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Show 266 FORTY YEARS AMONG THE INDIANS. CHAPTER XXXIX. Justice in Early Days We Prepare to go Further Our Letter of In-troduction Loss of our Animals We Trail and find Them. I WILL give you a short account of the actions of the first authorities of Franklin as given to me by the main actor, that the " tenderfeet" of the present day may know a little of the experiences of early days. When Franklin first established itself as a town, Judge Jones was elected mayor and Ben Dowel marshal. Soon after organizing a number of roughs came in and started to run the town, defying the officers. This would have been all right and possibly admired a few days be-fore the organization, but now order must be kept and the laws vindicated. A warrant was issued and the marshal and posse approached the rioters. A man was killed, but the out-laws kept possession of the street and defied the officers. Something had to be done. The dockets show that these men were arrested, brought to trial and found guilty of murder in the first degree ; that the court sentenced them to be shot ; that Ben Dowel and others were ordered by the court to execute the orders. Accordingly the orders were duly executed, and Dowel and his assistants, the judge being one of the party, proceeded to shoot four of these condemned men on the street in front of the main saloon of the town. They were buried, as the records show, and the costs of court and all proceedings duly recorded. Judge Jones showed me the record and explained how it was done. I never heard any complaint about |