08 - Winter 1994 - Watermark

theOUTLAW TRAIL JOUIIAL
WINTER 1994
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Isom Dart
In This Issue:
Black Cowboys, Outlaws
and Soldiers
$5.00
Published By The Outlaw Trail History Association
Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

328 East 200 South, Vernal, Utah 84078
www.westernheritagemuseum-uc-ut.org
THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL
Managing Editor: Joy T. Horton
Associate Editor: Doris K. Burton
OUTLAW TRAIL HISTORY ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Richard Wm. Horton. Chairman
William Webb, Vice-Chairman
Doris K. Burton. Secretary
Joy Horton, Treasurer
John D. Barton
ADVISORY BOARD
Edward M. Kirby
Kenneth Jessen
Gail Olson
Jim Beckstead
Roy P. O'dell
J esse Cole Kenworth
H. Bert Jenson
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The OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL is supplied to all members of the

Outlaw Trail History Association, and is also available through
purchase. Membership in the association is open to anyone
interested in the history and culture of the West. Appiications for
membership should be sent to Doris Burton, Uintah County
Library, Outlaw Trail History Association and Center, 155 East
Main Street, Vernal, Utah 84078. Annual Dues are $15.00.
Members receive the JOURNAL, newsletters, and reduced rates
for research and copying fees through the CENTER.
Publication of the OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL is made possible

through grants and assistance from:
Uintah County Library
Uintah County
Utah State University; Uintah Basin Education Center
The Outlaw Trail History Association

tMOUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL
Winter 1994
Contents
Black Cowboy Isom Dart
By Kenneth Jessen
By James H. Beckstead
16
Albert "Speck" Williams
By Doris Karren Burton
21
Fort Duchesne's Buffalo Soldiers
By Dr. Gary Lee Walker
29
By Bert Jenson
39
by Arden Stewart
46
Bob Nielson
48
Charlie Glass
Life of a Black soldier
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Poems:
The Guardian of Isom Dart's Grave
Letters:
Letters to the Editor
----
COVER PHOTO
--.-
Isom Dart is shown in this studio photograph packing two guns. One appears to
be a single-shot, muzzle-loading pistol and the other is definitely a revolver.
(Denver Public Library)
"The Outlaw Trail Journal" is a journal of histon) published semi-all/lIIally In) the Outlaw Trail Histon)
Association. It is ajournal dedicated to the preservation and research of the history of the Outlaw Trail, the greater
Uintah Basin region and the Intermountain West. Historic interpretation of articles are the authors' and do not
necessarily reflect those of the Outlaw Trail Histon) Association. Manusaipts for jourllLlI articles or folk tales are
welcome. Article manuscripts should be submitted in duplicate, double-spaced, with footnotes following the
Turabian style of annotation. Folk Tale manuscripts need not be annotated. If possible. please include a copt) of
the manuscript on a disk if h)ped on WordPerfect. Please send all manuscripts for consideration of publication to
the ManLlging Editor, The Outlaw Trail Histon) Center, 155 East Main Street, Vernal, Uf. 84078. Manuscripts
will not be returned unless a self addressed, stamped envelope is included.
Copyright 1994
The Outlaw Trail History Association

THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL
BLACK COWBOY 180M DART

By Kenneth Jessen
Ned Huddleston
Ned Huddleston (later known as Isom Dart) was born a slavein the
Ozark mountains of Arkansas. His birth date could be estimated as
1845 to 1849 according to historical sources. As a teenager, he ended
up working for the Confederate Army as a cook and nurse. The Civil
War freed him, and he took the surname of his master. (Some sources
claim he deserted the Confederate Army.) Ned drifted into Texas and
down into Mexico where he worked as a clown in a Mexican rodeo. He
became highly skilled with horses while working at the Goodnight
Ranchin Texas. Ned and a Mexican named Terresa teamed up, and the
two made a living stealing horses along the Texas-Mexico border.
Eventually, Ned traveled north and landed a job as a cook for a
railroad construction camp located between Green River and Rock
Springs, Wyoming.
A Chinese cook by the name of Chung Lee ran a gambling house
and took Ned in as a partner. After cheating some Irish Union Pacific
construction workers, Chung Lee and Ned were forced to flee for their
lives and used a raft to float down the Green River. The two became
separated during the trip. When Ned showed up alone at South Pass
City with a fat money belt, it was presumed that he had killed his
partner.
Ned's Encounter with Jesse Ewing
Jesse Ewing moved from a job as a station keeper on the Overland
to a prospector at South Pass City. He had fought stage robbers and
Indians. A grizzly bear attack left his face so badly scarred that he was
known as the ugliest man in South Pass City. Based on how many
rough characters there were in this isolated mining camp, this was
some title.
Around 1867, Jesse Ewing discovered copper ore and began min
ing on the side of the mountain at the upper end of Red Creek Canyon
(now known as Jesse Ewing Canyon) above Brown's Park. Out of
capital to continue his mining operations, Jesse returned to South Pass
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WYOMI"iC
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City just as Ned Huddleston arrived. Jesse noted that Ned was well
heeled and managed to talk Ned into investing in the mine. Using
Ned's money, Jesse's tunnel reached a length of 500 feet. When Ned's
money ran out, Jesse Ewing simply ran his partner off at knife point.
It became clear to Ned that he had been swindled and developed a
great dislike for Ewing.
In 1871 through a quirk of fate, both men ended up in the Green
River jail. Jesse had attempted to kill a man while Ned was held on
suspicion of the murder of Chung Lee.

With both of these characters locked Up in the same cell and the fact
that there was bad blood between them, the sporting crowd in Green
River placed bets on which one would emerge alive. During the night,
Ewing beat Ned nearly senseless with a boot, and when Ned woke up
in the morning, Ewing had already eaten Ned's breakfast. Ewing then
forced Ned to get down on all fours and hold still. Ewing used Ned's
back as a table from which he ate his own breakfast.
Both men were eventually cleared of any charges. Chung Lee
returned to civilization a few days later. Jesse was shot at through the
jail bars by the man he tried to kill. The bullet missed, and Jesse was
set free while his assailant was jailed for attempted murder.
Ned's Indian Trouble
One morning, a Shoshone Indian squaw, Tickup, and her half
breed daughter, Mincy, came into the Brown's Park area. Tickup's
boyfriend (or husband, depending on the his torical source) had beaten
her. His name was appropriate; Pony Beater. Because Tickup's
daughter was a half-breed sired by a white trapper, Pony Beater
disliked the little girl. He took out his anger on the child when drunk.
Tickup would protect her child and in the process, also get beaten.
This led Tickup to escape with Mincy to Brown's Park.
Tickup wanted to return to her people, but it was spring and the
Green River was high. Pony Beater had tracked her down before and
forced her to return with him. A kind local resident gave Tickup a
horse, and she was able to ford the Green River with her child.
At a place called Charcoal Bottom a dozen miles south of the town
of Green River, she was taken in by others who sympathized with her
plight. This included Ned Huddleston who spent his time rounding
up wild horses, driving them to a corral, and breaking the horses. He
and his partner, W. G. Tittsworth, then sold the horses as saddle or
pack animals. Tittsworth, by the way, was a life-long friend of Ned
and had grown up in the Arkansas Ozarks with the former slave.
The fact that Ned was a fine specimen of a man over six feet ta and
quite muscular was not lost on Tickup. Tickup approached Ned and
soon Tickup and Mincy were sharing Ned's tepee. Ned was ecstatic
over the arrangement and now had someone to spend those lonely
nights with and to cook for him. Ticku p believed that she had found
the man who could protect her from Pony Beater.
Mincy, now nine years old, was idolized by Ned who had a natural
affinity for children. Mincy had not known her father and now found
herself loved by this black cowboy.
Several weeks passed for Ned and his new family when news
reached his camp that Pony Beater was on the war path and in the area.
The Ute told various individuals that he was out to retrieve his woman
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at any cost. As a result, Ned, Tickup and Mincy fled into the mountains
o hide, however, the brave was an excellent tracker and followed their
trail.
It wasn't long before Pony Beater rode into Ned's camp and
demanded that he give up Tickup and Mincy. Then Pony Beater
forced Ned to lie down on the ground while Tickup was told to hog
tie Ned with leather thongs. The Ute gathered up all of Ned's
possessions, including his tepee, and rode off with Tickup and Mincy.
Back at Pony Beater's camp, the Ute got royally drunk and beat
Tickup and Mincy mercilessly. Tickup had enough, and when Pony
Beater finally fell asleep, she very nearly severed the Ute's head with
his own knife. Then, with Ned's belongings, she fled with Mincy back
to her own people near present-day Pocatello, Idaho (Other sources
say that she fled to Fort Washakie near Lander, Wyoming.)
Ned missed little Mincy, but not Tickup. He also wanted to get
back his guns, clothing, cooking utensils and horses if he could. At the
Shoshone camp in Idaho, Tickup had already started sharing her tepee
with a young brave. Ned rode into camp, got the best of the brave in
a fierce fight, and was just about to plunge his knife into the brave
when he was hit in the head by Tickup. She knocked him cold with a
stone axe and in the process, severed Ned's ear except for the lobe.
When the Indians discovered what had happened, Ned narrowly
escaped getting burned at the stake. (Historical accounts vary on the
details of this event.)
Ned Joins The Tip Gault Gang
Ned fell in with the Tip Gault gang. Gault was known as the "King
of the Bitter Creek Thieves" and operated out of Charcoal Bottom, a
place already familiar to Ned. This put Gault within striking distance
of both the Oregon Trail and the Overland Trail. It allowed him to steal
livestock from one trail and sell to emigrants on the other trail. If the
animals needed to be fattened, he would take them south into Brown's
Park.
Gault's operating method was to maximize his return yet mini
mize his time and risk. He sent out scouts in pairs and when the scouts
spotted an emigrant wagon train, they would ride up and pretend to
be cowboys looking for strays. This allowed the men to mentally pick
out the best stock. The gang members would return to Gault with the
news.
During the night, dressed as Indians complete with wigs made of
horse manes, the gang would attack the train and take the best
livestock. They would not, however, leave the wagon train helpless
because they knew this would bring the US. Army down on them.
The cattle would be butchered thus erasing all incriminating
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brands, and the meat sold to one of the construction camps along the
Union Pacific. The horses and mules would be sold to grading
contractors who didn't ask any questions.
When traveling by day, the Gault gang disguised their true activity
by posing as prospectors. If they were followed, they would place
specially designed moccasins on the hooves of their horses to obscure
the hoof prints. They often detoured across rock outcroppings to
throw off trackers.
Terresa, Ned's Mexican friend, also became a member of the Gault
gang. Terresa's brother, Casimero, was aware of Ned's difficulty with
Tickup and the fact that Ned's belongings were still in her lodge on the
Shoshone Reservation. Casimero's source of income was to sell liquor
to the Indians, and he figured if he got the Shoshone drunk enough, he
could sneak into the lodge and recover Ned's belongings. For some
reason, his plan failed and to get something out of the deal, Casimero
stole some Indian ponies. This was a bad mistake since some of the
animals included Sioux ponies. The Sioux went on the warpath and
cornered the Gault gang in open country. If it hadn't been for a couple
of Texas cowboys, the Gault gang would have been wiped out.
It was August, 1875 and the day after their close call, Ned rode to
Fort Steele east of Rawlins for supplies. In the meantime, Casimero
and another gang member scouted the country to the west looking for
whatever they could steal. Ned knew Morse code and while at Fort

