28       The Anglo-Saxons of tie Kentucky Mountains

the law, take the matter of punishment into their own hands, and at
their first chance shoot the murderer. But the desire for personal
vengence is always present. In this same Howard and Baker
feud, Tom Baker shot to death William White, an ally of the How-
ards and brother of the sheriff, as likewise kinsman of the county
clerk, jailer, and judge. Naturally reluctant to give himself up to
officials who were his personal enemies, Baker took to the hills until
State troops were sent to the county, when he gave himself up to
them. They pitched tent in the court-house yard, with a Gatling gun
in position for action, and Tom Baker was placed in a tent in the
centre, while no one was allowed to enter the military lines. But
one day his guards brought Tom Baker for a moment to the door
of his tent for a breath of air, and in that instant a shot, fired from
the house of the sheriff, found its way to his heart. And the moun-
taineers openly exulted that a hundred trained soldiers could not
protect a man who had been marked out as a victim.
   The exciting causes of these feuds are manifold and often of a
trifling nature. A misunderstanding in a horse trade, a gate left
open and trespassing cattle, the shooting of a dog, political rivalry,
or a difficulty over a boundary fence may start the trouble. The
first shooting is sometimes done in the madness of moonshine intoxi-
cation. These mountaineers are men who hold life as light as a
laugh, and to such anything is sufficient provocation to shoot; so the
first blood is easily shed. The feud once started, a long and bloody
war ensues, often for several years, in which waylaying, shooting
from ambush, and arson are regular features. Sometimes pitched
battles, engaging a hundred men or more, or a protracted siege of a
factionist stronghold varies the programme. In the recent Howard
and Baker feud, the principals were men of prominence, influence,
and means, so they were able to command a number of followers.
The main allies of the Howards were the White family, who have
furnished members of the United States Congress, State Senate,
and House of Representatives, and have controlled the offices of the
county for fifty years. In the French and Eversole feud, which
raged at intervals for many years in Perry County, the best people
of the county were drawn into one or the other faction. And yet
throughout this section there are those who deplore the reigning
lawlessness.
   In all mountain regions of the world crimes against persons are
far more frequent than crimes against property. So in the Ken-
tucky uplands the former are frequent, the latter rare. There is no