray that no hindrance be 
 placed to his proposed journey. 
 
 "Henri Peyroux 
 "Approved and marked with the flourish of our sig- 
 nature." 
 
 "We told them," continues the record, "in order that 
 none of their effects be lost or strayed an inventory of 
 same would be made at once . . . and at two o'clock in 
 the afternoon we proceeded with the above-named in- 
 ventory." This work required almost two days. Every 
 item was carefully examined and tabulated. There 
 were eight horses, new and old clothes, many yards of 
 silk, muslin and cotton, old and new pistols and guns, 
 "a field stove," a box of salt, three horns of powder, six 
 barrels of flour, English cutlery, various other im- 
 ported goods and more than a hundred other items, 
 and seven thousand dollars in United States money of 
 various denominations, of which the series number and 
 amount of each was noted. 
 
 The following morning, while the inventory was 
 being made, Samuel Mason, on behalf of his people, 
 applied for the return of certain utensils and clothing 
 of which his people had immediate need, and asked for 
 "a pro and con settlement" with the citizens of Little 
 Prairie. These requests were granted. On the 16th, 
 the prisoners, with their property and a military guard, 
 arrived at New Madrid. How they were transported 
 is not stated. 
 
 The trial began the morning of the 17th. "The Com- 
 mandant having learned of the conversation Captain 
 
216 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 McCoy and Charpentier had with the prisoners, called 
 on these two officers to make declarations." 
 
 Captain McCoy, after taking the oath, declared that 
 his duties as captain of the militia threw him in the 
 presence of Samuel Mason much of the time after the 
 arrest, and that the prisoner frequently spoke to him of 
 the coming trial. Mason, continued the witness, re- 
 peatedly asserted that he had never done any wrong on 
 the Spanish side of the Mississippi River, and that if 
 time were given him he could and would, in justice to 
 himself, disclose many criminals. On one occasion 
 Mason asked "if a man became informer, with proofs 
 and evidence of crimes committed in the States, could 
 he obtain pardon for those attributed to him?" McCoy 
 casually answered him that if he could give such in- 
 formation it would, in all probability, clear up matters 
 and greatly help him and his people. 
 
 Mason stated to Captain McCoy that although it 
 was widely rumored that he was "the man smeared 
 over with black," who had committed many crimes 
 "along the highway," he could in each instance prove 
 that he was far from the scene when the robberies oc- 
 curred. He denied that he was implicated in the high- 
 way robbery or the boat robbery of a man named Ba- 
 ker, from whom "some three thousand piasters" were 
 taken. But when he, Captain McCoy, remarked that 
 Baker would appear in a few days, "the prisoner 
 seemed disturbed and asked for particulars relative to 
 his coming." 
 
 Captain McCoy further declared that while the in- 
 ventory was being taken he asked Mason how he hap- 
 pened to have so many banknotes and the old man who 
 usually stood as spokesman for his crowd, first seemed 
 startled and then pretended not to understand the ques- 
 
Trapped and Tried 217 
 
 tion. The question was repeated and the prisoners 
 stared at each other for a moment, when John Taylor 
 (alias John Setton) came to the rescue by saying: "The 
 banknotes were found in a bag hanging in a bush, near 
 the road where we happened to be camping." 26 
 
 Don Joseph Charpentier was next called upon to 
 make a declaration. The record shows that his state- 
 ments were practically the same as those made by Cap- 
 tain McCoy, but touched on a few additional subjects. 
 He had heard Samuel Mason say that the only thing 
 for which he could be reproached was having served in 
 prison for debt. Mason, he said, asked him and some 
 of the other officers whether or not they thought the 
 money found in his possession was genuine and all an- 
 swered, in effect, that they presumed Mason knew. To 
 this the prisoner replied that he had made no attempt 
 to pass any of the bills and that if they were counter- 
 feit, he could not be punished for carrying them. He 
 wanted to know by whose authority he was arrested, 
 and whether it was likely he would be turned over to 
 the Americans. He stated he would rather be deprived 
 of all his property and pass the remainder of his days 
 on Spanish soil than be delivered into the hands of the 
 United States officials. 
 
 On January 18th Samuel Mason appeared before 
 the Commandant, the Commissioner of Police, the Cap- 
 tain of Militia, and the Interpreter. Answering ques- 
 tions, he stated that he was born in Pennsylvania and 
 had lately come from the District of Natchez for the 
 purpose of residing near New Madrid. As to how he 
 
 26 Samuel Mason probably had heard of "money growing on trees." It 
 was a common practice for travelers to hide their money over night in the 
 bushes near the place they camped. It is likely that Mason sometimes 
 "found" the money of highway travelers while they were asleep, or "found" 
 it after he had surprised the campers and driven them off before they could 
 procure their brush-hidden valuables. 
 
218 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 made a living he swore he had depended upon his plan- 
 tation, his "horned cattle," the labor of his sons and the 
 people he sometimes employed. He explained that his 
 plan was to have his four sons then with him, his wife, 
 his son living on the river Monongahela, Mrs. Thomp- 
 son (a married daughter) and her husband, another 
 son-in-law, and a few other kinsmen join him in the 
 settlement he proposed to establish. He said that he 
 had recently sold his place near Natchez and the only 
 claim he had on land was located on the Monongahela, 
 to which he had fallen heir through a "brother who 
 died young." 
 
 When asked why he had not made use of the passport 
 the year it was issued to him, he asserted that he had 
 been kept busy settling his business affairs. He added 
 that he had spent much time in the District of Natchez 
 trying to show that the suspicion held against him of 
 being a robber was groundless, but notwithstanding 
 earnest efforts his attempts were in vain. 
 
 His attention was called to the fact that since his pass- 
 port as a settler's permit had expired, he would be 
 obliged to give new references. He then gave the name 
 of his daughter, Mrs. Thompson, of Cape Girardeau, 
 whose first husband was Mr. Winterington, and Gen- 
 eral Benjamin Harrison, whose sister married his, 
 Samuel Mason's, brother, the owner of a kiln on the 
 Monongahela. He was requested to cite, if he could, 
 some local people, and he referred to Dr. Richard Jones 
 Waters, saying he was the man on whose recommenda- 
 tion he had received the passport three years before, but 
 admitted that he had known the gentleman only slightly. 
 
 Mason's answers show that he knew more or less 
 about the robberies that had been referred to, but in 
 each case he managed to explain how and from whom 
 
Trapped and Tried 219 
 
 he received the information. For example, when the 
 Owsley boat robbery, in which he said Phillips was im- 
 plicated, was under discussion, he stated that in May, 
 1802, two of his sons were coming up the Mississippi 
 River and were overtaken by two men, Wiguens and 
 John Taylor, in a boat, from whom they heard of the 
 robbery. Later, he met Owsley, the owner of the boat, 
 who requested him to investigate the case. This he did, 
 with some assistance by a Mr. Koiret, and in conse- 
 quence he knew where the booty had been stored and 
 learned many other details. 
 
 He more than once asserted he would throw light on 
 a number of robberies, and not only give the names of 
 the guilty parties, but would produce them, "if the 
 Commandant assured him he would spare his life and 
 exonerate him of all misdeeds which rumor had so un- 
 justly attributed to him." The Commandant replied 
 that "it is customary to spare the lives of such confessors 
 and to show great leniency toward them." After a 
 somewhat pathetic recital before the officials of how his 
 many efforts ended in failure to "justify" himself, and 
 evidently feeling confident he had impressed the Com- 
 mandant as an innocent man, and to show that he could 
 produce a guilty man, he informed the court that one of 
 his fellow-prisoners, John Taylor, alias John Setton, 
 alias Wells -"and sometimes going by other names he, 
 Mason, could not recall"- was one of the guilty parties. 
 That prisoner, Mason insinuated, could give much in- 
 formation regarding the robbing of Owsley's boat and 
 other robberies, for he knew John Taylor was impli- 
 cated in them. 
 
 John Setton, the man of various aliases, was brought 
 before the Commandant to testify. He admitted that 
 he had changed his name to John Taylor, but explained 
 
220 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 that he did so because Samuel Mason demanded it, and 
 that he suspected Mason had some specific purpose in 
 insisting upon the name of John Taylor. He also ad- 
 mitted (and probably in a triumphant way) that Sam- 
 uel Mason was correct in his statement that he, "one 
 of Mason's fellow prisoners, could give much informa- 
 tion regarding robberies." He said that he had been 
 with the Masons since May 14, 1802 -eight months. 
 
 He swore he was an Irishman and had come to 
 America in 1797, and shortly thereafter enrolled in 
 Major Geyon's corps but "deserted near the high 
 coast." Reaching Nogales (Vicksburg) he "worked 
 for three weeks for His Majesty the King of Spain," 
 and then went down the river in the "row-gaily Louisi- 
 ana" to New Orleans where, during the winter, he 
 found occupation as a carpenter. After this, for a 
 period of about two years, he shifted around in Spanish 
 territory, either working with white people or "hunting 
 with Chaquetaw Indians." One day while in Arkansas 
 an American officer recognized him as a deserter from 
 the army and asked for his delivery to a Spanish post. 
 He was delivered into the hands of the American 
 authorities and placed in jail. There he met Wiguens, 
 an American soldier, and a month later both escaped. 
 They went back to Arkansas and were shortly after- 
 wards arrested by the Commander of the Arkansas 
 Post, who considered them suspicious characters and 
 kept them in jail twenty-eight days. They then found 
 farm employment for a month with a man named Gib- 
 son, who obtained for them a passport to go hunting on 
 White River. They hunted until May, 1802, when they 
 came down the river some distance in a boat and then 
 crossed over the country to "Little Prairie of the St. 
 Francis River," where they sold their skins to one Ful- 
 
Trapped and Tried 221 
 
 som. They continued their trip, for he, Setton, "wished 
 to join his family in Pennsylvania." When "at the 
 crossing of the Chaquetaws below the river Ares," they 
 met, by chance, John and Thomas Mason, Gibson, and 
 Wilson, and he had been with the Masons ever since. 
 
 The Commandant asked Setton whether or not he 
 was acquainted with "the man Harpe" and he answered 
 that he had met a man by that name in Cumberland 
 who had since been killed, but had left a brother, whose 
 whereabouts was unknown to him. Setton further 
 stated, upon being questioned, that he did not know 
 whether or not Harpe and any of the Masons ever had 
 any dealings together or had ever met, but he felt con- 
 fident that Harpe had not been around since he had had 
 the misfortune to fall into Mason's hands. 27 
 
 27 The story of John Setton's life up to this time, as recited by Setton him- 
 self, doubtless appeared very plausible to the officials. There was, never- 
 theless, very little truth in it. This court identified him by the names Setton, 
 Taylor, and Wells. It apparently disregarded Samuel Mason's statement 
 that the prisoner sometimes went by other names which he, Mason, could 
 not recall. These three names were equally unfamiliar; none were connected 
 with the known history of any crime. Mason himself may have been ignorant 
 of the real name and true history of Setton. Be that as it may, Draper in 
 one of his early note books, written about 1840, gives the following facts 
 regarding the man who passed as one John Setton and whose identity, it 
 seems, was then unknown by the historian himself. He states that John 
 Setton was originally from North Carolina and, while traveling along the 
 Natchez Trace, lingering more or less among the Indians, he fell in company 
 with a young man named Bass, who lived in Williamson County, Tennessee. 
 Then, in the words of Draper: 
 
 "Bass was not very well and Setton, very friendly, would catch Bass' horse 
 and do him other offices of kindness. When Bass reached his father's resi- 
 dence he invited Setton to sojourn a time, recruit his horse, etc. Setton did 
 so and courted a sister of young Bass and married her. He started with 
 his new wife for North Carolina. When they reached the North Fork of 
 Holston, in Hawkins County, East Tennessee, Setton gave information that 
 his wife's horse ran away and her feet being in the stirrups, had dragged 
 and killed her. This is the story he told negroes. The white persons being 
 absent from home, he had his deceased companion buried hurriedly. He 
 disposed of her clothing and saddle for little or nothing and in a few hours 
 put off with both horses. After he had gone, his conduct led some of the 
 
222 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Setton, continuing his account, swore that John and 
 Thomas Mason took possession of all his belongings, 
 and encouraged him to stay by promising him land on 
 to which he could later move his family and by giving 
 him a contract "to go after Mother Mason," who ap- 
 parently had some time before refused to live any 
 longer with her outlaw husband and sons. Setton de- 
 clared that from the very day he met the Masons they 
 had kept him like a prisoner. The promised land had 
 never materialized and the trip for their mother was 
 never attempted, but he was obliged to linger with them 
 because he found no opportunity to escape, and the 
 Masons never allowed him more than two rounds of 
 powder at a time. 
 
 He asserted that since he had been with the Masons 
 they had committed no crimes in his presence. They 
 did not demand that he steal horses, but apparently 
 expected him to do so. A number of horses had been 
 brought in and taken away, but he asked no questions 
 and as he heard no comments made regarding them, he 
 had no idea how they came or where they went. He 
 knew, however, that there was an agreement between 
 the Masons and one Burton, of Little Bay Prairie, who 
 bought at twenty dollars all the horses the Masons 
 could supply, provided the animals were such that they 
 could be sold for about sixty dollars. 
 
 The Masons occasionally left home "to repair a chim- 
 ney" and if they remained a few days they invariably 
 
 people thereabout to disinter the dead body, and found she had evidently 
 been killed by heavy blows on the head. Setton fled, went first to Louisiana, 
 then down the river, enlisted at Fort Pickering at the Chickasaw Bluffs 
 (Memphis) into Captain Richard Sparks' company. By his conduct he was 
 soon made a sergeant. He was in the habit of going out hunting. One day 
 he borrowed Captain Sparks' elegant rifle, took a canoe and some provisions 
 and started on a several days hunt down the Mississippi. Setton steered up 
 the Arkansas and then joined Mason." [12H] 
 
Trapped and Tried 223 
 
 accounted for their prolonged absence by saying they 
 "could not cross the water," "lost their repairing tools," 
 "were hindered by bad weather," or "visited friends," 
 but in no instance had they given the name of the friend 
 they claimed to have seen. 
 
 Setton related that when he and the Masons were in 
 Nogales, at the residence of Charles Colin, a Mr. Koi- 
 ret, an American citizen, chanced to stop in the house. 
 Koiret impressed the Masons as a prospective victim, 
 and he (Setton) being permitted to chat freely with 
 Koiret, soon proved himself "an interesting conversa- 
 tionalist." But when Koiret incidentally remarked that 
 he was simply passing by on his way looking for out- 
 laws who had committed crimes along the Natchez 
 Trace and the Mississippi River, John Mason, on a 
 pretext, lured him (Setton) away from the officer, and, 
 in the meantime, other Masons tactfully managed to 
 "speed the parting guest." Turning a corner of the 
 house, he (Setton) unexpectedly ran into Samuel Ma- 
 son, who, with drawn dagger, commanded "silence." 
 John Mason seized him and the father and son imme- 
 diately gagged him, bound his hands and feet, and 
 dragged him into the house where they held him down 
 on the floor for about three hours. Feeling that Koiret 
 had got far beyond hearing distance, they ungagged 
 and untied him, but continued to guard him closely 
 until the next day. 
 
 Setton swore that shortly after he had received this 
 brutal treatment Samuel Mason prepared a written 
 statement in which he, under the assumed name of John 
 Taylor, made a declaration that he, Phillips, Fulsom, 
 Gibson, Wiguens, Bassett, and others were implicated 
 in one or more of three robberies - the Baker, the Ows- 
 ley, and the Campbell and Glass robberies - and in it 
 
224 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 further declared that the Masons were in no way con- 
 nected with any of these depredations. 
 
 After the statement had been prepared the Masons 
 explained to him that they were going to conduct him 
 to a justice of the peace and they furthermore convinced 
 him that should he fail to swear to this written confes- 
 sion and declaration of the three robberies, they would 
 kill him before he had a chance to inform the officers 
 that the statements were false and not his own. He 
 related how John and Thomas Mason, armed with 
 guns, and Samuel Mason, who bore no weapon at all, 
 forced him to the residence of William Downs, a justice 
 living below Vicksburg, and that, with seeming calm- 
 ness, he went through the form required by the law and 
 the outlaws. He realized that while he and Samuel 
 Mason were in the house, the two sons were outside in 
 hiding, prepared to shoot him should the prearranged 
 signal be given. 
 
 The first of the three robberies detailed in the false 
 affidavit, continued Setton, was the robbery of Baker 
 on the Natchez Trace, from whom the Masons took 
 "twenty-five hundred piasters in gold, silver and bank- 
 notes." For this John Mason had been imprisoned, 
 but by the aid of his brother Thomas and others, made 
 his escape. The object of the confession was to show 
 that he (as John Taylor) and others were the guilty 
 men and that Mason was absolutely innocent of the 
 crime. Notwithstanding his purported statement, he 
 could prove an alibi, for ten days before the robbery 
 took place, he had been committed to the Arkansas 
 prison. He suspected that part of the money found 
 on the Masons by the officials who arrested them was 
 a part of the booty obtained in the Baker robbery. The 
 explanation that the money they had was found "in a 
 
Trapped and Tried 225 
 
 bag hanging on a bush near the road" was suggested by 
 Samuel Mason a few hours before the arrest, saying 
 at the time, "accounting for it in that way won't do any 
 harm." 
 
 "The second crime," resumed Setton, "was the one 
 committed on the Mississippi at the crossing of the 
 Chaquetaws below the river Ares," where the Masons 
 robbed a merchant boat belonging to Owsley. The 
 Masons tried to show that he and Phillips took the lead 
 in this affair. He swore he was not connected with the 
 robbery and stated that he understood Phillips had 
 done nothing more than purchase two guns from the 
 boatman and was in no way involved with the men who 
 later bought all the guns that were on the boat, and, 
 with the newly purchased guns attacked the boat and 
 robbed it. 
 
 The third robbery Mason wished to throw upon the 
 shoulders of Phillips and others by inserting it in the 
 false affidavit, was the one that occurred on "the road 
 from Kentucky to Natchez," in which Campbell and 
 Glass were deprived of several horses, saddles, and 
 some money. Near the site of this robbery there later 
 was discovered a sign on a tree, reading "Done by Ma- 
 son of the Woods." The Commandant asked Setton 
 whether or not he thought Mason was guilty of this 
 hold-up and he answered that he did not know but, in 
 his opinion, the stratagem fitted Mason, who, if guilty, 
 could cite it as an instance of the "workings of his ene- 
 mies" and would be prepared to prove "that he was else- 
 where when the robbery occurred." Anthony Glass, the 
 witness thought, was a party to the deception, for he had 
 been a poor man in Nogales until he came in contact 
 with the Masons. 
 
 On one occasion Mason proposed to Setton that they 
 
226 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 capture a certain store boat, drown the owner, rob the 
 boat, and then sell the goods to Glass, who would pay 
 cash for half its actual value and never betray them. 
 He asserted that he refused to participate in the pro- 
 posed venture, but he suspected that the program was 
 carried out during one of the "chimney repairing" trips 
 and that some of the booty could be located by Glass. 
 
 He also declared that the pistol the Masons showed 
 Downs and claimed to be Setton's had never belonged 
 to him. It was one the Masons had taken during the 
 Baker robbery and had originally belonged to Sheriff 
 William Nicholson, whose initials had been inlaid with 
 silver thread in the handle but had been removed by 
 the Masons, who were not aware that he (Setton) saw 
 them make the change. This very pistol, he said, was 
 now among the goods the officials had taken possession 
 of and was the same one that Samuel Mason carried to 
 Downs, expecting to use it as evidence against him 
 when the case came to trial. 
 
 Setton explained that two of the saddle bags now in 
 possession of the Masons were originally tan "and had 
 large tacks fastened at their corners" and that the tacks 
 were broken off by Samuel Mason and the leather 
 dyed black. He also stated that the original color of 
 the trunk they had was red and had been blackened in 
 his presence by Thomas and John Mason. 
 
 Setton, in his comments on the Mason family, re- 
 marked that every member treated him equally bad, 
 except Thomas, who at times seemed somewhat human. 
 From the conversations of the Masons he inferred that 
 "the father had been a thief and a rascal for more than 
 forty years." On one occasion, Samuel Mason, "after 
 taking three measures," boasted to him that he was "one 
 of the boldest soldiers in the Revolutionary War" and 
 
Trapped and Tried 227 
 
 that "there was no greater robber and no better cap- 
 turer of negroes and horses than himself." 
 
 On another occasion, after he began to feel his liquor, 
 he pointed with pride to the fact that he had two part- 
 ners, Barret and Brown, who did some killing as a side 
 line and always shared the spoils with him in consider- 
 ation of the advice and powder he furnished them. 
 Setton also stated that Mason had related to him that 
 when Mason's eldest daughter was married, he had 
 arranged with Barret, Brown, and others to steal as 
 many of the horses of the guests as they could while the 
 guests were feasting at the bridal celebration, and that 
 when the discovery of the theft became known, no man 
 displayed more eagerness to pursue the horse thieves 
 than Samuel Mason himself. A few days later some 
 of the men who had taken the horses were captured and 
 accused Mason of being the promoter of the theft, but 
 because of the absurdity of the accusation Mason expe- 
 rienced no difficulty in proving his "innocence." 
 
 In his comments on John Mason's wife, Setton said 
 more than once she pretended to be sick and requested 
 her husband to send for Dr. Wales, whom she knew 
 well, but it was his opinion that the woman simply 
 wished "to chat with the physician" and also "to force 
 the family cooking upon some one else." 
 
 Setton cited another instance of Mrs. John Mason's 
 nature. He related that one day in his presence and 
 in the presence of two or three of the Masons, Barret, 
 who had lately shown signs of being dissatisfied with 
 the treatment he received, declared he would denounce 
 the whole family. Mrs. Mason, hearing this, immedi- 
 ately jumped up in a rage, knocked Barret's hat off his 
 head and shouted : "Monster, you are not going to de- 
 nounce me or any of us!" She was about to plunge a 
 
228 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 long knife into Barret's heart, when Thomas interfered, 
 saying: "It is better to part as friends than to part after 
 a fight," and peace was restored. 
 
 After Setton's testimony had been heard, the Com- 
 mandant on the following day, January 20, ordered 
 Samuel Mason to appear again. Mason admitted that 
 he had, in a way, detained Setton, but did so in justice 
 to himself and his sons. The Owsley boat, he swore in 
 his explanation, had been robbed in April, 1802, and 
 immediately thereafter the rumor had become current 
 that the Masons were the guilty men. Mason declared 
 that Owsley did not know by whom he and his five boat- 
 men had been robbed, but in recounting the affair Ows- 
 ley referred to two incidents which in themselves were 
 sufficient to distinguish this robbery from any other. 
 The first was that after the boat had been plundered, 
 one of the three robbers returned five dollars to one of 
 Owsley's boatmen who had been seriously wounded 
 during the short battle that took place before the boat 
 was captured. The other incident was that after the 
 robbery the outlaws placed a sign on a tree, reading, 
 "Done by Samuel Mason of the Woods." John and 
 Thomas had heard this account a number of times and 
 every version had it that Samuel Mason was accused 
 of the work. 
 
 When his two sons first met Setton and Wiguens, who 
 were strangers to them, Setton told them the details of 
 the Owsley robbery, including these two incidents, and 
 a few hours later, after the brothers had made a more 
 favorable impression, Setton confided in them, saying 
 he and Wiguens and also Gibson were among the per- 
 petrators of the robbery. John and Thomas Mason, 
 then recognizing in the two men the outlaws who had 
 committed at least one of the robberies of which their 
 
Trapped and Tried 229 
 
 father was being accused, decided to entice Setton and 
 Wiguens to join them and in the meantime seek an op- 
 portunity to force them into a public declaration of 
 their guilt and thus vindicate the Mason family. They 
 succeeded in detaining Setton, admitted Samuel Ma- 
 son, but Wiguens escaped. 
 
 Samuel Mason, in his comments on the Baker boat 
 robbery, stated that a few days after the boat had been 
 pillaged, Colonel Baker and a number of other men 
 came to the Mason home near Natchez. The moment 
 Baker saw John he ordered his arrest, saying, "I could 
 pick him out of a thousand." The father proceeded to 
 explain to the Commandant that Baker's mistake could 
 be easily explained, as John Mason and Wiguens re- 
 sembled each other very much, and added that shortly 
 after Wiguens and Setton first met his two sons, Wigu- 
 ens told John confidentially that he, Setton, Bassett, 
 Gibson, Fulsom, Phillips, and others were in the Baker 
 robbery. 
 
 Going into details, Mason explained that, according 
 to Setton's version, Bassett, Fulsom and Phillips were 
 the men who bought for cash all the guns Baker had on 
 hand and left the boatmen under the impression that 
 these arms were to be used in a search for the Mason 
 gang. Setton then told him confidentially that he and 
 the other members of their band, by prearrangement, 
 appeared shortly thereafter and robbed Baker of all his 
 money and as much of the goods as they could carry. 
 Fulsom, in order to inspire courage in the raiders, 
 assured them they need not fear any pursuing party 
 which Baker might organize, for he (Fulsom) could on 
 very short notice, muster and command five hundred 
 Chacquetaw Indians who would easily annihilate the 
 revenge-seeking Baker. Setton, in concluding his ac- 
 
230 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 count to the Masons, laughingly remarked that it was 
 strange that two men looking so much alike should be 
 "involved" in the same robbery, and that the guilty man 
 should not be suspected and the innocent one be accused. 
 Shortly after this Wiguens suddenly disappeared, very 
 much to the disappointment of the Masons, who now 
 realized the necessity of guarding Setton more closely. 
 
 Samuel Mason (digressing to another Baker rob- 
 bery) asserted that after Baker had been robbed on the 
 Natchez Trace, Baker and the officers came to arrest 
 John. John submitted immediately, feeling confident 
 that his innocence would be speedily proven. He could 
 have vindicated himself had not some of Bassett's 
 friends refused to declare that they saw John many 
 miles from the scene of the robbery when it occurred. 
 After he had been in prison about two months "he was 
 liberated by men who did not make themselves known 
 to him." 
 
 The Baker highway robbery having taken place on 
 the American side and the Owsley robbery on the 
 Spanish side, John, fearing he would be arrested on 
 either side of the river, took his family and hid in the 
 woods for a number of weeks. He hoped that in the 
 meantime his innocence would become established by 
 the guilty parties being brought to justice. But, in- 
 stead, suspicion against him and against the entire 
 Mason family grew stronger day by day. 
 
 Samuel Mason admitted that he had brought John 
 Setton before a magistrate. He further stated that a 
 number of things found in their possession the day of 
 the arrest in Little Prairie were taken by them from 
 Setton and held as evidence of his connection with some 
 of the robberies of which the Masons were accused. 
 
 He asserted that after he had urgently requested Set- 
 
Trapped and Tried 231 
 
 ton to declare his (Setton's) crime before a magistrate, 
 and thus, perhaps, receive clemency, "he consented to 
 do so." He and Setton then went "about twelve miles 
 below Nogales" to the office of William Downs, a mag- 
 istrate. Mason carried with him a pistol Setton told 
 him he had procured as a part of his booty from the 
 raid on the Owsley boat. William Downs "received 
 Setton's confession but was not able to take his oath, as 
 he had no sheriff on guard with him." Mason then, 
 without informing Setton, went in search of Anthony 
 Glass, who, it was rumored, was part owner of the 
 Owsley boat, to have him serve as a witness to the 
 affidavit. Mrs. Glass implored her husband not to act, 
 for she feared his doing so might lead to the exposure 
 of her brother, one Bassett, who had participated in 
 various robberies. Glass, however, pacified his wife by 
 telling her that since Setton was a deserter any sworn 
 statement he might make would necessarily be ignored, 
 and then insisted that he would go to Downs and there 
 denounce Setton as a deserter and have him placed in 
 the hands of the military authorities. 
 
 When the two men arrived at the magistrate's house 
 "they discovered that Setton, suspecting some trickery, 
 had left." A few weeks later, Mason swore, Setton 
 again joined the Masons and had been with them ever 
 since. After finishing his testimony Mason suggested 
 that "If Setton told the truth in the testimony he gave in 
 this trial, our statements must agree." 
 
 The next morning, January 21, John Mason ap- 
 peared before the Commandant. The prisoner evi- 
 dently did not know the contents of his father's and 
 Setton's testimony, but he undoubtedly had some idea 
 of how his father intended to answer many questions 
 should they be asked. Most of his testimony agreed, 
 
232 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 in the main, with his father's. He tried to show the 
 Commandant that he had long attempted to "vindicate" 
 and "establish" himself and to live "a decent life." He 
 said he had escaped from prison because he realized 
 that the defense of his name required his personal atten- 
 tion. He swore that practically all he knew about the 
 various robberies regarding which he was questioned, 
 was through reports he had heard from John Setton, 
 alias John Taylor alias Wells, and from Druck Smith, 
 alias Smith Gibson. He insisted he had never seen 
 Phillips, Fulsom, and the other Gibson referred to. 
 
 The question of how the Masons came into possession 
 of the eight horses had not been asked before. John 
 Mason accounted for each by giving the details of a 
 purchase or trade. He was asked why "he pursued the 
 two Frenchmen in a boat until they had reached a safe 
 harbor." His explanation was that he, Thomas, and 
 Setton were on the river and followed these men, sus- 
 pecting them to be robbers involved in some of the 
 acts of which the Masons were accused. He hoped that 
 if they were he would succeed in having them verify 
 Setton's declaration of his own guilt. When the two 
 men reached Nogales his boat was on the point of over- 
 taking them. He then discovered that they were French 
 officials and the pursuit was dropped without giving the 
 men any reasons for the chase. 
 
 He swore that most of the notes and paper money 
 found in their possession belonged to Setton, who 
 claimed he had "found it in a bag hanging on a bush 
 near the road," and who on one occasion remarked 
 that since then he had more money than he could use. 
 John Mason added that this statement convinced him 
 that Setton had stolen the money. 
 
 The record of this sworn statement made by John 
 
Trapped and Tried 233 
 
 Mason is abruptly followed by "And the prisoner being 
 asked by the interpreter whether he had anything fur- 
 ther to say or anything to unsay, he answered 'No/ but 
 requested, as his father had done before him, that we do 
 not hand him over to the United States Government, 
 and after his declaration was read to him, he persisted 
 that it was true." 
 
 Thomas Mason followed his brother John and, like 
 him, gave evidence that agreed, in the main, with his 
 father's. He swore his occupation was "farming and 
 harvesting" and "bringing down flour and whiskey" in 
 boats. He admitted that he had heard of the Baker and 
 Owsley robberies but claimed he knew none of the de- 
 tails except those told to him by Setton, and these he 
 repeated. 
 