Steele, he overheard a message coming into the telegraph office. To his

horror, he heard the news that Casimero and the other gang member
had been killed while attempting to steal horses at Fort Bridger from
a herd driven by a man named Anderson.
Ned got his supplies and raced back to the outlaw camp with the
news. The issue of revenge entered into the minds of the outlaws, but
Gault formulated a plan. Hisidea was to simply wait for the Anderson
herd to enter open country east of Fort Steele. They would avenge the
death of their fellow gang members by helping themselves to as many
horses as they wanted.
Anderson, a clever Californian, developed a technique to head off
trouble with rustlers. He sent some of his men ahead on the trail to
pretend to be disgruntled employees who had been fired and denied
their wages. They would tell anyone they met on the trail that they
wanted to get even with Anderson by stealing horses from the advanc
ing herd. In this way, Anderson's men would lead all the would-be
horse thieves into a trap where they would be gunned down. Ander
son literally swept a path clean of rustlers in advance of his herd and
arrived at his destination with more horses than any other man in the
business.
One of Anderson's decoys tried to persuade a member of the Gault
gang to join him. The ploy almost worked, but the gang member
became suspicious and reported back to Gault. As Anderson's herd
went over Bridge Pass on the Continental Divide and headed toward
Pass Creek southeast of Walcott, the Gault gang continued to trail
them. They kept out of sight and posted gang members on both the
east and the west sides waiting for the right moment to strike. The plan
was simple, wait until the Anderson herd was in the hilly country near
EI Mountain and stampede the horses. After the stampede, they
planned to simply round up the strays.
When the time came to strike, a stray horse came galloping towards
some of the gang members. One man threw a rope over the horse while
Joe Pease tried to tie a clump of sagebrush to the tail of the frightened
horse by leaning over from his saddle. The horse suddenly kicked
Pease out of his saddle. His injuries were severe including upper a d
lower jaws broken, a broken shoulder and a caved-in chest cavity. The
other gang member went ahead with their plan, tied bushes to the
spooked horse, and sent the animal at a full gallop toward the herd. It
was dusk and the sight of the horse with brush bouncing along behind
it leaving a cloud of dust had the desired effect. A full stampede of the
Anderson herd followed, one that the cowboys were helpless to stop.
The outlaws had little fear of being followed since they knew
Anderson would not venture too far from the trail for fear of being
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attacked by Indians. Also, Anderson would not want to deplete the

men necessary to guard the remaining horses. Pease was in very bad
shape and the men decided to stay put in their camp for several days
hoping the injured man would eventually be able to ride. Besides,
staying in the area would allow them to round up even more strays
and add to their stolen stock.
The Ambush
Ned Huddleston was assigned the task of remaining with Pease.
Ned apparently had some experience as a nurse during the Civil War.
The outlaws went back out into the valley and continued to round up
more horses while Ned did his best to ease the terrible pain Pease
experienced. When the outlaws returned in the evening, Ned had the
duty of informing them Pease had died. Ned had already pulled the
body a short distance from camp and was about ready to dig a grave.
Ned fetched a pick and shovel, left his rifle, and walked off to dig the
grave. The outlaws rode off again to look for more horses.
Bill Hawley, owner of the Hat Ranch near Pass Creek, either saw
the stampede or was told of it by his cowboys. During the stampede,
seven of Hawley's best saddle horses were carried along with the
animals from the Anderson herd.
Hawley and four of his cowboys tracked thirty-five to forty horses
west across the valley. The distance traveled and the fact that the
animals stayed together told him they were being driven. In the late
afternoon, their own horses were exhausted and the cowboys found
themselves thirty miles from the Hat Ranch with no food or bedrolls.
Their suspicions were confirmed when they came to a make-shift
corral built of dead trees, branches, sagebrush and ropes. There were
the Anderson horses as well as the seven Hat saddle horses. Hawley
turned his men around and backtracked a short distance. They
dismounted and with rifles in hand, carefully made their way back to
the corral to look for tracks. About 350 to 400 yards from the corral,
they found a well-stocked camp with a pile of gear, but no one home.
It was nearly dark and Hawley and his cowboys formed a semi-circle
around the camp and waited. When the outlaws returned to camp, the
cowboys began shooting and killed Gault and another man instantly
and mortally wounded the third outlaw as he tried to escape the
deadly cross fire. There was little thought about the murder of some
low-down horse thieves.
Meanwhile, Ned was out digging a grave for Pease. He planned to
simply roll his dead comrade into the shallow trench when he heard
the gun fire and knew instantly that the camp was under attack. He
was on foot, in strange country, alone in the dark, and at an elevation
exceeding 7,000 feet. He crouched down in the grave and waited all
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night. Ned must have gotten very cold even though it was August.
As dawn approached, he thought about his par~ners and remem
bered the heavy money belts they wore. This prompted him to slowly
crawl back to the camp. Sure enough, he found all three dead, but had
the presence of mind to left their money belts before returning to the
grave. He waited until dark before moving out of the area and
managed to put many miles between himself and the camp by dawn.
All of the horses had been taken by the Hat Ranch cowhands forcing
Ned to walk. Blisters on his feet were slowing him down. He saw a
ranch house, but did not dare approach for fear the word was out
about the raid on the Anderson herd. He did take notice of some nice
horses in the corral.
Since the outlaw camp was on the west side of the valley formed by
the North Platte River across from the Hat Ranch, Ned most likely was
able to walk over Bridge Pass. On the west side of the pass, the trail
followed Muddy Creek, and the first ranch Ned came to would have
been the Sulphur Springs Ranch.
He waited until dark and approached the corral. He was able to
find a gentle horse. Using an Indian-style bridle made of rope, he
quietly walked the horse out of the corral. Another horse whinnied
and suddenly, a barking dog came from the ranch house after him. As
a lantern was turned on in the house, Ner mounted the horse and
kicked the ani 'al in the sides. As he rode 0 ., two shots rang out, and
Ned felt both .dlets strike him, one in ,e thigh and the other in his
arm. He rode out onto the Overland Trail, headed west, and eventu
ally fell off his horse from loss of blood.
Ned Goes Straight
By the great coincidence, his old boyhood friend and former
partner stumbled on Ned's near lifeless bodyon the Overland Trail. It
was W. G. "Billy" Tittsworth. His old friend was leading a string of
pack mules and managed to get Ned up across the back of one of his
animals. Tittsworth took Ned away from the trail to a secluded spot
with plenty of firewood and wa tel. On a diet of venison, flapjacks anJ
liquor, Huddleston recovered from his wounds.
This experience left a strong impression on the black cowboy. He
had lost an ear for romancing another man's woman and now nar
rowly escaped death to become the only survivor of the Gault gang.
After a little over a week, Tittsworth and Huddleston rode to Green
River, and after their arrival, Ned told his old friend that he planned
to go straight. Ned made the decision to change his name to Isom Dart.
'ther accounts say that Tittsworth forced Ned to go straight, and Ned
reed by changing his name to Isom Dart.)
Ned said goodbye to his friend and boarded a west-bound Union
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10
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WG. Titlsworth
(photo credit: Utah State HistoricaL Society)
Pacific train as Isom Dart. Isom was now a man of wealth with five fat
money belts. He ended up in Nevada and used some of his money to
determine how Tickup and Mincy were doing. He found out that an
ex-convict named Jack Bennett was using Tickup to sell illegal liquor
to the Shoshone as well as to the oldiers at nearby Fort Hall. Isom
hired Claude Casebeer to kidnap mother and daughter and take them
away to Oklahoma. At Isom's expense, Mincy was put in a boarding
school. Isom followed t em to Oklahoma where he and Casebeer
raised cotton. He was close to Mincy and could visit her any time he
wished. These may have been happy years for Isom. (Some sources
say that Isom hired a man named Jim King and that his reaction with
Casebeer was only as a partner in raising cotton.)
Madison M. Rash, a Texas cowboy, showed up in the area in a shiny
buggy pulled by fine horses. He took a liking to Mincy, now an

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OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL
11
attractiveyoungw man. I ornwa powerlesstost ptherelationship.

One day, Rash rode off with Mincy and di appeared. This probably
left Isom heartbroken. In the meantime, Tickup died of smallpox.
Weeks later, Rash sh wed up in Trinidad, Colorado alone. Al
though only speculation, Mincy may have contracted smallpox from
her mother and died during the trip. On the other hand, Rash may
have killed the girl or abandoned her to suffer a lingering death. (Some
source say Rash showed up at Brown's Park instead of Trinidad.)
150m Dart Moves to Brown's Park
Both Ma tt Ras and Isom Darl ended up in Brown's Parkin the mid
1880s. (Charles Kelly puts the date at 1884.) Both men began working
for the Middlesex Land and Cattle Company. Although 150m resented
the white Texan, he did nothing about his hatred even though Rash
may have been responsible for Mincy's death. Rash may have told
Isom a plausible story about the death of Mincy, and I om let the
matter rest.
1 om knew this area well from his day as a member of the Gault
gang. The local residents must have recognized the black cowboy and
knew him as Ned Huddleston. He is referred to, however, from thi
point on in the history of Brown's Park as 150m Dart.
Prominent among the early settlers was the Bassett family. Eliza
beth Bassett was raising five small children and maybe Isom's love of
children caused him to quit th Middlesex Land and Cattle Company
and began doing chores for Elizabeth. Thi tall, black cowboy was
always kind to the Bassett children and enjoyed play' ng the fiddle for
them. He also taught the children hi kills as a hor eman whkh came
in handy later in their lives.
The Bas ett Ranch wa located at Joe' Spring in the eastern end of
Brown's Park. The low-lying log building sat in a small valley and
were protected from the wind by a row of poplar trees. The view to the
south of the ranch was across Brown's Park and anyone pas ing
through could be seen.
Isom soon established him elf as an exceptional cowboy. It was
said by others that he was one of the greatest cowboys in the west. 150m
attended rodeos, but never entered com petition. Those who knew hi
ability said he could outride and outrope any of the contestants.
It was an accepted practice to rustle cattle from the large cattle
companies trying to dominate and take over Brown's Park. The local
cowboys and ranchers never bothered each others stock. Straddling
three states, Brown's Park was -0 remote that the law did little to try
to stop the rustling. Trying to determine where a crime occurred and
which state had jurisdiction was difficult enough. Juries made up of
local ranchers simply would not convict one of their own.
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12
THE OUTLAW TRAlL JOURNAL
A rancher by the name of J. S. Hoy came into the area to develop a

