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Show Helper Journal fr-- The Thursday. July 5. 1973 BookcJiffs gun 'battle claims Wild Bunch duo "Sheriff Allred 'got' Joe Walker and Butch Cassidy out in the Book Cliffs." "I don't believe it. Cassidy would never let himself get caught like that." remembered, there are at least two differing versions. Roafl The battle was in the Book Cliffs about 45 miles north of Thompsons Spring. The site is placed at Moonwater Springs or on the Hill Creek. Plateau One thing is known for sure about him. He had a definite grudge against the Whitmores, ranchers and horse breeders located at the mouth of Nine Mile be the will "When posse back in town with the Canyon. The Whitmores were wealthy, respected bodies?" "Do you think they really members of the area. Story number one says killed Butch?" the Whitmores and Joe that even "Maybe they didn't were cousins. Joe's Walker Walker!" Joe get father supposedly died the with buzzed Price City child. news that there had been a when Joe was a young His mother had placed her "Books" in the out gunfight outfit and that Sheriff C.W. Allred husband's large cattle was on his way home with into the hands of her brother, the elder two dead outlaws, supwho then moved to and Walker Joe posedly the Pipe Springs in Arizona. Butch Cassidy, and two Mr. Whitmore was killed were Some prisoners. elated at the possibility that during an Indian raid, and the leader of the Wild Bunch the rights to the Pipe had been shot down. Others Springs were sold by his were hoping they hadn't lost widow. The remaining a good friend from the Whitmore family finally Moonwater moved to Carbon County of Battle where Walker found them. Springs. setThe events leading up to a Walker demanded a of his inheritance, tlement mad becoming posse but the Whitmores denied enough to travel the outlaw relationship and trails through the rugged any to satisfy his refused two weeks back country for (the posses only stayed out claims. Story number two says ; three days after the Castle Gale robbery) began in 1891 that Joe married a Whiwhen a man named Joe tmore girl over the family's Walker drifted into Eastern objections. The Whitmores did then supposedly Utah from Texas. Walker was dark haired, everything they could to short statured, small boned make life miserable for and handsome loner, who him. Either story could be preferred ranch work. He or Walker just might true, did work for a while at the have in Sawmill appreciated the fine Brothers' Day and cattle the horses soon he was Huntington, but raised. back working with horses Whitmores Whatever his reasons, most and cattle. He apparently had no of his "jobs" were designed criminal record in Utah to part the Whitmores from until the summer of 1895 their private property. In March of 1897, Walker when he attempted to "hold up" the town of Price made one of his periodic while on a drinking spree. raids against the WhitAfter evading the law, he mores, taking three of their Again the apparently joined the local finest horses. All sources who story varies. rustlers cattle Maxthat agree at Gunplay Robbers headquartered outlaw a well, bumbling Roost. Joe Walker was the type who claimed Carbon County turned of man that people talk for his territory, about. Unfortunately no one informer and either gave ever seemed to use the directions to or led the same details for any one posse' to Mexican Bend on story. For every event of his the San Rafael River where life in Eastern Utah that Walker was camped. The law usually did not was important enough to be venture beyond Cleveland in its search for members of the Robber Roost gang, however, Emery County Sheriff Azariah Tuttle must have felt quite sure of The Kitchen Band played at himself that day because he the rest home in Ferron a followed the trail through. week ago and a luncheon Buckhorn Wash and down was served by Senior the San Rafael River. Citizens of Castle Dale. reached The posse There will be a dance July Walker's camp or cabin 6, a trip to Manti July 10 and (again the stories differ) a ceramics class at the about noon on March 26. center the 12th. One account has Walker A date for a picnic will be cooking dinner; another has announced. him dipping water out of the river with a bucket. Seeing the posse (varying in size from story to story from five men to just Sheriff C.W. Allred of Carbon County and Tuttle), he darted across the river, up a blind canyon, and took shelter behind some large boulders. Again the stories differ. One has Allred and Tuttle on Walker's trail within seconds, shooting rapidly until he dove to cover. The If you're 25 or so, other has the posse sitting Farmers can cover around for three or four the hours discussing with $25,000 you situation until Sheriff Tuttle of life insurance finally decided on a frontal attack. for under Both stories agree that $15 a month. Walker shot Sheriff Tuttle in the leg, breaking the Even less bone. In either story, the if you don't smoke. Claj Y.X, VA ( Valley Prcunt day V Drg"on Jim c V Swnrnrvd Moonwater ( ) - Moonwater X. A I o WKKnerinn (outlaw camp) I Springs Whit-mor- e, ; high-pitche- Posse Route May 1 to May 14, 1898, the posseof seven men traveled from Price to Woodslde along the approximate . route of the present day highway Joe Bush, deputy U.S. Marshal traveled by train from Salt Lake to Woodside. In Range Valley three more men joined with Bush and they rendezvoused Sheriff Allred. Jim McPherson was drafted as a guide In Range Valley. The trail down Florence Creek then North to v. jjF-- Bo, c.no Big