 When he was asked about Setton's appearance before 
 the magistrate, he answered that he had accompanied 
 him to Downs' but did not force him to make an affi- 
 davit. He added that John Mason had received a mes- 
 sage from the Governor of Natchez to the effect that if 
 he produced a witness who would turn state's evidence 
 it would "tend to clear him of his guilt;" hence, their 
 anxiety to have Setton make a declaration. 
 
 After hearing Thomas Mason's version of the sub- 
 jects that had been discussed by the preceding witnesses, 
 the Commandant, who evidently had been informed 
 that day that the Masons had also maneuvered further 
 north, asked him whether or not he knew a man named 
 Mosique and the two Duff brothers while in Illinois. 
 He answered he had heard of them and understood that 
 one of the brothers had been killed by Indians. His 
 answers to other questions were to the effect that he 
 knew nothing of the robbing of a negro in St. Louis, of 
 a man named Lecompte, and of a stolen negro woman 
 
234 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 who had been sold to a priest named Manuel. The of- 
 ficer then asked him whether or not he was aware that 
 the Masons were accused of these crimes, "but the wit- 
 ness continued to profess he had never heard of them." 
 
 The fifth prisoner was Marguerite Douglas, wife of 
 John Mason. She swore she had been married eight 
 years. She answered that to her "keen regret" she had 
 heard of the robberies of which her husband and the 
 other Masons were "so falsely accused." Her knowl- 
 edge of these acts, she swore, was based solely on hear- 
 say. Among other things, she said Setton told her that 
 robbing the Baker boat proved as easy "as robbing some 
 old woman." She also swore she knew nothing about 
 the paper money found in their possession and could not 
 account for the money and goods discovered among her 
 personal belongings other than by suggesting that in 
 packing up so hurriedly she may have placed some of 
 Setton's personal property in her bag. 
 
 Samuel Mason Jr., in his testimony stated that he 
 was eighteen years old and that he had lived with his 
 parents all the time until about three months previous. 
 He said his father and brothers had left his mother at 
 Bayou Pierre - between Natchez and Vicksburg-and 
 were away for the purpose of establishing a new home, 
 and that she was now ill and living with her daughter, 
 Mrs. Philip Briscoe. The Commandant remarked to 
 him: "You ought to speak the truth for you have a 
 mother, who, it is reported, is a good and honorable 
 woman, and you ought not to be mixed up in the wick- 
 edness of your father and brothers, who, it is said, are 
 guilty of many thefts and robberies." The answers he 
 gave to the few questions asked him agreed with those 
 given by his father. 
 
 Magnus Mason, the last of the prisoners, was called 
 
Trapped and Tried 235 
 
 upon January 24. He stated he was about sixteen years 
 old and was born "in Kentucky on the south side of 
 Green River." (The others had claimed Pennsylvania 
 as their native state.) In answer to questions he stated 
 that he had lived "part of his time with his father in 
 Kentucky and part with his mother in Bayou Pierre 
 near Natchez." He declared his father had spent prac- 
 tically all of the past two years away from home trying 
 "to discover men who were committing the robber- 
 ies." 28 
 
 The next witness was Dr. Richard Jones Waters, the 
 man on whose recommendation the passport had been 
 granted to Samuel Mason. Dr. Waters said he first 
 met Mason in 1791 or 1792 at "Red Banks on the 
 Ohio," (now Henderson, Kentucky) which was after 
 he (Dr. Waters) had settled in New Madrid. He had 
 been traveling in America and on his return, coming 
 to the Ohio River, engaged Charles Lafond, a mer- 
 chant, and two other men who were on their way tc 
 New Orleans, to take him down as far as New Madrid. 
 When the boat reached the Falls of the Ohio (Louis- 
 ville) Lafond, hearing that he intended to remain there 
 a few days, asked permission to let the boat proceed to 
 Red Banks, where Lafond expected to dispose of some 
 of the goods on board. The permission was granted 
 on condition that Lafond, without fail, wait for him 
 there. In due time he (Dr. Waters) reached Red 
 Banks and then met Samuel Mason for the first time. 
 Mason claimed that Lafond had gone fishing a few 
 days before and, in the meantime, started his boat south. 
 He (Dr. Waters) did not know whether or not Lafond 
 and his boat ever reached New Orleans, and not until 
 recently, had he suspected foul play. 
 
 28 Nothing in the records indicates whether or not the officials recognized 
 the connection in the testimony given by the Masons and Setton. 
 
236 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 A year after this, continued Dr. Waters, he was trav- 
 eling down the Ohio River, stopped at Red Banks and, 
 to his surprise, met Samuel Mason again. Mason 
 asked him to come to the house to prescribe for Mrs. 
 Mason who was sick in bed. The doctor complied and 
 the result was a trade in which Mason bought seventy 
 dollars worth of medicine and merchandise, paying 
 forty dollars in meat and giving him a demand note for 
 thirty dollars on Felic Concer, of New Madrid. But 
 when he arrived at New Madrid he learned that Con- 
 cer had left for parts unknown. In 1798, however, 
 Mason paid the note. He then saw nothing more of 
 Mason until March, 1800, when he met him and his 
 son Thomas and a man by the name of Smith who said 
 they had come to New Madrid for drugs. They pur- 
 chased some medicine from him for Mrs. John Mason 
 and other members of the family and paid for it with 
 merchandise which they claimed they had bought from 
 a store boat. A few days later Samuel Mason called 
 again, not to buy medicine but to ask his assistance in 
 procuring a passport for land on Spanish territory. 
 This he was, at first, unwilling to give, for, although 
 he knew nothing unfavorable concerning the family, 
 he was not assured of their character. After the old 
 man had pleaded with him and declared that although 
 rumor had done all the Masons great injustice he 
 would never regret the endorsement of his character, he 
 procured a passport, giving to the clerk at the time a 
 history of his acquaintance with Mason. A few days 
 afterward Thomas Mason informed him that he was 
 obliged to go to Kentucky to straighten out some bus- 
 iness affairs before he settled on the land that would be 
 granted them. He entrusted Thomas Mason with 
 "some valuable papers for delivery at the Falls of the 
 
Trapped and Tried 237 
 
 Ohio." These papers reached their destination but 
 much later than Thomas had promised. No explana- 
 tion of the delay was offered or demanded. 
 
 The record of the proceedings shows that January 
 26 was devoted by the officials to inspecting the be- 
 longings of the Masons and approximating their value. 
 The saddles and pistols referred to by Setton were 
 found as described by him. There was also discovered 
 some "twenty twists of human hair of different shades 
 which do not seem to have been cut off voluntarily by 
 those to whom the hair belonged." These and a num- 
 ber of other evidences were laid aside by the inspectors. 
 The belongings were estimated at about six hundred 
 dollars in value. The silver and paper money amount- 
 ed to seven thousand dollars, much of which, however, 
 "appears to be counterfeit." 
 
 The next day Francois Derousser, a citizen of New 
 Madrid, came forward, stating that he had an import- 
 ant declaration to make concerning the prisoners. He 
 explained that he was a native of Illinois and that in 
 1791, when he and his family were coming down the 
 Ohio River and had reached a point near Red Banks, 
 where they happened to make a landing, a man -the 
 one he now recognized among the prisoners as Samuel 
 Mason -stepped up to him and, pushing a gun against 
 his stomach, threatened to shoot him if he did not fol- 
 low. He was led into a hut, where several persons 
 were sitting. Immediately after entering, Samuel 
 Mason shouted : "This is the man who stole my horses 
 and slaves and sold them to the Indians," and, looking 
 around for a rope, Mason seemed to be making prep- 
 arations to hang him at once. He finally convinced 
 Mason that he could not possibly have been guilty of 
 the thefts. 
 
238 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 After keeping him in chains all night, continued 
 Derousser, Mason permitted him to leave, but while 
 he was making some repairs on his boat to resume his 
 trip, Mason came to him and persuaded him to remain 
 two months and work with the Mason boys. Mason 
 promised him a certain quantity of linen, calico, and 
 bed covers for his services and, needing these badly for 
 his family, he accepted the proposition. At the end of 
 the specified time the promised goods were given to 
 him; but three hours after he had received them and 
 while on his way to his boat, Samuel Mason and a Cap- 
 tain Bradley overtook him and robbed him of all the 
 goods. That night he managed to return to his boat 
 and with the aid of Eustache Peltier succeeded in cut- 
 ting the ice from around it. He started down the river, 
 and after much suffering from cold and hunger he and 
 his family finally landed at New Madrid, where they 
 had lived ever since. 
 
 Eustache Peltier appeared before the Commandant, 
 confirmed the declaration made by Derousser, and 
 added that he had heard that a certain Lafond, "an 
 European merchant with an emporium of goods in 
 New Orleans," had stopped at the Mason's house near 
 Red Banks one night about the time he and Derousser 
 made their escape, but neither the merchant nor the 
 boat in which he traveled had been heard from since. 
 
 Pierre Billeth, another citizen of New Madrid, de- 
 clared that he knew some facts bearing on the Masons 
 and felt it his duty to report them. He related to the 
 Commandant that during an excursion in August, 1798, 
 on the Cumberland River, near the mouth, he heard a 
 negro woman belonging to Samuel Mason tell Rees 
 Jones and James Downs that her master had forced her 
 to help dispose of the body of one of his victims. She 
 
Trapped and Tried 239 
 
 declared that Mason after stabbing and robbing the 
 man had commanded her to help tie a rope around his 
 neck and drag the body to the Ohio, where they threw 
 it in to the water. This same woman had been stolen 
 by Mason and later sold at public auction by Sheriff 
 James Downs, then of Kaskaskia, to Father Manuel, a 
 priest, who lived near St. Genevieve. 
 
 All the witnesses having been examined, and the 
 declarations and proclamations heard, the Command- 
 ant January 29, 1803, ordered an itemized account of 
 the cost of the trial, including the expenses incurred in 
 making the arrest at Little Prairie. The account ren- 
 dered shows that the largest single item was for "the 
 sergeant and nineteen militiamen for seventeen days' 
 guard and sentinel watch of prisoners, at one piaster 
 per day, three hundred and forty piasters." Twenty- 
 two men, besides the officers, were employed in making 
 the arrest and bringing the prisoners to New Madrid, 
 for which they received one hundred and seventy-six 
 piasters. Another item reads, "irons and cuffs made 
 for prisoners, eight piasters." The total expense is 
 given as one thousand fifty-three piasters, or about 
 one thousand dollars. 
 
 The last entry is dated January 31, 1803, and, like all 
 the others, is presented in monotonous legal phraseol- 
 ogy. It ends with the statement that: "We [the Com- 
 mandant] hereby direct that the proceedings of this 
 trial, originally set down in writing on ninety-one sheets 
 of paper written on both sides, as well as the pieces of 
 evidence tending to conviction, together with seven 
 thousand piasters in U. S. banknotes, be forwarded to 
 the Honorable Governor General by Don Robert Mc- 
 Coy, Captain of the Militia, whom we have charged to 
 conduct the prisoners, Mason and consorts, to New 
 
240 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Orleans with the view of their trial being continued 
 and finished, if it so please the Honorable Governor 
 General." 
 
 And here ends the record of the preliminary trial of 
 the Masons. Captain McCoy, having been appointed 
 to conduct the prisoners to a higher court, made his 
 preparations and in due time started for New Orleans. 
 
Mason and Harpe- Double-Cross and 
 Double Death 
 
 Out of the mass of perjury and counter-accusations 
 brought out at this examination only one thing was 
 clear- that is that Mason and his gang, as far as testi- 
 mony and confession went, were not guilty of any crime 
 on the Spanish side of the Mississippi. Whatever 
 crimes they may have committed it was essential to their 
 present safety to locate them on the American or eastern 
 side of the river. The Spanish authorities had no 
 power to punish them for violations of law on Ameri- 
 can territory, but the Spanish Intendant Salcedo at 
 New Orleans had the power under the comity existing 
 between the Spanish and American governments to 
 deliver them up to the American authorities. The 
 New Madrid court, therefore, ordered the prisoners 
 to be transferred to New Orleans and brought before 
 the intendant. 
 
 At that point in the march of events fate took relent- 
 less grip on Samuel Mason and Little Harpe, alias 
 Setton, for their crimes. The way of atonement was as 
 swift as its end was to be terrible. It might be quickly 
 summarized, but there is the better way of pursuing the 
 astonishing and dramatic story through the faded rec- 
 ords and old scraps of publications of those times, thus 
 getting into actual touch with the persons and with the 
 primitive conditions under which this strange duel of 
 two master criminals was fought out. Each feared the 
 other; Mason, perhaps, not knowing his antagonist. 
 
242 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 The grim headsman was silently stalking both. In the 
 language of crime fate was double-crossing both. 
 
 From New Madrid to New Orleans was a distance 
 of about nine hundred miles and to travel it by boat in 
 those days required more than two weeks. It was as if 
 it had been decreed that Mason should make a farewell 
 tour through a part of the country in which he had 
 become so execrated. New Orleans was then the cap- 
 ital of the Spanish province of Louisiana, the seat of 
 the highest court, and had been for more than three- 
 quarters of a century the most important town on the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 In 1803 New Madrid was a frontier settlement about 
 fourteen years old. It was a military post occupied by 
 a small force of soldiers and a town with a population 
 of about eight hundred who were French, American, 
 Canadian, and Spanish, or an extraction of these peo- 
 ples. New Madrid remained under Spanish rule until 
 1804 when, as a part of the province of Louisiana, it 
 became a part of the territory of Louisiana acquired by 
 the United States. 29 
 
 If an official account of what followed Mason's 
 trial at New Madrid was kept it may now exist among 
 the archives in old Madrid in Spain and may contain 
 data relative to the transfer of the prisoners. At any 
 rate, Captain McCoy and his guard evidently started 
 for New Orleans early in February, 1803. It is more 
 
 29 Practically all the province of Louisiana, including New Orleans, was 
 transferred from France to Spain in 1769. Spain secretly ceded the same 
 territory to France September 1, 1800, but the French did not take formal 
 possession until November 30, 1803. On April 30, 1803, or about seven 
 months before this formality was performed, Napoleon secretly sold Louisi- 
 ana to the United States and accordingly, December 20, 1803, at New Orleans, 
 lower Louisiana was formally transferred to the American Republic, and 
 March 9, 1804, at St. Louis, the same ceremony took place for upper Louisi- 
 ana, which included New Madrid. 
 
Double-Cross and Double Death 243 
 
 likely that, as a matter of economy and convenience, 
 they traveled down the Mississippi in a flatboat. The 
 records show that some of the goods found in the pos- 
 session of the Masons were carried along as evidence. 
 
 There is neither written history nor oral tradition 
 telling of Captain McCoy's departure for New Orleans 
 or how he held his prisoners on board during the trip. 
 At least one very probable scene, however, presents 
 itself, and in it John Setton is the central figure. Sam- 
 uel Mason was then the most widely known bandit in 
 the Mississippi Valley. But in the eyes of the law 
 Setton now suddenly became the most important char- 
 acter of all the outlaws. He was likely to turn state's 
 evidence, reveal many robberies that were long stand- 
 ing mysteries, and thus convict not only Samuel Mason 
 and his family, but also point out clues that would lead 
 to the extermination of all river pirates. 
 
 The boat was necessarily crowded, for even under the 
 most encouraging circumstances room on a flatboat was 
 limited. There were about seventeen persons on board: 
 Captain McCoy, the interpreter, some five men who 
 constituted the guard and crew, the seven prisoners, 
 and the three children. Setton was probably chained 
 in the most conspicuous place where he could be care- 
 fully watched. This must have been done not only to 
 prevent his escape, but also to prevent Samuel Mason 
 from trying to persuade him to act in a plot against the 
 crew, or to dictate to him a forthcoming "confession." 
 
 One can easily imagine that Captain McCoy and his 
 men frowned at Setton as they would at a chained 
 sheep-killing dog. There was nothing about him to 
 attract them. On the contrary, he was repulsive. Set- 
 ton's countenance, according to one writer, was always 
 downcast and fierce, his hair red, his face meager and 
 
244 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 his stature below that of the average man. This com- 
 bination gave him, as Judge James Hall puts it, "a sus- 
 picious exterior." He was about thirty years of age 
 and looked the part of a man who was too much of a 
 villain to smile and thereby try to hide some of his vil- 
 lainy. To his captors he was nothing more than a 
 vicious dog whose life was being spared solely that he 
 might later give Mason a long-deserved, fatal bite. 
 
 They not only looked upon him as a thief and mur- 
 derer, but also as a fool not fit to live. If he were 
 guilty of the crimes Mason laid at his feet, then hang- 
 ing was too mild a punishment for him. By the same 
 token, if guilty, he was a fool to permit a notorious 
 outlaw to dictate to him just what to confess and whom 
 to implicate. And if he were innocent of the crimes 
 he was even a greater fool for submitting to Mason's 
 demand and declaring in an affidavit that he, not Ma- 
 son, was the guilty man. 
 
 With Captain McCoy and his guards on one side, 
 and Samuel Mason and his family on the other, Setton 
 stood alone between "the devil and the deep blue sea." 
 He and Mason were figuratively and literally in the 
 same boat, but Mason had at least the consolation of 
 knowing that the members of his family on board were 
 also with him in sympathy and ready to obey his com- 
 mand, even though it led to certain death. 
 
 Judged by their morals Samuel Mason and John 
 Setton were very much alike, but in their physical 
 aspect they differed greatly. Mason was then about 
 fifty-five years old, possibly sixty. Swaney, the old mail 
 carrier, who saw him often, described him to Guild: 
 "He weighed about two hundred pounds, and was a 
 fine looking man. He was rather modest and unassum- 
 
Double-Cross and Double Death 245 
 
 ing, and had nothing of the raw-head-and-bloody-bones 
 appearance which his character would indicate." 
 
 Henry Howe refers to him as "a man of gigantic 
 stature and of more than ordinary talents." William 
 Darby says: "Mason at any time of his life or in any 
 situation, had something extremely ferocious in his 
 look, which arose particularly from a tooth which pro- 
 jected forwards, and could only be covered with his lip 
 by effort." 
 
 Regardless of the difference in their physical size 
 and physiognomy, and regardless of the extent of their 
 guilt, both men were held for the same crimes and were 
 now on their way to New Orleans to appear before the 
 Spanish authorities. Less than a dozen towns and forts 
 were then scattered along the river and all were small 
 ones. As the boat slowly floated and sailed down the 
 wide stream between seemingly endless forest and jun- 
 gle covered shores, Mason had ample time to view the 
 various places where he had committed robberies, and 
 to recall how successfully he had carried out all his 
 attempts. The scenes along the Mississippi have un- 
 dergone many changes since Mason's day. Neverthe- 
 less, many of the views have retained enough of their 
 primitive grandeur to create in the imagination a land- 
 scape of continuous virgin forests and a vivid picture 
 of what river life was in pioneer days. But, by search- 
 ing the old records pertaining to Mason's career, one 
 discovers facts that could never have been foreseen by 
 the wisest prophet nor imagined by the wildest fiction- 
 ist. 
 
 How and when Captain McCoy and his prisoners 
 arrived at New Orleans has not been ascertained, al- 
 though an effort has been made to find newspaper or 
 
246 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 other accounts giving details on the subject. There 
 is, however, an unpublished official letter in Spanish, 
 in the Mississippi Department of Archives and His- 
 tory, which shows that upon Captain McCoy's arrival 
 in New Orleans the record of the proceedings of the 
 trial held at New Madrid was submitted to the Gov- 
 ernor General of Louisiana and his Secretary of War. 
 These two Spanish officers, after going over the pro- 
 ceedings, concluded that since the evidence taken did 
 not prove that Mason had committed any crime on the 
 Spanish side, the prisoners should be handed over to 
 the Americans. In due time, therefore, they ordered 
 them sent to Natchez. 
 
 The official letter referred to is dated New Orleans, 
 March 3, 1803. It was written by Vidal, the Secre- 
 tary of War, approved by Manuel Salcedo, the last 
 Spanish governor of Louisiana, and forwarded to Gov- 
 ernor Claiborne. It briefly reviews the trial and points 
 out to the Governor of the Mississippi Territory that 
 the case falls under American and not Spanish juris- 
 diction. 
 
 Governor Claiborne, in all probability, answered 
 this communication and requested that the Masons be 
 turned over to him, for Captain McCoy and his men, 
 taking the prisoners and some of their stolen property, 
 left New Orleans the latter part of March for Natchez. 
 What occurred when their boat stopped near Point 
 Coupee, Louisiana- some two hundred and forty miles 
 above New Orleans and about one hundred miles below 
 Natchez - is told in the following news item quoted in 
 full from The Western Spy, published at Cincinnati, 
 May 4, 1803: 
 
 "Extract of a letter from the Reverend John Smith 
 
Double-Cross and Double Death 247 
 
 to a gentleman in this town, dated Point Coupee, 
 March 28, 1803. 
 
 " 'You no doubt have received the account of old 
 Sam Mason's arrest, with three or four of his sons, 
 some other villains, a woman and three children, about 
 thirty miles below New Madrid, by Captain McCoy, 
 the king's interpreter and a small party. Captain Mc- 
 Coy has since taken them to New Orleans in irons, but 
 as no crime could be charged upon them as being com- 
 mitted in the Spanish Government, the Governor Gen- 
 eral ordered them to be taken to Natchez and delivered 
 to our Government. The day before yesterday as they 
 were passing this place the mast of their vessel broke, 
 a part of the men were sent on shore to make a new one, 
 and the rest were left to guard the prisoners. In a 
 short time they threw off their irons, seized the guns 
 belonging to the boat and fired upon the guard. Cap- 
 tain McCoy hearing the alarm ran out of the cabin, old 
 Mason instantly shot him through the breast and shoul- 
 der ; he with the determined bravery of a soldier, though 
 scarcely able to stand, shot him in the head. Mason 
 fell and rose, fell and rose again, and although in a gore 
 of blood, one of his party having shot a Spaniard's arm 
 to pieces, he drove off McCoy's party and kept posses- 
 sion of the boat till evening, when, discovering a su- 
 perior force they left the boat, the woman and children 
 following with great precipitation. There is a party 
 of Caroles [sic] after them and it is supposed they will 
 succeed in taking them. The commandant at this place 
 has offered one thousand dollars for taking old Mason 
 dead or alive. They will be pursued with the utmost 
 diligence by a set of determined fellows.' " 
 
 Mason escaped March 26, 1803. The report of his 
 
248 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 flight spread fast. The same facts that were published 
 in The Western Spy were sent out from Natchez as a 
 news item, dated April 2, and printed with less detail 
 in various papers, among them The Tennessee Gazette 
 of April 27, The Kentucky Gazette of May 3, and The 
 Palladium of May 5. In the same news item appears 
 a brief statement to the effect that Governor Claiborne 
 had received "official information of the arrival at New 
 Orleans of the French Prefect for the Colony of Lou- 
 isiana." 
 
 Mason hoped, as already stated, that by showing he 
 had committed no crimes on the Spanish side of the 
 Mississippi he would not be punished by the Spanish 
 authorities. He evidently did not foresee the possibil- 
 ity of their turning him over to the Americans. At 
 any rate, the French were taking possession (in form 
 at least) of Louisiana, and since they had never been 
 implicated in any strained relations with the states rela- 
 tive to the free navigation of the Mississippi, Mason 
 was now in equal danger of pursuit on either side. By 
 choice or circumstance he risked the American side. 
 Two months after his thrilling escape from the boat he 
 was seen about fifteen miles northeast of Natchez. This 
 is shown in a report dated Natchez, June 6, 1803, pub- 
 lished in The Palladium July 14, from which weekly 
 it was copied by various other papers: 
 
 "On Tuesday last the notorious Samuel Mason and 
 several of his party, all well armed, were seen on the 
 Choctaw trace near Cole's Creek. Two detachments 
 of the militia of Jefferson County were immediately 
 ordered out by his excellency, the Governor, in pursuit 
 of them. We have not yet been informed of the result 
 of this expedition." 
 
 The expedition was a failure. About two months 
 
Double-Cross and Double Death 249 
 
 after it was first reported that Mason had been seen 
 near Cole's Creek, James May came to Greenville, 
 Mississippi - a place formerly called Hunston, some 
 twenty-five miles in a northeasterly direction from 
 Natchez, and now extinct- and gave an account of his 
 recent contact with Mason. James May, it will be re- 
 called, was among the rough characters who were 
 driven out of Henderson County, Kentucky, about the 
 time Mason made his departure from there for Cave- 
 in-Rock. May's past career was not yet known by the 
 citizens to whom he made this report. The Palladium, 
 ever reliable but sometimes late, in its issue of Septem- 
 ber 8, 1803, says: 
 
 "By a gentleman from Natchez, we are informed 
 that about the 25th or 26th of July, a man by the name 
 of James May, came to Hunston, near Natchez, and 
 made oath before a magistrate, that sundry articles 
 of property and money, which he then delivered up, he 
 had taken from the notorious Samuel Mason, after 
 shooting him in the head just above the eye. May had 
 been robbed and taken by Mason on his passage down 
 the river, and had joined that party. A few days after 
 which, the company hearing a firing of guns, Mason 
 ordered his party, May excepted, to hide the horses. 
 May he directed to hide a skiff. He took his gun with 
 him, and on his return, whilst Mason was counting his 
 money to divide with the party, he shot him, put the 
 money and property on board the skiff, and conveyed 
 it to Hunston. 
 
 "A letter from Natchez, published in the Natchez 
 paper, confirms the above account. A letter to a gen- 
 tleman in this town from his correspondent at Natchez 
 dated the 25th instant, makes no mention of the above 
 circumstance, but says: 'The Masons have removed 
 
250 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 to Mississippi where they have of late committed many 
 robberies, but no murders that I have heard of.' " 
 
 No complete file of any of the newspapers pub- 
 lished in Natchez from 1800 to 1805 has been found. 
 The few stray copies, located in various large libraries, 
 contain nothing about Mason's career. All are too late 
 or too early to embrace any current news pertaining to 
 him. Thus it was without success that an effort was 
 made to verify, by "the Natchez paper" which "con- 
 firms the above account," the statement regarding 
 May's appearance in Greenville in July, 1803, or to 
 draw on any Natchez paper for any contemporary re- 
 ports relative to Mason. 
 
 There is nothing in history or tradition to indicate 
 what action was taken by the authorities after they re- 
 ceived James May's report. He evidently left Green- 
 ville, but for what purpose can only be surmised. It 
 is highly probable that, after May presented the 
 "money and property" he claimed he had taken from 
 Mason as evidence of his having shot the outlaw for 
 whom a reward was offered, he was soon convinced 
 that he had produced no positive evidence at all. Judg- 
 ing from what took place a few months later, he left for 
 the purpose of bringing in Mason, dead or alive. 
 
 May probably had been "robbed and taken" by Ma- 
 son for the same purpose that John Setton had been 
 detained -to be used as a witness upon whom he might 
 try to shift the Mason robberies. If so, May's pursuit 
 of Mason for the offered reward was stimulated by a 
 spirit of revenge. He sallied forth, reconnoitered, 
 and returned; but he did not return to Greenville, nor 
 alone. He appeared at Natchez and was accompanied 
 by John Setton. Setton shortly thereafter was recog- 
 nized as one of Mason's band and both men were taken 
 
Double-Gross and Double Death 251 
 
 and committed to jail some time during the latter part 
 of October. When they were arrested Setton, as shown 
 by later records, claimed he came to Natchez for the 
 purpose of turning state's evidence. The Kentucky 
 Gazette, of November 22, 1803, briefly touches on the 
 situation as it was about a month before that paper 
 went to press: 
 
 "A letter from a gentleman at Natchez, to his corre- 
 spondent in this town, dated 20th October, contains 
 information that the men who robbed Mr. Elisha Win- 
 ters, on his way from New Orleans, have been taken 
 and committed to jail; so that there is a probability of 
 his getting his money. They had in their possession 
 sundry articles taken from the party who were robbed 
 near Bayou Pierre. One of the robbers has turned 
 state's evidence against the rest; and says that if he can 
 be suffered to go out with a guard, he will take them 
 where all the papers were hid and a number of other 
 things with some money. The place is not more than 
 two days' ride, and application has been made to the 
 governor for the above purpose, which will doubtless 
 be granted." 
 
 The hunt for Mason was now continued with even 
 greater enthusiasm. Besides the militia stationed at 
 Natchez and Fort Gibson many men were on watch 
 for the notorious outlaw and his band. The woods 
 were full of robber-exterminating and reward-seeking 
 soldiers and civilians. Mason's capture was inevitable. 
 May and Setton evidently formed a pursuing party of 
 their own. According to one tradition, the two men 
 discovered Samuel Mason near Rodney, Jefferson 
 County, Mississippi, and, according to another, they 
 found him near Lake Concordia, Louisiana, not far 
 from Natchez. They gained Mason's confidence and 
 
252 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 succeeded in convincing him that they had returned 
 in order to follow him as their leader. Then it was 
 that Mason met the fate he had himself invited. 
 
 Monette says: "Two of his band, tempted by the 
 large reward, concerted a plan by which they might 
 obtain it. An opportunity soon occurred, and while 
 Mason, in company with the two conspirators, was 
 counting out some ill-gotten plunder, a tomahawk was 
 buried in his brain. His head was severed from his 
 body and borne in triumph to Washington, the seat of 
 the territorial [Mississippi] government." Daniel 
 Roe, in a letter published in The Port Folio, August, 
 1825, states that the two men "took Mason's head to 
 Natchez in the bow of a canoe, rolled up in blue clay, 
 or mud, to prevent putrefaction." Resuming Monette's 
 account: "The head of Mason was recognized by 
 many, and identified by all who read the proclamation, 
 as the head entirely corresponded with the description 
 given of certain scars and peculiar marks. Some delay, 
 however, occurred in paying over the reward, owing 
 to the slender state of the treasury. Meantime, a great 
 assemblage from all the adjacent country had taken 
 place, to view the grim and ghastly head of the robber 
 chief. They were not less inspired with curiosity to see 
 and converse with the individuals whose prowess had 
 delivered the country of so great a scourge." 30 
 
 30 Under what circumstances Mason was trapped by May and Setton and 
 whether or not he really knew by whom he was snared has not been ascer- 
 tained. Mrs. William Anthony, in her letter to Draper, states that on one 
 occasion when Mason and his party were crossing the Mississippi River, 
 May was acting as ferryman and "Mason said the others might all go over 
 first and he would remain till last. When all were over but Mason, May 
 returned for him, and as Mason was alone with his bag of money, May 
 killed him and took the head to Natchez." 
 