cattle operation, but was hampered by all of the small ranchers in the
area taking up the range land he wanted to use. Some of these local
were loyal to Elizabeth Bassett who quickly realized Hoy was there to
run out the small operators like herself. Isom Dart was among three
men charged with burning the Hoy Ranch located on the Colorado
side of Brown's Park. Isom was taken to the nearest jail at Hahn's Peak
north of Steamboat Springs. Understanding that he was in serious
trouble, he broke ou t of jail, returned to the safety of Brown's Park, and
was never brought to trial.
On another occasion, a warrant was issued for his arrest by a
Sweetwater County magistrate in Wyoming. He was charged with
stealing livestock - the Hoy's livestock of course! The county sea was
in Rock Springs, and no law officer wanted to venture south into
Brown's Park with its reputation as a hideout for outlaws. Such a trip
could prove fatal. The sheriff deputized and hired a member of the
worst element in Rock Springs, Joe Philbrick, to ride south and bring
back Isom Dart.
Philbrick used a buckboard for the long trip south along the Gre n
River across open country at elevations exceeding 6,000 feet to reach
Brown's Park. This was the first known instance of a law officer
entering Brown's Park. He located Isom Dart, served him with the
warrant, and took him into custody without incident. The two men
began the long two-day trip back to Rock Springs, and during the trip,
the horses bolted on a steep hill and the buckboard overturned.
Philbrick was knocked unconscious and was badly injured. Isom
escaped injury and could have easily abandoned his captor and rode
back to Brown's Park. Instead, Isom decided to take Philbrick to Rock
Springs for immediate medical attention. This he did, returned the
rented buckboard to the livery stable, and surrendered at the jail.
Philbrick remained hospitalized for weeks, and on the ev of
Isom's trial, Philbrick left tre hospital and appeared in court on behal f
of the black cowboy. After he told the jury all of the things the black
cowboy did to save his life, 150m was promptly acquitted.
Isom built a cabin near Summit Springs on Cold Spring Moun ain
north of Brown's Park. By breaking and selling wild horses he had
rounded up, he saved enough money to start a herd of his own. As
Isom's herd gained size, he began using his wn brand, the "I D Bar."
One of the Bassett girls reached maturity and married Jim McKnight,
Jim McKnight and Isom shared the range on top of Cold Spring
Mountain in an informal partnership. When Josie had her first child,
Isom would stop by to visit and play with the child. After Josie gave
birth to her second child, 150m found even more pleasure playing with
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13
the children. It was said later by Josie's first child that he never had to
go to the circus because Isom was a circus all on his own.
Dart Gunned Down
In the spring of 1900, a tall, broad-shouldered man rode into
Brown's Park leading a pack horse a d introducing himself as James
Hicks. He had cold eyes. Somehow his mannerisms didn't quite fit
those of a rancher. He claimed he was from New Mexico and was here
to purchase good horses. Although he was welcomed at the Bassett
Ranch, the two Bassett women, Josie and Ann, did not like or trust this
cold, hard man. Hicks would annoy Josie by asking how old she was,
and she simply ignored him. Josie told her dad that this man could not
be the horse trader or rancher he claimed.
Matt Rash hired Hicks to help on a roundup. Sure enough, the
stranger didn't seem to know very much about working livestock and
wa relegated to camp cook.
Matt Rash and Ann Bassett had grown fond of each other and now
it was likely they would marry. The fiery Ann Bassett continued to
express her trong dislike for Hicks as Matt tried to calm her down.
Hicks had an obnoxious way of boasting about killing and butchering
Indian. Such stories made the Bassett women sick. James Hicks
moved freely among the ranchers in Brown's Park, then suddenly,
loaded his pack horse and left the area...or at least so it seemed.
Soon after the departure of Hicks, Matt Rash, I am Dart and several
others found notes on their property warning them to leave Brown's
Park within thirty days. The unsigned messages made all the men feel
uncomfortable, and all but Rash and Dart took the notes seriously. A
month passed and on July 7, 1900, Matt Rash was riding back from
picking up supplies. He stopped to spend the night at the Bassett
Ranch and continued his journey home the next morning. At his cabin
at Lodore, Matt at down to eat lunch. The first bullet hit him so hard
it spun him around and the second bullet passed through his right
breast. Mortal y wounded at close range, he pulled off one of his boots,
crawled into his bed, and died. His body was discovered several days
later. (other accounts say that Hicks first shot Matt's horse, and when
Matt came to the cabin door, he was gunned down.)
In October, George and Sam Bassett plus several others spent the
night at Isom Dart's cabin. The next morning, Isom and George were
walking down from the cabin when a shot rang out. The bullet struck
J50m, he crumpled to the ground, and died instantly. George and the
others kept low and watched for the assailant. They never saw who
killed 150mDart, bu t did recover two 30.30 spent cartridges near a pine
tree 120 yards from the cabin. Th y also knew Hicks packed a 30.30
rifle. 150m was buried near his cabin.
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It later became known that Hicks was actually Tom Horn. Horn's
occupation was to gun down suspected cattle rustlers for pay working
as a stock detective. In this particular case, he received $1,000 for the
two men. Horn was employed by the large cattle companies when the
law refused t arrest and prosecute sm I-time rust! rs. As mentioned,
bringing any local rustler to justice in Brown's Park was nearly
impossible. (It might be well to note that the alias used by Tom Horn
varies among hi torical sources. Some say that Horn went under the
name Tom Hicks or Hix while in Brown's Park.)
Tom Horn was hired by Ora Haley, a successful Laramie stock
grower who had extensive herds in Brown's Park. In 1900, the rustling
situation became intolerable as the large outfits became targets for
small-time rustlers. Through his foreman Hi Bernard, Haley hired the
most notoriou. of all stock detectives, Tom Horn.
Horn, when working for Matt R sh, had surprised Isom Dart in the
act of butchering some stolen beef. Horn overheard a heated argu
ment between Rash and Dart concerning how the two had once been
partners in rustling cattle. This wa enough evidence for Horn who
immediately quit working for Ra h and reported his findings to Hi
Bernard. Haley gave Horn the go-ahead to solve the problem using a
system which Horn boasted always worked.
Possibly because of 150m Dart' 5 admirable characteristics, some
historians differ as to whether or not 150m was achlally a rustler. Some
speculate that Horn wa actually out to kill another man and that
Dart's death was a case of mistaken identity. All of this is unlikely.
Numerous sources refer to Isom as a rustler. In addition, Horn only
killed specific men, and since the shooting took place in daylight at
Isom's cabin, Isom was most certainly Horn's target. It also is certain
that Matt Rash was a small-time rustler since his herd grew at a rate
impossible by biological standards for cattle.
In 1902, Tom Horn bragged about killing Matt Rash and 150m Dart
in a letter to Joe LaFor . Acting alone, he boasted that he put an end to
cow stealing in Brown's Park in just one summer.
Ironically, Ann Bassett later married Hi Bernard. During their
marriage, Hi admitted hiring Tom Horn to kill Matt Rash and Isom
Dart. Their marriage eventually fell apart.
150m Dart is buried near the site of his cabin on Cold Spring
Mountain. He was a man with many endearing qualities and obvi
ously quite generous. His lifestyle, however, involved stealing hors 5
and cattle, a habit which eventually cost him his life. He died in his
mid-50s.
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Author's note on the research: Like any piece of history, the truth
about the life of Ned Huddleston a.k.a. Isom Dart has been obscured
by the passage of time. This story i based on "accepted" sources of
information such as John Rolfe Burroughs Where the Old West Stayed
Young and Charles Kelly The Outlaw Trail. The author hopes you have
found this article both entertaining and informative conforming to
facts presented in the most reliable sources of information known to
date.
;)ources
Burroughs, John Rolfe. Where the Old West Stayed Young. New York.Bonanza Books,
1962.
Carlson, Chip. Tom Horn. Cheyenne: Beartooth orral, 1991.
Kelly, Charles. The Outlaw Trail. New York: The Devin-Adair Co., 7938, 1959.
Kouris, Diana Allen. The Romantic and Notorious History orBrown 's Park. Wolverine
Gallery: Greybull, 1988.

Karkel, Dean F. The Saga or Tom Horn. Lincolll: University of Nebraska Press, 1982.
McClure, Grace. The Bassett Women. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1985.
Philip Durham and Everett Jones. The Negro Cowboys. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press, 1964.
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CHARLIE GLASS
By James H. Beckstead
The black cowboy, Charlie Glass, was estimated to be about sixty

five years old when he met his untimely death in an automobile
accident a few miles from Thompson, Utah on February 22, 1937. His
interment at the all-white cemetery in Fruita, Colorado was attended
by numerous friends from both sides of the Utah Colorado border
which attested to the popularity of this "Grand Valley Cowboy".
Little is known of Charlie's early life. He came to the Grand Valley
in 1917 supposedly after he killed the man who shot his father in the
Indian Terr::tory of present day Oklahoma. 1 He was probably three
fourths Negro and one-fourth Cherokee, but he always referred to
himself as a black man. 2 Charlie worked on several ranches in the
Grand Valley but settled down to the Lazy Y Cross owned by Oscar L.
Turner whose main ranch was located a few miles from Cisco, Utah.
Charlie was first hired to ride the rough string (wild horses) and even
though it is understood that he became the foreman of the Lazy YCross
outfit, he was remembered best by the cowboys that knew him, as a
bronco rider extraordinary.3
When Charlie arrived in the eastern portion of Utah in 1917 it was
still considered "Wild West" country. Bordered by the one hundred
and fifty mile long (east-west running) Tavaputs Plateaus commonly
known as the Book Cliff Mountains to the San Juan River some one
hundred ar .i ten miles south spread out a massive area of pine covered
mountains and slickrock desert which was bigger than some eastern
states with a smaller population than one medium sized eastern city.
Within this area was the Sar Rafael Swell and Robbe s Roost which
although vacated by Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch around 1901 was
still being used by men on the run. The area produced a war of sorts
between Indians and whites in 1923 and a lynching in 1925. Taken in
this context then, it is not unusual that an incidence of gunplay
between Charlie Glass and a Basque sheepherder named Felix Jesui,
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Charlie Glass on the right with two other men (unidentified)
at the Honeymoon Cabin.
(photo credit: Bill Cunningham)
would turn the black cowboy into a legend.

In the early 1920's Utah cattlemen in the Grand Valley were having
a feud with Colorado sheep men who allowed their flocks of sheep to
come onto the wint r ranges of Utah in disregard to the traditional
sheep deadlines established in the late 1880's by the Utah cattle barons.
The Colorado sheep were looked after by Basques imported from
Spain who spoke little English and who had little regard fOT range
rights. They moved the sheep to the best grass and when they were
told they were in violation of established range laws they w uld use
the excuse that they knew nothing of the language alld customs in the
country and had entered the cattle range through ignorance of the
law. 4
Charlie Glass was a typical cowb' who hated the stench of sheep
and was known to carry a gun if,
shoulder holster and never
buttoned his coat. s Apparently this 'd not put the fear in Felix Jesui
who worked for William Fitzpatrick, a Colorado sheep man. Jesu' had
a confrontation with Charlie Glass, shots were fired and the C lorado
sheep herder was killed on the U ah cattle range. Newspaper accounts
describe the event as a typical western shootout. The men were about

18
fifty feet apart when guns were drawn. Jesui emptied a .25 Colt
Automatic, fired one shot from a .30 caliber rifle and the rifle cocked
again when he was felled by a bullet from Glass's .38 Colt Automatic.
GI
had fired three times before hitting Jesui in the head with the
fourth hot. I.>
fter the shooting Glass mounted his horse and rode to the Turner
Ranch where he told his boss about the shooting. Oscar Turner then
rode to Ci co, Utah where he phoned Sheriff J. S. Skewes. The sheriff
arre ted Glas peaceably and he was taken to the county jail in Moab.
During a brief inquest, Glas was arraigned and charged with second
degree murder. He was released on a $10,000 dollar bond provided by
prominent Grand County cattlemen including Oscar Turner, W. E.
Gordon, Don Taylor, Max H. Taylor and Tom Taylor. Shortly after the
shooting thirty-five horses belonging to the sheep outfit were found
dead near the Turner ranch.? Turner cowboys claimed they knew
nothing of the killing of the horses but given the circumstances it is
unlikely they were innocent bystanders in the affair. No charges ever
came from the incident.
During Glass's trial in Moab it was established that a feud existed
between cattlemen and transient heep men which would mitigate the
charges against Glass. After a week of testimony the case went to the
jur. r which reached a verdict of acquittal. Charlie Glass was a free man
and a hero among t the cowboys of east rn Utah. It was not this one
act of violence however, that won the hearts of the citizens of eastern
Utah and western Colorado to the legendary Charlie Glass.
Charlie was a fun loving cowboy, almost comical in nature, whom
)12 pIe enJoyed being around. He spent all of his free time high living
in the saloon districts of Thompson, Cisco and Grand Junction, Colo
fado. He would dress up in his finest western clothing, cowboy boots,
shined, with his Pendleton pants tucked in them. He sported in the
"Barbary Coast" section of Grand Junction and was a favorite of the
. 1c>xican girls who worked the Rio Grande Railroad towns. s
Charlie loved to rodeo and followed the small town circuit in
a~tern Utah and western Colorado. He also combined a lot of hard
drinking during these rodeo events which at times put him in humor
ou:. but loveable circumstances. Once during a rodeo in Grand
Junction he planned on using a well trained but slow roping horse for
the calf roping event and also planned to enter a very fast racing horse
in the racing event. Charlie was so inebria ted by the time of the racing
event that he saddled the wrong horse and entered the race only to be
1 ftin the dust so to speak. Always the competitor, Charlie finished the
race cheered on by the exuberant fans, even though he was a good
twenty length behind the field of horses. 9
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Charlie Class, photographed in the 1920's

