The Grangeville Globe

Wyatt Is on the Warpath

F. E. Wyatt, the Deer creek cattleman, was mingling among Whitebird friends the latter part of the week, and in conference with the Globe reporter stated that as a result of recent raids around his premises by sneak thieves he had bedecked himself with war paint and sharpened his tommyhawk. For several months past, Mr. Wyatt says he has been missing various articles of value, in the shape of tools, nails, seed grain and such like, but said nothing of the affair until the depredations became so frequent that the stolen articles began to figure up to a good sized bank account. "Several days ago," said Mr. Wyatt, "I purchased from the Salmon River Stores a keg of shingle nails which I hauled to the ranch and placed in the store house which stands near the public roadway. Those nails had scarcely remained there forty-eight hours until one of my good neighbors who frequently passes the place helped himself and carried off the whole caboodle, not even leaving me enough nails to patch up the roof on my dog kennel. I have strong suspicions that this sticky fingered culprit is the fellow who lives-- well I won't say where, but its dollars to doughnuts the next time he comes around I will get his scalp. Time was in the Salmon and Snake river country when stealing was virtually unknown, and ranchers and cattlemen thought nothing of leaving everything open. Now, however, in our advanced day of civilization everything must be kept under lock and key. So far as my own neighborhood is concerned the majority of the people are honorable but there is a rascal over there whom we are determined to round up and land in the penitentiary."