 Audubon, in one of his Journals under the head of "Regulators" gives 
 another version: "At last a body of Regulators undertook, at great peril, and 
 for the sake of the country, to bring the villain to punishment. . . One day 
 
Double-Cross and Double Death 253 
 
 One version, which first appeared in print about 
 1876, has it that "Many fully identified the head by cer- 
 tain marks thereon, except his wife who as positively 
 denied it. . . The Governor had sent his carriage 
 for her expressly to come down and testify . . . 
 and many believed Mason fled the country and died in 
 his bed in Canada. . . Mason's family [probably 
 his wife and youngest son] then resided in this county, 
 not far from old Shankstown, and his wife was gen- 
 erally respected as an honest and virtuous woman by 
 all her neighbors, and one of her sons was a worthy 
 citizen of Warren County not many years ago." This 
 is quoted in Claiborne's history from a "Centennial Ad- 
 dress" delivered by Captain W. L. Harper, of Jefferson 
 County, Mississippi. In 1891 Robert Lowry published 
 a statement in his History of Mississippi, without citing 
 any authority, that "One of Mason's gang killed an in- 
 nocent man, cut off his head, carried it to the Governor 
 of Mississippi and claimed the reward." 
 
 May, as already seen, claimed that he had been a 
 victim of Mason and, a few months previous, had de- 
 clared he could find and capture the notorious robber. 
 Setton, on the other hand, having expressed a desire to 
 
 as he was riding a beautiful horse in the woods he was met by one of the 
 Regulators, who immediately recognized him, but passed him as if an utter 
 stranger. Mason, not dreaming of danger, pursued his way leisurely, as if 
 he had met no one. . . At dusk, Mason, having reached the lowest part 
 of a ravine, no doubt well known to him, hoppled (tied together the fore- 
 legs of) his stolen horse, to enable it to feed during the night without chance 
 of straying far, and concealed himself in a hollow log to spend the night. 
 The plan was good but proved his ruin. The Regulator, who knew every 
 hill and hollow of the woods, marked the place and the log with the eye of 
 an experienced hunter, and as he remarked that Mason was most efficiently 
 armed, he galloped off to the nearest house where he knew he should find 
 assistance. This was easily procured, and the party proceeded to the spot. 
 Mason, on being attacked, defended himself with desperate valor ; and as it 
 proved impossible to secure him alive he was brought to the ground with a 
 rifle ball. His head was cut off, and stuck on the end of a broken branch of 
 
254 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 turn state's evidence, admitted having been connected 
 with the outlaw. The situation was interesting, for it 
 was an unusual one. The head, having been identified 
 as Samuel Mason's, the two heroes of the occasion went 
 before a judge to make an affidavit and to get an order 
 on the governor for the payment of the reward. "But 
 just as the judge was in the act of making out a certifi- 
 cate," writes Claiborne in his History of Mississippi, 
 "a traveler stepped into the court room and requested 
 to have the two men arrested. He had alighted at the 
 tavern, had repaired to the stable to see his horse at- 
 tended to, and there saw the horses of the two men who 
 had arrived just before him. He recognized the 
 horses (principally because each had a peculiar blaze 
 in the face) as belonging to parties who had robbed 
 him and killed one of his companions some two months 
 previous on the Natchez Trace, and going into the 
 court house, he identified the two men." 
 
 Suspicion was immediately aroused. This declara- 
 tion not only showed that May, who complained of 
 being robbed, was a robber himself, but it also indicated 
 that the "reformed" Setton as well as the "victimized" 
 May, had committed at least one robbery since they 
 left Greenville in search of Mason. Who are May and 
 Setton, and where do they come from, and what have 
 they been doing for a living? Such questions were 
 asked. Absolutely nothing was known about May. As 
 to Setton, their information was limited to the report 
 that he had been "badly treated" by Mason; some may 
 
 a tree, by the nearest road to the place where the affray happened. The 
 gang soon dispersed, in consequence of the loss of their leader, and this 
 infliction of merited punishment proved beneficial in deterring others from 
 following a similar predatory life." 
 
 Such may have been the end of one of the sons of Mason. There is nothing 
 in history or tradition connecting this act of the Regulators with the career 
 of Samuel Mason. 
 
Double-Cross and Double Death 255 
 
 have known that he had traveled under assumed names, 
 but evidently none yet suspected he was Little Harpe. 
 
 The next step in the development of their careers is 
 given in one of Draper's manuscripts written after an 
 interview with Colonel John Stump, who was born in 
 1776: "In the winter of 1803-4 old Captain Frederick 
 Stump, commanding a company under Colonel George 
 Doherty, went as far as Natchez to aid in taking posses- 
 sion of Louisiana. There Captain Stump, by invitation 
 of Governor Claiborne, an old friend, made his quar- 
 ters, and was present when Setton and May came with 
 Mason's head to claim the reward of one thousand dol- 
 lars. The Governor told them to call at a stated time 
 and the check would be ready for them. After they had 
 gone Captain Stump said he believed that Setton was 
 really Little Harpe. . . The description of Little 
 Harpe so well corresponded with Setton's appearance 
 that it was agreed to arrest them both. . . It was 
 proclaimed at the landing of Natchez that it was be- 
 lieved that Wiley Harpe was taken, and if any Ken- 
 tucky boatman had any personal knowledge of him, 
 they were desired to examine the prisoner. Five boat- 
 men recognized him and gave in their evidence to that 
 effect. Some of them were witnesses in the Harpe case 
 when they broke from the Danville jail. Said one of 
 these boatmen before seeing him : 'If he is Harpe he has 
 a mole on his neck and two toes grown together on one 
 foot.' And so it proved, and the fellow with such posi- 
 tive proof against him shed tears." [12I] 
 
 Shortly after this, John Bowman, of Knoxville, Ten- 
 nessee, called in to see the two men. He recognized 
 Little Harpe. "Little Harpe denied the name, but 
 Bowman persisted and said, 'if you are Harpe you have 
 a scar under your left nipple where I cut you in a diffi- 
 
256 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 culty we had at Knoxville.' Bowman tore the man's 
 shirt open and there was the scar." [26] 
 
 Up to this time, Little Harpe, under the names of 
 John Taylor, John Setton, and Wells, had succeeded in 
 concealing his identity. He now realized that even 
 though he turned state's evidence against the Masons, 
 the history of his own terrible career in Tennessee and 
 Kentucky and at Cave-in-Rock was too well and widely 
 known for him to expect any mercy, no matter how 
 important his revelations regarding the Masons might 
 be. At New Madrid he had a narrow escape from be- 
 ing identified. After he and the Masons were captured 
 and taken to the Spanish prison, it was rumored that one 
 of the prisoners was "a fellow who calls himself Taylor 
 but who is supposed to be that notorious villain and 
 murderer Harpe." A statement to that effect was writ- 
 ten in a letter dated January 24, 1804, and published six 
 weeks later in The Western Spy. But, as already 
 seen, he had sworn before the New Madrid court, as 
 John Setton, that he had met a man by the name of 
 Harpe who had been killed and, when further ques- 
 tioned, declared that he knew nothing regarding the 
 whereabouts of Little Harpe. Although his identity 
 was now well established, he, in self-defense, persisted 
 in denying the name. Escape was his only hope. 
 
 Nothing was then known about James May's past 
 other than his recent acts connected with the beheading 
 of Mason and his attempted apprehension of the Mason 
 band. These acts in themselves exposed him as a man 
 of such a treacherous character that he could expect no 
 mercy nor any reward. On the other hand, should he 
 be identified as one of the men who had been driven out 
 of Henderson County, Kentucky, and be accused of 
 Cave-in-Rock murders and robberies, then nothing but 
 
Double-Gross and Double Death 257 
 
 the severest punishment that could be inflicted upon 
 him might be expected. With him, as with Little 
 Harpe, escape was his only hope. And both escaped. 31 
 
 How Little Harpe and May escaped is not known. 
 While at Natchez they may have been indicted for Ma- 
 son's murder. If so, having killed Mason in compli- 
 ance with the governor's proclamation to capture the 
 outlaw dead or alive, they were acquitted. William 
 Darby, then living near Natchez, writes that the two 
 prisoners "learning their danger fled from Natchez, 
 but were taken in Jefferson County, Mississippi, and 
 confined in jail and in due time, tried and con- 
 victed. . ." They were tried before the Circuit Court 
 in Greenville, in January, 1804, as is shown by the few 
 existing entries made in the now mutilated docket book 
 of that court. No record of the court proceedings was 
 found, although a careful search was made. 
 
 The first entry found in the docket book is dated Fri- 
 day, January 13, 1804. The court was presided over 
 by Peter B. Bruin, David Ker, and Thomas Rodney, 
 who were among the best known men in Mississippi. 
 It is an interesting fact that when Aaron Burr was ar- 
 rested the following year on Cole's Creek, near Green- 
 ville, he was tried in Washington, Mississippi, before 
 two of these same judges, the third, Judge Ker, having 
 died of pneumonia contracted while serving at the trial 
 of Harpe and May. William Downs, as foreman of 
 the grand jury, brought in "an indictment of robbery" 
 against each of the prisoners: "The Territory against 
 James May" and "The Territory against John Setton." 
 
 31 All the early records prove beyond a doubt that John Setton and Wiley 
 Harpe or "Little" Harpe were one and the same man. A few of the later 
 writers confuse May and Setton and, apparently as a result of a superficial 
 knowledge of the careers of these outlaws, state that Wiley Harpe had 
 assumed the name of one May. 
 
258 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Little Harpe, alias Setton, and his co-worker May were 
 represented by Mr. Breazeale and Mr. Parrott. These 
 attorneys evidently made every possible effort to save 
 their clients. A plea of "not guilty" had been entered. 
 Then followed much sparring over technicalities. They 
 first attempted to quash the indictment; they next 
 claimed the court did not have jurisdiction; and finally 
 presented a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. But 
 all these contentions were overruled. 32 "And for trial 
 (each) put himself upon the country and General Poin- 
 dexter, Attorney General." Each was tried by separate 
 jury, James May being the first, and each was found 
 guilty. Then the two attorneys came forward with "a 
 plea of former acquittal," but the court rendered a deci- 
 sion that "the plea of former acquittal is not sufficient 
 in law to be considered a sufficient bar to this indict- 
 ment." This plea of "former acquittal" leads one to 
 infer that when Mason's head was brought to Natchez 
 both men were tried there and elsewhere for murder, 
 and having been "acquitted" of that charge they, in all 
 likelihood, argued that they were therefore also acquit- 
 ted of highway robbery which was incidental to the 
 murder. 
 
 As already stated, the record of the proceedings con- 
 taining all these and other details of the case cannot 
 now be found. There is nothing to indicate who the 
 witnesses were, except Elisha Winters, who was "al- 
 lowed the compensation allowed by law for his attend- 
 ance at this term and for traveling to and from said 
 court one thousand miles." Among the few available 
 
 32 The counsel for the defense evidently objected to the jurisdiction of the 
 court, claiming that the alleged "robberies by Mason's men" did not occur 
 within the bounds of Mississippi Territory. The question of jurisdiction is 
 commented on in two of the letters written in 1804 by Thomas Rodney to 
 Caesar A. Rodney. [52] 
 
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THE USURY 
 
 or 
 
Double-Gross and Double Death 261 
 
 pages of the docket book bearing on this case is one 
 containing two entries dated February 4, 1804. They 
 show that the sentence passed was in the same words 
 for each prisoner. James May's is the first on the 
 record, and is immediately followed by Little Harpe's : 
 
 "John Setton who has been found guilty of robbery 
 at the present term was this day set to the bar and the 
 sentence of the court pronounced upon him as follows, 
 that on Wednesday the eighth day of the present month 
 he be taken to the place of execution and there to be 
 hung up by the neck, between the hours of ten o'clock 
 in the forenoon and four in the afternoon, until he is 
 dead, dead, dead. Which said sentence the Sheriff of 
 Jefferson County was ordered to carry into execution." 
 
 On Wednesday afternoon, February 8th, Little 
 Harpe and James May were taken from the jail to a 
 field about a quarter of a mile north of the village of 
 Greenville. There, on what has ever since been known 
 as "Gallows Field," they received their well deserved 
 reward, but not the one they had planned to procure. 
 They paid, with their lives, what was, considering the 
 atrocity of their crimes, a light penalty. 
 
 In pioneer days the official executioner usually pre- 
 pared a gallows by fastening one end of a long beam or 
 heavy pole in the forks of a tree and placing the other 
 end similarly in another tree. On this cross timber he 
 tied the rope with which the condemned man was to 
 be hanged. The prisoner, as a rule, was put on a wagon, 
 his coffin serving as a seat, and driven to the place of 
 execution. Upon his arrival the same wagon and coffin 
 on which he rode were used as the platform and trap 
 of his gallows. After the suspended rope was properly 
 looped around his neck the condemned man was made 
 to stand erect on his coffin. When all details had been 
 
262 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 attended to the horses were rushed forward, leaving the 
 human body hung suspended in the air. In some in- 
 stances the gallows was a frame-work with a platform 
 in which a trap door was built. 
 
 In the hanging of Harpe and May the procedure 
 was somewhat unusual even for a frontier country. Two 
 ropes were tied to a heavy pole placed high between 
 two trees. The two men walked from the jail to the 
 gallows. Each with his hands tied behind him was 
 made to mount a ladder; his feet were then bound and 
 the noose fastened around his neck. When the ladders 
 were dropped the two bodies fell as far as the suspended 
 rope permitted, and thus each was "hung up by the 
 neck" until, as prescribed by law, he was "dead, dead, 
 dead." [54] 
 
 The news that Samuel Mason had at last been killed 
 was a great relief to the country. The fact that Little 
 Harpe and James May were actually hanged was a 
 matter of equally widespread interest. The Guardian 
 of Freedom, February 20, 1804, published the follow- 
 ing, which was copied by a number of papers, includ- 
 ing The Kentucky Gazette of a week later: 
 
 "Extract of a letter from a gentleman in Mississippi 
 Territory to his friend in this town (Frankfort) dated 
 February 8, 1804: 'There have been two of Sam Ma- 
 son's party - which infested the road between this coun- 
 try and Kentucky - in jail at Greenville for trial. They 
 were condemned last term and executed this day. One 
 of them was James May; the other called himself John 
 Setton but was proved to be the villain who was known 
 by the name of Little or Red-headed Harpe, and who 
 committed so many acts of cruelty in Kentucky.' " 
 
 The Palladium, March 3, published a news item 
 dated Natchez, February 9, 1804: "Setton and May 
 
Double-Gross and Double Death 263 
 
 were executed at Greenville yesterday between three 
 and four o'clock, pursuant to their sentence. We are 
 informed that Setton made some confession at the place 
 of execution which has a tendency to implicate several 
 persons not heretofore suspected as parties concerned 
 with Masons in their depredations. May complained 
 of the hardship of his fate; said he had not been guilty 
 of crimes deserving death and spoke of the benefit he 
 had rendered society by destroying old Mason." 
 
 The hanging of Little Harpe and James May for 
 highway robbery was a fulfillment of the written law of 
 pioneer times as well as the unwritten law of frontier 
 communities. But many of the enraged citizens felt 
 that the law of pioneer justice had not been satisfied for 
 the known and unknown murders committed by these 
 two offenders. There is nothing in history or tradition 
 to indicate that an attempt was made to lynch the two 
 condemned outlaws. But the lynch spirit evidently 
 raged. In the words of Franklin L. Riley, an authority 
 on early Mississippi history: "After their execution on 
 the Gallows Field their heads were placed on poles, one 
 a short distance to the north and the other a short dis- 
 tance to the west of Greenville, on the Natchez Trace." 
 
 [105] 
 
 How long these gruesome warnings to highwaymen 
 stood along the road and what finally became of them 
 is not known. Each doubtless met with a fate befitting 
 a head so ignoble. It is not probable that they were 
 ever interred in the grave with the two headless bodies. 
 Tradition has it that the two bodies were placed in a 
 box and buried in a new grave yard about one hundred 
 yards east of the Greenville jail and court house and 
 about the same distance north of the hotel in the central 
 part of the village. 
 
264 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 This new grave yard was on the Natchez Trace and 
 contained less than half a dozen graves. Tradition says 
 that an effort was made by a number of people who had 
 kinsmen buried in it to influence the officials to bury 
 elsewhere the decapitated remains of these despised 
 desperadoes. Their request was not granted, and the 
 burial was held late on the night of the execution 
 within a few yards of where stood one of the head-sur- 
 mounted poles. The next day the indignant men who 
 had opposed this as a burial place for the two villains, 
 exhumed their dead and removed the remains about a 
 half mile south of Greenville and there began a new 
 burying ground which today is known as Bellegrove 
 Church Yard. 33 
 
 What attempts were made to collect the reward of- 
 fered for the capture of Mason? What became of the 
 Masons? It is probable these questions can never be 
 fully answered. The court records showing the total 
 expense involved in the trial and transportation of the 
 Masons, and in the trial and execution of Little Harpe 
 and James May, have not been found. These expenses 
 were paid by the territorial and federal governments. 
 One of Governor Claiborne's letters [113] shows that 
 in January, 1806, one Seth Caston "exhibited demands 
 for one hundred dollars for apprehending and bring- 
 
 33 Greenville, originally called Hunston, was an important town on the 
 old Natchez Trace. It lay about twenty-five miles northeast of Natchez, 
 and was a thriving village as early as 1798, when the United States took 
 possession of Mississippi Territory. A number of the state's wealthiest and 
 most aristocratic pioneers lived in or near the town. In 1825 the seat of 
 justice was moved from Greenville to Fayette and soon thereafter the old 
 town passed out of existence. The site of old Greenville has been under 
 cultivation for many years. The court house and the jail stood in what is 
 now known as "Courthouse Field." 
 
 The city of Greenville, Mississippi, on the Mississippi River, which was 
 established long after old Greenville became an extinct town, is a thriving 
 place of more than 10,000 inhabitants. 
 
Double-Cross and Double Death 265 
 
 ing to justice" these two notorious outlaws. There is 
 nothing indicating the character of Caston's claim; nor 
 is there anything to show whether or not he received 
 any money. Harpe and May were entitled to the re- 
 ward offered in Governor Claiborne's proclamation; 
 it doubtless would have been granted to them in full 
 had they not proven that above all other rewards they 
 best deserved that which they received on the gallows. 
 
 Neither history nor tradition tells what became of 
 the Mason family after Samuel Mason met his fate and 
 Little Harpe and James May received their reward. 
 Samuel Mason's wife, who evidently did not approve 
 of her husband's lawlessness - at least not in her later 
 years- made her home, as we have already seen, not 
 far from old Shankstown, in Jefferson County, Missis- 
 sippi. There, according to Claiborne, the historian, she 
 was "generally respected as an honest and virtuous wo- 
 man by all her neighbors, and one of her sons [probably 
 Magnus or Samuel Mason Jr.] was a worthy citizen 
 of Warren County." Monette says that "the Mason 
 band being deprived of their leader and two of his most 
 efficient men, dispersed and fled," and thus terminated 
 the greatest terror to travelers which had infested the 
 country. 34 
 
 In the meantime, the headless bodies of Little Harpe 
 and James May continued to lie in their double grave 
 near the Natchez Trace. As time rolled on the narrow 
 Trace widened and, as roads frequently do, it wore 
 deeper into the slight elevation over which it led. 
 About the year 1850 this widening and deepening pro- 
 cess reached the fleshless bones in the solitary grave, and 
 
 34 What became of Mason's men is not known. A frontier rowdy named 
 Edward Rose is described in Washington Irving's Astoria. Lyman C. Draper 
 wrote on the fly-leaf of his copy of this book that "Rose was probably one of 
 Mason's gang." 
 
266 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 the two skeletons, protruding piece by piece from the 
 road bank, were dragged out by dogs and other beasts 
 until the highway widened beyond the grave and the 
 burial site became part of the ditch along the Natchez 
 Trace. 
 
 Some twenty years ago, upon straightening out a part 
 of the Natchez Trace, the small section of the old road 
 of which the burial place was a part, was discarded as 
 a highway, and today the old road bed, including the 
 site of the grave, is a mere jungle of briars and brush. 
 
 Thus the last vestige of these two villains disappeared 
 on the very highway upon which they had committed 
 so many crimes, and possibly on the very spot where 
 one of their victims breathed his last. The ocean of 
 time has closed over every one of the personal relics of 
 all these enemies of society, but the waves that their 
 activities started still carry on as ripples of human 
 interest. 
 
Coiners at the Cave 
 
 The Cave had been used for religious purposes, as a 
 haven in time of distress, as an inn and as a decoy house 
 for murder and robbery. Through the widely scattered 
 references to it in early books of travel and in maga- 
 zines and newspapers we find also occasional indica- 
 tions that it had been, at different times and for short 
 periods, the workshop and headquarters of counter- 
 feiters. There are, indeed, few details concerning its 
 occupation by bandits and criminals of any description ; 
 this is the veil of mystery that shrouds it in enduring 
 interest. The knowledge that distinct facts about defin- 
 ite crimes committed there can never be obtained has 
 challenged the imagination of various writers. Facts 
 about the counterfeiters who used it are much less in 
 evidence than facts about those following other forms 
 of crime; probably because counterfeiting must of 
 necessity be more secret than other crimes. 
 
 There is nothing to indicate that any of the counter- 
 feiters of Cave-in-Rock were guilty of robbery by force 
 or of murder. The part they played in outlaw river 
 life was in the purchase of goods from passing boats 
 and the payment for these goods in counterfeit coin and 
 currency. Not until it was too late would the receivers 
 of such money discover they had been duped. For this 
 reason the counterfeiters could not long use the Cave 
 at one time. There were, as far as is known, only three 
 counterfeiters identified with the Cave. Two of these 
 were among the first lawbreakers to convert the place 
 
268 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 into a workshop for a nefarious trade; the other was 
 among the last of its outlaws. 
 
 Dr. Frederick Hall, who went up the Ohio in 1839, 
 states in his Letters from the East and from the West 
 that "this noted cavern is styled Counterfeiters' Cave." 
 He further comments that "in times gone past, never to 
 revert, it was inhabited by counterfeiters, robbers, and 
 murderers." Charles Augustus Murray, in his Travels 
 in North America, writes of his trip down the Ohio in 
 June, 1835. He says that the current report of the 
 country at the time of his visit to the Cave, was that 
 when this den of thieves was finally broken up "it con- 
 tained great quantities of gold, silver, silks, and stuffs, 
 and false money, with an apparatus for coining." 
 
 It is not known what disposition was made of the 
 coining tools and false money referred to by Murray. 
 Nor is it known what became of any of the apparatus 
 and illegal money left behind by the Cave's other coun- 
 terfeiters. The person who expresses the opinion that 
 an "upper cave" exists, is likely to add that great quanti- 
 ties of good and bad money are hidden in the undiscov- 
 ered cavern. The counterfeiters probably carried away 
 all their coin and coining apparatus. The only trace of 
 suggestive evidence preserved today indicating the 
 former occupancy by counterfeiters is the half of a 
 double die or mold which was found many years ago in 
 the vicinity of the Cave. It has been cherished as a 
 possible relic of the counterfeiting regime there. 
 
 This die was seemingly hidden near the Cave by one 
 of the men who had used it for the purpose of making 
 counterfeit half-dollars and the large five-dollar gold 
 pieces of those days. It is a double plate of iron four 
 and three-quarter inches long and two and one-quarter 
 inches wide, welded together. The upper plate is one- 
 
Implements and Weapons used by the Outlaws 
 
 Counterfeiter's mold, knife blade, iron tomahawk, and stone idol found in 
 vicinity of Cave-in-Rock, and a flint-lock pistol of the style used about 1800 
 
THE LIBMRY 
 (PIHE 
 
Coiners at the Cave 271 
 
 eighth of an inch thick and in it are cut two discs, each 
 being one and one-half inches in diameter and having a 
 gap at the top, opening to a funnel shaped "feeder." 
 It is said that a particular local clay or some other suit- 
 able material was placed in the circle and into this pli- 
 able matrix the impression was made of one side of a 
 genuine half-dollar, or of an old style five-dollar gold- 
 piece, which was of about the same size. This formed, 
 when hardened, a more or less durable mold for one 
 side of the new coin. In like manner another mold was 
 prepared in the other half of the coining apparatus for 
 the other side of the counterfeit piece. The two parts 
 of the mold were then placed in proper position and 
 the hot metal poured into the cavity through the funnel- 
 like opening. This process doubtless produced, as a 
 rule, a more or less crude imitation, but since many of 
 the genuine coins of an earlier date were somewhat 
 crude and were still in circulation, the counterfeiters 
 experienced comparatively little trouble in imitating 
 the old pieces. 
 
 Among the early counterfeiters who made the Cave 
 their headquarters for a time was Philip Alston, who 
 looms large in the romance and gossip of the latter part 
 of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth cen- 
 turies. He was a gentleman by birth, education, and 
 early association. He comes down to us handsome in 
 figure and grand in manner, wearing broad-cloth, 
 ruffles, and lace. He had an air of chivalry to women 
 and of aloofness, superiority, and mystery to men. He 
 was the "Raffles" of pioneer days and legend paints 
 him in high colors. 
 
 Alexander C. Finley, in his History of Russellville 
 and Logan County, Kentucky - a unique publication 
 from the standpoint of its style - says Philip Alston was 
 
272 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 driven out of the South and settled in Logan County 
 about 1782. A few years later "his thirst for counter- 
 feiting again returned." But "feeling insecure" Alston 
 moved from place to place in western Kentucky. 
 "About 1790 he crossed over the Ohio and became the 
 fast friend and disciple of the notorious counterfeiter 
 Sturdevant [Duff?] at the Cave-in-the-Rock. But he 
 did not reside here long before he came to himself and 
 wondered how he, the gentlemanly Philip Alston, 
 although an elegant counterfeiter, could have become 
 the companion of outlaws, robbers, and murderers ... 
 and so he returned to Natchez." 35 
 
 35 Finley says Philip Alston was born in South Carolina and in early man- 
 hood became "a full grown counterfeiter." After living in Natchez and 
 "attaining to the highest respectability ... his avaricious eye rested on a 
 golden image of the Savior, in the Catholic Church, . . . and he went im- 
 mediately and counterfeited some coins from it." He fled from Natchez to 
 Kentucky and settled in Logan County, where he established a salt works and 
 store at Moat's Lick. While running these he managed the Cedar House, a 
 tavern near Russellville. He also farmed, preached, and taught school, and 
 incidentally "flooded the country with spurious money." Thus he became, 
 "not only the first farmer, manufacturer, and merchant, but he established 
 the first depot of exchange and the first bank, and also the first mint in 
 western Kentucky." About 1788, "the whole people rose up in their majesty 
 and banished him." He next appeared in Livingston and Henderson counties 
 and then fled to Cave-in-Rock. After a short stay at the Cave he returned 
 to Natchez where "he found his old enemies, who became his fast friends. 
 He rose in the estimation of the Spaniards until he was appointed an empre- 
 sidio of Mexico, when in the midst of his success and returning fortune death 
 stepped in and sealed his fate." 
 
 Finley, who never cites authorities, states that "Peter Alston, Philip 
 Alston's youngest son, became an outlaw and robber, and joined Mason's 
 band at Cave-in-the-Rock and was allied to the Harpes, and with one of the 
 Harpes was executed at Washington, Mississippi . . . for the killing of his 
 chief, Mason, for the reward." No records have been found that contradict 
 any of Finley's statements, except the one to the effect that Peter Alston 
 killed Samuel Mason. 
 
 Nancy Huston Banks in her novel 'Round Anvil Rock presents Philip 
 Alston as a kind but mysterious gentleman who, although generally trusted 
 by the community, is regarded by some with suspicion because of his frequent 
 absences and ever-replenished supply of imported cloth, laces, and jewelry. 
 In the novel Alston refers to Jean Lafitte as "my resepected and trusted 
 friend," and admits that he, Alston, makes business trips to Duff's Fort, near 
 
Coiners at the Cave 273 
 
 It is quite likely that a counterfeiter named Duff had 
 been making use of the Cave long before the time of 
 Philip Alston's short stay at the place. He may be 
 regarded as Cave-in-Rock's first outlaw. Neither his- 
 tory nor tradition has preserved Duff's Christian name. 
 One version suggests that he may have been the John 
 Duff who met George Rogers Clark on the Ohio, near 
 Fort Massac in June, 1778, and who, after some bewil- 
 derment, showed General Clark the way to Kaskaskia. 
 It is not improbable that the two were one and the same 
 man. At any rate, very little is known of John Duff, 
 the guide, or of Duff the coiner. 
 
 Governor Reynolds in My Own Times and Collins, 
 in his History of Kentucky devoted only a few lines to 
 Duff, and these lines pertain to his death. The author 
 of A History of Union County, Kentucky, prints some 
 five pages on his career, based on traditions gathered in 
 1886. Duff apparently lived the latter part of his life 
 in or near Cave-in-Rock and procured his lead and 
 silver along the Saline River and in other sections of 
 southern Illinois. He evidently operated a counter- 
 feiter's den in different places. According to tradition, 
 there were at least three places known as "Duff's Fort:" 
 one was at Cave-in-Rock, another at Caseyville, Ken- 
 tucky (near the mouth of Tradewater River, fourteen 
 miles above the Cave) and a third in Illinois, at Island 
 Ripple on Saline River (thirteen miles above its mouth 
 and about twenty-eight miles, via river to the Cave). 
 Like all outlaws of his and other times, Duff was 
 obliged to shift his headquarters. It is probable that 
 some of the localities in which he lived no longer have 
 any traditions regarding his activities there. 
 
 Cave-in-Rock, although "it was no longer a secret that regular stations of 
 outlawry were firmly established between Natchez on the one side and Duff's 
 Fort on the other." 
 
274 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 In 1790, Philip Alston, as stated by Finley, fled to the 
 Cave and became a "fast friend and disciple" of Duff. 
 Collins, in his chapter on Crittenden County, Kentucky, 
 says that Duff lived near the mouth of Tradewater 
 River in 1799 and then, or shortly thereafter, was killed 
 by Shawnee Indians and that "there was reason to be- 
 lieve some one residing at Fort Massac had employed 
 the Indians to commit the crime." Governor Reynolds 
 briefly states that Duff was killed "near Island Ripple 
 in the Saline Creek, and was buried near the old salt 
 spring," and that "it was supposed the Indians were 
 hired to commit the murder." Just where he was killed 
 cannot be ascertained with any certainty after a lapse 
 of so many years. There are two or three coves or small 
 caves on Saline below Island Ripple, each of which is 
 known as Duff's Cave, and each has a local tradition 
 to the effect that Duff was killed in it. 
 