(photo credit: Bill Cunningham)
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Charlie eventually fell in love with an Indian woman and home

steaded a piece of land high in the Book Cliff Mountains. His good
friend Ben "Wild Horse" Morris, the final husband of Josie Bassett,
helped him build a cabin on the land. While looking for the best cabin
site, Charlie announced to Ben with a pointed finger towards a
western ledge that the cabin would be built there so he, "could get the
morning sun and evening shade". The cabin over the years became
known as the "Honeymoon Cabin" as many a cowboy and his sweet
heart made use of the cabin. 10
Unfortunately, Charlie and his sweetheart did not get to use the
cabin. On the night of February 22, 1937 Charlie was in a big poker
game at Thompson, Utah. The bottle was passed around and Charlie
got pretty drunk. Two Basque friends of Felix Jesui were in the poker
game and in time they suggested that Charlie go to Cisco with them
where another big game was being played. Charlie loved poker and
had no hesitation going with the men. A few miles from Cisco the truck
the men were riding in went off of the road and rolled three times. The
two Basque herders were barely scratched but Charlie died in the
accident. There were no witnesses to the accident and many a cowboy
in Utah and Colorado wondered out loud if the accident were planned
to get even with the shooting of Felix Jesui. The inquest into the
accident simply reported that Charlie Glass died of a broken neck

20
suffered in an au tomobile accident. l1

Charlie Glass was buried in the Fruita, Colorado cemetery near the
plot of his former boss, Oscar Turner. The interment of Charlie Glass
in the cemetery was quite a milestone in the history of the little town
as the town charter prohibited the burial of Negroes thereY Such was
the Legend of Charlie Glass.
Footnotes
I. Walker D. Wyman and John D. Hart, The Le~end of Charlie Glass (New Richmond,
Wisconsin: Doughboy Press, 1970), 2.
2. Ibid., 2.
3.Bill Cunningham, interview with author, Grand Junction, Colorado. 1994.
4. Walker D. Wyman and John D. Hart, The Le~end or Charlie Glass (New Richmond,
S.lbid, 5.
6. The Times-Independent (Moab, Utah), March 3, 1921.
7.lbid, 7.
8. Walker D. Wyman and John D. Hart, The Le~end of Charlie Glass (New Richmond,
9.Bill Cunningham, interview with author, Grand Junction, Colorado. 1994.
10. Ibid.
II. Walker D. Wyman and John D. Hart, The Le~end of Charlie Glass (New Richmond,
12. Ibid., I.
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ALBERT WELHOUSE
ALIAS
ALBERT "SPECK" WILLIAMS
By Doris Karren Bur/on
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Albert (Welhouse) Williams was most often called the "Speckled

Nigger," "Speck Williams" or "Nigger Albert." He was originally
born in the state of Virginia although it is not known whether it was in
West Virginia or the Old Dominion. He told friends he had been born
and raised as a slave on a southern plantation before the Civil War. The
name Williams was thought to be the name of the former plantation
owner. He had never learned to read or write and was not certain how
old he actually was, but the year of his birth shows up on the Brown's
HOke census as 1865. He was old enough at that time to remember the
soldiers returning from the war. He was proud of his nickname
"Speck" or "Speckled Nigger" as he was referred to from the fact that
his medium brown skin was covered with coal-black freckles.
Speck became a coachman for the "ladies and genmen" at White
Sulphur Springs, a fashionable resort, and wore a fine uniform with
brass buttons. One day his carriage was held up by "Jesse James" on
a lonely road and he decided it would be safer to work as a mule driver
in the West Virginia coal mines.
The only date Speck clearly remembered was 1883, when he was
shipped with a trainload of other Negro miners to break a strike at new
mines which had been opened in Iowa. The Negroes had not been
informed they were strike breakers, but when the train neared the
mine each man was given a rifle and instructed to "take the town,"
which they did.

22
Iowa was also having a series of Indian scares at the time and one
night while Speck and his negro friends were having a game of craps,
Indians fired into their tent. Speck said, "There wasn't no more sevens
throwed that night." They grabbed their rifles and started shooting
into the grass, but didn't find any dead "Injuns" in the morning.
At this time all men in that part of Iowa belonged to the "Horne
Guards," a force of volunteers recruited and financed by the govern
ment. Speck and all other blacks were organized into a company of
"Black Guards," under Captain Perry, a Negro officer. The Black
Guards were ordered into the field during the uprising and spent a
year in an Indian campaign, chasing the Sioux as far west as the
Yellowstone River.
When Speck returned to Iowa he worked for the Whitebreast Coal
company. Later he worked in the mines at Bloomington, Illinois. Then
he was sent with another trainload of Negroes to break a strike at
Roselyn, Washington, where they took the town with rifles, driving
out entrenched Irish miners. He left Roselyn and went to British
Columbia for a short time and then to Rock Springs, Wyoming, where
he worked for the Union Pacific Coal Mines. When they imported a
trainload of Chinamen to replace the Welsh and Negro miners, Speck
was out of a job.
In 1897 Speck was in Englewood, South Dakota, where he had
trouble with Henry Staley and ended up killing the man. He was
arrested and placed in the jail at Deadwood, South Dakota. At that
time he was going by the alias of William Moore. While he was in jail
awaiting action of the grand jury, the au tlaws who robbed th bank at
Belle Fourche were captured and thrown in jail with Moore. They
called him "Speck" and he joined with them in planning an escape
from the jail. The robbers were Torn Q'Day, Walt Puteney, Harry
Longabaugh (Sundance Kid) and Kid Curry (Harvey Logan) who
were using the names Frank and Thomas Roberts alias Jones.
The jail was a big room thirty feet square with iron plate on the floor
and heavy bars on the windows. Along one wall were small cells that
opened out on a bullpen. The men were put in the cells at night and in
the bullpen during the day. The jailer had a lever outside the bullpen
that locked and unlocked all the cell doors at once. Besides Speck there
was an idiot boy in jail kept by the jailer. He had the run of the jail and
spent most of his time in the bullpen. Speck who had been in jail for
awhile told them there was a defect in the bar that controlled the cell
doors. If the bar was thrown to lock position while the cell doors were
open, the jailer had to come into the bullpen to fix each cell door before
he could lock them again.
With this information, Sundance and Kid Curry came up with a
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"Speck" Williams often operated the ferry for Janie.
(photo credit: Utah State Historical Society)
plan to make a jailbreak and included Speck in their escape plans.

When one of their outlaw gang members, George (Flat Nose) Curri ,
read of their arrest, he sent Red Jordan and Lonny Logan alias Curry
to Deadwood. Kid Curry sent them a note telling of their plans throu )"h
his lawyer, and they placed horses in Spearfish Canyon, within hiking
distance of Deadwood.
Their chance came to throw the lever, when the jailer came back
with their supper, he handed it through the bars where they ate in the
bullpen. After they ate, the jailer told them to get back in their cell .
They pointed out that the lever has been thrown by the boy whil h
was playing with it. The jailer swore, pulled his keys and opened the

24
door so he could go in and fix the locking bars. As the jailer passed,
Sundance was all over him before he knew what hit him. The jailer's
wife hearing the commotion ran in and tried to slam the bullpen door
shut, but they grabbed her and tied and gaged them both. They took
the jailer's gun then fled outside where it was almost dark.
Sundance, Kid Curry and Speck went one way and Walt and Tom
another. The three traveled most of the night through the timber in
rough country until they reached Spearfish Creek where Lonny was
waiting with the horses. They followed an old cattle trail that led to
Newcastle, Wyoming. They headed for Powder Springs, Colorado,
n ar Brown's Hole, looting several sheep camps along the way in
Sweetwater River country. They hoped to meet Butch Cassidy and
Elzy Lay but were told at Powder Springs that they had gone to
Arizona for the winter. They traveled on to Brown's Hole where Speck
found work with Tom Davenport on his Willow Creek ranch. While in
Brown's Park, they attended the big Thanksgiving day party at the
Bassett Ranch. Butch and Elzy left a message with Charley Crouse for
Sundance and Kid Curry to look them up in Sulphur Springs Valley,
Arizona. Speck stayed in Brown's Hole where the outlaws knew they
could count on him again when they needed help.!
Speck never joined he Wild Bunch as a gang member but became
a friend to them all, taking care of their horses while they were away,
sending warnings to them when the law came close and in many other
ways. Being born a slave, he haj early learned that to avoid trouble he
must attend strictly to his own a:fairs. He worked for all the Brown's
Hole settlers at different times, but always spoke affectionately of
"Mis' Davenpo't." For several years he operated a ferry across the
Green River and in the course of that business met every outlaw who
ever passed through Brown's Hole. He knew that to survive among
the outlaws he must keep his mouth tightly closed at all times.
While Speck was operating the ferry he took killer Harry Tracy
across the Green River. After letting t}}' s slip in an interview a few
week before his death, he said, "But don't ever say I said that!"2
For many years Speck operated the Jarvie Ferry and later the
Crouse Ferry on the Green River. Speckwas in onone crime with Butch
Cassidy, Elzy Lay, Matt Warner and Lew McCarty when they robbed
an old Je 'sh merchant, of his wares--clothes, hardware, jewelry,
etc.-Speck aided by steering the old Jew who came from Rock
Springs, Wyoming, in the right direction from the ferry to where th
. outlaws waited in ambush. After the robbery, Butch rode to the ferry
and asked Speck if there was anything he wanted from the robbery.
Speck said he sure could use a pair of socks, as his had holes 'n them.
The old kinky haired darkey later grinned with delight when he said,
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"Butch done give me a whole bale of' em!"3

