ARKANSAS HISTORICAL QUARTERLY, Volume 21 (Summer 1962), p. 153       Clayton and Catterson Rob Columbia County   Edited By J. H. ATKINSON Little Rock     THE ARTICLE BELOW WAS COPIED FROM A MANUSCRIPT NOW IN THE GULLEY COLLECTION in the Archives of the Arkansas History Commission in the Old State House in Litttle Rock. The document consists of four pages of legal size paper carefully written in ink, but now so faded it is very difficult to read. It is reproduced here exactly as written except for a few changes in punctuation and paragraphing. Apparently there is no way of determining whether or not the letter was ever sent to President Johnson, or how it came to be in the Archives. It is of especial interest because it was written contemporaneously with the events described.   This editor, a native of Columbia County, as a small boy around the turn of the century, heard many times of the outrages committed by "Catterson's Gang," but this is the only contemporary document that he has come across describing what actually took place. It was these things, happening three years after the close of the Civil War, and not the Civil War itself, that so embittered the people against Powell Clayton and the Republican Party.   Magnolia, Ark., January 12, 1869 His Excellency Andrew Johnson President of the U. States Dear Sir,   The object of this is to place before the facts giving you a sketch or short history of our condition and how we have been treated recently by order of Governor Clayton.           Contents  Words  Study Questions  Related Sites Next Page