 The compiler of A History of Union County, Ken- 
 tucky, is the only writer who has gathered any Duff tra- 
 ditions, and since he confined his research to the stories 
 told in and near Caseyville, his life of this Cave-in- 
 Rock outlaw does not branch into the many and varied 
 claims made in local traditions of other sections. Nev- 
 ertheless, his sketch of this pioneer and counterfeiter is 
 one that might be accepted as typical of what would be 
 found in the other localities in which Duff had made 
 his headquarters. In sum and substance the story runs 
 as follows: 
 
 Duff lived in a house called "Duff's Fort," which 
 stood near what later became the old site of the Chris- 
 tian Church in Caseyville. Here he dispensed a rude 
 but cordial hospitality. On the bluff above was his 
 meadow. The overhanging cliff near his house fur- 
 nished a shelter for his horses. The shallow cove in 
 
Coiners at the Cave 275 
 
 which they stood is now almost filled with alluvial soil 
 deposited by the little brook which flows near. His 
 household consisted of his wife and a faithful black 
 slave named Pompey, who would risk anything or 
 undergo any hardship for his master. 
 
 It is said that Duff was a brave man and a good strat- 
 egist; he was seldom found at a disadvantage. He 
 often had narrow escapes in his encounters with the 
 officers of the law and the people living in the vicinity. 
 On one occasion, when he was closely pursued by his 
 enemies, he ran towards his home. There he found his 
 wife at the river doing the family washing. Near her 
 was a large iron kettle, in which she was boiling clothes. 
 Without hesitation Duff upset the kettle, rolled it into 
 the stream, where it was quickly cooled, and lifting the 
 kettle over his head, he plunged into the water. The 
 river was low at this point, enabling him to wade most 
 of the way to the farther bank. Before he reached the 
 Illinois shore, however, his pursuers appeared on the 
 Kentucky side and opened fire. Their aim was well 
 directed. Several of the bullets struck the kettle, but 
 rebounded without injury to the man beneath. On 
 reaching the dry land he took the kettle from his head. 
 Holding it behind him as continued protection, he ran 
 for safety. The pursuers increased their fire. More 
 bullets rained upon the impromptu shield - but Duff 
 escaped unhurt to the shelter of the woods. 
 
 On another occasion when sorely pressed he took 
 refuge with a Mrs. Hammack, who was an old-time 
 Methodist living in that part of the country. She 
 treated him so kindly that he decided to let her have a 
 glimpse of his hidden treasures. On the appointed day 
 he blindfolded her and his wife and led them by a very 
 circuitous route to a cave. After they were in the mys- 
 
276 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 terious cave he removed the bandages from their eyes 
 and, by the light of torches, the two women were en- 
 abled to see the large quantities of counterfeit silver 
 and gold coins in boxes and chests stored by Duff. He 
 then replaced the bandages and took the two women 
 back to Mrs. Hammack's house. Mrs. Hammack's im- 
 pression was that the cave ran into the side of a cliff but, 
 notwithstanding many efforts, she was never able to 
 retrace her steps to the place. Mrs. Duff related, after 
 her husband's death, that he had taken her from their 
 home to the cave on another occasion and in the same 
 manner. He then promised her that he would some 
 day show her the way to his cave, but explained at the 
 time that he could not then do so, for his enemies might 
 torture her into a disclosure of his location when he 
 was in it. His intentions were frustrated by his sudden 
 death. There are three different accounts of Duff's 
 death given by local tradition. 
 
 One version has it that he was killed by some of the 
 citizens of the county, near the bluff where he quartered 
 his horses. According to this account, a number of men 
 were pursuing him and when he showed fight they were 
 obliged to shoot him. Another says he was killed by 
 Indians with whom he had quarreled about a dog fight. 
 The following is the version most widely accepted : 
 
 Duff, three of his associates, and his slave Pompey, 
 while in Illinois securing white metal, were surprised 
 by about six soldiers sent from Golconda, Illinois, or 
 some other point below Cave-in-Rock. The counter- 
 feiters were captured and taken down the river in a 
 boat. Handcuffs were placed upon all the white pris- 
 oners. Pompey had not been manacled because the 
 soldiers carried only four sets of irons and, further- 
 more, they presumed the negro cared little whether 
 
Coiners at the Cave 277 
 
 his master was doomed. Near Cave-in-Rock they 
 stopped for dinner. When they landed, all the soldiers 
 went ashore except one who was left in charge of the 
 prisoners and the boat. After stacking their arms near 
 the boat, they went into the Cave to build a fire and pre- 
 pare the meal. 
 
 One of the prisoners whispered to Duff that he found 
 he could slip his irons off. Pompey hearing this, passed 
 a file to him and, taking advantage of the absence of the 
 guard, who went ashore for a few minutes, he filed 
 away at Duff's fetters and soon succeeded in breaking 
 them. At a signal, Pompey sprang upon the guard and 
 tied him to a tree and then proceeded to liberate the two 
 men chained in the boat. Duff and the other unfettered 
 prisoner immediately seized the stacked arms and 
 rushed upon the men in the Cave who, having no side 
 arms, were forced to an unconditional surrender. 
 
 Some of the soldiers were tied and others secured 
 with irons and all thrown into the boat and set afloat. 
 They drifted down the river and, as they were floating 
 opposite the fort from which they had been sent, they 
 were ordered to stop, but of course could not do so. 
 They were fired upon a number of times before the 
 commander discovered their helpless condition. He 
 then sent out a skiff and brought them ashore. In the 
 meantime, Duff and his companions had made their 
 way up the river to the Saline and had got safely 
 home again. 
 
 The inglorious outcome of this expedition greatly 
 incensed the commander of the fort and he was determ- 
 ined upon revenge. He accordingly hired a Canadian 
 and three Indians to go up the river to Duff's Fort and 
 kill him. They were to ingratiate themselves into the 
 good graces of the counterfeiter and watch their oppor- 
 
278 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 tunity to kill him. If they succeeded they were to 
 return and receive a reward. 
 
 They arrived in Duffs neighborhood and camped 
 below his house. The Canadian soon became friendly 
 with Duff, who did not suspect the object of his pres- 
 ence, and was invited to his house. The genial hospi- 
 tality of the counterfeiter was fatal to the Canadian's 
 plan, and each day he found himself less inclined to 
 carry out his murderous scheme. Meanwhile the In- 
 dians were becoming impatient. One evening they 
 informed the Canadian that they had concluded to kill 
 Duff the next day, whether he helped or not. He then 
 decided to put Duff upon his guard. 
 
 The next morning, although Duff was drinking 
 rather heavily, the Canadian disclosed the plot to him. 
 Duff, seizing a stick, rushed from the house, swearing 
 he would whip the Indians with it and drive them off. 
 He met them coming towards his house, painted and 
 armed for a conflict. Pompey, recognizing the danger 
 his master was facing, rushed to him with a loaded gun, 
 but before it could be used the Indians shot Duff and 
 his slave. "The leader having fallen," says the author 
 of A History of Union County, Kentucky, in conclud- 
 ing his account of Duff, "the rest of the gang were 
 speedily dispersed." 36 
 
 About a generation after the days of Duff there ap- 
 peared upon the scene a man named Sturdevant, whose 
 
 36 Duff secured metal from the veins of lead ore on the Saline and, as it 
 contained a little silver, he separated the silver from the lead as best he 
 could and made counterfeit coins. In this connection the author of A History 
 of Union County, Kentucky, further comments: 
 
 "The traditions of Duff's great wealth have acted upon many of the 
 citizens of Caseyville much as the tales of Captain Kidd's plunder affected 
 the inhabitants of Long Island. Youthful imaginations have been inflamed 
 with thoughts of the fabulous wealth stored away in some cavern along the 
 Caseyville cliffs. Many a ramble has turned into a search for the caves in 
 that vicinity, but so far as the public knows, none of them has ever eventu- 
 ated in any discoveries." 
 
Coiners at the Cave 279 
 
 counterfeiting career continued in the Cave-in-Rock 
 country until 1831. In the mean time the flatboat 
 pirates who had used the Cave as their headquarters 
 had disappeared and the mysterious Ford's Ferry band 
 was drifting towards its dispersement. 
 
 The identity of Sturdevant is as vague as that of Duff. 
 Tradition has it that Sturdevant did not counterfeit 
 money in the Cave but that, beginning about 1825, and 
 for a short time thereafter, he used the "House of 
 Nature" as a "Banking House of Exchange." There 
 he met his confederates and exchanged, at an agreed 
 rate, some of the counterfeit money he made in his 
 fortified home nine miles below the Cave. Judge 
 James Hall, in his Sketches of the West, published in 
 1835, devotes two pages to Sturdevant. His is the best 
 of the few published accounts. It is well worth quoting 
 in full : 
 
 "At a later period [that is, after Mason's time] the 
 celebrated counterfeiter, Sturdevant, fixed his residence 
 on the shore of the Ohio, in Illinois, and for several 
 years set the laws at defiance. He was a man of talent 
 and address. He was possessed of much mechanical 
 genius, was an expert artist and was skilled in some of 
 the sciences. As an engraver he was said to have few 
 superiors; and he excelled in some other branches of 
 art. For several years he resided at a secluded spot in 
 Illinois, where all his immediate neighbors were his 
 confederates or persons whose friendship he had con- 
 ciliated. He could, at any time, by the blowing of a 
 horn, summon some fifty to a hundred armed men to 
 his defense; while the few quiet farmers around, who 
 lived near enough to get their feelings enlisted and who 
 were really not at all implicated in his crimes, rejoiced 
 in the impunity with which he practiced his schemes. 
 He was a grave, quiet, inoffensive man in his manners, 
 
280 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 who commanded the obedience of his comrades and the 
 respect of his neighbors. He had a very excellent farm ; 
 his house was one of the best in the country; his domes- 
 tic arrangements were liberal and well ordered. 
 
 "Yet this man was the most notorious counterfeiter 
 that ever infested our country and carried on his nefari- 
 ous art to an extent which no other person has ever at- 
 tempted. His confederates were scattered over the 
 whole western country, receiving through regular chan- 
 nels of intercourse their supplies of counterfeit bank 
 notes, for which they paid a stipulated price - sixteen 
 dollars in cash for a hundred dollars in counterfeit bills. 
 His security arose, partly from his caution in not allow- 
 ing his subordinates to pass a counterfeit bill, or to do 
 any other unlawful act in the state in which he lived, 
 and in his obliging them to be especially careful of their 
 deportment in the county of his residence, measures 
 which effectually protected him from the civil author- 
 ity. Although all the counterfeit bank notes with which 
 a vast region was inundated were made in his house, 
 that fact could never be proved by legal evidence. But 
 he secured himself further by having settled around him 
 a band of his lawless dependents who were ready at all 
 times to fight in his defense; and by his conciliatory 
 conduct, which prevented his having any violent ene- 
 mies. He even enlisted the sympathies of many reput- 
 able people in his favor. But he became a great nui- 
 sance from the immense quantity of spurious paper 
 which he threw into circulation ; and although he never 
 committed any acts of violence himself, and is not 
 known to have sanctioned any, the unprincipled felons 
 by whom he was surrounded were guilty of many acts 
 of desperate atrocity; and Sturdevant, though he es- 
 caped from the arm of the law, was at last, with all his 
 
Coiners at the Cave 281 
 
 confederates, driven from the country by the enraged 
 people, who rose, almost in mass, to rid themselves of 
 one whose presence they had long considered an evil as 
 well as a disgrace." 
 
 Governor Reynolds notes that in 1831 Sturdevant's 
 fort was attacked by some Regulators, and that one 
 Regulator and three counterfeiters were killed, and 
 "the suspected gang broken up." 
 
 James A. Rose in his article on "The Regulators and 
 Flatheads in Southern Illinois" says: "Regulators 
 descended on the Sturdevant stronghold only to find 
 that their movements had been spied upon and that they 
 were expected. A number of shots were exchanged; 
 finally a charge was made on the stockade and the door 
 broken down. They found, however, that a small piece 
 of artillery was trained on the stairway leading to the 
 Sturdevant stronghold, and a halt was called and rein- 
 forcements asked for. During the night Sturdevant 
 and his band of criminals managed to make their 
 escape. This is one of the earliest records of the citi- 
 zens of this region taking the law into their own hands." 
 
 Sturdevant was never again heard of in that or any 
 other locality. What became of him is not known. 
 This attack on his headquarters ended forever counter- 
 feiting in the Cave-in-Rock country. 364 
 
 36a Sturdevant's stockaded fort stood on the long bluff immediately above 
 what later became the town of Rosiclare, Illinois, and commanded a good 
 view of the Ohio. Dr. Daniel Lawrence, of Golconda, saw the ruins of the 
 Sturdevant house as late as 1876. The place had then been in a dilapidated 
 condition for some time, but enough remained to show that in its day it was 
 a substantial log structure, a story and a half high, with three rooms on the 
 ground floor, including a log L on the north side. Digging into some of the 
 old logs, he discovered many small holes made by bullets. A new stone 
 quarry was in operation at the time of his visit and he was present when a 
 blast blew out of a crevice a set of dies for making counterfeit half dollars. 
 The foreman took the plates home for souvenirs, but their whereabouts is 
 now unknown. 
 
The Ford's Ferry Mystery 
 
 After Mason left Cave-in-Rock other outlaws still 
 continued to use the cavern as a temporary stopping 
 place or headquarters. An outlaw's stay at any place is 
 of necessity short. Mason, in 1797, had lived there 
 longer than any other. Those who followed him were 
 more or less migratory. Residents in the vicinity were 
 in no way implicated in the various acts that made the 
 Cave so notoriously dangerous, until the mysterious 
 Ford's Ferry band began its robberies. Since 1834, 
 when that organization ceased its operations, the Cave 
 has never been identified with outlawry. 
 
 To what extent James Ford, the owner of Ford's 
 Ferry - a crossing place on the Ohio two and one-half 
 miles above the Cave -was connected with this organi- 
 zation was not revealed in his day nor since, and it is 
 not at all likely that it will ever be determined. He is 
 more frequently discussed in tradition, and his life is 
 the subject of a greater variety of opinions than that of 
 any other man connected with the tragedies of the Cave- 
 in -Rock country. According to one version, "Jim Ford 
 was as black as some have painted him," and, according 
 to another, his connection with the mysterious band had 
 the effect of preventing bad men from committing more 
 crimes than they would have if his influence had not 
 acted as a restraint. 
 
 A careful study of the few written records and the 
 many varied oral traditions pertaining to Ford, indi- 
 cates that when he reached the prime of life conditions 
 
284 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 had undergone many changes. Outlaws were no longer 
 in a position to carry on their depredations with the 
 freedom that attended the earlier days. Population 
 had increased, and with that increase came a better 
 reign of law. The line between law-abiding and law- 
 breaking citizens was rapidly widening. For about ten 
 years, ending in 1833, Ford apparently stood between 
 the two, and kept in close touch with both. By ming- 
 ling with the upright citizens he held in some measure 
 the respect of the community, and by acting as one of 
 the leaders of the highwaymen he reaped a share of 
 their booty. In serving the two opposing classes he 
 faced, and finally met, the fate common to such men. 
 
 His education and appearance, and his public activi- 
 ties, gained for him the confidence of the community 
 and the standing of a trustworthy man, which he held 
 until toward the close of his life. Before he died many 
 of his fellow-citizens began regarding him with more 
 or less suspicion, and he soon became a man of mys- 
 tery. After his death his career was extensively dis- 
 cussed throughout the lower Ohio valley. Our account 
 is confined principally to court records and oral tradi- 
 tions. These old records, as far as known, have not 
 been cited heretofore by anyone attempting to tell the 
 story of James Ford. 
 
 Tradition has it that James Ford was born some time 
 during the latter part of the Revolution. His father, 
 it is said, was a Revolutionary soldier and moved with 
 his son to western Kentucky about 1803. Thus he ap- 
 peared in the Cave-in-Rock country about half a dozen 
 years after the Masons and Little Harpe had gone 
 south, but was living in the neighborhood when "Jim 
 Wilson" and some of the other outlaws were holding 
 forth at the Cave. His home was a half-mile southwest 
 
The Ford's Ferry Mystery 285 
 
 of what is now the village of Tolu, Crittenden County, 
 Kentucky. It was a mile from the Ohio and the head 
 of the notorious Hurricane Island, about eight miles 
 below Ford's Ferry and five miles below Cave-in-Rock. 
 Ford owned a number of good farms in what was then 
 northern Livingston, now Crittenden County. So well 
 was he known along the lower Ohio that Samuel Cum- 
 ing's Western Navigator, published in 1822, designates 
 the river landing near his home as "Major Ford's." The 
 old court records preserved at Smithland show that he 
 was a justice of the peace in 181 5 and held the office a 
 number of times thereafter, and that practically every 
 suggestion made before the county court "on motion of 
 James Ford" was carried. He frequently served as 
 appraiser and administrator of estates. Through these 
 and other acts of trust he gained the prestige of a desir- 
 able citizen. The improvement of roads was encour- 
 aged by him, especially those leading to Ford's Ferry. 
 
 One of the most interesting chapters of the mystery 
 surrounding Ford's Ferry may be found in a book of 
 personal reminiscences and local traditions of Cave-in- 
 Rock and its vicinity disguised as historical fiction and 
 called Chronicles of a Kentucky Settlement. Its author, 
 William Courtney Watts, who possessed an excellent 
 education, was a very successful man of international 
 business experience, born at Smithland, Kentucky, near 
 Cave-in-Rock. Much of his information came directly 
 from his father and other pioneer settlers. 
 
 Among the men who figure in the romance, and 
 whom Watts personally knew, was Dr. Charles H. 
 Webb, of Livingston County, of which Smithland is 
 the seat. Dr. Webb married Cassandra Ford, the 
 daughter of James Ford. He related the story of his 
 life to Watts and thus contributed a chapter to history 
 
286 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 that stands alone. There exists in more or less abund- 
 ance printed data relative to some of the methods em- 
 ployed by the bands of robbers at Cave-in-Rock to 
 entice boats to land at the Cave and get possession of 
 victims. All these, however, are, as already observed, 
 stories based on statements made, not by men who spoke 
 from actual observation, but by persons who had heard 
 others relate another man's experience. In Dr. Webb 
 we actually touch hands with a well-known and highly 
 respected citizen who was lured to the Cave by some of 
 the tricks suggested - tricks regarding which few lived 
 to tell the tale and of which nobody else left any direct 
 authoritative account. 
 
 Dr. Charles H. Webb and his brother John, both 
 young men, left South Carolina in 1822 for Phila- 
 delphia and shortly thereafter set out for the West in 
 search of fortune, with St. Louis as their destination. 
 At Cave-in-Rock, on their way down the Ohio, they 
 met their great adventure and were separated as the 
 narrative records. Dr. Webb, having lost all, settled 
 at Salem. There he subsequently met and knew Watts. 
 The two became fast friends when Watts, much the 
 younger of the two, had grown up. It was from Dr. 
 Webb, in the flower of his middle age, that Watts had 
 this story : 
 
 "My brother and I descended the Ohio River from 
 Pittsburgh to Louisville in a flatboat, and after remain- 
 ing a few days in Louisville we again started on another 
 flatboat, intending to go on it as far as the mouth of the 
 Ohio River or near there. . . The boat, a 'broad- 
 horn/ was in charge of one Jonathan Lumley, who 
 owned a large proportion of the cargo which consisted 
 of corn, provisions, and whiskey. With Mr. Lumley 
 were three other stout young men as hands, making, 
 
The Ford's Ferry Mystery 287 
 
 with my brother and myself, who had agreed to work 
 our way for food and passage, six persons on board. 
 
 "Day after day as we floated along, the better I got 
 acquainted with my companions and the more I found 
 that, under a rough exterior, they were warm-hearted, 
 generous, and confiding fellows, equally ready for a jig 
 or a knock-down, for a shooting match or a drinking 
 bout, for a song or a sermon. 
 
 "I was playing on my flute as our boat was nearing 
 Cave-in-Rock, and when within full view of the high 
 rocky bluff, at the base of which is the entrance of the 
 Cave, we observed a woman on the top of the bluff hail- 
 ing us by waving a white cloth, whereupon our captain, 
 as we called Mr. Lumley, ordered us to pull in close to 
 shore, within easy speaking distance, so as to learn what 
 was wanted. 
 
 "Presently a man came from the entrance of the Cave, 
 and called out: 'Hey, Cap! have you enny bacon or 
 whiskey on board?' 
 
 " 'I -yieP shouted back our captain. 
 
 " Won't yer land? We're short on rations here, an' 
 want ter buy right smart!' said the man. 
 
 " 'Goin' to the lower Mississippi!' answered our cap- 
 tain, 'and don't want to break bulk so high up.' 
 
 " 'But, Cap, we'ud be mi'ty obleeged ef you'd Ian'. 
 An' we've got a woman here and a boy who want pas- 
 sage down ter the mouth er Cumberlan'. They've bin 
 waitin' a long time, an'll pay passage.' 
 
 " 'All right then,' replied the captain, 'I'll land; but 
 let them come aboard at once.' 
 
 "And land we did some two hundred yards below the 
 Cave, when the captain and three others -my brother 
 being one of them - went ashore and walked up to the 
 entrance. After waiting for more than an hour, and 
 
288 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 none of our men returning, I asked my remaining 
 companion to go up to the Cave and see what was de- 
 taining them. Another hour passed away; the sun had 
 gone down, and night, with clouds, was rapidly coming 
 on. 
 
 "I began to feel uneasy, and to add to my uneasiness, 
 a large dog which we had on board began howling most 
 dismally. Presently, by the dim twilight, I saw three 
 men approaching the boat from the Cave. At first I 
 thought them a part of our crew, but I was soon unde- 
 ceived, for they came on board, and with pistols drawn, 
 demanded my surrender. Resistance was useless; my 
 arms were soon bound behind my back, and I was told 
 that if I made any row my brains would be blown out. 
 I asked about my friends but was only told that they 
 were 'all right,' that the captain had 'sold the boat and 
 cargo,' and that what little information they had given 
 was 'enough' for me 'to know.' 
 
 "I was then blindfolded, and when my money had 
 been taken from me, I was assisted-I should say lifted— 
 into a skiff, into which two of the three men, so I 
 thought, entered. I begged to know what had become 
 of my brother, and told them that he and I were passen- 
 gers on the boat and no part of the crew proper. I did 
 this hoping that if they knew we were passengers and 
 had no direct interest in the boat and cargo they would 
 think us less likely to return to the Cave and molest 
 them. But the only answer I got was that the 'fewer 
 questions' I asked the better it would be for me, 'by a 
 d sight.' 
 
 "The skiff was then rowed away - in what direction I 
 could not tell, but in some five minutes there was a 
 pause in the rowing, and soon a slight jar as of two 
 skiffs coming together, followed by a conversation in 
 
The Ford's Ferry Mystery 289 
 
 low tones, the purport of which I could not catch. 
 Very soon, however, one of the men approached me and 
 whispered in my ear. There seemed to be a remnant of 
 mercy in the intonations of his words, rather than in the 
 words themselves. He said: 'We're goin' ter vi'late 
 orders a little, an' turn yer loose here in the middle er 
 the river. An' the f urder yer float away f rum here 'fore 
 
 yer make enny noise, the better for yer by a d 
 
 sight. Yer'd better lay low an' keep dark till mornin' 
 comes.' The speaker then slackened the cords that 
 bound my arms, after which he again whispered : 'Yer 
 ken work 'em loose when we're gone, say in 'bout an 
 hour, but not sooner, er yer may get inter trouble. An' 
 don't yer never come back here to ax enny questions, or 
 yer'll fare worse, an' do nobody enny good.' 
 
 "The man then left me seated in the stern of the skiff, 
 and I could tell from the motion and the rattling of a 
 chain that a second boat was being pulled along side it, 
 into which the man stepped, leaving me alone. I 
 strained my ears to catch the slightest sound, but I could 
 neither hear the click of oars nor the dip of a paddle; 
 the latter, however, might have been used so noiselessly 
 as to be unheard. I was therefore in doubt. I thought 
 possibly the other boat might be floating close to me and 
 that I was being watched. This brought to my mind 
 the man's caution not to try to free my arms for an 
 hour. I therefore, remained quiet for about that length 
 of time. No sound reached me except the moaning of 
 the night winds among the forest trees that lined each 
 shore, the occasional barking of wolves, and the weird 
 cry of night-fowls - particularly the blood-curdling 
 hooting of great owls. . . 
 
 "After a long and painful effort I succeeded in releas- 
 ing my arms and freeing my eyes from the bandage. 
 
290 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Looking around I found the heavens overcast: the night 
 was so intensely dark that I could see only a dim outline 
 of the shore. I discovered there were neither oars nor 
 paddle in the skiff, but I was floating some two or three 
 miles an hour, and it might be many hours before I 
 would pass any habitation. I therefore made up my 
 mind to lie down in the skiff, try to get some sleep and 
 await the coming of morn. But the distant growling 
 thunder was creeping nearer and nearer; flash after 
 flash lit up the heavens, followed by almost deafening 
 discharges that rolled, crashed, and reverberated along 
 the river and among the forests, which moaned and 
 groaned under the pressure of the rising wind. The 
 waves in the river were momentarily increasing, and 
 were dashing my little skiff about in a way that was 
 alarming. . . 
 
 "I knew if the downpour continued for many minutes 
 my skiff would fill and sink. There was but one way to 
 bail it out -to use one of my thick leather shoes as a 
 scoop. I worked manfully while the rain lasted, which, 
 fortunately, was not for more than an hour. 
 
 "The long night finally passed, but the heavens were 
 still overcast. I peered along both banks - looked, hop- 
 ing to see smoke curling above some cabin chimney - 
 but there was no sign of human habitation. Occasion- 
 ally I raised my voice to its highest pitch - gave a loud 
 halloo - but no answering voice was returned. How- 
 ever, about an hour later, I saw an island ahead of me; 
 it was evidently inhabited, for notwithstanding the 
 leaden aspect of the skies, I could see smoke ascending 
 from among the trees. I used my hands as paddles as 
 vigorously as I could so as to drift against the head of 
 the island, and in this I succeeded. Having secured 
 my boat, I soon found the cabin, and was kindly re- 
 
The Ford's Ferry Mystery 291 
 
 ceived by a Mr. Prior and his wife who gave me a good 
 breakfast. I told them of my misfortune, and they ex- 
 pressed much sympathy for me. Mr. Prior, who seemed 
 to be an honest and intelligent man, told me that he 
 was one of the earliest settlers in those parts. He said 
 he had often heard of the depredations of the Wilson 
 gang about the Cave and that I was lucky to have es- 
 caped with my life. He advised me to stop at Smith- 
 land, at the mouth of the Cumberland River, where I 
 might obtain assistance and directions as to what was 
 best for me to do. Mr. Prior then made me a paddle 
 out of a clapboard, and bidding him and his kind wife 
 goodbye I returned to my skiff, pushed off, and that 
 evening arrived in Smithland." 
 
 At Smithland young Webb was directed to Salem, 
 "which then contained a population, white and black, 
 of about two hundred and fifty." There, in turn, he was 
 advised by Judge Dixon Given to consult Colonel Ar- 
 thur Love relative to the best method of gaining infor- 
 mation regarding his brother who had been captured 
 at the Cave. Colonel Love, a highly esteemed citizen, 
 lived a few miles from the home of James Ford, who 
 was suspected by many of being a leader of the Cave- 
 in-Rock band. No crime, however, had ever been 
 traced to Ford "with sufficient clearness to cause his 
 arrest and trial." On his way to Colonel Love's farm 
 Webb fell from his horse and sprained his ankle, and 
 it so happened that Cassandra Ford, daughter of James 
 Ford, found the helpless young man lying in the road. 
 She took him to her home, and he soon discovered he 
 was in the house of the very man he dreaded most. 
 But his fears rapidly vanished, for his rescuer had 
 become very much attached to him and he to her. He 
 was shown the flute of which he had been robbed near 
 
292 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 the Cave. The mother and daughter revealed to him 
 the fact that they, like many of their neighbors, felt 
 somewhat suspicious that James Ford was, in some 
 way, connected with the notorious crowd at the Cave. 
 Ford, who was away from home much of his time, did 
 not return until about a week after the crippled man 
 was admitted. Then Webb saw "the masterful, self- 
 willed, dreaded, and almost outlawed man." He gave 
 a description of him as he appeared at that time: 
 
 "He was about six feet in height, and of powerful 
 build, a perfect Hercules in point of strength ; but he 
 has now grown too corpulent to undergo much fatigue. 
 His head is large and well shaped; his sandy brown 
 hair, now thin, is turning gray, for he must be fully 
 fifty years old ; his eyes, of a steel-gray color, are bril- 
 liant and his glance quick and penetrating; his nose 
 rather short and thick; his upper lip remarkably long, 
 his mouth large, and his lips full and sensuous. He 
 has a broad, firm, double chin, and his voice is deep and 
 sonorous. His complexion is very florid, and he con- 
 verses fluently. On the whole, when in repose, he gives 
 one the idea of a good natured, rather than a surly, 
 bulldog; but, if aroused, I should say he would be a 
 lion tamer." 
 
 When Webb's foot was sufficiently healed to permit 
 his leaving the Ford home he took his flute and crutches 
 and returned to Salem. Shortly thereafter he made the 
 first of his many calls on Miss Ford. In the meantime, 
 learning that his brother had been allowed to depart 
 from the Cave unhurt, he wrote letters to various places 
 and finally located him. Later he "went to Fort Mas- 
 sac on a flatboat and from there walked to St. Louis," 
 where he found his brother established in business. The 
 two spent several months together in the city and, ac- 
 
The Ford's Ferry Mystery 293 
 
 cording to the story as related in Chronicles, it was 
 during his absence from Kentucky that Ford, the "al- 
 most outlawed man," passed beyond the reach of law. 
 
 It was at Ford's Ferry that many emigrants going to 
 the Illinois country crossed the Ohio. In Ford's day 
 the ferry at Shawneetown and another at Golconda also 
 were thriving and the three were, in a sense, rivals. 
 
 A river crossing with the reputation of having the 
 best roads leading to and from it was usually given the 
 preference. Ford, realizing this, placed sign-boards at 
 a number of road crossings, and cards in some of the 
 taverns, advertising the highway to his ferry. What 
 was known as the Ford's Ferry Road extended, in 
 Kentucky, some eight miles south of the ferry and, in 
 Illinois, about twelve miles north of it. That part of it 
 in Kentucky running north from Pickering Hill to the 
 ferry, a distance of four miles, was well maintained by 
 the county through Ford's influence. The road leading 
 from his ferry into Illinois was an equally important 
 one, but its condition depended solely upon his interest 
 and efforts in the matter. He attempted to persuade 
 the local authorities in Illinois to change the old Low 
 Water Road running through the bottoms to Pott's 
 Hill, a distance of twelve miles, to one over higher 
 ground. Failing in this effort, he, at his own expense, 
 opened up a new road ever since known as Ford's Ferry 
 High Water Road. 
 
 Thus with about twenty miles of comparatively good 
 road through a densely wooded country and with a first 
 class ferry, and by proper advertising, he succeeded, as 
 one man expressed it, "in having things come his way." 
 Many people, it is true, were molested at the ferry and 
 along the highway leading to and from it; but such 
 misfortunes were then likely to befall any traveler at 
 
294 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 any place. If a robbery occurred along the Ford's 
 Ferry Road, the news of the hold-up invariably ended 
 with the report that "Jim Ford found the robbers and 
 ran them out of the country." And so, for many years, 
 the Ford's Ferry Road and Ford's Ferry maintained 
 the reputation of being "safe again." In the meantime, 
 strangers continued to travel over it, and many fell into 
 the well-set trap. 
 
 At the foot of Pickering Hill, near Crooked Creek, 
 newcomers frequently met, as though by chance, some 
 "strangers" who explained that they were on their way 
 to Illinois. The unwary emigrants continued their 
 travel accompanied by persons who seemed honest men. 
 The "strangers" soon gained their confidence, and if, 
 by the time Ford's Ferry was reached, the desirability 
 and possibility of a hold-up had not been ascertained, 
 the united party crossed over into Illinois. At Potts' 
 Hill, or before reaching that wayside tavern on the 
 south hillside, the newcomer was either robbed or per- 
 mitted to continue his journey unmolested. It is said 
 that many a traveler who was found weak and destitute 
 by the "strangers" was given money and other help by 
 them. On the other hand, the traveler who exhibited 
 evidence of wealth and prosperity almost invariably 
 met his fate along the road, at the ferry or at Potts' Hill. 
 
 Billy Potts was the strategist on whom the highway- 
 men relied as their last and best man to dispose of any 
 encouraging cases that had not been settled before they 
 reached his house. Potts, by one means or another, suc- 
 ceeded in persuading the selected travelers to remain 
 all night at his inn. His log house was large and com- 
 fortable and stood near a good spring which, then as 
 now, offered an abundant supply of water for man and 
 beast. Tradition says many a man took his last drink 
 
The Ford's Ferry Mystery 295 
 
 at Potts' Spring and spent his last hour on earth in 
 Potts' house. Human bones are still turned up by plow- 
 men in the Potts' Old Field, and since there is nothing 
 to indicate that they are the remains of Indians, the 
 conclusion is they represent some of the victims of the 
 mysterious Ford's Ferry band. The log house occupied 
 by Billy Potts is still standing. Many years ago it was 
 converted into a barn. On its floor and walls there can 
 still be seen a number of large dark spots. Tradition 
 has it that they are stains made by human blood. Some 
 of the old citizens living in the neighborhood insist that 
 they are as distinct today as they were more than half a 
 century ago, notwithstanding the ravages of time. 
 
 There are many traditions of mysterious murders 
 attributed to the Ford's Ferry highwaymen. Every one 
 is a fearsome tale and has evidently undergone many 
 changes since it was first told. Some seem to have more 
 versions than they are years old. None, so far as is 
 now known, can be verified by documentary or other 
 positive evidence. All these tales are apparently based 
 on facts but it is also evident that each is much colored 
 by fiction. A version of the tradition pertaining to 
 Billy Potts and his son is here retold : 
 
 A traveler was riding north on the Ford's Ferry Road 
 one day, and after crossing the ferry was overtaken by 
 the son of Billy Potts. Young Potts expressed a delight 
 at having found a man with whom he could ride and 
 thus not only pass the time away more pleasantly, but 
 also travel with greater safety. After going a few miles 
 young Potts gained sufficient information to convince 
 him that the man was well worth robbing. When they 
 reached a point along the road where a hold-up could 
 be made with the least danger of exposure, Potts pulled 
 out his pistol, forced the man to throw up his hands and 
 
296 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 then proceeded to rob him. While Potts was in the 
 act of taking his victim's money, two farmers living in 
 the neighborhood happened upon the scene. Not being 
 in sympathy with the gang of highwaymen and having 
 recognized young Potts, they informed others what they 
 had witnessed and reported the robbery to the authori- 
 ties. Ford, so runs the story, realizing that one of his 
 men had been detected and that much evidence could 
 be produced to convict the guilty one, advised him to 
 leave for parts unknown, and thus not only save him- 
 self but also shield his confederates from further sus- 
 picion. The young man left, and a few days later, 
 rumors emanating from the gang, to the effect that 
 young Potts had been driven out of the country by Jim 
 Ford, circulated freely. The disappearance of Potts 
 substantiated the report, and Ford received the credit 
 for ridding the community of an undesirable citizen. 
 Young Potts wandered around for several years, in 
 the meantime growing a beard and gaining in weight. 
 He evidently changed in appearance to such an extent 
 that he felt confident no one -not even his mother - 
 would recognize him, and that he could return home 
 without the least fear of detection. He reached Picker- 
 ing Hill on his homeward journey and there met a 
 number of "strangers" who informed him that they 
 were resting preparatory to resuming their travel to 
 the Illinois country. Potts recognized in these men his 
 old companions in crime, but none suspected who he 
 was. He rode with them to Ford's Ferry, in the mean- 
 time keeping the men in ignorance as to his identity. 
 When they reached the Ohio he saw that active prep- 
 arations were being made to rob him and, if necessary, 
 to murder him. He then revealed his identity. But it 
 was only after producing considerable proof that he 
 
The Ford's Ferry Mystery 297 
 
 convinced the men that he was their long gone accom- 
 plice. A great rejoicing followed. 
 
 Early in the evening young Potts started alone over 
 Ford's High Water Road to his father's house, where 
 he arrived shortly after dark. He found his father and 
 mother at home and, as he had anticipated, was not 
 recognized by them. He decided to attempt to conceal 
 his identity until late in the night, for he concluded that 
 if before making himself known he could impress his 
 father with the fact that his wandering boy had accum- 
 ulated money, the surprise which he was soon to give 
 him would be even greater. With this double surprise 
 in view, young Potts displayed a large roll of money 
 and whispered to his unsuspecting host that he knew 
 he was in a safe place for the night. The two men had 
 chatted in the candle lighted room for an hour or more, 
 when the guest asked for a drink of water. Out into the 
 dark they walked and down to the Potts Spring, a dis- 
 tance of some three hundred feet. The young man get- 
 ting down on his knees, leaned over the rock-lined 
 spring. While in the act of drinking he was stabbed in 
 the back, under the left shoulder blade, and instantly 
 killed. 
 
 The murderer took the money from his victim's 
 pocket, but failed to find anything to indicate who he 
 was, from where he came, or to what place he intended 
 to go. Old Potts dug a shallow grave and in it buried 
 all evidence of the crime. He returned to the house, 
 and after reporting to his wife that he had "made a 
 good haul," retired for the night. 
 
 The next morning some of the Ford's Ferry gang 
 rode to Potts' Hill to celebrate the return of their friend. 
 Before they had an opportunity to explain the object 
 of their coming, Potts recited the details of how he had 
 
298 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 disposed of an "easy" man the night preceding. One of 
 them then began the story of how they had met the 
 young fellow and how, when they were at the point of 
 carrying out their intention of robbing and killing him, 
 he made himself known and proved beyond doubt that 
 he was young Potts, their former associate. But before 
 the account was finished old Potts and his wife accused 
 the crowd of concocting this story and cursed the men 
 for plotting against them. But, persisting and giving 
 every detail of what happened during the time the 
 victim was in their presence, the men created doubt in 
 the minds of Potts and his wife, though Potts asserted 
 that in his opinion the man he had killed was not his 
 son, but perhaps a friend in whom his son had confided 
 to such an extent that he was able to convince them that 
 he was young Potts himself. 
 
 At this point of the discussion Mrs. Potts recalled 
 that her son had a small birthmark under one of his 
 shoulder blades, but which shoulder blade she could 
 not remember. Upon learning this, the men, hoping 
 to find such evidence as would convince the parents of 
 the identity of their son, repaired to the grave. It was 
 shallow and the soil loose. In a little while the body 
 was uncovered. Without waiting for it to be taken 
 from the grave, Potts bent forward and began to rip 
 the clothing from the corpse. The back showed no 
 mark on the right side. The bloody wound made by 
 the dagger that had pierced the heart was then ex- 
 amined. It revealed the presence of the remembered 
 birth mark. . . 
 
 It was at Cave-in-Rock that the Ford's Ferry band 
 met to discuss some of its plans and operations and to 
 divide the spoils. This rendezvous was two miles from 
 the road on which the highwaymen operated, and there- 
 

The Ford's Ferry Mystery 301 
 
 fore sufficiently distant to avoid discovery by anyone 
 traveling over that land route. It was conveniently 
 reached by a boat from Hurricane Island or from 
 Ford's Ferry. Furthermore, it was an ideal hiding 
 place in which to lie in wait for flatboats going down 
 the river. 
 
 What went on at these meetings was never revealed 
 to any one not a member of the organization. The 
 tragic story of Billy Potts and his son is one of the few 
 secrets that leaked out, and it was not divulged until 
 long after Potts died and the organization had ceased 
 to exist. No arrests were made and for a long time no 
 local citizens were suspected; for, as already stated, 
 every reported robbery was soon followed by the news 
 that the crime had been committed by a traveling high- 
 wayman, who had since been driven out of the country. 
 
 In time suspicion began to point toward a number of 
 local men whose incomes were out of proportion to 
 their labor, and whose frequent and long absences were 
 accounted for by them in contradictory ways. Vincent 
 
 B. Simpson, who lived on the Kentucky side of the 
 Ohio and ran the ferry boat at Ford's Ferry, and Henry 
 
 C. Shouse, who lived on the Illinois shore at Cedar 
 Point almost opposite, were among those suspected of 
 being implicated in some of the depredations and were 
 regarded as two of the men responsible for the circula- 
 tion of counterfeit money. Both were apparently on 
 intimate terms with James Ford, whose two sons were 
 also suspected of being involved in some of the lawless- 
 ness which was then increasing rapidly. Ford owned 
 Ford's Ferry and the ferry house near it. The ferry, 
 however, was run by Simpson, who occupied the house. 
 
 After carefully concealing its acts for many years, the 
 clan began drifting to the inevitable. A lack of trust 
 
302 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 among the men themselves and the increasing danger 
 of their work indicated that sooner or later something 
 would occur to end its career. The end came in 1834. 
 Strange to say, it was brought about, not through a dis- 
 pute over the division of spoils or a wholesale arrest of 
 its members, but was due more directly to a lawsuit 
 regarding a slave than to any other cause known to the 
 public. Tradition is vague regarding this litigation, 
 but the court records reveal sufficient data from which 
 to glean the cause of the beginning of the end of the 
 Ford's Ferry mystery. 
 
 The Circuit Court Records of Livingston County 
 contain the proceedings of a suit entitled "Ford versus 
 Simpson" which began in September, 1829, and con- 
 tinued nearly two years. James Ford's petition recites 
 that on January 7, 1829, he bought from Vincent B. 
 Simpson a slave named Hiram, for the sum of eight 
 hundred dollars. Simpson guaranteed him to be "a 
 good blacksmith, sound and healthy," but the negro 
 died soon after the sale, at the age of thirty-four. Ford 
 set forth that the man was u no blacksmith and no la- 
 bourer and was labouring under a disease called her- 
 nia," and that he was worth only two hundred and fifty 
 dollars at the time of the sale. In consequence of the 
 loss of time and work resulting from the purchase of 
 the negro, Ford sued for one thousand dollars damages. 
 Simpson tried, through various witnesses, to prove that 
 the slave was a good mechanic and a healthy negro, but 
 failed to establish any of his claims. Ford, on the other 
 hand, produced many men who upheld him and gave 
 much testimony to prove that Simpson had practiced a 
 fraud in making the sale. The case dragged through 
 the courts until March 9, 1831, when, by agreement of 
 
The Ford's Ferry Mystery 303 
 
 the attorneys, the suit was ordered dismissed, "each 
 party paying their own costs." 
 
 This was a victory for Ford, for rumor had it that he 
 and Simpson were equally implicated in certain rob- 
 beries. Ford had proved Simpson a deceitful man and 
 could now cite the Hiram transaction as an example 
 of his unreliability. Ford was prepared, should Simp- 
 son reveal any of their secrets and "try" to implicate 
 him; he was fortified against any accusation, true or 
 false, that Simpson might make. In the meantime, 
 Simpson continued to run Ford's Ferry. Whether or 
 not Ford attempted to remove him is not known. It is 
 probable that each feared the other, and that each was 
 awaiting the other's first damaging act. Ford and his 
 two grown sons evidently foresaw the possibility of 
 serious trouble. 
 
 These two sons were Philip and William M. Ford 
 (whose ages, in 1831, were respectively thirty-one and 
 twenty-eight years) . He had one daughter, the Cassan- 
 dra who, February 5, 1827, married Dr. Charles H. 
 Webb, as previously noted. The daughter was an ac- 
 complished and highly respected woman, and is so rep- 
 resented in Watt's Chronicles. Her husband was all 
 his life a model citizen. Ford's first wife, it is said, was 
 a Miss Miles, whose brother at one time ran a ferry 
 where the village of Weston, Kentucky, now stands. 
 After the death of his first wife, Ford, January 15,1 829, 
 as shown by Livingston County marriage records, mar- 
 ried Mrs. Elizabeth Frazer, a widow with three daugh- 
 ters. Mr. Frazer and his family, so runs the story, were 
 coming down the Ohio in a flatboat and chanced to stop 
 at Ford's home. Mr. Frazer became ill while there, 
 and a few days later died. In the course of a short time 
 
304 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Ford married the widow, and from that union was 
 born, in 1830, one child, James Ford Jr. 
 
 Trouble was brewing. What preparations were made 
 by Ford and his two sons to meet the uncertain develop- 
 ments is not known. A perusal of the wills recorded in 
 Livingston County reveals the fact that Philip Ford 
 made a will on November 21, 1831, and that within 
 seven months thereafter wills were also made by his 
 brother and father. Philip Ford died two days after 
 he had prepared his will. One tradition has it that he 
 died of yellow fever, but that is not at all likely to be 
 true. The document was not recorded until June, 1833. 
 It shows he was a widower and a man of some means. 
 He designates his father and brother-in-law, Dr. Webb, 
 as administrators. He bequeathed some of his estate to 
 his father, sister, and brother William, but the greater 
 part to his only child, Francis Ford, then a small boy. 
 Among the items were seven slaves, two of whom, 
 "Irene, a woman, and Kitty, a girl," were to be retained 
 and the other five sold "at nine months credit, the pro- 
 ceeds to go for the whole use and benefit of my son." 
 Another item reads: "My gold watch I wish Doct. 
 Charles H. Webb to take charge of until my son comes 
 of age and then to go to my son Francis Ford." As re- 
 quested in this document, he was "buried by the side of 
 where my beloved wife is buried and in a decent man- 
 ner." The inscription on his gravestone reads : 
 
 "To the memory of Philip Ford who was born November 25th, 
 1800, departed this life November 23d, 183 1." 
 
 A year later William died and was buried beside his 
 brother. Tradition ascribes his death to cholera. Be 
 that as it may, there is nothing to indicate that he "died 
 with his boots on," although he might have met that 
 fate had he survived a few years longer. The graves of 
 
The Ford's Ferry Mystery 305 
 
 the two brothers are on the Ford Old Place about one 
 mile southwest of Tolu. Each is marked with a dressed 
 stone box grave cover, which, before the collapse a few 
 years ago, was about six feet long, three feet wide and 
 three feet high, the top being a well carved slab bearing 
 an inscription. The inscription on the grave of Ford's 
 second son can be interpreted in more than one way : 
 
 "To the memory of William M. Ford, who departed this life on 
 the 3d day of Novr. 1832, aged 28 years. Whose benevolence caused 
 the widow and orphant to smile and whose firmness caused his ene- 
 mies to tremble. He was much appresst while living and much 
 slandered since dead." 
 
 William also left a will. It is dated June 1, 1832. 
 The official records show that it was recorded July 27, 
 1832, a little more than three months before he died. 
 Tradition has forgotten how William's "firmness caused 
 his enemies to tremble" and by what means he was 
 "much appresst while living and much slandered since 
 dead." Nor is there any tradition regarding the 
 identity of the widows and orphans who, through his 
 benevolence, were caused to smile. His will, however, 
 throws some sidelights on his career as a father. The 
 document does not refer to a wife, living or dead. One 
 tradition has it that at the age of twenty-two he married 
 a girl by the name of Simpson, but that name does not 
 appear among the three mothers of his children re- 
 ferred to by him. He first bequeaths all his estate to his 
 two sons, one of whom was, in 1832, seven years old, 
 and the other seven months. After stating the name of 
 the mother of each, he adds : "both of said children I 
 acknowledge to be my sons." But in the event of the 
 death of both boys before they reached the age of 
 twenty-one, he gives two thousand dollars to the young 
 daughter of a certain woman he mentions, and be- 
 
306 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 queaths practically all the residue of his estate to his 
 uncle, Richard Miles. 
 
 It is said that the inscription placed on the grave of 
 William was dictated by James Ford. Beginning a 
 short time before the death of his two sons, many accu- 
 sations against William and his father gained wide 
 circulation. Ford evidently hoped that such an inscrip- 
 tion on the tomb of the "appresst" and "slandered" son 
 would have the effect of a voice from the grave and do 
 much toward subduing undesirable true and false re- 
 ports that might continue to circulate after his death. 
 Tradition says James Ford requested his wife to place 
 an inscription of a similar character on his grave, 
 hoping it would, to a considerable extent, prevent the 
 community from attributing all the lawlessness to him 
 and none to the mysterious Ford's Ferry band, of which 
 he was openly accused of being the leader. Mrs. Ford, 
 in all probability, would have carried out this wish had 
 she not died so soon after her husband. Be that as it 
 may, nothing marks the grave of James Ford nor that 
 of his wife. If small stones were erected over them 
 they have long ago disappeared, as have some of the 
 other headstones that once stood in the same graveyard. 
 The spot pointed out as the one where James Ford was 
 buried is a few feet from William's grave and is now, 
 and long has been, covered by a briar patch. 
 
Paying the Penalty 
 
 After the death of his two sons James Ford was, in a 
 sense, obliged to stand alone and face, as best he could, 
 any and all reflections upon his reputation. According 
 to one tradition, some of the law-abiding citizens con- 
 tinued to regard him as an innocent victim of treacher- 
 ous associates. It appears that among the members of 
 the Ford's Ferry crowd there were only a few whom he 
 dared trust. Henry C. Shouse was one of them and he, 
 with two others, as is shown later, played an important 
 part in the closing act of the mysterious band. 
 
 From the time of the lawsuit between Ford and 
 Simpson each lay perdu awaiting the action of the 
 other. Each realized, so runs the tradition, that the 
 other "knew too much." One morning, shortly after 
 the death of Ford's second son, Shouse approached 
 Simpson at Ford's Ferry and tried to arouse the ferry- 
 man's anger and lead him into a fight. Simpson, sus- 
 pecting a hidden motive, quietly withdrew. A few 
 days later Shouse accused Simpson of treachery, claim- 
 ing, among other things, that Simpson had circulated 
 a report to the effect that "some one will soon turn 
 state's evidence, and certain robbers, counterfeiters, and 
 murderers will then quit business for good." A lively 
 fight followed; both men were badly bruised, but 
 neither was victorious. 
 
 Thus did Shouse, greatly influenced by others, make 
 and set his trap for Simpson. Simpson, sensing the 
 situation, immediately prepared for any defense that 
 
308 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 firearms might afford him. These strained relations 
 between the two men, each watching the other, contin- 
 ued for about a week. On June 30, 1833, Simpson went 
 in his boat from Ford's Ferry down to Cave-in-Rock 
 and, upon his return, stopped at Cedar Point and 
 walked up to the home of Shouse. Whether Simpson 
 had gone there to kill Shouse or to attempt to bring 
 about a reconciliation is an unsettled question. He had 
 reached a point in Shouse's yard when, without warn- 
 ing, some one, firing from the second story window of 
 Shouse's log house, shot him in the back, inflicting a 
 wound of which he died next morning. 
 
 News that Simpson had been shot spread fast. 
 Shouse was, of course, immediately accused of the 
 murder. Those most familiar with the general state 
 of affairs suspected that James Mulligan and William 
 H. J. Stevenson, both of whom lived near by, were 
 accessories. A search was made in the neighborhood, 
 but not one of the three men could be found. The law- 
 abiding citizens on both sides of the Ohio recognized in 
 the death of Simpson the removal of a man who, either 
 through a selfish motive or for the good of the public, 
 contemplated revealing secrets the exposition of which 
 would have led to the extermination of a band of men 
 who had disturbed the community for many years. 
 Pursuing parties were sent out and messengers and let- 
 ters dispatched in every direction in an effort to cap- 
 ture the three fleeing men and bring them back for 
 trial and punishment. 
 
 In the meantime, the situation and its causes were 
 taken under consideration by certain citizens not in any 
 of the posses. Most versions have it that a few days 
 after Simpson had been killed a small number of men 
 who chanced to gather at the home of his widow, took 
 
Paying the Penalty 309 
 
 up, in secret, the question of avenging Simpson's death. 
 It is said that no definite decision was reached by them, 
 but that each trusted the vengeance to fate itself. How- 
 ever, three men were appointed to ride to Ford's resi- 
 dence and ask him to come to Simpson's in order that 
 he might be prepared to join the crowd which was, 
 early the next morning, to appear before the grand jury 
 and give testimony as to the killing. 
 
 On their way the messengers met Ford near the Hur- 
 ricane Camp Ground. After hearing their mission he 
 stated he was then riding to the ferry to learn the latest 
 news and offer his services. The messengers, accompa- 
 nied by Ford, rode back to Simpson's, where they ar- 
 rived about sundown. A few minutes later Ford and 
 a dozen or more men present were invited to take sup- 
 per, but all declined, apparently for the reason that 
 they were occupied discussing their plans for the next 
 day. After night had fallen the invitation was again 
 extended. About half the number then went into the 
 kitchen to eat, and the rest stood in the open passage 
 that ran between the two rooms of the log house. Ford, 
 accepting a chair, leaned it against the log wall and sat 
 down. The men, one by one, stepped out of the passage, 
 leaving Ford comfortably seated alone in the dark. 
 While in this position a man handed him a letter, in 
 the meantime standing to one side and holding a lighted 
 candle over Ford's head, seemingly for the purpose of 
 throwing light on the paper. Ford was engaged in 
 reading the letter when someone concealed behind a 
 rose bush in the front yard, shot him through the heart, 
 the bullet lodging in the log wall against which he was 
 leaning. Ford fell on the floor dead. The body was 
 immediately carried out in the yard and preparations 
 were soon begun to send it to his home. 
 
310 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Placed in a rude box, on a wagon drawn by two oxen, 
 Ford's body was taken to the Ford farm and there pre- 
 pared for burial, which took place a day or two later. 
 According to tradition, the only persons present at the 
 funeral were his wife, his daughter and her husband, 
 two of his neighbors and about half a dozen slaves. A 
 terrific storm suddenly came up while the little proces- 
 sion was marching from the house to the family grave- 
 yard, a distance of about a quarter of a mile. The 
 slaves were in the act of lowering the coffin when a 
 crash of thunder frightened one of them so badly that 
 he dropped the rope with which he was helping to 
 lower the corpse, and ran away. The head of the coffin 
 struck the bottom of the grave and wedged the box into 
 an angular position. Attempts were made to pry it to a 
 level, but without success. While the storm was raging 
 the remaining slaves, with all possible haste, filled the 
 grave. After completing the mound, these superstitious 
 negroes ran to their cabins and from that date "saw 
 things" that have not been seen since, but have entered 
 into many traditions pertaining to the Fords. For ex- 
 ample : Some of them saw "Jim Ford land in Hell head 
 foremost." 
 
 The names of the man who held the candle and the 
 one who fired the shot that killed Ford were never 
 revealed, then or thereafter. It is said that no investi- 
 gation of the assassination was ever made, and, further- 
 more, that if official proceedings had been attempted, 
 no evidence of any kind could have been procured. 
 
 Ford was suspected to be the leader, adviser, and 
 protector of the so-called Ford's Ferry band, but 
 whether or not he was actually all these was never posi- 
 tively proved. Had his wife lived a little longer, she in 
 all probability, would have carried out his suggestion 
 
Paying the Penalty 311 
 
 to erect a monument over his grave. If so, the inscrip- 
 tion would have followed, more or less, the lines pre- 
 pared by him as his son William's epitaph. There 
 would have been some truth in words to the effect that 
 James Ford had not only rendered much assistance to 
 widows and orphans, but also to the poor and destitute, 
 and that his "firmness caused his enemies to tremble." 
 As to how he was "appresst while living" it is impos- 
 sible to determine now. That he was "much slandered 
 since dead" is true, judging from some of the tales told 
 about him even to this day. 
 
 One of these improbable stories is that Ford punished 
 a slave by placing the man's head in a vise and while it 
 was thus fastened cut off the negro's ears and pulled 
 out his teeth. 
 
 Another is to the effect that after the Ford's Ferry 
 men had murdered and robbed a flatboatman they 
 learned from papers in his pocket that his name was 
 Simmons. They buried their victim on the hill near 
 the Ferry. Soon thereafter it was noticed that many 
 persimmon sprouts began to shoot up out of the grave 
 and the ground near by. Although grubbed out a num- 
 ber of times they reappeared each succeeding spring. 
 Ford, seeing that the matter was viewed as an evil omen 
 and working on the superstition of some of his men, 
 ordered the remains taken up and ceremoniously low- 
 ered into the river below Cave-in-Rock, "where," as 
 one man expressed it, "Simmons couldn't sprout any 
 more." But the sprouts continued to sprout on the hill 
 overlooking Ford's Ferry and today "the old 'simmons 
 thicket" helps perpetuate this old tale. 37 
 
 37 The Chicago Times published an article July 17, 1879, entitled "Hell 
 on the Ohio," which, in 1888, was republished in The Life of Logan Belt, 
 a book by Shadrack L. Jackson, who then lived in the village of Cave-in- 
 Rock. This distorted account of Ford is here reprinted as an example of 
 
312 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 There is an absurd but widespread tradition that 
 James Ford had acquired, through his "frolics at the 
 ferry," a vast fortune consisting of "dozens of farms, 
 hundreds of slaves, and barrels of money" and that in 
 his will he not only named every man connected with 
 the robber band, but gave each a slave or mule. This 
 story, like many of the others, is absolutely without 
 foundation. His will, recorded August 5, 1833, indi- 
 cates that he was not a man of more than ordinary 
 wealth. It was written in his own hand. It contains 
 many errors in composition and spelling and, like many 
 other early documents, is sparsely punctuated. It is 
 nevertheless evidence that his practical education was 
 far above most of his contemporaries, though his scho- 
 
 one of the many absurd and almost groundless stories that have gained 
 wide circulation: 
 
 "Not far from Cave-in-Rock is Ford's Ferry, which gets its name from 
 a man who was one of the noted criminals of pioneer history. He lived on 
 the Kentucky side about two miles above Cave-in-Rock and was ostensibly 
 a farmer, owning a large tract of land. He also kept a hotel. Ford was 
 always surrounded by a gang of desperate men, highwaymen and murderers, 
 and, while nothing was ever proved on him, he was looked upon as equal 
 to his companions in guilt. He was a robber of fiatboats and of emigrants. 
 Dead bodies were found near his house, and isolated and freshly made 
 graves were discovered in that neighborhood. Men were known to start 
 West with a little money, to locate, and were never after heard of. Their 
 friends would inquire, follow them to Ford's and there lose all traces of them. 
 It was one of his habits to cut down trees and obstruct the road to rival 
 ferries, until the owners would be compelled to quit and leave, thinking 
 retaliation only a means of provoking death. But Ford brought on himself 
 the penalty of his lawlessness. 
 
 "An old feud existed between him and the father-in-law of a man named 
 Simpson, and Ford killed his enemy. Simpson gathered a crowd of friends 
 and went armed to Ford's house for the purpose of killing him. They found 
 him on the Illinois side loading a boat. He knew at once why they had 
 come, begged for his life and appealed for protection to one of their number, 
 Jonathan Brown by name. Brown was touched by the appeal and inter- 
 ceded for the terrified man. The plea was so far successful that the crowd 
 waited two or three hours, but when darkness came, they took him out and 
 shot him dead when he was begging hardest to be spared. It is said that 
 none of the crowd proper did the shooting, but that Simpson compelled his 
 negro to do the deed." 
 
Paying the Penalty 313 
 
 lastic training was slight. His penmanship was good, as 
 can be seen by his signature here reproduced. a8 
 
 Qyo^^cn 
 
 ar^ 
 
 Tradition has it that Ford had been buried only a 
 few days when the report reached Ford's Ferry that 
 Shouse, Mulligan, and Stevenson, who were accused of 
 having killed Simpson, had been overtaken. The three 
 had started for Texas, but were arrested in Arkansas. 
 Shortly after the guards and their charges started on 
 their return the captives tried to escape. Each prisoner 
 was then placed astride a horse and his feet tied under 
 the animal. In due time they were landed in the jail 
 at Equality, Illinois, then the county seat of Gallatin 
 County. 39 " 
 
 The court records show that the Gallatin County 
 grand jury at its September term, 1833, indicted Shouse 
 for the murder of Simpson, with Mulligan and Steven- 
 son named as accessories to the crime. The original in- 
 dictment is still preserved. The greater part of the 
 document is a repetition of old and verbose legal 
 phraseology, reciting what is summed up in the follow- 
 ing extracts : 
 
 38 It may be proper here to record that descendants of James Ford, like 
 the descendants of other crude but strong pioneer stock, rose to deserved 
 prominence in the business and social life of several western cities. The 
 family is scattered, but the respect its members command and the success they 
 have achieved bears testimony to the strain of ability and energy inherent in 
 the blood. It leads also to deeper consideration of one of the theories in the 
 Ford's Ferry mystery, that James Ford was perhaps a victim of circum- 
 stances growing out of his peculiar personality in a dangerous surrounding. 
 
 39 The crime was committed in that part of Gallatin County which in 
 1839 (when Hardin County was formed out of parts of Gallatin and Pope 
 counties) became the eastern portion of Hardin. Previous to the organiza- 
 tion of Hardin, Cave-in-Rock was a "corner" at the southern extremity of 
 the line separating the two original counties. 
 
314 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 "That . . . not having the fear of God before 
 their eyes, but being moved and seduced by the instiga- 
 tions of the Devil on the thirtieth day of June . . . 
 with force and arms ... in and upon one Vincent 
 B. Simpson, in (violation of) the peace of God and of 
 the people of the said State, feloniously, wilfully, and 
 of their malice aforethought, did make an assault, and 
 that the said Henry C. Shouse, with a certain gun called 
 a rifle, of the value of ten dollars, then and there 
 charged with gun powder and a leaden bullet . . . 
 did shoot off and discharging said rifle gun, so load- 
 ed .. . did wound the said Vincent in and upon 
 the left side of the back bone near the shoulder blade, 
 inflicting a mortal wound in and through the body . . . 
 of which said mortal wound said Vincent did languish 
 and languishing did live until the first day of July . . . 
 and of said mortal wound did die. . . And that the 
 said James Mulligan and the said William H. J. Stev- 
 enson, then and there, feloniously, wilfully, and of their 
 malice aforethought, were present, aiding, helping, 
 abetting, comforting, assisting, and maintaining the said 
 Henry C. Shouse, the felony murder aforesaid to do 
 and commit." 
 