Speck liked all of the outlaws except Mike Flynn a rustler who had
stolen his horse. The 2-Bar Cattle Company was another victim of
Flynn's rustling operation, and they hired Fred Taylor to kill him.
Taylor failed, so-according to Speck-they turned the job over to
outlaw Tom McCarty. Speck saw McCarty ride up the canyon to
waylay Flynn. He could have warned Flynn but was still mad about
his stolen horse, so he didn't. Speck was cutting hay with Dick Cole in
Charley Crouse's field at the mouth of Crouse Canyon. Speck had
spent half his life with outlaws and rustlers who had always treated
him right. He often sent them warnings of danger, as it was his second
nature to side with the outlaws. Knowing McCarty was going to
waylay Fynn, his instinct told him to send a warning, even though he
had been one of the thief's victims. He told Cole to ride and tell Flynn,
saying, "I'm mad at him and can'tdo it myself." Cole wouldn't go, but
when Mr. Collett started up the canyon in a wagon, on his way to
Vernal, Cole told him. Collett warned Flynn when he reached the
canyon above, but Flynn didn't heed the warning.
.
Flynn was driving a team hitched to a wagon. As he passed under
an overhanging ledge, McCarty fired. McCarty turned the horses
loose, leaving Flynn still seated on the wagon-dead. The killer tl'1rew
his rifle in the river, where Speck retrieved it the next day. Lawmen
never solved the case and the overhanging ledge where the rustler was
killed is still called FIynn' s Point.
Speck remembered Tom Hom well. Under the name of Tom Hix,
Horn camped several weeks at the egro's cabin while studying the
outlaws' movements. Speck even composed a twenty-verse song
telling the story of the death of Matt Rash and Isom Dart from the
rustlers' angle which he would sing in hi old age.
Although Isom Dart and Speck Welhouse were both colored and
both became notable Brown's Hole characters. The two cQlored men
were worlds apart temperamentally. Speck was content with such
humdrum du 'es as operating the ferry at Parson's Ford and making
himself usefu _around the Davenport ranch. Speck was a rela~ed sort
of a man who could-and frequently did-spend hours on end
sunning him elf beside the Green River with a fishing pole in his'hand
Of, if he were disposed to catch forty winks, wedged securely between
his shins. Isom Dart, on the other hand, by virtue of his skill as a
cowboy and his strong predilection for mischief making, venting
brands on horses and stealing cattle and his gusto for life and his
nervous constitution had to be up and going. Who's to say whether the
lackadai ical ferryman or the energetic cowboy was the better man. 4
While in Vernal, Speck was arrested for drunkenness b1, Marshall
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26
THE OUTL4W TRAIL JOURNAL
H. A. Miller and spent the night in jail. When arraigned before Justice
Irvin Eaton he pleaded guilty.
When Justice Eaton xplained to him the nature of his offense and
that he could be fined $299 and an equal number of days in jail, he
straightened his back, terribly surprised at the news and said he had
never been told before of the seriousness of the offense.
Justice Eaton after some further explanation to Speck, said he
would only fine him $50 or 50 days in jail. Those present were
convulsed with laughter, when Speck said, "My goodness dats a steep
fine, but I tanks you genmen just de same." When told he would have
to pay at once or go to jail he said, "1 git dat money right now." which
he did.
Speck worked for Charley Crouse from South Carolina f r a while
in Brown's Hole. Crouse had an inborn hatred for all negroes but
tolerated his black employee as long as he was sober. One night Mrs.
Crouse sent Speck to find her husband, who she figured was drunk,
and bring him home. They had to cross the river at the ford and as they
emerged from the water nto the bank, they began to argue. Crouse
drew his knife and ripped Speck's belly open with one vicious slash.
When rous reached home and staggered into the house, his wife
inquired about Speck. Crouse replied, "I cut the guts out of the black
son-of-a-bitch and left him dead in the willows." Mrs. Crouse ran
down to the ford, where she found Speck writhing in agony, holding
his intestines in his hands. She ran back and told her husband he
wasn't dead. She insisted he help her bring him to the house where she
cleansed and dressed the wound and saved his life, nursing him
during his long convalescence. s
Speck was driving a four-horse team pulling a wagon full of
merrymakers going to a dance. They had already began to celebrate.
Tom Davenport owned the team and wagon and Speck was working
for him. EvenSpeckhadbeen sampling the liquor and was feeling high
himself.
As the wagon bumped over the rough trail Davenport shouted,
"What's the delay? "Why don't we go faster? Hell, Speck, you don't
know how to drive. Never use the lines when you're ina hurry. Throw
'em away and use the whip!"
Speck obeyed his boss, and the frightened horses flew across the
valley at a high gallop, ouncing the dancers high in the air. Thewagon
fortunately remained upright and they made it to the dance on time.
After the dance had been in progress for a few hours, someone
started hooting out the lights. Speck dove for he door with the sound
of the first shot. He w s the first ne au t the door but missed his footing
and fell down a short flight of steps. "Mis' Davenpo't" who weighed
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THE
ouru W TIV\IL fOll RNAL
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nearly tw hundred pounds, fell on top of him. Behind her came many
cowboy wearing spurs and ran across Speck bef re he could pick
himself up. Speck. tated he ,vas three months curing his bruises.
At each dance dt the old school house, Speck was appointed
"keeper of the bottles" extracting a taU Erom each bottle which had to
be deposited with lurn. He then presided over a bar of sorts, et up in
a wagon or buckboard a hundred yards or so from the school building.
He hid the bottles in the sagebrush and never had to worry abou t going
dryas long as he remained sober enough to remember where he had
hi den the stuff. When the men drank too much and became boister
ous, they would be away fran the ears of the women and children.
Speck kept an eye on those who imbibed too freely lest they come to
grief thr ugh an inadvertent encounter with a rattlesnake or th
business end of a horse or by stumbling into the river.
When Speck b came to old to work as a ranch hand, he had to fend
for himself. He moved up to Little Hole and lived in variou aban
doned cabins many of which the outlaws had used as hideouts. The
only posses ions he had to show for his life's work were his faithful
horse, a team of mules, a wagon, a cow and a few hens. Dr. Russell G.
Frazier and hi crew of four men were floating down the Green River
in 1932, when they rounded a bend and discovered Speck sitting on a
big sandstone bould r fishing in a muddy hole.
They wer urpri ed to see the old black man in this desolate area
and made camp there for the night. Around the campfire that night
they listened to the slow drawl of the old darkey tell tales of his life
among the outlaws of Brown' s Hole. When Frazier asked when he had
last seen Butch Cassidy, he replied, "Cain' t' zactly remember the year.
It was a long time ago. Butch and the boys was fixin' to go on a trip
somewhere, didn't say where they was headed. I says to Butch, says I,
'Butch, will you-all be comin' back soon?' 'Sure will, says h ,'n' you
be here when I get back. I'll be ridin' in one of these day with my
pockets full a' gold. You stay right here till you see our dust!"
"An' I been waitin' ever since/' tated Speck. "He ain't never come
yet, but I know he will some day. He ain't forgot 01 Speck. Some say
he got killed in South America; but there ain't 'ary a bullet could kill
Butch Cassidy. I 'spect he'll be showin' up round here one ' thes
days."
When Speck b cam ill and could not fend for himself, he came to
Vernal and spent his remaining life with Frank Hatch. Frank said that
true to the characteristics of Ius race he was kind and considerate to his
friends. His foes were only those who were against the ones to whom
he had sworn allegiance. There was a fund of knowledge tared in the
old darkey's mind.
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THE
UTLA. W TRAIL JOURNAL
When he died in Vernal May 7, 1934, the headlines in the Vernal

newspaper read, "Albert Williams, Old Negro Slave, Buried in Rock
Point Cemetery.?
Endnotes
F. Bruce Lamb, Kid Curry: The Life and Times of Harvey Logan and the Wild Bunch.
(Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books, 1991) 145-]54.
"Charles Kelly, The Outlaw Trail. (New York: Devin-Adair Company, ]959) 320-328.
JVernal Exp~ess. 30 July, ]981.
4John RolJe Burroughs, Where The Old West Stayed Young. (New York: Bonanza Books,
I
]962) ]06-107.
5More iletails oj this incident and the liJe story oj Charley Crouse, meaner than any
outlaw in Brown's Hole, can be read in The Outlaw TrailJournal. Winter ]993,
which can be obtained from the Uintah County Library's Outlaw Trail History Center
at ]55 East Main Vernal, Utah, 84078.
6John RolJe Burroughs, Where the Old West Stayed Young. (New York: Bonanza Books,
1962) 107.
7Vernal Express. 10 May, ]934.
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THE GUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL
29
FORT DUCHESNE'S
BUFFALO SOLDIERS
By Dr. Gary Lee Walker Ph.D'
Fort Thornburgh, located in the Uinta Basin of Utah, had been

abandoned for two years when a series of incidents involving annuity
payments occurred in 1886 between the Ute Indians and the govern
ment. Major Edward P. Bush was sent by the War Department to
investigate the situation in May.2 His report included the problem on
annuity payments, a killing of an Ute chief by another tribal member,
the seIling of liquor to the Indians, and the strong possibility of
problems over grazing rights in Colorado. Recognizing that the Utes
had sample supplies of firearms and that the settlers of the Uinta Basin
were again very fearful for their lives, Bush recommended that a force
of four companies, "one of which should be of cavalry," be sent to the
area to establish a fort. 3
The two units, Companies Band E of the Ninth Cavalry, that
arrived at the future site of Fort Duchesne on August 23, 1886, were
campti ed o[ :"l"ck cavalrymen and white officers. Majoro'Frederick
W. Benteen, the designated commander of the new fort, was their
leader.' Even before their arrival, some Indian scouts saw the cavalry
units a day or so away from the new fort site. Chief Sour of the Uintahs
became very excited at their reports, imploring Indian Agent E. E.
White, "Don't let them come! It's bad - very bad!"S
Although greatly agitated, Chief Sour managed to explain that the
Indians had made an "agreement" about the coming of troops, but
only for whi e soldiers. Hi< fear and excitement only allowed him the
following explanations:
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All over bl ck! All over black, buffao soldiers!

30
TH
GUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL
Black Cava ry troop~ maneuvering at Fort Duchesne. Utah in 1910.
(photo credit: Vintal Coullty Lihrmy Regional Room,
Char/ie.l. Neal Collectioll)
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Injun heap no like him!! Woolley head! Wooly
head! All same as buffalo! What you call him,
black white man? Nigger! igger!b
White, after an hour of talking and consoling, gave the Chief his word
that the "soldier chief " were white, and further guaranteed "the good
onductofthe/buffaloe~.'''7ChiefSoll agreed to their arrival and stay.
White later learned that the Utes had never allowed any blacks to
remain on their reservation, ,md that some previous black visitors had
mysteriously disappeared with no trace. On the se(
nighC a Ute
shepherd boy mistakenly warned his people that orne buffalo sol
diers were riding toward their camp. It took most of the night for
White and the officers to convince the Chief that all the troops were in
camp a leep. The boy had actually seen a band of Uncompahgres
coming from Ouray. Becau e of the circumstances, the Indians ac
cepted White in full confidence.. and no more incident occurr d. s
The Ninth Cavalry erved at Fort Duchesne from August, 1886, to
September, 1892, with four companie of the Twenty-First Infantry
fr m Fort Steele, Wyoming, and Fort Sidney, Nebraska. 9 The latter
companies consisted of white soldIers. From September, 1892, until
March, 1901, Fort Duche ne's troop consisted entirely of units from

31
the Ninth Cavalry.lO These black cavalrymen were called "buffalo

soldiers."
Although the origin of the term "buffalo soldier" is somewhat
obscure, it appears to have come into being in the fall of 1867, after an
encounter between a detachment of the Tenth Cavalry and seventy
Cheyenne warriors at a railroad camp forty-five miles we~t of Fort
Hayes. On September 15,1867, while the black units were still training
in Kansas, Private John Randall, Company G, Tenth Cavalry, wa
ordered to guard two civilian buffalo hunters. S venty Cheyenne
warriors attacked the party, killing the two hunters. Private Randall,
while attempting to flee, was hit with a bullet and crawled to a small
washout under some railroad tracks. The Indians rep atedly rode
over him, stabbing him with their lances eleven times. Firing at every
opportunity, Randall killed thirteen warriors. After being rescued by
a detachment of soldiers, Randall managed to survive the ordeal
despite delayed and poor medical aid. He was the first black man that
the Indians had seen, and they failed to kill rum. The heyenne's
encounter with the black-faced trooper who could not be beaten was
told around the campfires:
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They (the Cheyenn s) told the story which spread
south of the Apache, Arapaho and Comanche of the
black white man who had fought like a cornered
buffalo; who like a buffalo had suffered wound
after wound, yet had not died, and who like a
buffalo had a thick and shaggy mane of hair.]]
Since the buffalo was a sacred animal to the Plains Indian, it is

doubtful that they would have bestowed the title of "bu Halo soldier"
if respect had been lacking. 12 Apparently the Indian de ignation did
not insult the oldiers, for the regimental crest of the Tenth Cavalry
included the image of a large buffalo. 13 A ballad written by an
unknown buffalo soldier preserved another Indian encounter:
The Ninth marched out with splendid cheer,
The Bad Lands to explore
With Colonel Henry at their head
They never fear the foe;
So on they rode from Christmas eve;
'Till dawn of Christmas day;
The Red Skins heard the Ninth was near
and fled in great dismay.14

