It was about this time, or a little previously, that the famous White League came into existence, occupying the K. K. K. basis as to politics, and in all essentials of its organization formulated upon the same model. This society assumed the duty of regulating the political affairs of the State, and that it succeeded to some extent in purifying the constitutions of the Returning Boards, those monster instrumentalities of fraud belonging to the Radical elective system here, there can be no doubt. It was, however, open to many objections, and on equitable grounds must have been defeated by the same testimony that in some instances was made available against the Klan. It was responsible for the New Orleans riots of December 1874, in which hundreds of lives were sacrificed, and which subjected the party which it assumed to represent to a manifest loss of influence. The Kellogg, or Radical faction, however, received severe punishment at their hands, and made many valuable concessions under the election issues, from which the troubles grew; and it was in this affair, likewise, that the Returning Boards, above mentioned, were made to feel their power, and “by the same sign” induced to amend their ways. A bloody affair at Coushatta, in the Red River country, followed in the succeeding year; but as the transactions of this body are not strictly within the purview of the present work, we refrain from a statement of the particulars.
The Klan, finding its services no longer available here, in obedience to its nomadic instincts crossed the Texas border, and for a year or two following [Davis, Radical, being at that time Governor], assisted in the administration of Texas affairs. But while it proved a factor of no mean consequence in almost every political measure which agitated the Border mind, and numerous local raids were reported by the State journals, its frontier history was made up of unimportant details, whose want of adaptation to the plan of this volume must be our excuse for omitting them. The following statute, referring to the subject, was enacted by the Texas Legislature of contemporaneous date:
Unlawfully appearing in disguise as Ku-Klux, White Camelias, and other Deviltry, punished.
Art. 6508. [1.] The penal code for the State of Texas shall be amended as follows, by inserting after Act 363 the following: [363] a If the purpose of the unlawful assembly be to alarm and frighten any person, or persons, by appearing in disguise, so that the real persons so acting and assembling can not be readily known, and by using language or gestures calculated to produce in such person or persons the fear of bodily harm, all persons engaged therein shall be punished by fine not less than one hundred, nor more than one thousand dollars each; and if such unlawful assembly shall take place at any time of the night—that is, between sunset and sunrise—the fine shall be doubled; and if three or more persons are found together disguised and armed with deadly weapons, the same shall be primâ facie evidence of the guilty purpose of such persons, as above described; and if any other unlawful assembly, mentioned in this chapter, consist in whole or in part of persons disguised and armed with deadly weapons, the fine to be assessed upon each person so offending shall be double the penalty hereinbefore described.
CHAPTER XV.
TALLY-HO!
The Situation in Georgia—Bullock Usurpation—Some Things which may be Explained—Negro Criminals—Taking Refuge in the Ocmulgee Swamps—A Brutal Murder—Ku-Klux Ambushed—A Terrible Oath—Uncle Jack B.—A Brief Memoir—“Nigger Dogs” in the “Goober State”—Uncle Jack Interviewed by the Ku-Klux—What came of it—Getting Ready for the Chase—A Pack of “Negro Dogs” described—In the Swamps—The Opening Chorus—A Warm Trail—Swimming the Ocmulgee—Disappointment—The Lull is Past—The Cheering Notes of the Chase—Blood of the Martyrs! can it be?—A Last Effort—Another Crime added to the Calendar—A fresh Start—Baffled Again—At Bay—Tragical Scene.
As the K. K. K. influence was not felt in the politics of the south-west after the events which we have narrated, and the scope of this work forbids our entering into such details as comprised the Chicot county affair in Arkansas, and the Vicksburg (Miss.) emeute, which was unquestionably due in part to other influences, we yield to the eccentricities of our theme, and find ourselves under the shadow of that towering usurpation—the Bullock administration in Georgia. The organization of the Klan in this State was perhaps more extensive and efficient than elsewhere on Southern soil,—proving a complete offset to the Loyal League in the important work of influencing party discipline, and, after a time, effecting its other aim—of rendering it physically hors du combat. We shall not pretend, however, to follow it through the various stages of its development on Georgia soil, nor give what might be deemed a correct history of its movements, as we are concerned rather with the issues which grew out of the latter, and that which will prove far more interesting to the reader—the modus of its operations.