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Show I ' ' ' , , ... : ' . : : First Legal Execution In Rich County : : I' y,g"f','g" T "V """rr"""" """" """ ' " " ' r-n How the long arm of the law reached out for a pair of young men who stole two cases of raspberries rasp-berries from a peddler's wagon, in 1896, and sent them before a firing squad in the only legal execution ever performed In Rich county, Utah, Is revealed in documents and photographs located by Adolph W. Larson, supervisor for WPA history ical survey at Randolph. The two men, Patrick Coughlin, 21, and Fred George, 19, perpetrated perpetra-ted the theft that started this interesting in-teresting and grisly case by "pinching" "pinch-ing" the raspberries near Salt Lake City. They were captured by local authorities, charged with petty, theft, and lodged in jail. Coughlin had previously had trouble with the authorities, and had served short jail (terms for several, sev-eral, delinquencies. The confining atmosphere of prison walls did not appeal to him. Whether he had to use much persuasion to induce George to help in the escape will never be known, but the fact is, that the two youths managed to break jail and proceeded to leave the vicinity of Salt Lake with the greatest possible speed. Word was forwarded to Evans-ton Evans-ton to arrest the pair. Irate citizens formed posses and began combing the countryside in search of their quarry. With jail break, horse theft and assault with a deadly weapon already al-ready added to their raspberry stealing, Coughlin and George were in no mood to be taken by a posse. The man hunters rode down upon what is now the Jones ranch (near Wyuta on the present Lincoln highway) high-way) where the pair had established establish-ed another hideout. With them, the posse carried two sheets in which to bring back the bodies of the outlaws. out-laws. Included In the group that surrounded sur-rounded the Jones ranch were two men named Dawes and Stagg, another an-other known a "Red" Taylor, and Bob Calvary, then Evanston dep. uty sheriff. When the posse opened fire on the ranch, Coughlin answered answer-ed with well-aimed shots while George loaded his gun for him. The four men went down under the fire. Dawes and Stagg were dead and Taylor and Calvary wounded. The posse retlred-wlth the bodies of its two dead members wrapped In the sheets It had brought for the horse thieves. Stagg was shot in the back, and Coughlin later maintained in his defense that Stagg was killed by a member of his own posse. out In the direction Meissner had indicated. But the fast moving Coughlin and George reached the Salt Lake City limits before the police did. Inside the city, they rode past the laden patrol wagon and were recognized. Rapid Flight The chase had now turned from hide-and-seek to a contest of speed. Coughlin and George separated. sepa-rated. The officers stayed on Geor ge's trail and finally captured him in City Creek canyon, on the outskirts out-skirts of the city. Coughlin fled west, but the net was now widely spread, and he was taken into custody cus-tody at Tooele. , The pair were placed on trial for murder. George, being convicted only as an accomplice, was sentenced sentenc-ed to life imprisonment, later being be-ing paroled. Coughlin was found guilty as charged and sentenced to death by a firing squad. Maintaining throughout the trial that he shot in self defense, Patrick Coughlin carried his case to tha United States supreme court, but that body upheld the sentence Imposed Im-posed by the Utah territorial court. On December 9, 1896, District Judge Charles H. Hart ruled - at Randolph that Coughlin be shot to death by a firing squad between the hours of 10 a. m. and 2 p. m. on the following day, Executioners Silent . The firing . squad was In charga of Albert Dickson, 'sheriff of Rich county, and consisted of a group of men picked from Evanston, Wy oming and Randolph, Utah. Although Al-though their identity was kept a secret, it is claimed that at least three of the men are known to pioneer pio-neer residents of Randolph. On the morning appointed, the firing squad and a compariy of guards loaded Coughlin into ; a white topped buggy and took him to a bleak, greasewood-dotted area near the town. There he was strap-ped strap-ped to a chair placed on" a white expanse of snow, a black hood waa drawn over his head, and a target pinned over his heart. The grim firing squad took aim at the target, and Coughlin died in a hail of lead -the only man ever legally executed execut-ed Rich county. r An early photographer with an apparent eye for news was on hand to take the remarkable picture accompanying ac-companying this article. George, freed later, returned; to a law-abiding life and died recently recent-ly in Park City. For Patrick Coughlin, Cough-lin, the only freedom was that given giv-en by the leaden death. ; : Add Horse Stealing ' To aid In their escape, Couglln and George placed themselves In real Jeopardy by stealing a horse In the vicinity of Morgan. It will be recalled that horse stealing was a major crime In the eariy days. Before the advent of law in the west, horse thieves were usually summarily punished by stretching their necks with the far-famed "hemp-necktie". When the people of the territories organized legal forces, they took care to provide heavy penalties for anyone who made free with another's equine stock. So Coughlin and George, transformed trans-formed by the horse theft fro;n petty thieves to major criminals, knew well what awaited them if they were captured. And to prevent that capture they committed their second major crime. Fleeing from Morgan, the two went over the mountains to a sheep camp in Summit county. The county coun-ty sheriff learned of the fugitives' whereabouts and , approached on horseback. He was met with a blast of gunfire. His hand was wounded and the horn of his saddle shot a-way. a-way. The trail was becoming steadily hotter. Quickly the youths took leave of the sheep camp and headed head-ed for a cabin located in the mountains moun-tains east of Coalville. Formed Posses Again Take Trail With two killings added to their score, Coughlin and George abandoned aban-doned the Jones ranch and rode horseback across the mountains to Huntsville and from there down Ogden canyon. They slopped at the Ogden railroad shops where they had a boy buy them a newspaper. Then- In the fabled 'manner of all criminals who return to the scenes of their original crimes-rode south toward Salt Lake City. Meanwhile Ogden citizens formed a new posse to take up the trail, Steve Soppinger, Captain Silvia, j Dan Sullivan and Reuben Egglesto forming a quartet of searchers. During the morning, Fred Meissner, Meiss-ner, jailer and desk sergeant at the Ogden jail, received word that the pair had evaded the Ogden men by making a wide circuit, and had been near Kaysville carying Winchester Win-chester rifles across their saddles. Meissner notified Chief of Police-Arthur Police-Arthur Pratt at Salt Lake City to send his forces to Warm Springs, where the jailer believed the men could be captured. Chief Pratt filled a patrol wagon with policemen, and accompanied by several mounted officers started |