32
Black Cavalry troops maneuvering at Fort Duchesne, Vtah in 1910.
(photo credit: Vin/ah Cuunty Library Regional Room,
Charlie 1. Neal Collection)
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The story of the formation of the black army units is an interesting

and unique part of western Americana. The history of the N'nth
Cavalry, however, is limited:
The excerpt 1S pertaining to the Ninth, brief a
it is, is the only history of that regiment.
Unlike the other three, the Ninth never had
an active regimental historian, which, in part,
explains why the Tenth has probably always
been the" glamour" unit of the two. This is
not to say that the Tenth does not deserve all
the written credits it has received; it is
rather to assert that the Ninth was also very much
in the frontier picture. 16
The lack of historical records for the Ninth also explains the scant
mat~rial available on daily life at Fort Duchesne.
On January 12, 1866, Senator Henry Wils n of Massachusetts,
Chairman of the Military committee of the U. S. Senate, proposed the
establishment
of thirteen regiments composed of black enlisted men.
,.
The WilsQn Bill resulted in the WarDepartment issuing General Order

33
No. 56, August 1, 1866, which established six black regular Anny
regiments, which included the Ninth and Tenth CavalryY William
Loren Katz notes that:
The 1866 act was in response to the need for
"pacification" of the west and to the fine
record established by black troops during
the Civil War. 18
The 1866 act made a notable modification to other cavalry regiments

by the addition of a" regimental chaplain, whose duties were enlarged
to include the instruction of the enlisted men."19
Black soldiers had marched in Washington's armies and had
served with Andrew Jackson atNew Orleans in 1815. 20 Itwas the Civil
War, however, that provided large-scale rnployment for the Negro
after it dragged on longer than military and political officials had
anticipated. Bruce Catton comments:
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Tills decision to use the Negro as a soldier
did not necessarily grow out of any broad
humanitarian resolve; it seems to have come
more largely out of the dawning realization
that, since the Confederates were going to
kill a great many more Union soldiers before
the war was over, a good many white men would
escape death if a considerable percentage of
hose soldiers were colored. 2l
Nearly 180,000 blacks would serve in the Union army after enlistment
dramatically increa d with the I lancipation Proclamation of Janu
ary 1, 1863. The Civil War also ""aimed the lives of 33,380 Negro
soldiers. 22
Major General Philip H. Sheridan, on August 3, 1866, received
au thorization "to raise, among others, one regiment of colored cavalry
to be designated the Ninth Regiment of US Cavalry."23 The men came
from Kentucky and Louisiana, some of whom had served in volunteer
colored units. The predicament of both the new recruits and their
training officers was strained and tenuous, as indicated by the reflec
tions of Lieutenant Grote Hutcheson, Adjutant of the Ninth Cavalry:
It is difficult nowadays fully to appreciate
all the work and labor devolving upon the
officers in those early days. The men knew
nothing, and the noncommissioned officers

34
but little more. From the very circumstances

of their preceding life it could not be other
wise. They had no independence, no self
reliance, not a thought except for the present,
and were filled with superstition. To make
soldiers of such materials was, at that time,
considered more of an experiment than as a
fixed principle. The government depended upon
the officers of those early days to solve the
problem of the colored soldier. 24
The enlisted men were uneducated and few could read and even less
could write well enough to sign their names. Early accounts indicate
that only one man in the entire regiment could write well enough to act
as the sergeant-major. 25 The Ninth Cavalry was fortunate to have
Edward Hatch as their colonel. He had the respect of his officers, and
together they "went right manfully to work, determined to succeed."26
The basic duties of the Ninth Cavalry were to protect the stage
coach lines, to establish law and order along the Mexican border, and
to keep the Indians on their reservations. Accordingly, in 1867,
Troops 27 A, B, E, and K, with now General Hatch commanding, were
sent to Fort Stockton, Texas. Troops C, D, F, G, H, and I were sent to
Fort Davis, Texas under the command of Lt. Col. Merrit. Troops Land
M travelled to Brownsville for their assignment. 28
The regiment remained in Texas for eight years. In late 1875, it was
transferred to New Mexico, with headquarters in Santa Fe. Units were
dispatched to every corner of the territory. Their main duty was to
capture and return to their reservations the numerous bands of
Apaches. 29 The Ninth Cavalry relocated toKansasinJune,1881, where
it remained until 1885:
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In the summer of 1885, the regiment was moved
to the Department of the Platte, where it has
since remained enjoying a well-earned rest
after the many scouts and campaigns of the
preceding eighteen years. At present (February
1895) the regiment is commanded by Colonel
James Biddle, and eight troops garrison the
post of Fort Robinson, Nebraska. Troops B
and F, under Major Randlett, are at Fort
Duchesne, Utah; while Troops Land Mare
continued with a skeleton organization. 3D

35
Buffalo soldiers were sent to the more isolated posts, where disci
pline was often more harsh than that dealt to white regiments. Food
was also inferior and sometimes even maggot-ridden, with sour bread
spread with suet butter and poor quality beef. More often than not,
staples, such as molasses, canned tomatoes, potatoes, dried apples and
peaches, were not provided. Flour was only given to the officersY The
equipment they received was generally second-rate and rejected by
other frontier units. 32 The animals given to the buffalo soldiers were
also rejects, for the troops were required to utilize" the worst horseflesh
in the army."33
While stationed in Texas during the 1870's, the overall effective
ness of the Ninth Cavalry was severely hampered by prejudice and
harassment from local officials. When commanding officers attempted
to expel gamblers and other pests who preyed on the enlisted men,
local officials would not lend their support. Instead, the commanding
officer often found himself embroiled in a countersuit. 34
Despite the often negative environment of the black military units
during the latter part of the nineteenth century, history records a
positive and oftentimes commendable record for the buffalo soldiers.
As the western frontier came to a close, eleven black soldiers earned
the nation's highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of
Honor. The earliest recipient was Sergeant Emanuel Stance in Com
pany F of the Ninth Cavalry.35 During the battle of Milk River, where
Major Thornburgh was killed, Sergeant Henry Johnson repeatedly left
his sheltered position and under heavy fire at close range contacted
and instructed his fellow soldiers who were dug in for protection. The
following night he fought his way to the river numerous times in order
to bring water to the wounded. For his heroism, the country bestowed
the Medal of Honor on Sergeant Johnson. 36
The first three black graduates from West Point (and the last for
fifty years) served with the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry units. The first,
Henry O. Flipper, was assigned to the Tenth Cavalry. He was later
tried for "embezzling public funds and conduct unbecoming an
officer."3? Acquitted on the first charge, he was found guilty on the
second. After his dishonorable discharge, federal, state, and local
governments repeatedly hired him as a civil engineer because of his
great skill. He also served as a translator for the U.5. Senate Committee
on Foreign Relations. Throughout his life, Flipper was repeatedly
commended for his incorruptibility and the confidence that his em
ployers had in him. Despite repeated efforts, however, he was never
able to secure a new trial that might clear him and revoke his dishon
orable discharge. 38
The second black to graduate from the U.5. Military Academy was
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36
THE GUTLA W TRAiL JOURi' AL
John H. Alexander. He served with the Ninth Cavalry in Nebraska

and Utah for seven years and was subsequently assigned as the
Army' s professor of military science and tactics at Wilberforce Univer
sity, a school for blacks in Ohio. While on duty in Ohio, he died
suddenly in March, 1894, of heart disease. 39
The third black graduate was Charles Young. He initially served
with the Ninth Cavalry at Fort Robinson, Nebraska, and Fort Duchesne,
Utah. Following the untimely death of Alexander, he became military
instructor at Wilberforce. 40
Buffalo soldiers were stationed at Fort Duchesne from 1886 through
1901. Up to 1892, both black and white soldiers served together.
Between 1891 and 1901, when only black cavalry units were at the at
the post, white officers were always in charge. Available information
points to overall success in black-white relations both at the fort and in
the nearby communities. This is not to say that the black mar was not
expected to "keep his place." Prejudice and discrimination were alive
and well at the post and in the community. The post Owl Club was
exclusively for white military and community personnel. The lack of
multiple incidents in the local newspapers and post reports allows a
guarded conclusion that the relations were good at the fort and in the
community, and certainly better than in many other parts of the
nation.
, In retrospect, the buffalo soldier served his country with honor.
After the Civil War, officers of the black units were convinced that their
men were more loyal and obedient than their white counterparts. 41 By
the time of the Spanish-American 'War, the Negro soldier was well
aware that his record was as good as that of his white comrades. This
is not to say that they were without faults:
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Their behavior In garrison was little different
from that of other regiments in comparable
circumstances. Desertion, high at first,
steadily declined until the rate was the
lowest in the army ... Chronic drunkenness,
a source of real concern in other regiments,
was almost unknown among the buffalo soldiers.
They were not all "angels," as the records
amply show. There were murderers and thieves
among them and worse. These were not repre
sentative, although many frontier editors
would have had it SO.42
The buffalo soldiers participated twenty-three years in the Indian

37
Wars, from 1867 to 1890. They went on to serve with great honor in the
Spanish-American War, which prompted the expression of praise
from Teddy Roosevelt: I wish no better men beside me in battle than
these colored troops showed themselves to be."43 Leckie concludes:
If
In the last analysis, however, the records
reveal a simple fact. The Ninth and T nth
Cavalry were first-rate regiments and major
forces in promoting peace and advancing
civilization along America's last continental
frontier. The thriving cities and towns, the
fertile fields, and the natural beauty of that
once wild land are monuments enough for any
buffalo soldier. 44
Endnotes
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l.Dr. Walker teaches history at Brigham Young University.
2.Annual Report 1886. L1-L1I.
3.Reporl of Major E. G. Bush to Adjutant General's Office, War Department, "Report
of Investigation of Ouray Indian Agency, " June 23, 1866, Record Group 394,
National Archives, Washington D.C.
4.Special Post Return of Fort Duchesne, August 24, 1886; Post Return for Fort
Duchesne, August, 1886. Microcopy 617, Roll 333, National Archives, Washingtof!
D.C.
5.. E. White, Experiences ofa Special Indian A gent. (Little Rock: Diploma Press,
1893: reprint, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965), 147.
6. Ibid., 148
7.fbid., 748.
8. Ibid. 150-57.
9.Returns, 1886-1903
lO.The 'inth Cavalry found for six months in 1898 in the SpaniSh-American War.
n.Mic/udl Starr, iJuffalo Soldier," Army 31, No.1 (January, 1981),43-44.
12. William H. Leckie, The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Negro Cavalry in the
West, (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1967),26, footnote 14.
13.lhid., 26.
14. William Loren Katz, The Black West, 3rd ed. (Seattle: Open Hand Publishing, 1987),
209.
15.The "excerpt" is from The Army ofthe United States, by T Theodore F. Rodenbough
and William./. Haskins, 1896. The material was taken from original regimental
records.
16John M. Carroll, Introduction to Part II, "The Four Black Regiments," in The Black
Military Experience in the American West, ed. John M. Carroll (New York: Liveright,
1971),61. Hereafter the book will be called Black Military Experience.
17.Bernard C. Nalty and Morris 1. MacGregor, eds., Blacks in Military; Essential
Documents (Wilmington, Del: Scholarly Resources, 1981), 45-47. The other created

