WOOD RIVER TIMES
T.E.PICOTTE, PUBLISHER
JUNE 20 1883
SIX SHOOTER JACK
Being Ordered
to Throw Up His Hands
He Went For His Guns and Was Shot
Particulars
of the Affair Verdict of the Coroners Jury.
General E.E.Cunningham arrived in town, late last evening,
bringing the news of the killing of Sixshooter
Jack, a noted highwayman and desperado,
and the arrest of one of his accomplices.
For some days past H.G.Valiton, of Montana,
who has had several horses stolen by highwaymen, has been on the trail of
Sixshooter Jack, whom he suspected of stealing the animals. Last Wednesday Mr.
Valiton applied to Sheriff
Furey
for a posse, saying that his man was on Willow Creek. As this information was
corroborated by a letter from Mr. Hutchins, the Bellevue Livery Stablekeeper,
Sheriff Furey at once organized a posse composed of Deputy Sheriffs
Cunningham and McCurdy, and of H.G.Valiton, County Jailor Campbell, H.Stevenson,
Frank King, George Dyer, Al Theriot, Major Mensch and a driver of an express
wagon which was taken along.
The party left about nine o’clock
Thursday morning, going by way of Croy’s gulch to Willow Creek, where
they arrived about noon. There they
learned that the highwaymen had started from willow Creek three and a half
hours before, going west on the Boise Road. The posse followed in haste.
About five o’clock Jones' was
reached where the posse got supper and learned that the party was three quarters
of an hour ahead of them. The posse then sent Frank
King, a cowboy, ahead, to
fall in with the thieves, scan them closely and examine the brands on the
horses, to make sure that the parties were those sought.
King overtook the highwaymen about six miles out, rode with them four miles
and returned to report them camped near the next stage station west of
Jones’ and about sixty miles west of Hailey, close to Grave Creek.
The posse thereupon moved down the creek, and organized by electing General
E.E.Cunningham commander of the party. This gentleman at once directed that
the posse proceed until near the point where King
had left the men; there they were to leave the team, wagon and horses, and a
reconnoitering party was to go forward to discover the camp.
Arrived at the place designated, Mr. Cunningham, McCurdy and Theriot went
afoot to Grave Creek, about one mile away, and discovered the outlaws camp by
moonlight, it being between eleven and twelve o’clock at night. The outlaws
were in bed in the open air, in a small plot of ground half surrounded by
brush, on the west side of the creek and just above the Boise
Road. The stolen stock was found
about half a mile up the creek.
The reconnoitering party returned to
the posse and adopted the following plan of operations. They were to surround
the camp quietly each man taking the position assigned to him, and to remain
there until the sights of their guns could be seen clearly.
At daylight General Cunningham
was to call upon the camp to surrender, and at this call each man of the
posse was to spring forward, cock and level his gun on the thieves camp and
order the outlaws to throw up their hands. In case of resistance General
Cunningham was to fire, and at this signal
the posse were to discharge a volley into the camp. Mr.
Cunningham, McCurdy and Stevenson
took the east side of the creek, within ten steps of where the outlaws laid,
while the remainder of the party completed a circle around the camp. At
daylight General Cunningham
called upon the camp to surrender. McCurdy and Cunningham
stood side by side and Stevenson a few
yards below them on the creek. McCurdy and Cunningham
leveled their guns upon the bed where Sixshooter
Jack and Charley
Warfield were lying. They
were awake and had been talking a few minutes before. Each one of the posse
sprang forward when Cunningham spoke and
yelled “Throw up your hands.”
Warfield raised up first and partly put up his hands. Jack
raised immediately afterward, glanced at McCurdy and Cunningham
and reached for his guns with both hands. Cunningham
fired first, McCurdy following two seconds after, and the rest of the party
discharged a volley into the camp. Jack
was shot through and as he fell back he had a pistol in his right hand and
discharged it. The rest of the party-five men-thereupon threw up their hands
and were handcuffed. As with the exception of Warfield, they were evidently
simply travelers who had joined the outlaws party, they were allowed to go.
McCurdy now went to Jack’s
bed where he found and possessed himself of six revolvers and in about five
minutes Jack
drew his last breath.
