ting the men of Hugoton with those thirty
pairs of twins that never were on land or sea. A great deal of bad blood
was engendered at this time.

"Soon after this Wood and Price started together for Garden City. They
were followed by a band of Hugoton men and captured in a dugout on the
Cimarron river. Brought back to Hugoton, a mock trial was held upon them
and they were released on a mock bond, being later taken out of town
under guard. A report was printed in the Hugoton paper that certain
gentlemen of that town had gone south with Colonel Wood and Captain
Price, 'for the purpose of a friendly buffalo hunt.' It was the
intention to take these two prisoners into the wild and lawless region
of No Man's Land, or the Panhandle of Texas, there to kill them, and to
bring back the report that they were accidentally killed in the buffalo
chase. This strange hunting party did go south, across No Man's Land
and into the desert region lying around the headwaters of the Beaver.
The prisoners knew what they were to expect, but, as it chanced, their
captors did not dare kill them. Meantime, Woodsdale had organized a
'posse' of twenty-four men, under Captain S. O. Aubrey, the noted
frontier trailer, formerly an Indian scout. This band, taking up the
trail below Hugoton, followed and rescued Wood and Price, and took
prisoners the entire Hugoton 'posse.' The latter were taken to Garden
City, and here the law was in turn set at defiance by the Woodsdale men,
the horses, wagons, arms, etc., of the Hugoton party being put up and
sold in the court to pay the board of the teams, expenses of
publication, etc. Colonel Wood bought these effects in at public
auction.

"By this time, Stevens county had been organized and the Hugoton 'pull'
was in the ascendency. A continuance had been taken at Garden City by
the Hugoton prisoners, who were charged with kidnapping. The papers in
this case were sent down from Finney county to the first session of the
District Court of Stevens county. The result was foregone. Tried by
their friends, the prisoners were promptly discharged.

"The feeling between the two towns was all the time growing more bitter.
Cases had been brought against Calvert, the census-taker, for perjury,
and action was taken looking toward the setting aside of the
organization of the county. The Kansas legislature, however, now met,
and the political 'pull' of Hugoton was still strong enough to secure a
special act legalizing the orga