38
units were the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, and Forty-first Infantry. In

March 1869, an Army-3wide reorganization combined and redesignated these
regiments into the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Infantry (colored).
18. Katz, 199.
19.Lt. Grote Hutcheson, "The Ninth Regiment of Cavalry, " in Black Military
Experience, 65. Up to this time, chaplains were sent to posts, and were called "post
chaplains. "
20.Marvin Fletcher, The Black Soldier and Officer in the United Army 1891-1917,
(Columbia, No.: University of Missouri Press, 1974), 11-16. Chapter One, "An
Introduction, " contains an e.xcellent overview of the black soldier's participation in
the American armies of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
21.Bruce Catton, This Hallowed Ground: The Story of the Union side of the Civil War
(Garden City: Doubleday, 1956), 4.
22.Leckie, 4-5.
23.Hutcheson, 66.
24.lbid., 68.
25.lbid., 68-69.
26.Jbid., 69.
27,During the Civil War, some cavalry companies began to call themselves "troops. "
Earlier, the smallest unit was called the company. The word"troop" was first
officially used in an act dated 17 July 1862, which called for the organization of a
"company or troop." The revised Army regulations of 1873 omitted the term
"company" but there was still a general use of the designation. In 1883, all units
were directed to use the term "troop," although it was not uncommon for both terms
to be used in the same regiment. Material taken from Mary Lee Stubbs and Stanley
Russell Connor, Armor-Cavalry Part II: Army National Guard (Washington D.C.:
Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Army, 1972), 21.
28.Carroll, Illlroduction to Part II, 62; Hutcheson, 69.
29.Hutcheson, 71-72.
30.lbid., 74.
31.Leckie, 98-99; Starr, 42.
32.Starr, 42.
33.Leckie, 259.
34. Ibid., 107-108; 259-60.
35.Katz, 204-206.
36.John M. Carroll, "The Battle of Milk River, " in Black Military Experience,381-84.
37,Katz, 219-2].
38. Ibid.
39.Bernard C. Nalty, Strength for the Fight: A History ofBlack Americans in the
Military (New york: The Free Press, 1986), 60.

40.lbid., 60.
4].1ohn M. Carroll, "Conclusion," in Black Military Experience, 523.
42.Leckie, 259-60.
43.Starr, 48.
44.Leckie, 260.
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39
LIEUTENANT CHARLES YOUNG
AT FORT DUCHESNE, UTAH:
A LEGACY
by Bert Jenson
Charles Young was born March 12, 1864 in a log cabin in Mayslick,
Mason County, Kentucky. His parents had been slaves. At the age of
nine, Young's family moved to Ripley, Ohio, where he attended
school. He was a youth gifted in languages and music, and graduated
from high school in 1880. Charles then took a job teaching high school
while preparing to enter aJesuit college. It was during this time that he
took the competitive examination for West Point, and passed. He
decided to enter the Academy as a means to an education and an
opening into a profession; it was 1884.
African-Americans had served in the U.s. military in small num
bers starting with the Revolu tionary War. It was not until the Civil War
that the military allowed whole black regiments into combat, a move
that secured the Union victory. Charles Young's father was one of
these combatants. The abilities and trust placed in those soldiers is
confirmed by the fact that four black regiments were allowed to stand
after that war. They served mainly on the western ou tposts of America,
defending borders and engaging in the "Indian Wars." During the
period from 1865 to 1890, the service of these regiments brought about
gradual and marked change for blacks in the military. That change
was bought and paid for in blood, dedication, and conduct befitting
soldiers of the United States Army.
Some of those "Buffalo Soldiers" dared challenge the prejudiced
walls of West Point, were rejected, and others tried in their example.
Of those who entered, most fell like so much cannon fodder on the
battlefield of racially non-pro rata academia. Between 1870 and 1889,
twenty-three blacks received appointments to West Point, twelve
passed the entrance examination, only three graduated: Henry O.
Flipper became the first in 1877; John Alexander was second in 1887;
and Charles Young became the third in 1889. 1
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40
The fifty percentile failure rate among blacks desiring to enter West
Point can be directly attributed to the fact that blacks generally did not
enjoy the same quality of education as did whites in the late 1800s. But
a qualifying grade for admittance was no panacea to completion of the
curricula. Those blacks who met the academic requirements to enter
the Academy were then badgered by prejudiced classmates and
instructors who felt that blacks had no business commanding, and as
graduating officers that was their supposed duty. The life of a plebe at
We t Point is in itself a hazing that only the most resolute can over
come, but for a black in the late 1800s is was excruciating, a ritual
designed to break them down, force them into quitting and giving up.
For three-fourths of black cadets during this time, it became their ruin.
After the gradua tion of Young, it was forty-seven years before another
African-American withstood the derision to a successful graduation
outcome. It was equally difficult for Young, but he would not give in.
Encouraged by his engineering instructor, Lieutenant George
Goethals, better known for having, later, built the Panama Canal,
Young overcame a first-year failure in mathematics and returned for
four more years. Once derided by fellow cadets, in later years his
fortitude was highly spoken of by classmates. 2
Young was commissioned a second lieutenant and accepted duty
with the 9th Cavalry at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. 0 e year later, he
transferred to Fort Duchesne, Utah, where he stayed for four years. In
1894 he was appointed professor of tactics and military science at
Wilberforce University, where he also taught French and mathemat
ics. By 1896 he was a first lieutenant. With the outbreak of the Spanish
American War, Young was given a war-time rank of major, though his
unit never did leave the states for active duty abroad. In 1899 he
rejoined his troop at Fort Duche~
By 1901 he wa~ a captain and en
route for the Philippines.
.e nickname "Follow Me," for his
In the Philippines he was giv,
bravery in command. Charles YOl .g was beloved of those who knew
him because he was an uncommon leader. His troops were often noted
as "the best instructed" around, and civilians outside the military
applauded his service wherever he went. He was military attache to
Haiti, a member of the General Staff, 2nd Division (Intelligence) at the
War Department, Commander in the Philippines, military attache to
Liberia, where he was promoted to major, served in the "punitive
expeditions" in Mexico, where he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
At that same time, the United States entered World War I, and many
thought that Young would be made a general in command of U.s. and
allied forces. It did not happen. As Nancy Gordon Heinl points out:
In]une 1917, as the army mobilized to goto France, Young took his
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41
promotion examination for full colonel. To his dismay he was found

physically unfit and sent to Letterman General Hospital in San Fran
cisco for further tests... The diagnosis of 'high blood pressure' was
scoffed at. .. Young would not be convinced thathewas not fit as ever. 3
In what has appeared to many over the years to have been nothing
more than an attempt at keeping Young from command over white
officers, he was retired on June 22, 1917, but promoted to full colonel
for having contracted a disability in the line of duty.
To prove his physical fitness, Young made a journey by horseback
from Ohio to Washington, but it did no good; the forced retirement
stood. It quickly became a biting controversy. Finally, with only five
days to the armistice, the army recalled Young to active duty to serve
with the Ohio National Guard at Camp Grant, Illinois. Back on duty
and embittered by the politics of it all, Young sought to do his best
while carrying a heavy burden of distain for the army's actions.
In 1919, at the special request of the State Department, Young again
sailed for Monrovia, Liberia, to serve as advisor. On January 8, 1922,
while in Nigeria on an inspection visit, Charles Young died.
One of the findings of Young's medical examination of 1917, and
which the army failed to reveal, was that in addition to the alleged
serious hypertension, Young was suffering from an advanced case of
chronic nephritis, commonly called Bright's disease, a type of kidney
failure. It had now proven fatal for him. Young had married in 1904,
and though he was buried in Lagos by the British military authorities
and with full military honors, his widow and two children requested
his remains please be sent home.
On June I, 1923, a tribute was held at the massive marble amphi
theater at Arlington National Cemetery, reportedly only the third such
funeral allowed to be held there-one of the others being that con
vened for the Unknown Soldier. 4 The Washington Evening Star reported
that besides a military cortege escort, the funeral services were partici
pated in by the U.s. Army, the Grand Army of the Republic, United
Spanish War Veterans, Army and Navy Union, the American Legion,
unaffiliated veterans of World War I, and prominent civilians, black
and white alike. s Many schools and colleges closed in remembrance of
this man, States sent delegations to be at the services, and old and
young alike paid their respects to this soldier they admired so much.
Three days prior to interment at Arlington, Colonel Charles Young's
body had lain in state at the great hall of City College in New York.
Then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, summed
up Young's life and career:
No man ever more truly deserved the high repute in which he was
held, for by sheer force of character, he overcame prejudices which
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42
would have discouraged many a lesser man. 6

Such character cannot pass through life without leaving a wake
that affects the lives of those around it. When Charles Young left for the
Philippines in 1901 he never returned to see Fort Duchesne, Utah,
again. But during his last nineteen months at that post-from Septem
ber 1899 to April 1901-Charles Young touched the heart and mind of
a younger enlisted soldier who would someday rise to become
America's first black general, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.
Benjamin Oliver Davis was born in 1880 and grew up in the
outskirts of Washington D.C. His father worked as a messenger in the
office of the assistant attorney general, and his mother was employed
as a nurse. Although he did attend racially mixed elementary schools,
like Charles Young, Davis, too, attended an all-black high school.
Throughout his school years, Davis belonged to paramilitary organi
zations and dreamed of the day he could be in the cavalry of the regular
army. His interest in the military disturbed his parents. They held
separate and different ideas about what their son should be, none of
which had anything to do with the military. They lost their bid on his
vocation, something that was especially difficult for Oliver's father to
accept.
Throughout his childhood: Benjamin's father tended to ignore
[him] the younger son, which did not bother the child because, as he
noted later, 'I was always uncomfortable in his presence.' In the
evening when Louis came home from work, the older children would
climb up on his knees, but the youngest was left out?
The two never were very close. During the intervening years of his
son's youth, the father lacked affinity for" Ollies" pro military pen
chants and encouraged him to enter a career in government. Louis
Davis at one time did try using his friends in government to secure
Oliver an appointment to West Point. But when this failed, and
Benjamin Oliver announced his decision to enlist, his father was
furious.
Held in low esteem, enlisted men commanded little respect from
the general population, and Louis Davis wanted better for his family's
name. So marked was the father's embarrassment over Ollie's enlist
ment that the son, unbeknown to his father, signed up as Benjamin O.
Davis, instead of Oliver, the name he had always gone by. Benjamin's
enlistment widened the rift in the already weak father / son relation
ship existing between him and his dad. This breach would not be
resolved for almost two decades. 8
John Proctor, whom Benjamin O. Davis had met earlier, was
helping in the recruitment of men into the Ninth Cavalry, an all-black
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43
regiment to which he had belonged previously. Because he was an

