Good men who were intimate with Joseph A. Slade before he went to Montana gave him credit for possessing many excellent qualities. He is first heard of outside of his native village of Carlisle, in the State of Illinois, as a volunteer in the war with Mexico, in a company commanded by Captain Killman. This officer, no less distinguished for success in reconnoitre, strategy, and surprise, than service on the field of battle, selected from his regiment for this dangerous enterprise, twelve men of unquestioned daring and energy. Slade was among the number. A comrade of his during this period bears testimony to his efficiency, which he said always won the approbation of his commander. How or where his life was passed after the close of the war, and until he was intrusted with the care of one of the divisions of the Great Overland Stage route in 1859, I have no knowledge. This position was full of varied responsibility. His capabilities were equal to it. No more exalted tribute can be paid to his character than to say that he organized, managed, and controlled for several years, acceptably to the public, to the company, and to the employees of the company, the great central division of the Overland Stage route, through six hundred miles of territory destitute of inhabitants and law, exposed for the entire distance to hostile Indians, and overrun with a wild, reckless class of freebooters, who maintained their infamous assumptions with the pistol and bowie-knife. No man without a peculiar fitness for such a position could have done this. Stealing the horses of the stage company was a common crime. The loss of the property was small in comparison with the expense and embarrassment of delaying the coach, and breaking up the regularity of the trips. If Slade caused some of the rascals engaged in this business to be hanged, it was in strict conformity to the public sentiment, which in all new countries regards horse-stealing as a capital offence. Nothing but fear could restrain their passion for this guilty pursuit. Certain it is, that Slade’s name soon became a terror to all evil-doers along the road. Depredations of all kinds were less frequent, and whenever one of any magnitude was committed, Slade’s men were early on the track of the perpetrators, and seldom failed to capture and punish them. The power he exercised as a division agent was despotic. It was necessary for the service in which he was employed that it should be so. Doubtless, he caused the death of many bad men, but he has often been heard to say that he never killed but one himself. It was a common thing with him, if a man refused to obey him, to force obedience with a drawn pistol. How else could he do it, in a country where there was no law?