The wagon was now brought up, a man sent half a mile after
a team, which Jack
and Warfield had stolen in Montana,
the other six horses feeding being claimed by the other members of the
outlaws’ party and the posse, after breakfasting started on the back
track arriving here about nine o’clock
this morning.
<> Sixshooter
Jack was from Butte
Montana where he was known as Loeb.
He killed a man there some years ago and was sentenced to seven years in the
penitentiary. After serving only twenty two months he was pardoned, and since
then he had been a horse thief, brawler, and bad character, generally, and at
times, while laying around Butte, would discharge two guns at once shooting
the spots off of two aces every time. He was a great lover of fancy arms and
always had three or four fine revolvers about him.
THE
CORONER’S INQUEST
Coroner Wheeler held an inquest over the remains of
the dead outlaw. Today and the evidence being substantially, as above, the
verdict of the jury was that deceased was killed while resisting arrest. He
will be buried in Hailey
Cemetery.
<>
<>
ON THE
SAWTOOTH GRADE
A Stage Coach Thrown from the Grade, and the Driver and Two passengers Hurt
About twelve
o’clock last night a horseman arrived from Ketchum for Dr.
Miller and Brown, whose
services were required at Ketchum, and Dr.
Brown, with Mike
Hynes as escort, started
out.
From the messenger it was learned that at three
o’clock yesterday afternoon the Hailey and Sawtooth coach, which left
Hailey yesterday morning, had, while descending the grade in the Sawtooth
mountains from the Galena Divide to the Salmon River flat, upset and
seriously injured the driver, Wes Grover, who had his right ankle broken and
received severe bruises. A Chinaman passenger was seriously hurt, having his
ribs broken, and it is feared received serious injury to the brain, while
another Chinaman was badly bruised and shaken up. A packer named Clark,
of Vienna,
jumped from the coach in time to save himself.
<> The accident was caused by the breaking of
the king bolt in descending a steep grade. The stage ran upon the wheelers
and the lead bars ran upon the leaders, causing them to become unmanageable
and break the lead bars and the pole and to swing the stage out of the track
and over the grade. The driver jumped as the stage went over.
Stage Agent Moore was notified, and brought Grover
to Ketchum which occupied all yesterday afternoon and up to late in the
evening. The mail was sent forward and Grover, also the latter, to the
Miners’ Hospital this morning, where he is resting easy under Dr.
Miller’s care.
Agent Moore
returned this morning to look after the Chinaman.
WOOD RIVER TIMES
T.C.
PICOTTE, PUBLISHER
AUGUST 5 1885
CAMAS PRAIRIE
SOLDIER, Idaho
July 30 1885
Yes, we have grown cucumbers here on Camas! Some think their grain will do to
cut next week. Choke cherries and wild currants are a total failure, owing to
the ravages of a tent caterpillar this spring, which eat all the foliage,
tender shoots and flower buds. Every one on Camas ought to put out pie plant,
gooseberries, currants and strawberries, as there is no discount on these,
and they are far preferable to no fruit or buying.
It is my opinion, based upon a two years’ residence, that if any one
suffers from want on Camas Prairie, they are certainly to blame; for the soil
is excellent, and the warm season long enough to raise lots of produce if we
can’t raise pine apples and “sich”.
There is a plenty we can raise and we can just beat the world raising small
grain, potatoes and turnips and if we can’t have beefsteak and pork of
our own, there is plenty of game.
What has become of our Soldier gold excitement? You want to keep that
booming. If you can get a few score of prospectors in here, perhaps we can
sell a quart of milk or a pound of potatoes.
Now, what would you think to hear that a five dollar gold nugget was only a
gun cartridge. Sometimes they turn out so. (The nugget referred to is worn by
Road Supervisor Samson as a scarf pin – Ed)
But if these old hills are made of gold, won’t we all get rich?
The most fertile valley in the world, and the richest gold mining region on
the globe, would certainly be nice neighbors. Laying all jokes aside, I see
no reason for there not being lots of paying minerals in the hills back of us,
but I expect it will take time to develop.
Uncle John
Cross
has lost ten head of horses from his band on the head of Soldier, and is
considerably worried about them. He thinks they must have been driven off, as
he has missed them for three weeks and can’t find them in the hills.
