A WOMAN LYNCHED KATE MAXWELL AND HER PARTNER STRUNG UP TO THE SAME TREE.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 389, 31 July 1889, Page 5

A WOMAN LYNCHED KATE MAXWELL AND HER PARTNER STRUNG UP TO THE SAME TREE.

Cheyenne (Wyo.), July 22. James Averill and the notorious Cattle Kate Maxwell were lynched by cowboys last night. The bodies of the rustler and range queen dangled from the same limb of a big cottonwood this morning. The scene of the lawless deed of the midnight riders is on the Sweetwater River in Carbon County, near Independence Rock, a land" mark made historical during the rush overland to the California goldhelds. Averill was the postmaster at Sweetwater. Kate Maxwell is the heroine of a sensational story which appeared throughout the country three months ago, when she raided a gambling-house and recovered a large sum of money won from her employees. .

DEPREDATIONS OF CATTLETHIEVES. The stockmen of the Sweetwater region have been the victims of cattle-thieves for years, and on account of the prejudice against large outfits it has been impossible to convict on this charge, and the rustlers have become very bold. Averill and his remarkable partner have been very active in thieving. The woman could hold her own on the range, riding like a demon, shooting on the slightest pretext, and handling the lariat and branding iron with the skill ot the most expert vaquero. Fifty freshly - branded yearling steers were counted in the Averill-Maxwell herd on Saturday morning. A stock-driver whose suspicions were aroused was driven from the place, where he was noticed viewing the stolen property. The circumstance was reported to the ranchmen, who determined to rid the country of the desperate pair. Averill and (the woman had Jseveral times been ordered to emigrate or cease appropriating mavericks, but had disregarded all warnings. After her celebrated j gambling-house escapade Mrs Maxwell degenerated from a picturesque Western character into a reckless prairie virago of loose morals, and lost most of herfollowing, bub continued her business partnership with the postmaster. !

THE PAIR SURPRISED. Word was passed along the river and fifteen to twenty men gathered at a designated rendezvous. They galloped to the cabin of Averill and Cattle Kate without unnecessary noise. The rustlers were at home. A peep through a window disclosed the thieves and a boy in their employ sitting beside a rude fireplace smoking cigarettes. As half-a-dozen men rushed into the room a Winchester was poked through each window and the command to " throw up your hands" was given with unmistakable earnestness. The two sprang for their weapons but were quickly overpowered. Averill blubbered and whined, protesting his innocence. • The boy was qujefc.

CURSED HER LYNCHERS. Kate cursed. Her excoriation of the lynchers was something terrible in its way, and an extensive vocabulary, collected during long association with roughs and ruffians, was exhausted and repeated. In summing up she cursed everything and everybody, challenging the Deity to harm her if He possessed the power. An attempt was made to gag her, but her struggling was so violent that this was abandoned. She called for her own horse to ride to the tree selected for a scaffold and vaulted astraddle the animal's back from the ground. Averill did not resist, and the boy, who had

been told that he would not be harmed, followed. Either end of the same rope was fastened abou tthe necks of therusblers as they sab in toeir saddles. The boy made a pass with a ilnife at the man who was preparing Kateforihanging, and he was knocked insensible by a blow with the butt of a revolver. ,It appears that the lad was a nephew of the bandit queen.

THEIK LAST DECLARATIONS.- • When preparations for the execution had been completed Averill and the woman were asked to speak. The man spoke only of his office, saying that he did not wish a certain man to be his successor. He was promised the influence of the party for another candidate. Kate made quite an address. She wished the affair kept as quiet as possible, desiring that her mother should remain in ignorance of her disgraceful career and tragic death. It was useless to deny that their herd had been stolen from 1 the ranchmen of that section, but if they dirt not wi<«h to divide it among themselrefl she would like to have it sold and the money yivon uo a home for wayward girls. She bade her nephew good-bye and commenced to deliver a blasphemous harangue.

LEFT HANGING. The horses were led from under the pair while Kate was still cursing. Both kicked for ten to fifteen minutes. A few bullets were sent into Averills body and the lynchers rode away. It is doubtful if an inquest will be held, and the executioners have no fear of punishment. The cattlemen claim they have been forced to this, and that more hanging will follow unless there is less thieving

HISTORY OF THE WOMAN MAXWELL. Cheyenne, July 23. "Cattle Kate" Maxwell had been a Chicago variety actress, and was brought from that place by Maxwell. She simply revolutionised ranoh life. Fond of horses, she impprted a number of racers, and with the attendance came bull dogs which were pitted against coyotes and prairie wolves. A couple of her jockeys were fleet ot foot, nnd they were matched againsb Indian sprinters, defeating the red man with ease. " Sharp Nose," a rapacious Araphoe chieftain, cudgeled his brain to devise ways for winning the white squaw's money, but was unsuccessful. Her thoroughbred ran away from his best ponies. The wily chief and his warriors were fleeced of everything except their mounts and guns. They showed tight, but veio driven from the place with the loss of several braves. About this time Maxwell's place was taken by his foreman. It was said that Kate poisoned her husband. The ranch now bocame a thieves' retveat, and all the neighbours suftered. A big spree followed the recovery of the money from the skin gamblers at Bessemar. Things went from bad to worse. The foreman came to his senses and left. Her retainers deserted, stealing her horses, and the cattle scattered. A coloured boy made away with Kate's diamonds. She shot him and recovered the jewels, but they soon followed her other property, and when the queen and Averill joined issues Kate was a poor tramp.