 A careful perusal of the court records and documents 
 leads to the discovery of these facts : The case was called 
 for trial a few days after the indictment had been found. 
 Fifteen witnesses had been summoned; all were ready 
 to give testimony for the state, but none for the defense. 
 After considerable discussion by the attorneys, a change 
 of venue to Pope County was granted, and the case was 
 docketed for trial at Golconda in November. Begin- 
 ning November 21, 1833, and continuing six days, 
 Shouse's attorneys, Fowler and Gatewood, made every 
 effort to secure a postponement, claiming technical er- 
 
Paying the Penalty 315 
 
 rors committed by the court. Failing in this, they pre- 
 sented the fact that Mulligan had died in jail and Stev- 
 enson had escaped, and on that ground succeeded in 
 deferring the trial until the May term following. There 
 is nothing to indicate the circumstances of the death of 
 the one, nor the escape and disappearance of the other. 
 
 On May 21, 1834, the case was again presented and 
 the attorneys argued for further delay, but failed. 
 Shouse stood trial, and after a two days' hearing the 
 jury was instructed to consider the evidence. There is 
 nothing in the written records showing for what motive 
 Shouse killed Simpson. In fact, the records contain 
 little other than stereotyped legal phrases relative to 
 postponing the case. They throw practically no light 
 on the evidence heard. No summaries of the testimony 
 have been found. Shouse denied his guilt. The name 
 of Ford does not appear in any of the documents. Tra- 
 dition says that Shouse not only did not betray Ford, 
 but shielded him whenever an opportunity presented 
 itself. 
 
 After the jury had retired, one William Sharp ap- 
 peared on the scene and begged to be heard. Shouse's 
 attorneys prepared a written avowal of what Sharp's 
 statement would contain and presented it to the judge 
 with an argument that in view of the new evidence by 
 a material witness the case be retried, regardless of the 
 verdict of the present jury. This was overruled. This 
 document is the only one from which can be gathered 
 any suggestion as to the character of evidence probably 
 employed by the defense. Its plea was that "Shouse 
 expects to prove by said witness (Sharp) that the de- 
 ceased Simpson told him about a week before his 
 death that he had some short time before collared the 
 defendant Shouse and dared him to cut, that he in- 
 
3 16 Outlaws of Gave-in-Rock 
 
 tended then in a few days to take his pistol and go over 
 to Shouse's house and settle him." This was a plea of 
 self-defense. But, as already stated, this motion was 
 overruled. The jury, after due deliberation, found 
 Shouse "guilty as charged." 
 
 According to most traditions, Simpson had more 
 knowledge of the criminal conduct of the Ford's Ferry 
 outlaws than it was safe for one man to have. It was 
 rumored that a large reward was about to be offered for 
 evidence leading to the conviction of any member of 
 the band, and Simpson's confederates feared he would 
 be tempted to betray them. Shouse, it seems, was 
 selected - or volunteered - to see that "dead men tell no 
 tales." 
 
 No man of his time was more familiar with the de- 
 tails of the Shouse murder trial than William Courtney 
 Watts. He furnished the following statement to a 
 representative of the Louisville Courier- Journal which 
 published it March 27, 1895 : 
 
 "Shouse was one of the ring-leaders of the notorious 
 Ford gang and it is generally believed that Ford depu- 
 tized him to kill Simpson. It was observed that after 
 Shouse was sentenced to be hanged, his attorney, Judge 
 Wyley P. Fowler, spent a large part of his time in the 
 cell of Shouse. It finally leaked out that Shouse was 
 dictating to Judge Fowler a history of the robber band 
 to which he had belonged and that his statements impli- 
 cated some of the wealthiest and most prominent cit- 
 izens in Livingston County. At that juncture Judge 
 Fowler received a number of anonymous letters in 
 which writers threatened his life in the event of his 
 ever making public the communications made to him 
 by Shouse. By the advice of friends Judge Fowler 
 spent the succeeding winter in Frankfort. Upon his 
 
Paying the Penalty 317 
 
 return Mr. J. W. Cade, the circuit clerk, asked Judge 
 Fowler if the Shouse history had been destroyed. He 
 replied: 'No good could come of its publication. It 
 would cast a shade upon the reputation of some of 
 Livingston County's most esteemed citizens.' Nothing 
 further was ever heard of the manuscript and it is be- 
 lieved that Judge Fowler destroyed it." 
 
 It is said Judge Fowler's notes were based on the 
 dictations the doomed Shouse intended for the public, 
 and on such reports as were being openly discussed 
 among the people. Judge Fowler, however, having 
 been Ford's attorney for a number of years and having 
 represented Shouse in his last trial, recognized that any 
 statement he made would be considered as based on 
 confidential information received by him as an attorney, 
 and that, in consequence, he would be unjustly con- 
 demned. 
 
 What Shouse's history and confession contained was 
 the subject of much speculation for a generation or two. 
 There is an impression among some people living in the 
 lower Ohio River valley that Judge Fowler's alleged 
 manuscript on the history of the robber band still exists. 
 Inquiry recently made among his descendants resulted 
 in learning that many years before his death in 1880, 
 he, in the presence of an intimate friend, destroyed all 
 his data on the subject. Judge Fowler never permitted 
 any one to see his notes and seldom discussed the matter. 
 It is said that on one occasion when he was asked 
 whether or not the Ford's Ferry band was a branch of 
 the clan led by John A. Murrell, he left the impression 
 that it had at one time made some preparations to work 
 in conjunction with the great western land pirate and 
 his band of negro stealers. 
 
 More or less has been written by historians and nov- 
 
3 1 8 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 elists about John A. Murrell, but no writer connects 
 him with Cave-in-Rock or Ford's Ferry. The History 
 of Virgil A. Stewart, a book on the life of Murrell, 
 compiled by H. R. Howard and published in 1836, 
 gives an incomplete list of Murrell's associates. Among 
 the four hundred and fifty names there recorded there 
 is none familiar to persons now living near Cave-in- 
 Rock. Tradition says that Shouse made a few trips 
 between the Cave and Marked Tree, Arkansas, to meet 
 Murrell or some of his representatives for the purpose 
 of delivering and receiving messages pertaining to ne- 
 gro stealing and the disposition of counterfeit money. 
 But whether or not the Ford's Ferry band was ever part 
 of the John A. Murrell clan will remain, in all prob- 
 ability, one of the Ford's Ferry mysteries. 40 
 
 On June 7, 1834, Judge Thomas C. Brown sent a writ 
 to Joshua Howard, Sheriff of Pope County: "Where- 
 as .. . Judgment hath been given in our said 
 court that the said Henry C. Shouse shall be hanged by 
 the neck until he is dead and that execution of said 
 judgment be made and done on Monday the ninth day 
 of June A.D., 1834, between the hours of twelve of the 
 clock at noon and four of the clock in the evening of 
 the same day, at some convenient place in the vicinity, 
 not more than one-half mile from the town of Golconda 
 in said county, in the usual manner of inflicting punish- 
 
 40 The fact that the names Murrell and Mason sound somewhat alike is 
 sometimes the cause of confusion. For example, occasionally one hears that 
 Little Harpe cut off the head of Murrell, whereas Harpe was hanged when 
 Murrell was four or five years old. 
 
 On a map of the Ohio, compiled 1911-14 under the supervision of the 
 Ohio River Board of Engineers on Locks and Dams, Cave-in-Rock is 
 erroneously designated Merrell's [sic] Cave. 
 
 One absurd tradition has it that James Ford's first wife was a sister of 
 Murrell, and another is to the effect that both Ford and his wife were related 
 to Mason, Murrell, and the Harpes. 
 
Paying the Penalty 319 
 
 ment in such cases. . ." And on June 9 Shouse paid 
 the extreme penalty. 
 
 Tradition has it that on the day of the hanging 
 thousands of people came to Golconda from Gallatin 
 and Pope counties, Illinois, and from Livingston Coun- 
 ty, Kentucky, and other sections, to see the first legal 
 hanging in the county and to witness the death struggle 
 of a Ford's Ferry and Cave-in-Rock outlaw. Even to 
 this day, a large crowd in that section of the country is 
 measured as being "as big as the one when Shouse was 
 hanged." The execution took place in the creek bot- 
 tom immediately north of the town limits, at a spot 
 where the slopes of the hills converge to form a natural 
 amphitheatre. About two o'clock in the afternoon 
 Shouse was placed on an ox-cart and driven to the 
 scaffold that had been built by erecting two heavy 
 timbers with a cross beam over them. Between these 
 two upright posts the cart was placed, and into it the 
 condemned man's coffin was then shoved, thus serving 
 the purpose of a platform and trap. Shouse's hands 
 were tied behind his back; he was blindfolded and 
 made to stand erect upon his coffin. The suspended 
 rope was looped around his neck; the oxen pulled the 
 cart forward and Shouse fell. 
 
 Thus terminated the career of one of the members of 
 the mysterious Ford's Ferry band, and with it passed 
 away forever bloodshed and robbery at Cave-in-Rock. 
 
The Cave in Fiction 
 
 Historical novels, with some exceptions, present the 
 past in a more interesting manner than do the formal 
 histories which are intended as chronicles of actual 
 facts. It has been said, on the one hand, that "truth is 
 stranger than fiction," and on the other that "fiction is 
 often more truthful than fact." Fiction is undoubtedly 
 more truthful in the presentation of the manners and 
 social life of the period portrayed than is formal his- 
 tory. The history of Cave-in-Rock and the careers of 
 the outlaws identified with the place is not only stranger 
 than fiction, but is besprinkled with many tragic and 
 melodramatic scenes which, although almost unimagin- 
 able, are actually true. For more than a century fiction 
 writers have used the Cave as a background for stories. 
 These authors by freely discarding the leading facts 
 and drawing on their own imaginations wrote stories 
 less original than might otherwise have been produced. 
 
 No effort has been made to compile a more or less 
 complete collection of works of fiction pertaining to the 
 Cave. The stories and poems commented on in the 
 course of this chapter are only such as were incidentally 
 found while in search of history. Although this fiction 
 has very little of facts for a basis, and most of the 
 scenes are far from probable, nevertheless it necessarily 
 stands not only as Cave-in-Rock literature, but also as 
 a contribution to the good, bad, or indifferent literature 
 of America. The fact that more than one edition was 
 published of the Cave-in-Rock novels here referred to 
 
322 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 indicates, to some extent that they represent some of the 
 types of stories then in demand. 
 
 Stories dealing with mysterious murders and high- 
 way robberies have always found many enthusiastic 
 readers. It seems that every decade of the nineteenth 
 century produced at least one new tale of Cave-in-Rock. 
 And in our own times the writings of some well-known 
 living authors show that the Cave is still supplying ma- 
 terial for fiction. 
 
 In Irvin S. Cobb's story "The Dogged Under Dog," 
 (originally published in the Saturday Evening Post, 
 August 3, 191 2, and shortly thereafter printed in Cobb's 
 book entitled Back Home) one of the characters, recall- 
 ing some of the rough men who lived near the Cave 
 when that country was still new, says Big Harpe and 
 Little Harpe were run down by dogs and killed and 
 that "the men who killed them cut off their heads and 
 salted them down and packed them both in a piggin 
 of brine, and sent the piggin by a man on horseback 
 up to Frankfort to collect the reward." 
 
 Nancy Huston Banks in Old field, 1902, devotes a few 
 pages to Cave-in-Rock, the Harpes, and a character she 
 calls "Alvarado," a mysterious Spaniard who fre- 
 quented the lower Ohio valley and who was suspected 
 of having been a comrade of Jean Lafitte. Mrs. 
 Banks, in her next historical novel, 'Round Anvil Rock, 
 1903 (in which Philip Alston is one of the leading 
 characters) refers to that section of Kentucky lying op- 
 posite the Cave as having been the "Rogues Harbor." 
 
 The Harpes, Masons, and the Cave are introduced in 
 The Ark of 1803, by C. A. Stephens. This book for 
 boys, published in 1904, is intended as a picture of 
 romances and tragedies incidental to early navigation 
 on the Ohio and Mississippi. It serves that purpose 
 
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The Cave in Fiction 325 
 
 fairly well, although practically no statement made by 
 the author regarding the Harpes and the Masons is in 
 accordance with history or tradition. 
 
 Our earliest item relative to fiction pertaining to the 
 Cave was found in a review published in The Port Fo- 
 lio, February, 1809, of Thomas Ashe's Travels in 
 America Performed in 1806, printed in London in 
 1808. The critics in Ashe's day, and ever since, de- 
 clared the writer of Travels a literary thief, bone thief, 
 and infamous prevaricator and ridiculed his work on 
 the ground that it was filled with incredible stories 
 grafted onto authentic incidents and actual facts. This 
 general condemnation gave the new book a wide circu- 
 lation for a few years. The editor of The Port Folio 
 devotes a dozen pages to his "entire contempt both of 
 Mr. Ashe and his work." 
 
 Most of the travelers who appeared after Ashe's day 
 and examined the Cave detected in his sketch a combi- 
 nation of facts and fiction that helped spread the name 
 and history of this interesting and picturesque rendez- 
 vous of outlaws. Many a visitor still goes to the place 
 expecting to explore the "upper cave" but soon discov- 
 ers that its size has been wildly exaggerated by Ashe. 
 His account of the Cave is one of the longest ever writ- 
 ten and will always be of curious interest no matter 
 from what standpoint it may be read, other than history. 
 The reproach to Ashe is that he gave the hoax out as 
 veritable facts encountered in his travels and never 
 corrected this impression or acknowledged his purpose. 
 About half of what he says concerning the Cave is at 
 least highly probable; the remainder is wholly ficti- 
 tious. 
 
 A casual investigation of the stories published after 
 outlawry terminated at Ford's Ferry, brought to light 
 
326 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 two novels and a long poem in which the Cave serves 
 as a background. Viewed from the standpoint of today 
 their plots have the consistency of a dime novel. Brows- 
 ing in the field of fiction also led to the discovery of the 
 one time celebrated romance of Harpe's Head, 
 
 Harpe's Head, by Judge James Hall, was first pub- 
 lished in America in 1833, an d the following year was 
 printed in London under the title of Kentucky, A Tale, 
 It was later republished in America in Judge Hall's 
 volume, Legends of the West, Harpe's Head is the 
 only novel in which the notorious Harpes are intro- 
 duced as characters. It is a story of a small emigrant 
 family traveling from Virginia to western Kentucky 
 over the route then endangered by the Harpes. All the 
 characters are fictitious, except the two outlaws and 
 their wives. No reference is made to their career at the 
 Cave. 
 
 The romance is written in a dignified and graceful 
 style. Atkinsons Casket for November, 1833, in its 
 comments on the book says "it has some masterly 
 scenes," and quotes one in full -a Virginia barbecue. 
 Among other interesting sketches of pioneer times 
 woven into Harpe's Head is one of "Hercules Short" 
 or "Hark Short, the Snake Killer," a half-witted boy 
 who performs extraordinary feats and who labors under 
 the impression that he is a son of Big Harpe. On one 
 occasion "Hark" remarks that his mother told him, "If 
 anybody was to rake hell with a fine-comb they would 
 not find sich a tarnal villain as Big Harpe." 
 
 Edmund L. Starling, in his History of Henderson 
 County, Kentucky, 1887, says: "The history of the 
 Harpes in this portion of Kentucky, has long ago, and 
 repeatedly found its way into the histories of Kentucky 
 and other states, in pamphlets and the newspapers of 
 
The Cave in Fiction 327 
 
 the country, and at one time was even dramatized for 
 the American stage. But it was so desperate and appall- 
 ing to all rational sensibilities that it was abandoned by 
 the drama." I did not find any pamphlets or dramas 
 regarding the Harpes. 
 
 The earliest novel found using Cave-in-Rock for a 
 background is Mike Fink, A Legend of the Ohio, by 
 Emerson Bennett, who for a time was a well-known 
 writer of thrilling romances. This melodrama was first 
 published in Cincinnati in 1848, and although now a 
 somewhat rare book, it ranked, judging from the num- 
 ber of editions issued, among widely-read stories of the 
 middle of the last century. Its popularity was not due 
 to any high literary merit, but to its wild and extrava- 
 gant plot. The greater part of the story deals with 
 bloody battles between a band of outlaws and the flat- 
 boat crew and passengers led by Mike Fink. Practic- 
 ally all the action takes place in or near the Cave, and 
 for that reason "A Legend of Cave-in-Rock" would 
 have been a more appropriate subtitle. 
 
 Shortly after Mike Fink was put into circulation 
 there appeared in the Alton (Illinois) Courier, 1852, a 
 prize serial entitled Virginia Rose, by Dr. Edward 
 Reynolds Roe. Having gone through a pamphlet edi- 
 tion, this Cave-in-Rock story was published in book 
 form in 1882 under the title of Brought to Bay, and in 
 1892 the same story was republished and its title 
 changed back to Virginia Rose. Dr. E. R. Roe -not 
 E. P. Roe with whom he is sometimes confused - was a 
 citizen of Illinois, practiced medicine and wrote a num- 
 ber of books. He died in Chicago in 1893 at me a S e °f 
 eighty. He lived in Shawneetown a few years, begin- 
 ning in 1843, and it is said he prepared the greater part 
 of this manuscript while residing there. 
 
328 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 The book has no preface and the presumption is that 
 all the characters are fictitious. The story deals with 
 the career of a girl, Virginia Rose, who was kidnapped 
 in Shawneetown by her father, the leader of the Cave- 
 in-Rock outlaws. He takes her to the Cave, and it so 
 happened that shortly thereafter the New Madrid 
 earthquake of 181 1 occurs. The citizens of Shawnee- 
 town, suspecting that the stolen Virginia Rose may have 
 been taken to the Cave, so runs the story, organize a res- 
 cuing party. Upon their arrival at the Cave, they, to 
 their great surprise, find the place abandoned. Boxes 
 and barrels were scattered around, their contents undis- 
 turbed, and the general appearance indicated that the 
 place had been abandoned sudddenly. 
 
 In the words of the author: "Remnants of a feast 
 which had never been eaten were lying upon a table; 
 lamps were hanging around burnt out for want of 
 oil. . . The hatchway overhead, which communi- 
 cated with the room above was not closed . . . but 
 the avenues which led from it to the inner cave had dis- 
 appeared. The rock had fallen from above in vast 
 masses and closed all connection between the upper 
 cave and the outer world forever. . . What was a 
 hill back of the cave bluff now appeared to be a hollow 
 or depression, as compared to the ground around it. . . 
 The outlaws had met their fate - they had perished in 
 the earthquake [except the leader and his daughter 
 who were on the Mississippi at the time] perhaps in the 
 midst of gay festivities, perhaps in the hour of music 
 and dancing! Who could say? Not a soul was left to 
 tell the tale. The men who had come to execute ven- 
 geance could not now avoid sympathy for the dead." 
 
 Thus did the author of Virginia Rose make the New 
 Madrid earthquake wipe out the Cave-in-Rock's "inner 
 
The Cave in Fiction 329 
 
 cave" or "upper cave" that had been "discovered" and 
 is so extravagantly described by Thomas Ashe! 
 
 Between recorded history on the one hand and stories 
 of fiction on the other stands the book Chronicles of a 
 Kentucky Settlement, 1897, D Y William Courtney 
 Watts. It is a historical romance based solely on local 
 tradition. Although this work is somewhat faulty in 
 its general construction, and may be, at times, somewhat 
 crude in its literary style, it is, nevertheless, one of the 
 most faithful historical sketches of early Kentucky. 
 
 The leading characters are Joseph Watts and Lucin- 
 da Haynes, who were first thrown together in 1805 
 when children on their way from North Carolina to 
 the West, Joseph going to Tennessee and Lucinda mov- 
 ing with her parents to Kentucky. A few years later 
 Joseph Watts began a search for Miss Haynes and 
 found her near Salem, Kentucky. After a courtship 
 such as none but lovers in a new country could experi- 
 ence, they were married and became the parents of the 
 author who tells their story. Among other characters 
 is Charles H. Webb, who gave Watts an account of his 
 capture at Cave-in-Rock and escape from the outlaws 
 and who later married the daughter of James Ford. 
 
 The gloomiest tragedy in the book concerns the un- 
 fortunate Lucy Jefferson Lewis, sister of Thomas Jef- 
 ferson, whose two sons killed a slave on their farm near 
 Smithland, Kentucky, and cut up the body in an attempt 
 to conceal their crime. One of the Lewis brothers 
 committed suicide on his mother's grave and the other 
 escaped after he had been arrested for murder and 
 placed in jail. All the characters in Chronicles are pre- 
 sented under fictitious names. 41 
 
 It is probable that every person who saw the land- 
 
 41 An exhaustive search through the fiction printed during the first part 
 
23° Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 scape of which the opening of the Cave forms a part 
 had his sense of romance and poetry stirred by the sight. 
 To what extent attempts were made to express this 
 emotion in the form of poetry or verse is not known. 
 Only one poem has been found - "The Outlaw," by 
 Charles H. Jones, of Cincinnati. It comprises about 
 one thousand two hundred lines, published in 1835 in a 
 neatly bound booklet called The Outlaw and Other 
 Poems. In the October, 1835, issue of the Western 
 Monthly Magazine, of Cincinnati, Judge James Hall 
 devotes two pages to a eulogistic review of the book, 
 encouraging the young poet in his work. A more en- 
 thusiastic reviewer might have called this an epic of 
 Cave-in-Rock. 
 
 In his introductory note Mr. Jones briefly refers to the 
 then well-known fact that the Cave had been for many 
 years the resort of a band of outlaws all of whom were 
 finally either killed or driven out by the Rangers. As 
 to his authorities he states that "the ravages of the rob- 
 bers are still fresh in the recollection of many of the in- 
 habitants of the lower Ohio valley." 
 
 About one-half of the poem is an "effervescence of 
 
 of last century probably would result in finding all the Cave-in-Rock tales 
 referred to by early writers. 
 
 Henry R. Schoolcraft visited the Cave in 1818 and in his Personal 
 Memoirs commented that "as a scene of a tale of imaginative robber-life 
 it appeared to me to possess great attractions." Later in his book entitled 
 The Indian in His Wigwam he adds: "The Cave's associations of the early 
 robber era . . . have been commemorated by the pen of fiction of Charles 
 Brockden Brown." In 1834 Charles Fenno Hoffman writes that "its peculiar 
 form has suggested one of the most agreeable tales to an admired Western 
 writer." Edmund Flagg, in The Far West, written in 1836, states that 
 murdering and boat robbing perpetrated at the Cave by Samuel Mason and 
 his band "has suggested a spirited tale from a popular writer." 
 
 Judge James Hall wrote for a number of magazines. Among his articles 
 may be one on the outlaws at Cave-in-Rock, or a story in which he pictures 
 the activities of the Harpes, the Masons, and others during their stay there. 
 My search for any of his Cave sketches has been fruitless. 
 
The Cave in Fiction 331 
 
 poetic fancy," with here and there a real gem. The 
 plot is dramatic. The story begins in Virginia. Our 
 hero shoots his successful rival in love immediately 
 after the wedding ceremony. Believing he has killed 
 the groom and that the shock has proven fatal to the 
 bride, he flees to the wilds of the West. He drifts down 
 the Ohio, joins the band of outlaws at the Cave and 
 soon becomes their leader -The Outlaw. 
 
 One "dark tempestuous night" a flatboat passing the 
 Cave is attacked by the robbers; a fierce and bloody 
 combat follows. The Outlaw discovers among the pas- 
 sengers the very girl who had discarded him for an- 
 other - and still alive. He stabs her in the heart and 
 then- 
 
 "He raised her body from the floor, 
 And hurled it to the foaming wave, 
 Her white robe red with streaming gore, 
 A fitting shroud for such a grave." 
 
 The battle continues. The Outlaw kills man after 
 man, when to his surprise he finds himself facing the 
 very man he thought he had killed in Virginia. The 
 two recognize each other instantly. They draw daggers 
 and The Outlaw is slain. And the boatmen, so runs the 
 story, exterminate the band of robbers at the Cave. 
 
 "The morning breaks, the fight is o'er, 
 Peace smiles again upon the shore. . . 
 Yon arching cave is lonely now, 
 The tenants of its holds have fled, 
 Or on the hill-top's rocky brow 
 Are sleeping with the dead. . . 
 
 No more those cavern's walls will ring 
 With sounds of mirth and rioting, 
 And peacefully along the tide, 
 The laden barks will slowly glide ; 
 
332 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Their crews no more will deem they see 
 A robber's form in every tree, 
 And grasp their rifles and prepare 
 For deeds of blood and carnage there ; 
 But as they pass along the shore, 
 Will pause and rest upon the oar, 
 And tell of many a bloody tale, 
 The legends of yon gloomy vale ; 
 And travelers, with curious eyes, 
 Will view its chambers in surprise, 
 And scarce believe that where they stand, 
 Was heard the clash of brand on brand, 
 And yonder yawning cavern's gloom 
 The Outlaw's dwelling — and his tomb ; 
 But rather all they hear they'll deem 
 A fable, or a fairy dream." 
 
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 St. Louis Republic, October 29, 191 1 : Lower Illinois Cave Long 
 a Nest of Pirates. [115] 
 
 S afford, William H. Blennerhassett Papers (1 891). 186. [116] 
 
 Schoolcraft, Henry R. Indian in His Wigwam (New York, 
 1848). 23. [117] 
 
 Schoolcraft, Henry R. Personal Memoirs (Philadelphia, 1851). 
 26, 27. [118] 
 
 Schultz, Christian. Travels on an Inland Voyage in the Years 
 1807 and 1808 (New York, 1810). vol. i, 201, 202. [119] 
 
 Sealsfield, Charles. Americans as They Are (London, 1828). 
 76. [120] 
 
 Smith, T. Marshall. Legends of the War of Independence and 
 of the Earlier Settlements in the West (Louisville, 1855). 318- 
 377- [121] 
 
 Spalding, Martin J. Sketches of the Early Catholic Missions in 
 Kentucky (Louisville, 1844). 175, 176. [122] 
 
 Speed, Thomas. Wilderness Road. Filson Club Publications No. 
 2 (Louisville, 1886). 17-51. [123] 
 
 Starling, Edmund L. History of Henderson County Kentucky 
 (Henderson, 1887). 26, 31-33, 95, 104, 105, 523-529, 796. [124] 
 
 Steele, Mrs. Eliza R. Summer Journey in the West (New York, 
 1841). 216. [125] 
 
 Swain, John. The Natchez Trace. Everybody's Magazine, New 
 York, September, 1905. [126] 
 
 Tennessee Gazette, a weekly, Nashville, Tennessee. News item: 
 April 27, 1830. [127] 
 
 Thwaites, Reuben Gold. On the Storied Ohio (Chicago, 1903). 
 273, 274. [128] 
 
 Thwaites, Reuben Gold, Editor, Early Western Travels, 1748- 
 1846 (Cleveland, 1 904- 1 908), 32 vols. vol. iv, Cuming; vol. 
 viii, Evans; vol. xiii, Nuttall; vol. xiv, James; vol. xxii, Max- 
 imilian; vol. xxvi, Flagg. Also editor of Withers's Chronicles. 
 
 [129] 
 
344 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Thwaites, Reuben Gold, and Louise Phelps Kellogg. Frontier 
 Defense on the Upper Ohio, 1777-1778; Wisconsin Historical 
 Society, 191 2. Draper Series vol. iii, 21-68. [130] 
 
 Thwaites, Reuben Gold, and Louise Phelps Kellogg. Revolution 
 on the Upper Ohio, 1 775-1 777. Wisconsin Historical Society, 
 1908. Draper Series, vol. ii, 254, 255. [131] 
 
 Trabue, Daniel, Autobiography of. See 63. 
 
 Triplett, Frank. History, Romance and Philosophy of Great 
 American Crimes and Criminals (St. Louis, 1884). 223-250. 
 [An unreliable book.] [132] 
 
 Triplett, Robert. Roland Trevor, or the Pilot of Human Life 
 (Philadelphia, 1853). 201 [133] 
 
 Venable, W. H. Beginnings of Literary Culture in the Ohio Val- 
 ley (Cincinnati, 1891). Biographies of Timothy Flint and James 
 Hall, 323-385. [i34] 
 
 Virginia State Library. List of the Revolutionary Soldiers of 
 Virginia (Richmond, 1912). 301. [135] 
 
 Watts, William Courtney. Chronicles of a Kentucky Settle- 
 ment (New York, 1897). [136] 
 
 Western Literary and Historical Magazine, Louisville. See 
 42. 
 
 Western Monthly Magazine, Cincinnati. See 59. 
 
 Western Monthly Review, [Timothy Flint, Editor,] Cincinnati, 
 January, 1830: Colonel Plug, the Last of the Boat- wreckers. 
 
 [137] 
 
 Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette, a weekly, Cincinnati. 
 News items: September 3, 1799, March 9 and May 4, 1803. 
 
 [138] 
 
 Wheeling Gazette, (West Virginia), a weekly, December 10, 
 1829: The Robber of the Wilderness, reprinted from The Nat- 
 chez Galaxy. (Draper MSS. 29CC 75-76). [139] 
 
 Wisconsin State Historical Society. See 12, 76, 130, 131. 
 
 Withers, Alexander S. Chronicles of Border Warfare (Clarks- 
 burg, Virginia, 1831). Edited by Thwaites (Cincinnati, 1895). 
 224-228. [140] 
 
 Woods, Edgar. Albemarle County in Virginia (Charlottesville, 
 1901). 236, 237, 251, 254. [141] 
 
 Worth en, A. H. Geological Survey of Illinois (Springfield, 1866). 
 vol. i, 354. [142] 
 
Bibliography 345 
 
 Young, Jacob. Autobiography of a Pioneer (Cincinnati, 1858). 
 95-97. [ J 43] 
 
 Libraries used in the preparation of this book. 
 
 Chicago: J. Christian Bay's Private, Chicago Historical Society, 
 John Crerar, Newberry, and University of Chicago. Cincinnati: 
 Cincinnati Public, Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, 
 and Young Men's Mercantile. Frankfort: Kentucky State Histor- 
 ical Society, and State Library. Jackson: Mississippi Department 
 of Archives and History. Lexington, Kentucky : Lexington Public. 
 Louisville: Young E. Allison's Private, Filson Club, Louisville Free 
 Public, and R. C. Ballard Thruston's Private. Madison: Wiscon- 
 sin State Historical Soceity. New Harmony, Indiana: Working- 
 men's Institute. New Orleans: Gaspar Cusach's Private, Howard 
 Memorial, Louisiana Historical Society, State Museum, and 
 Thomas P. Thompson's Private. St. Louis: Missouri Historical 
 Society. Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society. Washing- 
 ton : Library of Congress. 
 
Ind 
 
 ex 
 
Index 
 
 Adair County (Ky.) : 86, 141 
 
 Adairville: 103 
 
 Alberts, J. Bernhard: 36; pictures by, 
 
 3, 31, 259 
 Allen, John (of Ky.) : 135 
 Allen, W. B., Kentucky: 336 
 Allison, Young E.: 7; library of, 
 
 345 
 Alston, Peter: 272 
 Alston, Philip (counterfeiter) : 271- 
 
 274, 322 
 Alton Courier, "Virginia Rose:" 327, 
 
 328 
 "Alvarado," in Old field: 322 
 Alvis, Mr.: owner Diamond Island, 
 
 172 
 American Pioneer, S. P. Hildreth: 
 
 Marietta to New Orleans, 40-43 ; 
 
 Van Cleve's Journal, 167, 168, 339 
 Anthony, Abraham: at Langford 
 
 burial, 75 
 Anthony, Mrs. William: letter to 
 
 Draper, 169-171, 252 
 Ares River: 221, 225 
 Arkansas Post: 220, 224 
 Ashe, Thomas, Travels: 24, 25, 48, 
 
 I 73> 325, 336; condemned, 325 
 Atkinson's Casket: 326, 336, 337 
 Audubon, John James, Journals: 177, 
 
 252-254, 336 
 AycoflF, Mr. (of Knoxville) : 64 
 Back Home, Cobb: 322 
 Bacon, M. E. , "Bold River Pirates:" 
 
 336 
 Baily, Francis, Journal: 24, 336 
 Baker, Joshua: robbed by Mason, 
 
 183-188, 190, 196, 216, 223, 224, 
 
 226, 229-234 
 
 Baker, William: robbed by Mason, 
 
 184 
 Baker's Creek (or Twelve Mile 
 
 Creek) : 183, 184, 188 
 Baldwin, Old Man (outlaw) : 122 
 Ballard, William: killed by Harpes, 
 
 95, 96 
 
 Ballenger, Capt. Joseph: pursues 
 Harpes, 69, 85, 91 ; affidavit, 73 
 
 Banks, Nancy Houston: 'Round An- 
 vil Rock, 272, 273, 322; Oldfield, 
 322 
 
 Barren River: 86, 89, 90 
 
 Barret (associate of Mason): 227, 
 228 
 
 Barrow (associate of Mason) : 164 
 
 Bass, Mr.: contact with Setton, 221, 
 222 
 
 Bassett (associate of Mason) : 223, 
 229-231 
 
 Bates: killed by Harpes, 66, 67 
 
 Battery Rock: 27, 44, 45 
 
 Bay, J. C: library of, 345 
 
 Bayou Pierre: 184, 234, 235, 251 
 
 Bear Creek: 198 
 
 Beaver Creek: 63 
 
 Beck, L. C: Gazetteer, 336 
 
 Belan, Ignace (merchant) : 209 
 
 Bellegrove Church: 264 
 
 Bellin's map of Louisiana: 18 
 
 Belt, Logan, Jackson: 311, 312, 340 
 
 Bennett, Emerson: Mike Fink, A Le- 
 gend of the Ohio: 327 
 
 Biegler, John (Danville jailer) : 77- 
 80 
 
 Big Rockcastle River: 68, 69 
 
 Big Sink, near Cave: 30 
 
 Bigsby Cave, near Cave: 30 
 
35o 
 
 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Billeth, Pierre: testimony Mason's 
 
 trial, 238, 239 
 Black Oak Ridge (Tenn.) : 95 
 Blackburn, W. B. (attorney) : 133 
 Blain, Maj. James (attorney gen- 
 eral) : 73, 86 
 Blain, John: pursues Harpes, 73 
 Blowe, Daniel: View of the United 
 
 States, 175, 336 
 Bodmer, Charles (artist): 35, 36, 336 
 Bowman, John: identifies Little 
 
 Harpe, 255 
 Bradbury: killed by Harpes, 95 
 Bradbury's Ridge (Tenn.) : 95 
 Bradley, Captain (associate of Ma- 
 son) : 238 
 Brassel, James: killed by Harpes, 
 
 95-99 
 Brassel, Robert: pursues Harpes, 96- 
 
 98, 100 
 Brassel's Knob (Tenn.) : 95 
 Breazeale, Mr. (attorney): 258 
 Breazeale, J. W. M.: Life as it Is, 
 78, 103, 105, 112, 125, 126, 128, 146, 
 150, 151 [65, 66, 95, in, 113, 127] 
 336 
 Briscoe, Mrs. Phillip (daughter of 
 
 Samuel Mason) : 234 
 Brokus (quadroon Indian) : 185 
 Brought to Bay, E. R. Roe: 327 
 Brown (associate of Mason): 227 
 Brown, C. B. (novelist) : 330 
 Brown, Jonathan: near Cave, 44, 312 
 Brown, Samuel R., Western Gazet- 
 teer: 336 
 Brown, Judge Thomas C: 318 
 Bruin, Judge Peter B. (of Miss.) 
 
 257 
 Burnett, Col. Daniel: letter to, 196 
 Burr, Aaron: 257 
 Burton (associate of Mason) : 222 
 Bush Creek: 73 
 Butler, Col. Andrew: helps Harpe 
 
 woman, 154, 155 
 Cache River: 40 
 Cade, J. W. (circuit clerk) : 317 
 
 Caldivell and Livingston Counties, 
 
 Missouri'. 154, 341 
 Caldwell County (Ky.) : 122 
 Campbell, Mr.: robbed by Mason, 
 
 223, 225 
 Canoe Creek: 107, 109, 170 
 Canot, Felipo: New Madrid militia, 
 
 211 
 Cape Girardeau: 218 
 Carolina Gazette: 101, 124, 126, 337 
 Carpenter's Station (Ky.) : 69 
 Carpentier, Joseph (interpreter) : 
 
 209, 210, 212, 216 
 Caruthersville (Mo.) : see ..Little 
 
 Prairie 
 Caseyville: 273, 274, 278 
 Casket Magazine: 164, 189-190, 245, 
 
 257, 326, 336, 337 
 Cave Dwellers: 27 
 Cave Spring; near Cave, 26 
 Cave-in-Rock: location, 17, 18; scen- 
 ery near, 17, 19; discovery by 
 white men, 18; maps showing, 18, 
 x 93; high water, 20, 30; geology, 
 29, 30; described, 19, 20, 23-25, 
 2 7> 3 J > 32; Indians and Mound 
 Builders at, 25-29; Harpes at, 90- 
 94; Mason at, 174-176; counter- 
 feiters at, 268-281 ; Jim Wilson at, 
 47-51; James Wilson, of Chroni- 
 cles, at, 47, 291-293, 329; Dr. 
 Charles H. Webb at, 286-291; 
 Ford's Ferry Band at, 298, 299; 
 in fiction, 321-332. Other names; 
 Big Cave, 23, 24; Cave-in-the- 
 Rock, 25, 175, 272; Cave-Inn-Rock, 
 32, 37, 175 ; Caverne dans le Roc, 
 18; Counterfeiters Cave, 268; 
 Great Cave, 23 ; House of Nature, 
 18, 19, 32, 279; MurrelFs Cave, 
 318; Rocking Cave, 26; Rock-in- 
 Cave, 27; Rock-Inn-Cave, 29, 175 
 Cave-in-Rock, Upper Cave of: 19, 21, 
 
 24, 25, 51, 325, 328, 329 
 Cave-in-Rock (village of) : 13, 18 
 Cave-in-Rock Bluff: 26, 28, 35, 299 
 
Index 
 
 351 
 
 Cave-in-Rock Island: 26, 35, 36 
 Cedar House (in Ky.) : 272 
 Cedar Point: near Cave, 93, 301, 308 
 Charlevoix, New France: 18, 337 
 Chicago: Historical Society, 345; Un- 
 iversity of, 345 ; John Crerar Li- 
 brary, 345 ; Bay's private library, 
 345; Times, 311, 312 
 Chickasaw Bluffs: see Memphis 
 Chickasaw Agency: 180, 201 
 Choctaw Nation: 181; crossing, 221, 
 
 225, 229 
 Christian, Matthew: pursues Har- 
 pes, 114-125, 130, 131, Hi; depo- 
 sition of, 131, 132; reward to, 
 139; life, 140 
 Christian County (Ky.) : 113, 155 
 Chronicles of a Kentucky Settle- 
 ment, Watts: 47, 285-293, 329, 344 
 Cincinnati: Public Library, 345; 
 Young Men's Mercantile Library, 
 345 ; Ohio Historical and Philoso- 
 phical Society, 345 ; see American 
 Pioneer; Literary Gazette; West- 
 ern Monthly Magazine; Western 
 Review 
 Claiborne, J. F. H.: Mississippi, 201, 
 265, 337 [189, 191, 202, 256]; Wil- 
 ey quoted, 188, 189; MS. on Ma- 
 son's trial, 207 
 Claiborne, Gov. William C. C: 199, 
 200-202, 246, 253, 254, 264; letters 
 by, 192-198; Official Letter Books, 
 Rowland [195, 196, 264] 337, 343 
 Claiborne County (Miss.) : 196 
 Clinch River: 65 
 Clinton County (Ky.) : 97, 98 
 Cobb, Irvin S., Back Home: 322 
 Coffey, Chesley (son of) : killed by 
 
 Harpes, 95, 96, 99 
 Coiners at Cave: see Counterfeiters 
 Colbert's Ferry: 180 
 Cole's Creek: 248, 249, 257 
 Colin, Charles: friend of Mason, 223 
 Collins, Lewis, Kentucky: [hi] 337 
 Collins, Richard H., Kentucky: 55, 
 
 125, 128, 15O, 273, 274 [71, 89, HO, 
 
 135, 137] 337 
 
 Collot, Victor H., Journey: 23, 30, 337 
 
 Colonial Men and Times, L. D. Har- 
 per: including Autobiography of 
 Trabue ; see Daniel Trabue 
 
 Concer, Felic (merchant) : 236 
 
 Concordia Lake: 251 
 
 Counterfeiters at Cave: 32; die used, 
 268-271 ; Alston, 271-274; Duff, 272- 
 278; Sturdevant, 272, 278-281 
 
 Crab Orchard (Ky.) : 66, 67, 69, 70 
 
 Cramer, Zadok, Navigator: 24, 39, 
 40, 41, 44, 173, 203, 337 
 
 Crittenden Co., (Ky.) : 274, 285 ; 
 Marion, in; Piney Fork Camp 
 Ground, in 
 
 Crittenden Press: story of Jim Wil- 
 son, 48-52, 337 
 
 Crooked Creek: 294 
 
 Crow's Nest: see Stack Island 
 
 Cumberland Gap: 65, 66 } 74 
 
 Cumberland River: 66, 238, 287, 
 291 
 
 Cuming, Fortesque, Tour: 25, 26, 
 
 172, 173, 337 
 
 Cumings, Samuel, Western Naviga- 
 tor: 285, 337 
 
 Cusach, Gaspar: library of, 345 
 
 Cutler, Jervis, Topographical De- 
 scription: 337 
 
 Dale, Mr. and Mrs.: pursue Har- 
 pes, 96, 97 
 
 Daniels, Wilson, "Steamboating:" 
 
 337 
 
 Danville (Ky.) : log court house, 77; 
 Harpes escapes jail, 78, 255; 
 three Harpe children born, 79, 80, 
 137; Harpe women tried and lib- 
 erated, 79-83; arrest of two Harpe 
 men ordered, 84; court record of 
 Harpes, 79-82, 335; district court 
 records, 70-84, 335 
 
 Danville District Court Records, Lin- 
 coln Co.: 70-84, 335 
 
 Dapron, Pierre: declaration of, 209 
 
352 
 
 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Darby, John F., Personal Recollec- 
 tions: 337 
 
 Darby, William, Casket Magazine: 
 164, 189-190, 245, 257, 326, 336, 
 
 337 
 Davidson, John: father-in-law of 
 
 Big Harpe, 145 
 Davidson, Maria: wife of Big Harpe, 
 
 145 
 Davidson, Robert, Excursion: [143] 
 
 337 
 Deer Creek: 109, 125 
 Derousser, Francois: testimony Ma- 
 son's trial, 237, 238 
 Diamond Island: 90-92, 167, 171; de- 
 scribed, 172-174 
 Dixon (Ky) : no, 127; streets named, 
 
 Leiper and Stegall, 144 
 Doherty, Col. George: of militia, 255 
 Dooley, Mr.: killed by Harpes, 89 
 Douglas, Mrs. Marguerite: see Mrs. 
 
 John Mason. 
 Dow, Lorenzo, Cosmopolite: 338 
 Downs, James (sheriff) : 238, 239 
 Downs, William (justice) : 224, 226, 
 
 231, 233, 257 
 Drake, Samuel G., Book of Indians: 
 
 338 
 Draper, Lyman C: Draper MSS., 
 Harpes and Masons [60, 64-66, 70, 
 84, 89, 90, 95, 102, 105, 11 3-1 15, 
 126-128, 134, 141-H3, 150, 152, 155, 
 156, 158, 160, 161, 163-165, 169, 
 188, 201, 220-222, 255] 335, 336; 
 "Sketch of the Harpes," 60, 79, 108, 
 115-125, 130, 140, 338; Harpes, 60, 
 128, 134, 154; Mason, 160, 265; 
 Setton, 220, 221, 255 ; King's Moun- 
 tain [115] 338 
 Drumgool Station (Ky.) : 103 
 Duff (brother-in-law of Mason) : 169 
 Duff (counterfeiter) : 272-278 
 Duff, John (guide) ; 273 
 Duff brothers (of 111.) : 233 
 Duff's Cave: 274 
 Duff's Fort: 272-274, 277 
 
 Dunbar, Seymour, History of Trav- 
 el: 338 
 
 Dunlap, Hugh: pursues Harpes, 95 
 
 Dunn, Capt. John (constable) : 168- 
 171 
 
 Durbin, Thomas: killed by Thomas 
 Mason, 170 
 
 Early Western Travels, Thwaites, 
 editor: Cuming, Tour; Evans, 
 Tour; Flagg, Far West; James, 
 Expedition; Maximilian, Voyage; 
 Nuttall, Travels; 343, 344 
 
 Elicott, Andrew, Journal: 23, 338 
 
 Ellis, John: pursues Harpes, 100 
 
 Emery River: 95 
 
 Equality (111.) : 30, 313 
 
 Evans, Estwick, Tour: 338 
 
 Evansville: city of, 18; Courier Com- 
 pany, History of Union County, 
 273-278, 338 
 
 Everybody's Magazine: "Natchez 
 Trace," by Swain, 338 
 
 Executive Journal (Ky.) : 85, 92, 335 
 
 Farris, Jane: 72; on death of Lang- 
 ford, 75, 76 
 
 Farris, John (inn keeper) : 67, 72; on 
 death of Langford, 74, 75 
 
 Fayette (Miss.) : 200, 264 
 
 Fayette Co. (Penn.) : 158 
 
 Filson Club: 5, 345; Robertson's Pe- 
 titions, 166, 342; Speed's Wilder- 
 ness Road, 70, 343 
 
 Fink, Mike: see Mike Fink, 327, 341 
 
 Finley, Alex. C, Russellville and Lo- 
 gan County: 165, 271-274, 338 
 
 Flagg, Edmund, Far West: 29, 32, 
 173, 330, 338 
 
 Flatboating, Golden Age of: 38 
 
 Flint, Timothy: History and Geo- 
 graphy of the Mississippi Valley, 
 338; Recollections, 338 
 
 Fluger, Colonel, or Colonel Plug 
 (boat-wrecker) : 43, 344 
 
 Folk-Lore, Journal of American: 
 
 [57] 338 
 Ford, Cassandra (daughter of James 
 
Index 
 
 353 
 
 Ford): 285, 291, 292, 303; Mrs. 
 Charles H. Webb, 285, 303 
 Ford, Francis (infant son of Philip) : 
 
 304 
 
 Ford, James: 14; youth, 284; ap- 
 pearance, 292; marriage, 303, 318; 
 as James Wilson in Chronicles, 47, 
 291-293, 329; Ford's Ferry Road, 
 293-297; Ford versus Simpson, 
 302, 303 ; death, burial, grave, and 
 will, 306, 309-313; facsimile of 
 signature, 313; see Ford's Ferry 
 Mystery 
 
 Ford, James, Jr. (infant son of 
 James Ford) : 303 
 
 Ford, Philip (son of James Ford) : 
 will and grave of, 304 
 
 Ford, William M. (son of James 
 Ford): 303; will and grave of, 
 304, 305 
 
 Ford's Boat Landing: 285 
 
 Ford's Ferry: location of, 18 
 
 Ford's Ferry Mystery: 283-306; 
 James Ford, 283-285 ; Webb broth- 
 ers at Cave, 286-292; Ford's Ferry 
 Road, 293 ; Potts tragedy, 294-301 ; 
 Ford versus Simpson, 302, 303 ; 
 death and wills of Philip and Wil- 
 liam Ford, 304, 306 
 
 Forman, Samuel S., Journey: 338 
 
 Fort de Chartres: 23 
 
 Fort Gibson: 196, 251 
 
 Fort Henry (Wheeling, W. Va.) : 
 160, 164 
 
 Fort Massac: 159, 167, 274, 292 
 
 Fowler, Judge Wiley P. (attorney): 
 
 314-317 
 
 Frazier, Mrs. Elizabeth: marries 
 James Ford, 303 
 
 Free Henry Ford: 126 
 
 Fulson (associate of Mason): 220, 
 229, 232 
 
 Gallatin Co (111.) : 313, 319 
 
 Gallows Field: near Old Green- 
 ville, 261 ; picture of, 259 
 
 Garrard, Gov. James: urges capture 
 
 of Harpes, 85, 92, 100; issues proc- 
 lamation, 88, 89 
 Gatewood, Mr. (attorney): 314 
 Geyon, Major: militia, 220 
 Gibson (associate of Mason): 220, 
 
 221, 223, 228, 229 
 Gibson, Smith (alias Druck Smith) : 
 
 232 
 Gilmore, or Gillmore: killed by Har- 
 pes, 113 
 Given, Judge Dixon (attorney): 291 
 Glass, Anthony (associate of Ma- 
 son): 191, 223, 225, 226, 231; 
 Mrs. Glass, 231 
 Golconda (111.) : 18, 276, 293, 314, 
 
 318, 319 
 Gower, John (jailer at Stanford) : 
 
 76, 77 
 Gratz, Simon, Rodney Letters: [258] 
 
 338 
 
 Grave Creek Fort: 160 
 
 Graves, John (and son): killed by 
 Harpes, 102 
 
 Green, Willis (court clerk) : 72 
 
 Green Co. (Ky.) : 99 
 
 Green River: 84, 90, 92, 98, 103, 
 108, 116, 165, 235 
 
 Green Tree Grove (Ky.) : 122 
 
 Greenville, Old [Hunston], (Miss.) : 
 25, 151, 249, 250, 254-266; Little 
 Harpe and James May executed 
 at, 255-266; court records, 257- 
 261, 335; picture of Gallows 
 Field, 259 
 
 Grindstone Ford: 185, 198 
 
 Grissom, William (or Gresham) : 
 pursues Harpes, 114-125, 131; re- 
 ward to, 139 
 
 Grundy, Judge Felix: 135 
 
 Guardian of Freedom: 102, 151, 262, 
 
 339 
 Guild, Josephus C, Old Times in 
 Tennessee: 179-183, 201, 244 [262] 
 
 339 
 Gum Springs, Old (Miss.) : 181 
 Hall, Frederick, Letters: 268, 339 
 
354 
 
 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Hall, James: 15, 330; "Story of the 
 
 Harpes," Port Folio, 57, 58 [90] 
 
 Letters from the West, 67-69, 78, 
 
 105, 125, 176 [111] ; Harpe's Head, 
 
 or Kentucky A Tale, 148, 150, 
 
 322-326; Legends of the West, 326; 
 
 Romance of Western History 
 
 [176] Western Sowvenier, 341 ; 
 
 Western Monthly Magazine, 330; 
 
 description of Harpes, 149-154; 
 
 Sturdevant in Sketches, 279-281 
 Hall, William (counterfeiter) ; 49 
 Hammack, Mrs.: visits Duff's cave, 
 
 275, 276 
 Hand, Gen. Edward: 160, 161 
 Hanna, Charles A., Wilderness 
 
 Trail: 339 
 Hardin, Mr.: killed by Harpes, 99 
 Hardin, Co. (111.) : 18; when formed, 
 
 313; Cave a "corner" of county 
 
 line, 313 
 Harpe, Betsey (alleged wife of Big 
 
 Harpe) : see The Harpes 
 Harpe, Big: see The Harpes 
 Harpe, Joe Roberts (alleged son of 
 
 Big Harpe) : 154 
 Harpe, John (brother of Wm. 
 
 Harpe) : 145 
 Harpe, Joshua (or Little Harpe) : 
 
 145 ; see The Harpes 
 Harpe, Little: see The Harpes 
 Harpe, Lovey (daughter of Big 
 
 Harpe) : 154, 155 
 Harpe, Micajah (or Big Harpe) : 
 
 see The Harpes 
 Harpe, Sally (wife of Little Harpe) : 
 
 see The Harpes 
 Harpe, Sally Rice (daughter) : 156 
 Harpe, Susan (wife of Big Harpe) : 
 
 see The Harpes 
 Harpe, Wiley (or Little Harpe) : 
 
 see The Harpes 
 Harpe, William (brother of John 
 
 Harpe) : 145 
 Harpe, William (or Big Harpe) : 
 
 145 ; see The Harpes 
 Harpes, The: (1) Big Harpe 
 
 (alias Micajah Harpe, alias Mi- 
 cajah Roberts) (2) Little Harpe 
 (alias Wiley Harpe, alias Wiley 
 Roberts, alias John Setton, alias 
 John Taylor, alias Wells, see also 
 Setton, Taylor, Wells; (3) Susan 
 Harpe, (wife of Big Harpe, alias 
 Susan Roberts) ; (4) Betsey Harpe, 
 (supplementary wife of Big Harpe, 
 alias Betsey Walker, alias Betsey 
 Roberts) ; (5) Sally Harpe (wife 
 of Little Harpe, alias Sally Rice, 
 alias Sally Roberts). . . .Parent- 
 age, kinship, marriage, 60-63, I 44" 
 147, 154; personal appearance, 61, 
 88, 89, 99, 148-154, 243, 244, 255, 
 262; children, 79, 80, 105, 106, 
 *37j I 54" I 56, 326; character, 14, 
 52, 55-58, 152-156; motives, 60, 
 61, 157. ... In Knoxville and 
 Tenn., 61-66; along Wilderness 
 Road, 67-76; imprisonment and 
 trial at Stanford, 71-76; in Dan- 
 ville jail, men escape, women re- 
 leased, 77-82 ; governor's procla- 
 mation of reward, 83-89, 100, 150; 
 reward paid, 139, 140; on Dia- 
 mond Island, 172, 173 ; at Cave-in- 
 Rock, 90-94; return to Tenn., 94- 
 97 ; return to Ky., 97-106 ; in Hen- 
 derson Co., and lower Green River 
 Country, 107-114; capture and 
 death of Big Harpe, escape of 
 Little Harpe, 114-125, 136-138; ul- 
 timate fate of Big Harpe's cap- 
 tors, 141-154; Big Harpe's head 
 on Harpe's Head Road, 125-128. 
 . . . Murders committed by: 
 Johnson, 65, 66; Payton, 66; Paca 
 and Bates, 66, 67; Langford, 67- 
 77; Trabue, 86, 87; Dooley,. 89; 
 90; on Potts plantation, 90; Brad- 
 bury, 95 1 Coffey, 95, 96 ; Ballard, 
 95; Brassel, 96; Tully, 98, 99; 
 Hardin, 99; Graves and son, 102; 
 negro boy, 103 ; small girl, 103 ; 
 Trisword brothers, 103, 104; a child 
 
Index 
 
 355 
 
 of Harpe, 105, 106, 137; Trow- 
 bridge, 108, 109 ; Hudgens and Gil- 
 more, 113; Love, 111-114; Mrs. 
 Moses Stegall and son, 111-114; 
 Samuel Mason, 250-254. . . . Harpe 
 women arrested, tried and released, 
 125-138; ultimate fate of Harpe 
 women, 154-156. . . . Little Harpe, 
 as John Setton, Taylor, and Wells, 
 in South and in Mason's band, 
 196-203, 203-266; Draper's notes 
 on life of John Setton, 221, 222 ; 
 Harpe, as Setton, tells life of self, 
 220, 221 ; facsimile of his signa- 
 ture as John Setton, 209 ; testi- 
 mony as Setton at Mason trial, 219- 
 228 ; sent in chains to New Or- 
 leans, 241-246 ; joins May and 
 helps kill Mason, 250-254; captured 
 and executed with May, 256-266 
 
 "Harpes, Sketch of the:" see Draper 
 
 "Harpes, Story of the:" see James 
 Hall 
 
 Harpe 's Head, Hall: see James Hall 
 
 Harpe's Head, and Harpe's Head 
 Road: 125-128, 143, 172 
 
 Harpe's Hill: 126 
 
 Harpe's "House:" 126 
 
 Harper, L. D.: Colonial Men and 
 Times, including Trabue's Auto- 
 biography, 339; see Daniel Tra- 
 bue 
 
 Harper, W. L. (orator) : 192, 253 
 
 Harriman Junction: 95 
 
 Harris, Thaddeus M., Tour: 24, 29, 
 
 339 
 Harrison, Benjamin and William 
 
 (of Penn.) : kinsman of Mason, 
 
 158, 218 
 Haussman, John D. (clerk) : 133 
 Havard, Henry: "a bad man," 170, 
 
 171 
 Hawkins Co. (Tenn.) : 221 
 Haynes, Lucinda, in Chronicles: 329 
 Heatherly Gang: 154 
 "Hell on the Ohio," Logan Belt, by 
 
 Jackson: 311, 312 
 
 Henderson (Red Banks) : 90, 92, 100, 
 
 107, 127, 129-133, 137, 143, 167- 
 
 172, 177, 184, 235-238 
 Henderson and Madisonville Pike: 
 
 127 
 Henderson Columbian: 58 
 Henderson Co. (Ky.) : 93, 107, 140, 
 
 141, 167-172, 176, 177, 249, 256; 
 
 county court records, 129-133, 335; 
 
 see Starling's Henderson County, 
 
 343 
 Henry, Parson: 143 
 "Hercules Short," or Hank Short in 
 
 Harpe's Head: 326 
 Herndon, George; on Harpes: 134, 
 
 155 
 Hewitt (accomplice of Mason) : 171 
 Highland Creek: 107-109, 169, 172 
 Highland Lick: 107 
 Hildreth, S. P., American Pioneer : 
 
 40-43, 167, 168, 339 
 Hindes Co. (Miss.): 183, 188 
 Hiram (a slave): 302 
 Hite, Colonel: Mason steals horse 
 
 from, 164 
 Hitesville (Ky.) : 172 
 Hoffman, Charles Fenno, Winter in 
 
 the West: 330, 339 
 Holstein River: 65, 99 
 Hopkins, Gen. Samuel: urges cap- 
 ture of Harpes, 100, 108, 129, 133; 
 
 sketch, 130 
 Houck, Louis, Missouri: 339 
 Hough, Emerson, Story of the Out- 
 law. 339 
 Howard, H. R.: History of Virgil A. 
 
 Stewart, life of John A. Murrell, 
 
 317, 3i8, 340 
 Howard, Joshua (sheriff) : 318 
 Howard Memorial Library: 345 
 Howe, Henry, Historical Collections'. 
 
 i75, 245, 340 
 Hudgens (Hutchins): killed by 
 
 Harpes, 113 
 Hufstetter, John: marries Betsey 
 
 Roberts, 154 
 Hughes, Roudy Groggery: 65 
 
356 
 
 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Hulbert, A. B., Ohio River: 340 
 Hull, Nathaniel (111. pioneer) : 23 
 Hull's Landing (or Robbins Ferry) : 
 
 23 
 Hunston: see Old Greenville (Miss) 
 Hunter, Judge James G. (of Ky.) : 
 
 80, 135 
 Hurricane Island: 44, 45, 50, 52, 
 
 176, 285, 301 ; Camp Ground, 309 
 Huston, Judge Nathan: at Harpe 
 
 trial, 72 
 Illinois, Historic; Parrish: 13, 341 
 Illinois, Pioneer History of, Reynolds: 
 
 23> 342 
 Illinois Gazette: 58, 90 
 Illinois State Historical Society: 340, 
 
 345 ; see John Jennings, also James 
 
 A. Rose 
 Impartial Observer: 101 
 Indiana State Historical Society: 340 
 Indians: 25, 27-29 
 Ingle's (Inglish's) Ferry: 74 
 Irby, David: account of trip with 
 
 Langford, 73-75 
 Irene (a slave) : 304 
 Island Ripple: 273, 274 
 Jackson, Shadrach L., Logan Belt: 
 
 311, 312, 340 
 Jackson (Miss.) : 183, 185 
 James, Edwin, Expedition to Rocky 
 
 Mountains: 32, 340 
 James' Traveler's Companion, Mas- 
 
 sey: 341 
 Jefferson Co. (Miss.) : 248, 251, 257 
 Jefferson Co. (Tenn.) : 65 
 Jennings, John, Journal: 23, 340 
 Johnson, Mr.: killed by Harpes, 65, 
 
 66 
 Jones, Charles H., The Outlaw and 
 
 Other Poems: 330-332 
 Jones, Rees: on Cumberland River, 
 
 238 
 Kaskaskia Tribe: 29 
 Kellogg, Louise Phelps: Frontier Re- 
 treat [158, 163]; Thwaites and 
 
 Kellogg: Frontier Defence [163]; 
 
 Revolution on the Upper Ohio 
 
 [160] 340, 344 
 Kentucky, History of: see Allen ; see 
 
 Collins; see Marshall 
 Kentucky, Petitions to Early Inhabi- 
 tants of, Robertson [166] 342 
 Kentucky Acts: 98, 139, 140, 340 
 Kentucky Gazette: 69, 84, 90, 99, 
 
 101, 126, 184, 248, 251, 262, 263, 
 
 340 
 Kentucky Herald: 101 
 Kentucky Settlement, Chronicles of a: 
 
 see Watts 
 Kentucky State Historical Society: 
 
 345 
 
 Kentucky State Library: 345 
 
 Ker, Judge David (of Miss.) : 257 
 
 Kitty (a slave): 304 
 
 Knob Lick: 107, 170 
 
 Knox, Judge Hugh (of Ky.) : 169 
 
 Knox Co. (Ky.) : 66 
 
 Knox Co. (Tenn.) : in 
 
 Knoxville: described by Weir, 62, 63 ; 
 Harpes at, 62-66, 95, 146, 155, 255, 
 256 
 
 Knoxville Gazette: 101 
 
 Koiret, Mr.: secret service, 219, 223 
 
 Kuykendall [Corkendale], (son-in- 
 law of Mason) : 167, 168, 172 
 
 LaFitte, Jean (pirate) : 272, 322 
 
 Lafond, Charles (merchant) : 235, 
 
 238 
 
 LaForge, Pierre Antoine: New Mad- 
 rid militia, 209, 210 
 
 Lambuth, Rev. William: unmolested 
 by Harpes, 60 
 
 Landers, Judge Abraham (of Hen- 
 derson) : 129 
 
 Langford, Thomas (also Lankford 
 and Stephen Langford) : killed by 
 Harpes, 67-69; Hall's account, 67- 
 69 ; court investigation, 72-77 ; pur- 
 suit of murderers, 84; Mrs. Love, a 
 relative, 142 
 
 Langolis, Francois (of New Madrid) : 
 
Index 
 
 357 
 
 Lecompte, Mr. (of St. Louis) : 233 
 
 Legends of the West, Hall; see 
 James Hall 
 
 Leiper (Lieper) John: pursues 
 Harpes, 114-125, 130-132; deposi- 
 tion of, 132; reward to, 139; life 
 of, 140-142 ; Leiper street in Dix- 
 on, Ky., 144 
 
 Lesieur, Mr. (of Little Prairie) : 
 210, 2iz 
 
 Lesueur, Charles Alexander: draw- 
 ing of Cave, 35 ; Life in America, 
 by Loir, 35, 340 
 
 Letters from the West, Hall: see 
 James Hall 
 
 Lewis, Lucy Jefferson, in Chronicles: 
 329 ; two sons of, 329 
 
 Lexington Public Library: 345 
 
 Library of Congress: 345 
 
 Life as It Is : see J. W. M. Breazeale 
 
 Lincoln Co. (Ky.) : 66, 69, 70, 84, 165 ; 
 Danville district court records, 70- 
 76, 79-82, 335 
 
 Lindsey, Neville: pursues Harpes, 
 114-125, 130, 131; deposition of, 
 132; reward to, 139; life, 140 
 
 Literary Gazette: 57, 58, 337 
 
 Little Prairie (now Caruthersville, 
 Mo.): 205, 207-212, 230, 239; Ma- 
 son captured in, 207-215 
 
 Little Prairie of the St. Francis Riv- 
 er: 220 
 
 Livingston Co. (Ky.) : 272, 285, 316- 
 319; court records, 302-305, 312, 
 
 3i3, 335 
 Logan, Judge Hugh: at Harpe trial, 
 
 Logan Co. (Ky.) : 103, 104, 165 
 Logan District Court Records, Rus- 
 
 sellville, Ky.: 129-133, 135, 335 
 Logan's Fort (or St. Asaph's) : 70, 
 
 71 ; now Stanford, Ky., 70, 71 
 Loir, Adrien, Lesueur in America:^, 
 
 340 
 Long, C. W., Louisville Post: 340 
 Long, Stephen H., Expedition to | 
 
 Rocky Mountains: by James, 32, 
 340 
 
 Louisiana (a row galley) : 220 
 
 Louisiana: Historical Society, 345; 
 State Museum, 345 
 
 Louisville: Courier-Journal, 316, 336, 
 341; Post, 340; Western Literary 
 and Historical Magazine, m-125, 
 344 
 
 Louisville Free Public Library: 345 
 
 Love, Arthur, in Chronicles: 291 
 
 Love, William: killed by Harpes, 
 111-114, 129, 131, 142; wife Es- 
 ther, in, 112 
 
 Lowery, Robert, Mississippi: [192, 
 200,] 253, 340 
 
 Lumley, Jonathan (boatman) : 286, 
 287 
 
 McBee, Squire Silas: 110-115; story 
 of Harpes told Draper, 115-125, 
 130, 131; reward to, 139; life of, 
 115, 140 
 
 McClung, John A., Western Adven- 
 ture: 108 
 
 McCoy, Capt. Robert: captures Ma- 
 son, 210-212 ; testimony at trial, 
 216, 217; takes Mason to New Or- 
 leans, 239-246; death of, 247 
 
 McDowell, Judge Samuel (of Ky.) : 
 80, 135 
 
 McFarland (M'Farling) Alexander, 
 John, and Daniel: pursue Harpes, 
 92; reward to, 140 
 
 Madison, James (Secretary of State) : 
 200 
 
 Madisonville and Henderson Pike: 
 128 
 
 Manuel, Father: 234, 239 
 
 Marked Tree (Ark.) : 318 
 
 Marrowbone Creek: 102 
 
 Marshall, Humphrey, Kentucky: 
 
 [78] 340 
 Mason, Isaac (brother of Samuel 
 
 Mason) : 158, 164 
 Mason, John (son of Samuel) : in 
 
 Natchez jail, 188-190, at New Mad- 
 
358 
 
 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 rid trial, 212-226, 228, 230, 233; 
 testimony of, 231, 232; signature 
 of, 209 ; see Samuel Mason 
 
 Mason, Mrs. John (Marguerite 
 Douglas): 198, 227, 236; testimony 
 of, 234 
 
 Mason, Joseph (brother of Samuel 
 Mason) : 158 
 
 Mason, Magnus (son of Samuel) : 
 New Madrid trial, 212; testimony 
 of, 234, 235 ; becomes worthy citi- 
 zen, 265 
 
 Mason, Samuel: 14, 25, 29, 37, 46- 
 48, 52; ancestry of, 157, 158, 217, 
 218; personal appearance of, 244, 
 245; Revolutionary soldier, 158- 
 163, 165, 226; .... In Va. and 
 Tenn., 163-165; in Ky., near Rus- 
 sellville, 165, 166; near and in 
 Henderson, 167-172; marriage of a 
 daughter, 167, 168, 227; on Dia- 
 mond Island, 172-174; at Cave-in- 
 Rock, 174-176; on Natchez Trace 
 and the Mississippi, 176-232; robs 
 Kentucky boatmen, 181-183; robs 
 Joshua Baker, 183-188, 190, 196, 
 216, 223-234; robs Owsley, 219, 
 223, 225, 228, 233; John Mason in 
 Natchez jail, 188-190, 230, 232; 
 American and Spanish authorities 
 look for Mason and Harpe, re- 
 ward offered, 191-205, 210, 233, 
 247, 252, 255. . . . Mason family 
 captured at Little Prairie, 207-215; 
 trial at New Madrid, 215-240; 
 record of criminal procedure, 207- 
 2 4°> 335 5 passport, 212-215, 236; 
 testimony at trial, 217-219, 228- 
 231 ; sent in chains with Little 
 Harpe to New Orleans, 241-246; 
 escape, 247-251 ; double-crossed 
 and beheaded by Little Harpe and 
 James May, 251-254, 272; identi- 
 fication and execution of his mur- 
 derers, 255, 266; facsimile sig- 
 natures of Samuel, John, and 
 Thomas Mason, 208-209 
 
 Mason, Mrs. Samuel: 222, 234, 236 
 
 Mason, Samuel, Jr.: New Madrid 
 trial, 212; testimony of, 234; be- 
 comes worthy citizen, 265 
 
 Mason, Thomas (brother of Samuel 
 Mason) : 158 [165?] 
 
 Mason, Thomas (son of Samuel) : 
 165, 170; New Madrid trial, 212- 
 228, 232, 236, 237; testimony of, 
 2 33> 2 34 5 signature of, 209; see 
 Samuel Mason 
 
 Mason, Mrs. Thomas (daughter-in- 
 law of Samuel) : 201 
 
 Mason Hills: 201 
 
 Mason's Creek: 172 
 
 Massey, S. L., James' Traveler's 
 Companion: 341 
 
 Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neu- 
 wied, Voyage in America: 32, 35, 
 34i 
 
 May, James (or Isaac or Samuel 
 May): 171, 249, 262; joins Little 
 Harpe and helps kill Mason, 250- 
 254; captured and executed with 
 Little Harpe, 256-266 
 
 Meason, Samuel (same as Samuel 
 Mason) : 14, 160 
 
 Mecklenberg Co. (Va.) : 67 
 
 Memphis (Chickasaw Bluffs) : 222 
 
 Mercer Co. (Ky.) : 84, 91, 92 
 
 Metcalf brothers: suspects, 65 
 
 Metcalfe Co. (Ky.) : 89 
 
 Mike Fink, A Legend of the Ohio, 
 Bennett: 327 
 
 "Mike Fink, The last of the Boat- 
 men:" Neville, 341 
 
 Miles, Richard (kinsman of Ford) : 
 306 
 
 Miller, John (merchant) : 64 
 
 "Mississippi, Extinct Towns of," Ri- 
 ley: 263, 342 
 
 Mississippi, History of, Lowry and 
 McCradle: [192, 200] 253, 340 
 
 Mississippi, Valley of the, Monette: 
 176, 178, 191, 199, 202, 252, 341 
 
 Mississippi, as a Province, Territory 
 and State, see J. F. H. Claiborne 
 
Index 
 
 359 
 
 Mississippi, Department of Archives 
 and History, 207, 246, 335, 341, 345; 
 MS. of Mason's trial, 207 
 
 Missouri, History of, Houck: 339 
 
 Missouri Historical Society: 341, 345 
 
 Moat's Lick: 272 
 
 Monette, John W., Valley of the Mis- 
 sissippi: 176, 178, 191, 199, 202, 
 
 252, 34i 
 Monongahela River: 218 
 Monroe, James (steamboat) : 31 
 Montgomery, Thos. (notary) : 72 
 Montgomery, Judge William: at 
 
 Harpe trial, 72 
 Montgomery Co. (Va.) : 74 
 Morgan Co. (Tenn.) : 95 
 Mosique, Mr. (of 111.) : suspect, 
 
 233 
 Mound Builders: 27, 28 
 Mud River: 104 
 Muhlenberg Co. (Ky) : 122, 126; 
 
 Rothert's history of, 342 
 Mulligan, James (associate of 
 
 Shouse) : 308, 3 I 3"3 I 5 
 Murphy, Samuel: on Mason's career, 
 
 164 
 Murray, C. A., Travels'. 268, 341 
 Murrell, John A. ("land pirate,"): 
 
 317, 318, 341 ; see H. R. Howard's 
 
 Stewart 
 Nashville: 179, 180 
 Natchez: 23, 25, 179, 180, 181, 188, 
 
 191, 197, 204, 246-252, 263, 264, 
 
 272 
 Natchez Galaxy: 185-188, 344 
 Natchez; Trace: 13, 43, 178, 223-225, 
 
 230, 254, 265, 266, 343 ; described, 
 
 179-181; Mason on, 179-205; 
 
 Swaney on, 179-183, 201; see Mrs. 
 
 Rowland, and John Swain 
 Navigator, The Ohio and Mississippi, 
 
 Cramer: 24, 39-41, 44, 173, 203, 
 
 337 
 Navigator, Western, Cummings: 285, 
 
 337 
 Neville, Morgan, "Mike Fink, The 
 Last of the Boatmen:" 341 
 
 New Harmony Workingmen's Insti- 
 tute: 345; communal colony, 35 
 
 New Madrid: 177, 180, 204, 205, 242; 
 Mason's trial at, 207-240 
 
 New Orleans: Mason prison at, 183, 
 241-246 
 
 Newberry Library: 345 
 
 Nicholson, William (sheriff) : 226 
 
 Nogales: see Vicksburg 
 
 Nonpareil (schooner) : 41-43 
 
 Nuttall, Thomas, Travels: 27, 31, 341 
 
 Ogle, Capt. Joseph: Fort Henry, 161, 
 162 
 
 Ohio, On the Storied, Thwaites 343 
 
 Ohio County Militia (W. Va.) : 160 
 163 
 
 Ohio Historical and Philosophical 
 Society: 345 
 
 Old field, Banks: 322 
 
 Ormsby, Judge Stephen (of Ky.) : 80 
 
 "Outlaw, The," poem, Charles H. 
 Jones, in The Outlaw: 330-332 
 
 Owsley, Mr.: robbed by Mason, 219, 
 223, 225, 228, 233 
 
 Paca killed by Harpes, 66, 67 
 
 Paducah (Ky.) : 18 
 
 Palladium: 101, 102, 204, 248, 249; 
 proclamation by Governor Gar- 
 rard, 88, 89, 341 
 
 Palmyra (Miss.) : 201 
 
 Parrish, Randall, Historic Illinois: 
 
 13, 34i 
 Parrott, Mr. (attorney) : 258 
 Parrow, E. C, in Folk-Lore Journal: 
 
 [57] 338 
 Pearl River: 185, 186 
 Peltier, Eustache: testimony Mason's 
 
 trial, 238 
 Pennsylvania Historical Society: 
 
 [258], 34i 
 Perrin du Lac, Travels: 24, 341 
 Peyroux, Henri (commandant, New 
 
 Madrid) : 209, 211-215 
 Peyton: killed by Harpes, 66 
 Phillips: in boat robbery, 219, 223, 
 
 225, 229, 232 
 Pickering Hill: 293, 294, 296 
 
360 
 
 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Pickett Co. (Tenn.) : 97 
 
 Piracy on rivers: 37-53, i75> x 7 6 , x 7 8 , 
 203 
 
 Pittsylvania Co. (Va.) : 73, 74 
 
 Plug, Colonel, (or Colonel Fluger, 
 boat-wrecker) : 43, 344 
 
 Poindexter, George (attorney gen- 
 eral) : 258 
 
 Point Coupee: 246, 247 
 
 Pompey (slave) : 275-278 
 
 Pond River: 116, 118, 121, 126, 132, 
 
 155 
 Pool, A. H. T., "Smithland:" 341 
 Pope Co. (111.): 313, 318, 319; court 
 
 records, 313, 314, 335 
 Port Folio: 341, the Harpes, by Hall, 
 
 57, 58, 67-69 [58, 90] ; D. Roe on 
 
 Mason, 252 ; Ashe condemned by, 
 
 325 
 Potts, Billy: 294, 298, 301; kills his 
 
 son, 294-298 
 Potts' Hill, and Potts' Spring: 293- 
 
 297 
 Potts' Place: 143 
 Potts' Plantation: Harpes murder on, 
 
 90 
 Priest, Josiah, American Antiquities: 
 
 342 
 Prior, Mr., in Chronicles: 291 
 Providence Lake: 201 
 Purcell, Martha G.: Stories of Old 
 
 Kentucky, 342; "Sister of Sage of 
 
 Monticello," 329, 342 
 Pyles, John: pursues Harpes, 113, 114 
 Rafinesque (scientist) : 342 
 Rankin, John, Letters: 342 
 Red Banks: see Henderson {Ky.) 
 Red River: 165 
 Rennick, Lieut. Seymour: letter to, 
 
 197, 198 
 Revolutionary Soldiers of Virginia, 
 
 List of: 160, 344 
 Reynold, John: My Own Times, 273, 
 
 274, 281, 342; Pioneer Illinois, 23, 
 
 342 
 Rice, Rev. John (father-in law of 
 
 Little Harpe) : 63, 155, 156 
 
 Rice, Sally (wife of Little Harpe) 
 see The Harpes 
 
 Richards, J. Addison, Romance of 
 American Landscapes: 173, 342 
 
 Richardson, Jacob, "Going West in 
 1820:" 342 
 
 Riley, F. L., "Extinct Towns of 
 Mississippi:" 263, 342 
 
 Rivers, piracy and rough life on: 37- 
 53, 175, 176, 178, 203 
 
 Roane Co. (Tenn.) : 95 
 
 "Robber of the Wilderness:" Nat- 
 chez Galaxy, also Wheeling Ga- 
 zette, Draper MSS., 185-188, 344 
 
 Roberts (brother-in-law of Harpe) : 
 
 J 53, 154 
 Roberts, Betsey (alleged wife of Big 
 
 Harpe) see The Harpes 
 Roberts, Joe (alleged son of Big 
 
 Harpe) : 154 
 Roberts, Micajah (or Big Harpe): 
 
 see The Harpes 
 Roberts, Old Man (father-in-law of 
 
 Big Harpe) : 92, 99, 102, 103, 141, 
 
 153 
 Roberts, Sally (wife of Little Harpe) 
 
 see The Harpes 
 Roberts, Susan (wife of Big Harpe) : 
 
 see The Harpes 
 Roberts, Wiley (or Little Harpe) : 
 
 see The Harpes 
 Robertson. James R., Petition of 
 
 Early Inhabitants of Kentucky: 
 
 [166] 342 
 Robertson's Lick: 107, 108, 113, 114, 
 
 127, 130, 131; Robert Robertson, 
 
 141 
 Robin's Ferry (or Hull's Landing) : 
 
 23 
 
 Rockcastle Co. (Ky.) : 67 
 
 Rockcastle River: 72 
 
 Rocky Springs: 200, 201 
 
 Rodney (Miss.) : 251 
 
 Rodney, Judge Thomas (of Miss.) : 
 257; "Letters to Caesar A Rod- 
 ney," [258] 342 
 
 Roe, Daniel: letter, 252 
 
Index 
 
 361 
 
 Roe, Edward Reynolds: Virginia 
 Rose, 327, 328 ; Brought to Bay, 327 
 
 Rogers, Mr. (of Natchez) : robbed 
 by Mason, 184 
 
 Rogues Harbor: near Cave, 322 
 
 Roosevelt, Theodore, Winning of the 
 West: 342 
 
 Rose, Edward (outlaw) : 265 
 
 Rose, James A., "Regulators and 
 Flatheads:" 281, 34.2 
 
 Rose, Virginia, in Virginia Rose, by 
 E. R. Roe: 327, 328 
 
 Rothert, Otto A.: Muhlenberg Coun- 
 ty [63, 127] 342; Unity Baptist 
 Church [126] 342; Local History, 
 
 342 
 
 'Round Anvil Rock, Banks: 272, 273, 
 
 322 
 
 Rowan, Andrew (sheriff) : 133 
 
 Rowland, Dunbar: Mississippi De- 
 partment of Archives, 207, Gov. 
 Claiborne's Letter Books, 196-198 
 [195, 196, 264] 343; Encyclopedia 
 of Mississippi History, 342 ; MS. 
 record Mason trial, 207, 335 
 
 Rowland, Mrs. Dunbar: "Natchez 
 Trace:" [201] 343 
 
 Ruddell, George: reports detection 
 of Masons, 210, 211 
 
 Duddell, John (of Little Prairie) : 
 210 
 
 Russell Co. (Ky.) : 92, 102, 141, 153 
 
 Russellville (Ky.) : 103, 104, 130, 154, 
 165; Harpe women at, 133-138 
 
 Russellville and Logan County, Fin- 
 ley: 165, 271-274, 338 
 
 Russellville and Morgantown Road : 
 104 
 
 St. Genevieve (Mo.) : 239 
 
 St. Louis Republic 343 
 
 Salcedo, Manuel de: letter to, 192; 
 letter from 246 
 
 Salem (Ky.) : 286, 291 
 
 Saline River: 90, 273, 274, 277, 278 
 
 Salt River, Rolling Fork of: 73, 85 
 
 Scaggs, Henry: pursues Harpe, 85- 
 87 
 
 Schoolcraft, Henry R.: 334, Memoirs, 
 29, 330; Indian in His Wigvjam, 
 330 
 
 Schultz, Christian, Travels: 25, 343 
 
 Sealsfield, Charles, Americans as 
 They Are: 343 
 
 Sebree (Ky.) : 107 
 
 Sellers, Isham: 130; deposition, 131 
 
 Setton, John (name assumed by Lit- 
 tle Harpe, after death of Big 
 Harpe) : 203, 212, 217, 219, 221, 
 228, 233, 234, 237, 241, 250, 252, 
 254, 256-262; own story of life, 
 220, 221 ; Draper on life of, 221, 
 222; see John Taylor; see The 
 Harpes 
 
 Sevier, G. W. (of Tenn.) : 60, 126, 
 164 
 
 Sevier, Gov. John: 60, 164, 165 
 
 Seymour, Samuel (artist): 32 
 
 Shankstown, Old (Miss.) : 253, 265 
 
 Sharpe, William: witness for Shouse, 
 315 
 
 Shawneetown (111.) : 18, 27, 32, 45, 
 90, 293, 327, 328 
 
 Short, Hark, "Hercules Short," (al- 
 leged son of Big Harpe) : 326 
 
 Shouse, Henry C: 301; kills Simp- 
 son, 307, 313, 314; trial of, 314- 
 318; hanged, 319 
 
 Simmons, Mr. (flatboatman) : 311 
 
 Simpson, Vincent B.: 301; Ford ver- 
 sus Simpson, 302, 303 ; killed by 
 Shouse, 307-314 
 
 Slover, John (Indian fighter) : 108, 
 109 
 
 Smith, Druck (alias Smith Gibson): 
 232 
 
 Smith, George: wounded by Harpe, 
 118, 136, 137 
 
 Smith, Rev. John: letter on Mason, 
 246, 247 
 
 Smith, T. Marshall, Legends: 103, 
 105, 146 [61, 62, 67, 105, 138] 
 
 343 
 Smith, Thomas (of Henderson) : 170 
 Smithland (Ky.) : 94, 285, 291, 341 
 
362 
 
 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 Spaulding, Martin J., Early Catholic 
 Missions in Kentucky. 343 
 
 Spanish authority along the Missis- 
 sippi: 178, 192, 195, 205, 242 
 
 Spears, George: pursues Harpe, 86 
 
 Speed, Thomas, Wilderness Road: 
 
 [70] 343 
 Stack Island (Crow's Nest, or Island 
 
 No. 94) : 201-204 
 Stafford, William H., Blenner has sett 
 
 Papers'. 343 
 Stalnaker, Peter (associate of Ma- 
 son) : 163, 164 
 Stanford (Ky.), (Logan's Fort): 66, 
 
 69, 70: court records, 70, 76, 355 
 Starling, Edmund L. Henderson 
 
 County: 91, 92, 168, 326 [92, 93, 
 
 107, 130] 343 
 Steamboat: Orleans, 31; Paragon, 32 
 Steele, Eliza R., Journey: 343 
 Stegall, John (infant) : killed by 
 
 Harpes, 111-114 
 Stegall, Steigal, Moses: no, 129-132; 
 
 pursues Harpes, 1 14-125; reward 
 
 to, 139; Stegall street in Dixon, 
 
 144; life of, 142-144 
 Stegall, Mrs. Moses (Mrs. Mary Ste- 
 gall) : killed by Harpes, 111-114, 
 
 129, 132, 134 
 Stephens, C. A., The Ark of 1803: 322 
 Steuben's Lick (Ky.) : 109 
 Stevenson, William H. J. (associate 
 
 of Shouse) : 308, 313-315 
 Stewart, William (sheriff) : 104, 133- 
 
 138, 150-156, Sketch of, 138 
 Stewart, History of Virgil A. (life 
 
 of John A. Murrell) : 317, 318, 340; 
 
 see H. R. Howard 
 Stockton, Nathaniel: pursues Harpes, 
 
 98-100 
 Strong, W. E.: pursues Harpes, 84 
 Stump, Mr.: killed by Harpes, 89, 90 
 Stump, Capt. Frederick: identifies 
 
 Little Harpe, 255 
 Stump, Capt. John: interviewed by 
 
 Draper, 255 
 
 Sturdevant (counterfeiter): 272, 278; 
 Hall's Sketches, 279-281 ; see Coun- 
 terfeiters at Cave 
 Sulphur Springs Cave (111.) : 30 
 Swain, John, "Natchez Trace": 343 
 Swaney, John L.: story of Mason, in 
 Guild's Old Times, 179-183, 201, 
 244 [262] 339 
 Taylor, John (name assumed by Lit- 
 tle Harpe after death of Big 
 Harpe) : 212, 217, 219-221, 224, 
 232, 256-262; see The Harpes 
 Tennessee, Old Times in, Guild: 
 
 179-183, 201 [262] 244, 339 
 Tennessee Gazette: 248, 343 
 Tennessee River: 180, 191, 198 
 Thompkins, James: pursues Harpes, 
 109, 114; reward to, 139; life, 140 
 Thompson, Mrs. (daughter of Sam- 
 uel Mason) : 218 
 Thompson, T. P.: library of; 345 
 Thruston, R. C. Ballard, library of: 
 
 345 
 
 Thwaites, Reuben Gold: On the 
 Storied Ohio ; editor Wither's 
 Chronicles', Thwaites and Kellogg: 
 Frontier Defense; [163] Revolu- 
 tion on the Upper Ohio [160] ; 343, 
 344; see Early Western Travels 
 
 Tiel, Edward; pursues Harpes, 65 
 
 Todd, Thomas (attorney): 76 
 
 Tolu (Ky.) : 285, 305 
 
 Tower Rock: 44 
 
 Trabue, Daniel: Autobiography in 
 Colonial Men and Times, 78, 86, 
 87, 97-100, 102 [86, 95-99, 102] 
 141, 150, 339 
 
 Trabue, John: killed by Harpes, 86, 
 87, 141 
 
 Tradewater River: 143, 273, 274 
 
 Triplett, Frank, Great American 
 Crimes: 128, 344 
 
 Triplett, Robert, Roland Trevor: 128, 
 
 344 
 Trisword brothers: killed by Harpes, 
 
 103, 104 
 
Index 
 
 363 
 
 Trowbridge, Mr.: killed by Harpes, 
 
 108, 109 
 Tully, John: killed by Harpes, 98, 
 
 99; legislative act for Christiana, 
 
 widow of, 98 
 Union Co. (Ky.) : 172 
 Union County Kentucky, Evansville 
 
 Courier Co.: 273, 278, 338 
 Van Cleve, B., Journal of: 167, 168, 
 
 339 
 
 Venable, W. H., Beginnings of Lit- 
 erary Culture in Ohio Valley: 344 
 
 Vicksburg (Walnut Hills, or No- 
 gales) : 196-198, 201, 212, 220, 223- 
 225, 232 
 
 Vidal, N. M. V. (secretary of war, 
 Spanish Louisiana) : 246 
 
 Virginia Rose, E. R. Roe: 327, 328 
 
 Virginia State Library, List of Revo- 
 lutionary Soldiers of Virginia: 160, 
 
 344 
 
 Wabash River: 23 
 
 Wales, Doctor: attends Mrs. John 
 Mason, 227 
 
 Walker, Betsey (alleged wife of Big 
 Harpe) : see The Harpes 
 
 Walker, Elizabeth (alleged wife of 
 Big Harpe) : see The Harpes 
 
 Walker's Bar: 44 
 
 Wallace, Mr. (lawyer) : defends Ma- 
 son, 188 
 
 Waller, John: captures Jim Wilson, 
 
 Walnut Hills: see Vicksburg 
 Warren Co. (Miss.) : 253, 265 
 Washington (Miss.) : 196, 252, 257, 
 
 272 
 Washington Co. (Tenn.) : 164 
 Waters, Dr. Richard Jones: 218; 
 
 testimony Mason trial, 235-237 
 Watts, Joseph, in Chronicles: 329 
 Watts, William Courtney: Chronicles 
 of a Kentucky Settlements 47, 285, 
 329, 344; Webb brothers, at Cave, 
 285-292; Ford as Wilson, 47, 291- 
 293, Watts on Shouse case, 316 
 
 Webb, Dr. Charles H. (son-in-law of 
 James Ford) : 46, 292, 303, 304, 
 329; at Cave, 285-291 
 
 Webb, Mrs. Charles H.: see Cassan- 
 dra Ford 
 
 Webb, John: held at Cave, 286-291 
 
 Webster Co. (Ky.) : 128, 144 
 
 Weir, James; describes Knoxville, 
 62 
 
 Wells (name assumed by Little 
 Harpe) : 219, 221, 232, 256, see 
 The Harpes 
 
 Welsh, Joseph (sheriff) : 76-77 
 
 Welsh, Nicholas (associate of Ma- 
 son) : 171 
 
 Welsh, Thomas: pursues Harpes, 73; 
 on death of Langford, j6 
 
 Weston (Ky.) : 303 
 
 Western Literary and Historical 
 Magazine: Draper's "Sketch of the 
 Harpes," 115-125, 344 
 
 Western Monthly Magazine: Hall's 
 review of The Outlaw, 330, 339, 
 344 
 
 Western Monthly Review: 344 
 
 Western Souvenier, Hall: 341 
 
 Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette: 
 101, 246, 248, 256, 344 
 
 Wheeling, Siege of: see Fort Henry 
 
 Wheeling Gazette: 185-188, 344 
 
 White, Robert: pursues Harpe, 140 
 
 White River: 203, 204, 220 
 
 Wiguens (associate of Mason): 219, 
 220, 223, 228 229 
 
 Wilderness Road : 66-68, 72, 75 ; Wil- 
 derness Road, Speed [70] 343 
 
 Wiley, George: quoted in Claiborne's 
 Mississippi, 188, 189 
 
 Williamson Co. (Tenn.) : 221 
 
 Wilson (associate of Mason on the 
 Miss.) : 221 
 
 Wilson, James: name for James Ford 
 in Chronicles, 47, 291-293, 329 
 
 Wilson, Jim: career of, 47-52; Liq- 
 uor Vault and House for Enter- 
 
364 
 
 Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock 
 
 tainment, 47, 49 ; Wilson's Tavern, 
 49, 51; Wilson's Gang, 50, 284 
 
 Wilson — : name for Samuel Mason 
 at Cave, 47, 175 
 
 Winterington (son-in-law of Sam- 
 uel Mason) : 218 
 
 Winters, Elisha: robbed by Mason, 
 251, 258 
 
 Wisconsin State Historical Society, 
 335, 336, 344, 345 5 see Draper; 
 Kellogg's Frontier Retreat, 
 Thwaites and Kellogg, Frontier 
 Defence, Revolution on the Upper 
 Ohio 
 
 Withers, Alexander S.: Chronicles of 
 Border Warfare [162] 344 
 
 Wolf Island: 177 
 
 Wood, John (father of Susan 
 
 Harpe) : 145 
 Wood, William: pursues Harpe, 98- 
 
 100 
 Woods, Edgar, Albarmare County in 
 
 Virginia'. 344 
 Worthen, A. H. (111. geologist) : 344 
 Wythe Co. (Va.) : 74 
 Yazou River: 196, 197 
 Yeakey, Robert Lee: owner of Cave, 
 
 28 
 Young, Captain: pursues outlaws in 
 
 Ky., 91-93 
 Young, Rev. Jacob, Autobiography. 
 
 102, 103, 153, 154, 345 
 
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