The crack of the shotgun is quite frequent since the bird law is off; and no
wonder, for the grouse is “mighty” fine eating, and the covies of
young birds are so plentiful as to be an irresistible temptation to any one
who can handle a gun.
We frequently see deer from the house. If they only knew it, they are not
safe in the valley, even if the game law is still in force.
Who has been talking to you about Camas Prairie Now? Didn’t you know
there were already some poor men on Camas Prairie who had breaking plows and
teams, and who want all such work they can get at $4.00 per acre? I guess, if
you or any one else would try to break prairie here now, you could soon be
convinced that ground got too hard to break, even on Camas Prairie.
And as to hauling poles and posts during the four winter months that the snow
lays on, I guess all the ranchers in the valley would pour blessings
innumerable on your head if you would only get some one to come and keep the
roads open; but one man and common team can’t do it. In fact, as long
as the snow falls as it had the past two winters, there ain’t men or
teams enough in the valley to do it. There are more men now who want to get
out fencing than there is money to pay.
Wonder if it don’t hurt the Hailey merchants for the ranchers to sell
their butter to the consumers instead of them? As for sweet California
butter, I have yet to see the first of it. All I have ever seen or tasted was
as ripe as an 18 months old cheese. But there are those who like strong
butter as well as old Cheese.
WOOD RIVER TIMES
T.E.PICOTTE, PUBLISHER
JUNE 11 1884
CAMAS PRAIRIE
<>
Camas Prairie is looking her best now. From
the summit of any of the mountains, which command a view of that valley, the
scene presented is lovely beyond description. There, stretching for sixty
miles in an easterly and westerly direction, and fifteen to eighteen miles
northerly and southerly, lies an almost level plane alive with flowers of
varied hue, which make it look as if covered by an immense carpet. New houses
– for the first settlement on the prairie, is scarcely three years old,
are seen in every direction, usually on the edge of a piece of plowed ground,
the coal black color of which indicates its exceeding fertility.
But it is not its beauty as much as its productiveness that attracts settlers
to Camas Prairie. Where ever the plow has scratched the surface of the
ground, the earth has yielded more than enough to ten times reply the laborer
for his work. The fertility of this soil is really wonderful, and although
the experiments heretofore made, were on too small a scale to admit of
averaging results, yet they sufficed to encourage the settlers to enlarge the
scale of their operations. As a consequence broad fields were plowed this
year where only small patches were broken last year.
Camas Prairie is probably one of the largest valleys in the mountain region
of Idaho,
as it contains 270,000 acres of tillable land. Three years ago there were
scarcely half a dozen settlers upon it; now there are over two hundred. While
the entries at the Land Office indicate that many more have filed upon land
there. Many have, however, filed under the preemption and homestead law, who
have failed to establish their residence upon their land within the time
required by law, and their claims will revert to the government. This may
cause some litigation, but not for two or three years, as there is enough
rich land on the prairie to supply all who will come to make a home there,
within that period.
<><>The best land lies from a point about two
and half miles east of Crichton to the new town site of Soldier. This creek
seems to be the dividing line between the first class and second class land.
That land lying east and north of Soldier is a rich, coal black loam which
will require little or no irrigation at all; while that adjoining Soldier on
the west and south contains many sand and gravel bars that will require
frequent irrigation and much care to produce crops. Again, the black loam
will produce anything that similar land anywhere in the same latitude will
produce, while the sand and gravel bars will not be so prolific. Potatoes, it
is said, will do better in the latter, while wheat will yield most abundantly
in the black earth.
Although there are few flowing streams to be seen on Camas Prairie in summer,
there will probably be no trouble in securing enough water for all purposes,
as one can hardly strike a spade down without water immediately filling the
hole thus made. Good drinking water can be got at a depth of four feet, and
when a depth of six feet is attained, further progress is greatly impeded by
water.
The area under cultivation has been small heretofore. Last year there were
scarcely two hundred acres cultivated; this year there will be two thousand
acres, at least; and next year, it may be depended on, there will be 20,000
acres.
The mountains surrounding Camas Prairie abound in timber and game, and the
streams with fish, while it is only 20 to 25 miles to a good winter range for
stock.
Taken altogether, it is doubtful if there is a region in
existence that offers as many advantages to the immigrant, rich or poor as
Camas Prairie does.
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