A few months after William C. C. Claiborne took his seat as governor of the Mississippi Territory he found it necessary to make an investigation of the robberies on the Mississippi River. On February 10, 1802, he wrote to Manuel de Salcedo, the Spanish Governor General of the Province of Louisiana, residing at New Orleans, informing him that he had received notice of “a daring robbery which had lately been committed upon some citizens of the United States who were descending the River Mississippi on their passage to this town”—Natchez—and that it was uncertain whether the persons guilty of this act of piracy were Spanish subjects or American citizens.
Map showing Cave-in-Rock and the Natchez Trace, 1814
To this the Governor General replied on February 28, saying among other things that “It is truly impossible to determine whether the delinquents are Spaniards or Americans” and that he had given his officers “the most positive orders ... to take the most efficacious means of discovering and apprehending the criminal or criminals that can be adopted ... and I assure your Excellency that if the criminals are taken they will be punished in such a manner as to serve as an example to others.” He complained that the people of “the States and Western Settlements ... having the freedom and use of the navigation of the Mississippi” came down into the Spanish territory in great numbers, among whom are “vagabonds ... who have fled from, or who do not, or can not return to, the United States.” [[113]]
Each governor was willing to arrest highway robbers and river pirates on his own side of the Mississippi, but neither could suggest to the other that if it became necessary for any pursuing party to cross the river into foreign territory, such pursuers might continue the chase without a special permit. Samuel Mason evidently understood and foresaw this condition of international affairs. He had purposely avoided committing crimes on the Spanish side, and now that his notoriety would, in all probability, result in his being hunted along the Natchez Trace, he moved to the Mississippi, there to confine his operations to the river and its American bank, on the very border of a comparatively safe and easily reached land of refuge.
The Baker robbery was in a sense nothing more than another link in Mason’s long chain of crimes. Colonel Baker was not daunted by the loss of his money and his failure to capture Mason, for the following spring he started down the river again in a flatboat loaded with merchandise. He supplied himself with guns, not only to protect his boat, but also to better prepare himself for his return home over the dangerous Trace. Some time in April, 1802, when his boat reached a point below Vicksburg, then known as Walnut Hills and Nogales, he came in contact with Mason and some of his men. Colonel Baker wrote a statement giving the details of this attack and forwarded it to Governor Claiborne of Mississippi. Colonel Baker’s written statement cannot be found. Its effect, however, is shown by the fact that upon receipt of it Governor Claiborne, who was aware that outlaws had long infested the frontier, more fully realized the necessity for action. The governor sent out three official letters from the capital of Mississippi Territory, each dated, “Town of Washington, April 27, 1802.” [[113]]
The first was written to Colonel Daniel Burnett, at Fort Gibson, who was in command of the militia in Claiborne County. It is here quoted in full from Dunbar Rowland’s Official Letter Books of W. C. C. Claiborne:
Town of Washington, April 27, 1802—
“Sir,—I have received information that a set of pirates and robbers who alternately infest the Mississippi River and the road leading from this district to Tennessee, rendezvous at or near the Walnut Hills, in the County of Claiborne:—a certain Samuel Mason and a man by the name of Harp, are said to be the leaders of this banditti:—they lately attempted in a hostile manner to board the boat of Colo[nel] Joshua Baker, between the mouth of Yazou River, and the Walnut Hills, but were prevented by Colo[nel] Baker’s making a shew of arms, and manifesting a great share of firmness. These men must be arrested; the honor of our country, the interest of society, and the feelings of humanity, proclaim that it is time to stop their career; The crimes of Harp, are many and great, and in point of baseness, Mason is nearly as celebrated:—While these sons of rapine and murder are permitted to rove at large, we may expect daily to hear of outrages upon the lives and properties of our fellow citizens.
“The militia of your regiment not being organized, I presume it would not be in your power, to execute (strictly) a military order, I shall therefore only request, that you will immediately endeavor to procure fifteen or twenty men as volunteers, and place yourself, or some confidential character at their head.
“This little force will then proceed to the Walnut Hills, and after making the due examination and enquiry at that place, they will examine the woods in the neighborhood of the Mississippi as high up as Yazou; If you should fall in with Mason and his party you will use all the means in your power to arrest them, or any of them, and I desire, that the person or persons arrested, may immediately be conveyed under a strong guard to Natchez.
“I hope that the honor of taking these lawless men, will be conferred upon the citizens of your neighborhood; should they succeed, I promise them a very generous reward.
“I have written to Lieutenant Rennick upon this subject, and it is probable, he will give you all the aid in his power.
“With great respect & esteem.
“I am sir, your Hble—Servt:
“William C. C. Claiborne“P. S. For your information, I have enclosed you the statement made by Colo[nel] Baker to me, of the late attempt made to rob him.
“W. C. C. C.
“Colo[nel] Daniel Burnett—”
Another letter was sent to Lieutenant Seymour Rennick, who was in command of a detachment of United States troops at Grindstone Ford on the Natchez Trace. In it the governor referred to the attack made on Colonel Baker’s boat and stated that “a certain Samuel Mason and a certain Wiley Harp ... have been in the habit of committing with impunity murders and robberies.... I think it is probable they may be found at or near the Walnut Hills; at that place the wife of John Mason resides.” He suggested to this officer that the federal government furnish Colonel Burnett with a sergeant and twelve men.
The third letter was addressed “To the Officer commanding the United States Troops near the mouth of Bear Creek on the Tennessee River.” In it Governor Claiborne writes that: “I have received information that the road from this territory to Tennessee is infested by a daring set of robbers, among them are a certain Samuel Mason and a certain Wiley Harp ... I hope, Sir, that if you should receive information of any mischief being done or attempted in the wilderness you will immediately order out a party of men, and make the necessary exertions to arrest the offenders.”