"expert soldier" and Davis, "clerk material," they were accepted, and
assigned to Troop I of the Ninth Cavalry stationed at Fort Duchesne,
Utah; that was June, 1899. In little more than a week, they arrived at
that garrison; Davis was still eighteen. 9
Having what he considered to be a good education, Davis applied
to take the exam for commission in August of that same year. The
board of officers at Fort Levenworth denied his request.
Davis received promotions to corporal and clerk, and then to
sergeant major. In August 1900 he reapplied for consideration to take
the officers' entrance exam. Accepted this time, he traveled to Fort
Levenworth, Kansas, took the exam, and passed third in a group of
twelve men approved for commission that day.lO It had come about
partly through the help of none other than Charles Young. Away on
detached service to Wilberforce University when Benjamin O. Davis
arrived at Fort Duchesne, he returned on September 22,1899. 11 He was
the only black officer left in the army.
[Lieutenant Young] became very much interested in Sergeant
Major Davis and encouraged him to study and take the examination
for a Second Lieutenancy ...Under Lieutenant Young he plied himself
at his severe task for nearly two years. 12
Charles Young felt strongly that there should be equality between
the races, and he wanted to show whites that blacks could perform
well. He believed that if Davis could pass the tests leading to a
commission, it would be another proof of racial equalityY
Besides wanting to prove a point using Davis' studies as a vehicle,
it may be that Young simply saw in the youthful Davis, his own former
self, a young man struggling to make his way through West Point. And
he undoubtedly recalled his mentor Lieutenant George Goethals,
under who's tutorage he had studied openly. Now it was he who was
helping another with his mathematics; it was only right. Young and
Davis became very close-the older being the mentor-the younger,
his protege. It is suggested that Davis became for Young the son he did
not have. 14 In all likelihood, Benjamin O. Davis accepted Charles
Young as the father he never had, his ultimate father image. 15
Young was intelligent, outgoing, and able to motivate. He orga
nized a brass band and several other musical ensembles shortly after
his return to Fort Duchesne. These groups were popular within the
Basin and further illustrated to whites that blacks were of equal
abilities. In all such instances, Young enjoyed seeing those around him
elevated in worthwhile goals and would do almost anything to help
them. At Fort Duchesne he was in charge of the post school, and while
Davis, early on, noted that many of the enlisted men could not write,
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44
a 1900 census report shows that all black soldiers at Fort Duchesne
could read and write. 16 This change had come about through the
combined efforts of Young and Davis, who worked hard to educate the
soldiers at Fort Duchesne. Throughout his career, Young was known
to conduct classes for those illiterate soldiers desiring to improve their
communication skills.
With this powerful visage before him, and emulating the esteemed
examples garnered from among the old-timers stationed at Fort
Duchesne, Davis set in himself a guidance mechanism that directed his
life from then, until his death. But before he would die, Benjamin O.
Davis, Sr. would rise to become the first African-American to wear
generals' stars of the United States Army. His career was one of great
service to his country and fellow blacks. Part of his work led to the
desegregation of the United States military and egalitarian advance
ment opportunities. The General often recalled his experiences at Fort
Duchesne as he fought for those rights in WashingtonY The fact that
General Davis held up his Fort Duchesne experience as a model to the
world, even in his advanced years, is highly significant. It suggests that
he was impacted by his stay there, that he truly had undergone a
pronounced change. And so he had. But in many ways his legacy is
part of the bequest left by Charles Young, a man who fought his way
into the hearts of people everywhere, resilient, honorable, and truly
American.
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NOTES
I. Through all the wars fought by Americans, starting with the Revolutionary and moving
on to the First and Second World Wars, Korea and Vietnam, black soldiers have
excelled, and prejudice has abated to a more acceptable interface with their white
counterparts. Today, almost no barriers remain for blacks in the United States
Army. But the height of black intergration into the military was reached in August,
1989. It was then that four-star general, Colin Powell, became the first African
American ever to sit as Head of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff.
2.Nancy Gordon Heinl, Dictionary of American Negro Biography, Rayford W. Logan
and Michael R. Windstome, eds, (New York: w.s. Norton & Company), 677.
3.Heinl, Dictionary of American Negro Biography, 679.
4. Washington Evening Star, June 1, 1923.
5.Ibid.
6.Franklin D. Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, as quoted by Heinl in
Dictionary of American Negro Biography, 679.

7.Marvin E. Fletcher, America's First Black General: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. 1880-1970,
(Stillwater: University ofKansas Press) 1989, 15-18.
8.Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American: An Autobiography,

45
. (Washington D. c.: Smithsonian Institution Press, ]991),2: and Fletcher, America's

First Black General, 8.
9. Fletcher, ]9-20
70. The following story illustrates Davis' experience with the exam he challenged for
lieutenancy. It was contributed by Lee Nichols in "Personal Glimpses, " Readers'
Digest Magazine, (New York: Reader's Digest Association, Inc., April ]962),93.
The only Negro taking the officer-training course [from] Fort Duchesne, Utah, in
]900, came before the examining board to learn the outcome of his examinations.
The chairman asked what he thought the result was.
Tell me if I got passing in history and I'll tell you,' the young soldier said.
The history examiner, instead of announcing his mark, asked the candidate a
series of rapid-fire questions about the Franco-Prussian War. The soldier rattled off
the answerswithout hesitation.
But those were the questions you missed on the exam." the instructor said.
'I didn't know the answers then,' replied the soldier. 'I went to the library
afterward to check up. I figured they might be useful sometime. '
The instructor said that his mark would be 70 instead of the below-passing 64 for
which he had been slated.
'Now, how do you think you did on the rest?' asked the chairman.
'I passed, , said the man confidently.
He did, with an average of9], and Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., later became the first
of his race in U.S. history to receive a general's star. "
Fletcher (18-26) presents a somewhat lower average score for Davis, but
collaborates his after-exams library study. He explains that Davis had been at a
slight disadvantage in preparing for the exams at Fort Duchesne, because that post
did not have adequate library facilities. It was this hardship, and Davis' self-proven
desire to learn, despite the test result~~ that persuaded the examination board to
allow a partial acceptance of his verbal answers in lieu of his first written ones. He
passed third highest out of twelve approved for commission that day.
ll.Robert Ewell Greene, Black Defenders of America 1775-1973, (Johnson Publishing
Company, 1974), 159-160; and Fletcher, 10-2].
12.H.R. Clarke, "Up From the Ranks," The Colored American Magazine. 7907.
] 3. Fletcher, 24.
]4.lbid.
15. The amost son-like closeness ofBenjamin O. Davis, Sr., to Charles Young, is borne
out in the fact that on Young's birthday in 1921, Davis "gave a talk about him to the
local chapter of the fraternity Omega Psi Phi. According to one witness, it was an
'inti nate and' Iminating presentation' (italics added). Certainly, Benjamin was one
of the few people who could have done this" (Fletcher, 60).
]6.Rona!d G. Coleman, "The Buffalo Soldiers: Guardians of the Uintah Frontier /886
1901," Utah i. torical Quarterly.
17.Fletcher, 21, 25.
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46
THE GUARDIAN OF
ISOM DART'S GRAVE
Way out on Cold Spring Mountain,
Where the Wyoming wind does blow;
There's a grave unmarked, unattended,
Through summer's heat and winter's snow.
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It's the final resting place of Isom Dart,
The black cowboy who met his end;
At the hands of the killer Tom Horn,
Whomlsom thought was his friend.
Tom shot him from behind a rock,
And there he let him lay;
Ten days later they buried him,
Beneath the rocks and beneath the clay.
Nearly a hundred years have passed,
Since that fatal shooting morn;
And the grave is in an aspen grove,
Alone and so forlorn.
And that's the way we found it,
Jim Browning and me that day:
Jim had a sketch that guided us,
To the spot where Isom lay.

47
There was an eerie feeling,
That made your hair stand straight;
As we stood and pictured that fatal morn,
When Isom met his fate.
Then, Jim jumped back and said,
What's that coming from out the grave?
It was a big old western blow snake,
To face him we had to be brave.
That snake was as thick as your wrist,
Seven feet from tail to ear;
And he looked at us as if to say,
What are you doing here?
He was a bright orange and black,
A most noble beast indeed;
He stayed by the grave and wouldn't leave,
While his eyes on us did feed.
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We took some pictures and stayed around,
With that snake watching ever so close;
Then Jim said, you know what 1 think?
1 think that's Isom Dart's ghost!
So, we beat a hasty retreat,
We figured we'd seen enough;
And the last we saw as we sent our way,
Was that old snake still watching us.
If you're ever out on Cold Spring Mountain,
You better look around:
And watch for the ghost in the aspen grove,
Where Isom's grave is found.
Arden Stewart
Vernal, Utah
1994

48
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor:
Concerning your article written by Merrill Johnson of the Utah
Highway Patrol who was stationed at Kanab in 1941 and who visited
with Butch Cassidy (Bob Parker) on a mid-July day, 1941, I would like
to make the following comment. I was somewhat acquainted with Mr.
Johnson having met him in 1963. However, my brother who retired
from the Utah Highway Patrol as a Captain was a very close friend of
Merrill, and in reviewing the article with him he quickly advised that
he could attest to Merrill's sincerity, honesty and integrity and as far
as he was concerned the article would be absolutely correct as stated.
While I am on this subject, it could be noted that Matt Warner's
daughter was married to my boss who lived and was stationed in
Price, Utah and as we both spent a lifetime in law enforcement we
spent a lot of time together. He told me many details concerning Matt
Warner and the Wild Bunch which he had heard over the years. He
told me that Butch and Sundance were not killed in Bolivia and that
Butch visited many of his old friends in Utah on a regular basis many
years after he was reported killed in Bolivia. I believe that are too many
infallible proofs that Cassidy and his partner indeed did come back to
the States well beyond the time when they were reported killed in
South America. Besides, it hardly stands to reason that two outlaws
who outsmarted the law in this country for many years and who could
live like coyotes if they had to could be outfoxed by a few Bolivians.
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Bob Nielson
Vernal, Utah
EDITOR'S NOTE
To our readers who have enjoyed the Folk Tales section of the Journal,
We felt that the articles were just too good to leave any of them
out. Be sure to watch in the next journal, as the Folk Tales from the Outlaw
Trail will again be a section in the Journal.
We wish to thank all our authors, who have donated their excellent
articles.
The Editor
OUf apologies.

Outlaw Trail History Center
Research Center for Outlaws & Lawmen

Featuring History of the Wild Bunch
Housed in the Regional Room at
155 East Main
Vernal, Utah 84078
1-801-789-0091
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There have been seven issues of the Outlaw Trail Journal

published and we still have a limited number ofback issues
available for purchase.
. ~ .... '.' ."

A library for all "ages"

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theOUTLAW TRAIL JOUIIAL

Published By The Outlaw Trail History Association

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

Managing Editor: Joy T. Horton

Associate Editor: Doris K. Burton

OUTLAW TRAIL HISTORY ASSOCIATION

Richard Wm. Horton. Chairman

William Webb, Vice-Chairman

Doris K. Burton. Secretary

Joy Horton, Treasurer

J esse Cole Kenworth

The OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL is supplied to all members of the

Publication of the OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL is made possible

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

tMOUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

Black Cowboy Isom Dart

Albert "Speck" Williams

By Doris Karren Burton

Fort Duchesne's Buffalo Soldiers

By Dr. Gary Lee Walker

Life of a Black soldier

The Guardian of Isom Dart's Grave

Letters to the Editor

The Outlaw Trail History Association

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL

BLACK COWBOY 180M DART

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

Steele, he overheard a message coming into the telegraph office. To his

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL

attacked by Indians. Also, Anderson would not want to deplete the

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL

(photo credit: Utah State HistoricaL Society)

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

attractiveyoungw man. I ornwa powerlesstost ptherelationship.

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAlL JOURNAL

A rancher by the name of J. S. Hoy came into the area to develop a

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

Gallery: Greybull, 1988.

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLA W TRAIL JOURNAL

The black cowboy, Charlie Glass, was estimated to be about sixty

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum