In early December, 1878, a woman calling herself Mrs. Castile (reported as Costillo in many papers) traveled from southwest Kansas to Leavenworth in search of her wayward daughter.

Not having the fare to ride a bus to the Continental Hotel, she concluded to walk the short distance. On the way, she was befriended by Isaac Hayden, a black porter who had recently worked at the Continental.

As they walked she asked if Mr. Hayden had met her daughter, Belle. She confided that Belle had run away from home and she hoped to find her and take her home.

Hayden had indeed met Belle, but his report was not an easy one to convey. Bell was not at the Continental but was living in a house of ill fame, adding to the misery of the moment, Hayden was concerned that if Mrs. Castile went to the house, the inmates would likely prevent her from seeing Belle and force Mrs. Castile to leave. Hayden compassionately offered to take her to his home which was across the street from where her daughter was staying. He was certain that he could get Belle to leave the house for a meeting with her mother.

Hayden left Mrs. Castile alone in his home at 8 p.m. Upon his return at 10 p.m., instead of bringing news of her wayward daughter, Hayden locked the door, turned down the light, and attempted to restrain Mrs. Castile with his hand over her mouth. She struggled “until at last she could offer but a comparatively faint resistance.”

Under threat of death, Hayden held Mrs. Castile until five o’clock the next morning when he released her and directed her to go to her daughter. At the infamous house, Mrs. Castile was told that her daughter was living at the county poor farm and was advised to contact the city marshal if she wished to see her daughter. She immediately went to the police station to report the previous night’s attack and the details of her quest to find her daughter.

Mrs. Castile told a harrowing story of loss and misfortune. Coming with her family to Kansas from Montgomery County, Iowa, they moved to a homestead on the prairie outside of Dodge City. When the Cheyennes raided across western Kansas in September, 1878, they fled their home only to return to the charred remains of their burnedout dreams.

Meanwhile, Mr. Castile broke his leg and was confined to bed. The family was destitute, and Belle fled to Leavenworth. Belle had written to say that she had found work at the Continental Hotel. When the letters stopped coming, Mrs. Castile wrote to the proprietors of the hotel only to learn that she had gone away. Isaac Hayden had intercepted Mrs. Castille on her way to the Continental Hotel.

A complaint was sworn out and deputies carrying a warrant arrested Hayden at the Union Depot at 11 a.m. the same morning.

Hayden was no stranger to the officers. On Oct. 30, 1878, Hayden was suspected of relieving a Fort Leavenworth soldier of the money awarded upon his discharge from service. No evidence could be found connecting Hayden to the sting, leaving the soldier “in an entirely helpless condition.”

Hayden was brought to trial Tuesday, Jan. 7, 1879, and continued into the following day.

“The two sides of the case were very vigorously handled by the counsel on either side, and the matter was submitted to the jury late in the afternoon, which returned in a few minutes a verdict of guilty. The applause which arose in the courtroom upon the announcement of the verdict was promptly checked, but which served to show most decidedly which way the sympathy of the large crowd which filled the room was directed.”

But Hayden was not yet doomed. New information was brought to light that promised to change the balance of justice in his case. Hayden’s attorneys had investigated Mrs. Castile and found that she had lied while on the stand. In fact, Mrs. Castile was not even her name.

Several affidavits were obtained stating to affect that Mrs. Castile, was indeed Mary A. Malosh, the wife of J.D. Malosh of Dodge City. Mrs. Malosh had worked during the last year as a cook in “The Varieties,” one of Dodge City’s many dance houses. Her 14-year-old daughter, Belle was, “commonly known as one of the inmates of the house and was regarded as one of the girls of the town.” The affiants believed that the mother had forced her daughter into a life of sin and was the recipient of some of Belle’s wages.

A new trial was ordered, leading to Hayden’s release on May 14, 1879. News of Belle’s fate or that of Mrs. Malosh faded into obscurity along with so many who inhabited the dark shadows of society on The Way West.

“The Cowboy,” Jim Gray is author of the book Desperate Seed: Ellsworth Kansas on the Violent Frontier, Ellsworth, KS Contact Kansas Cowboy, 220 21st Road, Geneseo, Kan. Phone: (785) 531-2058 or kansascowboy@kans.com.