The Deadly Night at Bennett’s Headquarters

It will be remembered that on or about the 16th, at about 11 o'clock in the night, two masked men entered John Gram's saloon, at Bennett's headquarters, on the Cascade Division of the Northern Pacific Railroad, near the Green River. They ordered the occupants to throw up their hands, and immediately after the command, they fired. One of the shots struck John Gram in the body, and he died a couple of days afterward. Sheriff McGraw and other officers set out to apprehend the murderers, and their efforts resulted in the arrest of a character who traveled under the name of Oty Wysong. The evidence was circumstantial, but a strong chain was forged when Evans Owens, a man who stood well in the community, took the stand. Owens had ingratiated himself into the confidence of the suspect. While they were traveling together, Oty proposed they go and 'roll' a man supposed to have $100 on his person. Oty had prepared whisky in which he had soaked matches to make it 'effectual' when given to victims. When Owens asked what they would do if the dope didn't take effect, Oty replied, 'Oh, we'll kill the — if he makes any trouble.' When asked who was with him the night he 'downed' John Gram, Oty replied, 'That big fellow from up the road.' The jury, after deliberating, returned a verdict of guilty of manslaughter. Wysong was indicted for murder in the first degree, yet the jury settled on manslaughter—the unlawful killing of a human being without malice—punishable by one to twenty years in the penitentiary.