er of Al Capone Well Known Here
J
J. (Two-Gun) ilart, identffietS this week as the long- lost' fewiffoer of the late, gang overag& Al Capone, spen* sev¬ eral' yejirs in Spokane and the InliMfo- Empire as a special Indian agent, it was learned to¬ day. ,!
His identity as a Capone was dis-
*during an income-tax inves-
in Chicago this week.
.1 Capone, now a 63-year-
,_ :tce of the peaee at Homer,
spent four or five years here
. « late '20s and early '30s, work¬ ing closely with the Spokane police department's famous "dry squad" in prohibition days.
Paschal J. George, chairman of the Coeur d'Alene tribal council, said today he remembered Hart as a United States special officer at the Coeur d'Alene Indian agency about 1929.
According to George, Hart "caused a' lot of trouble on the reservation." - N-L* -Well Known in Idaho
'jHart was well "known around the towns adjoining the Coeur d'Alene reservation," George wrote from DeSmet.
Several Spekane police officers said they knew Hart as a "fear¬ less, tough-talking, hard-working Indian agent."- •
Retired Detective P. B. Ander¬ son said Hart was dark complex- ioned and claimed to be part In¬ dian. He frequently wore two pis¬ tols strapped around his waist and was given the name "Two-Gun" by Indians in this area.
"He was a special agent, dealing primarily with law enforcement among the Indians in both Wash¬ ington and Idaho. He had head¬ quarters in the federal building here for a time," Anderson re¬ called.
"No one ever suspected him of being related to the Capones, but he never discussed his past with us. iHart was very valuable to the dry squad officers, here. He really had control of the Indians. They all knew and feared him.''
During prohibition days, Ander¬ son said, Indians frequented Spo¬ kane more than they do now, main¬ ly because they could get liquor
—*P Wlrephoto.
"Two-Gun* Hart i -
here and it wasn't too plentiful in the smaller towns near the reser¬ vations.
"Two-gun would go on a walking tour with some of us," Anderson said. "When we came across a drunken Indian, Hart would grab him by the shirt, look him In the eye and demand to know where he got. the stuff. He usually got the right answers and'tiUick/'
On raids Hart would do the heavy work, Anderson remem¬ bered. He. would load drunks into the wagon and lug bottled goods out of hotel rooms by the case. He wasn't a big man, but he was wiry and strong.
Charles Goff, another veteran plainclothes man, said Hart had a steely eye."
"He would glare at some Indian
he wanted information from, and the fellow would literally wilt vm-. der his gaze," Goff said.
Detective Capt. W. H. Cox said he considered Hart a "pretty gooc" man." He was prone to "talk ant act tough."'
A report that he was in a. shoot¬ ing scrape here could not be-con¬ firmed; ¦ • A 1
Hart had the reputation of be- ins an excellent pistol -shot,--bat city police know different.. Gee time he and retired Detective Wall ter Johnson, now a state brand-}'' spector out of Olvmpia, had match in the old pistol range? the city hall basement. '-' .ft-t
"Johnson shot rings around Anderson said.- : '''-'0*
Gordon Johnson, Indian - age: here when the office was closed a few years ago, also knew Hart and once reported that Hart was re�� ceiving benefits of some kind front; the estate of Al Capone. Johnson first met him in the Dakotas, where he worked with the United States Indian service after leaving Spokane. He was reported' going blind at that time.
He now is appearing before a federal grand jury in Chicago, which is investigating income taxes of another brother,. Ralph Capone. , t
He told ChicagO'reporters he has been a law enforcement officer most of his life. He said he hasn't used the Capone name since leav¬ ing Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1905 and went west "looking for adventure."
Nearly Deprived of Sight Cataracts have nearly deprived him of sight and he uses a white cane. Now a justice of peace in Homer, Neb., he was town marshal there after leaving the Indian service. He holds title to brother Ralph's home, "Racap lodge," near Mercer, Wis., and was brought ihto the income tax .investigation for that reason.
James told federal men that he remained completely out of touch with his family until 1941. when he returned to Brooklyn to see his mother. He Hved in Nebraska be¬ fore he came here as an Indian agent, returning to Homer after retirement from the service in the Dakotas. ¦... •,.,_'_...,:
