Amos Cates

CATES, Amos - (from The Fayetteville Daily, Monday] A shocking accident

occurred between 5 and 6 o’clock p.m. Saturday near West Fork which

resulted in the instant death of Amos Cates and his horse and the serious

injury of J.C. Custer. They had been to West Fork and were on their way

home. When about a mile from the town a dead tree, 18 inches in diameter,

that had been burned partly in two near the ground, was blown down and

fell across the road, striking Cates squarely on the head, crushing him and

his horse to the ground and killing both instantly. Custer was knocked

from his horse, his arm was broken and he was bruised in other ways. His

horse was slightly injured. He was unconscious for a time and remained

lying on the ground. When he had partially recovered he walked home in

an addled condition and a physician was summoned to dress his wounds.

He did not know that Cates was dead or what had become of him. A search

was instituted and the unfortunate man was found lying under the weight

of a large tree, his body, as well as that of his horse, being terribly crushed.

His saddle was broken into many pieces and it is not probable that he ever

realized what was befalling him. Custer was riding on the upper side of

the road, the side on which the tree stood, and he regards it as a miracle

that he escaped with his life for they were riding side by side. His horse

was skittish and it may be that the animal jumped forward when he heard

the crack as the tree started to fall. The tree had no limbs on the part

which struck Cates and it is said he would have escaped death had he been

a foot either way from where he was. Amos Cates was a son of Henry Cates

and was born and reared in the Moffit neighborhood. He was quiet, unassuming

man and a law-abiding citizen. He leaves a wife and several small

children who were dependent upon his labor for a living. His body was

interred in the Phillips graveyard today. [The Springdale News 11/17/1911]