ould go up in
the neighborhood of Omaha and Lincoln and get his horses, and tie them
in the woods until he had picked up a number of them, and then he would
make his way to the south. Horses stolen in Nebraska he would run south
to sell. Those stolen in Missouri and Kansas he would take to the north.
He told me that in Omaha, St. Joseph, Atchison, Leavenworth and Kansas
City there were dealers, usually keepers of livery stables, who would
purchase these stolen horses. He gave me the names of a number of these
men, some of whom I know personally. Little would I ever have suspected
that these men were engaged in such a wicked traffic as knowingly to
deal in stolen property. "When I had a number of horses," he continued,
"and wished to dispose of them in St. Joseph, for instance, I would
ride into the suburbs of the city and send a note to the man who usually
purchased my stock. I would never be seen about his barn. After night
he would make his way to where I was and purchase my horses, paying me
about one-half what they would really bring in the general market. I
would get about fifty dollars for an average horse. After purchasing
my stolen horses he would not take them to his livery barn, but to a
private stable, usually at his residence. When he would pay over the
money for this stolen property he would make out a bill of sale for each
one, and would step into a store or grocery, and in the presence of some
business man he would say to me, we will sign the bill of sale for
that horse I bought of you, and have this gentleman to witness the
transaction. I gave you fifty dollars at the barn, and now here is fifty
dollars more, which makes the hundred, the sum I was to pay for the
animal." I would take the money, sign the bill of sale, which would
be witnessed by the business man in whose presence the trade was
consummated. We would then go to another place of business and sign
a bill of sale for another horse, and have that witnessed by another
business man, and would continue this until all the horses I had sold
were paid for. In this manner he would shift all responsibility of crime
upon me. Securing my money I would rest for a time until 'I went broke,'
and then I would make another trip. The horse merchant would sometimes
keep his horses until he had picked up a car load, and then he would
ship them out of the country to Chicago, St. Louis or some other horse
market. Sometimes the horse buyer would run stolen property o