Tonney's Deposition p. 1

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The United States Charge Murder

v in U.S. Circuit Court

J.E. Feaser & Eastern District at

J.B. Izor & Others Paris

Application of J.E. Feaser and J.B. Izor for bail

Testimony taken by H.H. Kirkpatric, U.S. commissioner by order of Hon. Alex Boorman US Judge

Herbert Tonney being sworn testifies as follows. I have been doing nothing since I came to Paris to court last October. I am stoping at the Peterson Hotel, Paris. On the 24 day of July, 1888, I volunteered in response to a call from Sheriff Cross at Woodsdale, Kansas for assistance to go to No Man’s Land. Sheriff Cross said a message came from Ed Short, a deputy sheriff that he was in trouble down there and wanted the Sheriff and ten men. I had no knowledge of what the trouble was. I had no knowledge of why Ed Short gone to the strip and heard no one say why he had gone there. The Sheriff had papers but I knew nothing of what they were. Nothing was said by any of the party in my presence before we started as to whether or not any court had jurisdiction over the strip. I don’t remember seeing Col. S. N. Wood the day we started. J.W. Webb was to go with us but there was no horse for him to ride. Some other man was with Webb but

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H.Tonney Evidence

failed to go with us. When Cross and posse got together 2-1/2 miles from Woodsdale there were six of us viz Sheriff Cross, C. W. Eaton, Robb Hubbard, Roland Wilcox----Carter (the messenger who came from Short to Sheriff Cross) and myself. We all left the meeting point at about 9 o’clock P.M. and traveled in a southerly direction reaching Voorhees at about midnight. At Voorhees we took the Dudley Trail leading southwest into no man’s land. About daylight we passed some hay stacks at a point that I subsequently learned was Wild Horse Lake. As we passed a dog barked and one man showed imself but we were several hundred yards from him and no one spok. We continued on the trail in a south west direction crossing Pony Creek and stoping at Goff Creek about 20 miles from wild horse lake. It was about 7 or 8 o’clock when we stopped at Goff Creek.

After we got into the strip I heard Carter say something about Short’s trouble being with Sam Robinson. He said Short had been down there the day before and tried to arrest Sam Robinson. He said W. R. Housley, Dick Wilson and some one else whose name was not stated were with Short and they fell in with W. B. Reed who was in the strip catching wild horses and they stopped at Reed’s camp. Carter (the messenger from Short to Cross) and Noah Figg(?) were with Reed

Carter said Short and party surrounded Patterson’s house where Robinson and

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Party were and then sent him (Carter) to Sheriff Cross for assistance. Nothing was said by Cross about arresting Robinson but he said he was going to prevent trouble between Short and Robinson.

I heard Short and Robinson had had a shooting scrape a few days before we went to Reed’s camp on Goff Creek and there learned from Mr. Reed that the parties that were with Robinson in Patterson’s house when surrounded by Short and party were C E. Cook, O.J. Cook and A.M. Donald and some women and children.

We learned from Reed that Robinson had made his escape from Patterson’s house after Carter started Sheriff Cross with the message from Short. Mr. Reed said notes were passed between Short’s posse and Robinson demanding Robinson’s surrender and Robinson refused to surrender. Finally the parties of Short’s posse left the house ungarded and Robinson made his escape. Parties of Short’s posse observed Robinson escaping and started after him and then the other parties came out of Patterson’s house and presented their Winchesters at Short’s posse and forced them to take a circuitous rout thus enabling Robinson to get a long start and escape. I am certain that the above is substantially what Reed told us. Mr. Reed said finally some of the notes contained something about the women and children in the house but he never did tell us what the notes said in regard