Horn ; News Farmers agent is a good guy lo talk to about the remarkable Alpha Policy You II like its many options and the many wnys it lets you control your own luture A remaining four Phone 227 E. 637 0560 Anytime lor Appointment Main Street in Price Hours: a.m. to 6 p.m. daily Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 10 JJ $ If 50-6- Clill CV Sm.ng ?f V aim Snake C Cj, Tr Desert S-- Roan Cliffs I Siding Moonwater Soring was followed. Returning the posse backtracked to West Fork, then followed Hill Creek to Sego Canyon. They might have followed Thompsons Canyon instead of Sego Canyon to Thompson. The trip to Price was made by railroad. Tr, J SphiriH Siding rT-- r' 11 ' .mjI rrrJ ) V Solitude Siding a V j? fl Book Cliffs 'TTT1 Gingerly moving up the draw they could see Tuttle who appeared to be dead. There was no sign of Walker. Slowly waving a red flannel undershirt as a flag of truce (apparently none of the "good guys" were wearing white), they moved forward carefully to reach Tuttle. Further investigation showed that Walker had escaped over the canyon ledges on foot during the night. In the story featuring Sheriff Allred, Walker comes out as an When the combination of thirst, fever from his wound and tjie hot afternoon sun became more than Tuttle could bear, he "surrendered" to Walker. Walker then made him comfortable in the draw and brought him water from the river before he left on foot cross country. had Allred (Sheriff removed all thoughtfully the horses from the area when he left.) The lawmen don't come out looking too good in the battle of Mexican Bend. Sheriff Tuttle was left without medical attention anti-her- o. He then supposedly beat both men severely, took their saddle horses and cattle and left. In the other version he had stolen a herd of cattle from McGuire and Whitmore in the Box Canyon of the Price River, leaving the men's Whitmore. outfits. The Eastern Utah Advocate in a third version states that the saddle horses were taken. and When McGuire Whitmore or messengers reached town and talked to Sheriff Allred, a posse was and formed rapidly warrants issued. Walker had pushed his luck too far and public opinion had finally turned against him. Seven or eight men rode out of Price in the posse . At Lower Crossing (today called Woodside) Joe Bush, U.S. deputy marshal joined the search. In Range Valley, he picked up three additional men and rendezvoused with the posse on Wednesday, May 11. has them traveling along the Price River to its confluence with the Green and then along the Green River nearly to Desolation Canyon. The Eastern Utah Advocate indicates a search along the Box Canyon of the Price River then a journey across the top of the Book Cliffs and through the Range Valley (see map). Jim McPherson, who owned a ranch at the mouth of the Florence Creek along a trail that led to the Roost, met the posse in Range Valley. He was traveling to the Sevier Valley to be married. The posse forced him with a little friendly pistol persuasion to guide them. Again the accounts differ. One says that McPherson guided them to the outlaw camp. The other states that when they reached the McPherson ranch after crossing the roaring Green River that one of the hired Members of the posse besides Sheriff Allred and Joe Bush were Pete Anderson, J.W. Warf, J.M. than necessary. Whitmore, George Whitlonger Walker escaped because no more, Jack Gentry, Jim one tried a rear guard Inglefield, Billy McGuire, action from the top of the Jack Watson, a rancher and canyon while Tuttle alone or named Coleman others in the posse kept probably Sheriff Tuttle. Walker had apparently him pinned down behind his left the Whitmore cattle one sided boulder cover. The shooting of Sheriff plus one of his own saddle Tuttle plus his alleged part horses in Box Canyon where in the Castle Gate payroll the posse found them. The then set out on robbery the next month posse made Walker a man of Walker's trail. One story Governor importance Wells of Utah offered a $500 reward for him. No one took the reward seriously until April, 1898, when Walker again raided the Whit- mores. Again the accounts of the incident differ. In one Walker had stolen a herd of Whitmore horses and ran into Billy McGuire and Bud i Kl Si jj Thompson junction hands turned informer, unknown to McPherson, and led the posse to the camp under cover of darkness. Both accounts agree that before daylight on Friday, May 13, the posse rolled out of their chilly bedrolls, rode near the outlaw camp and crept within shooting range on foot. The Eastern Utah Advocate dated May 19, 1898, says that Sheriff Allred called on the sleeping men to surrender because they were surrounded by 100 men. Walker and his companion rolled out of their and blankets began shooting. Two of their companions "threw up their hands and begged for mercy." "Cassidy" and Walker ran after emptying their revolvers. Walker fell 66 feet from his bed with a bullet through his head and one through the heart. The other man fell with a bullet through his heart. . constant requiring d ad- justment on horses spooked by the smell of blood, adding to their miseries. When reached they Thomspon, Friday evening they wired Governor Wells of the killings of "Cassidy" and Walker. The posse stayed overnight at Thompson and caught a train early Saturday morning. The train pulled into Price at 7:10 a.m. Large crowds gathered to view the bodies at an improvised morgue. At an inquest held later that day a large number of witnesses testified that the n, DISCOVER the Fun of Making Your Own Home Improvements Mitchell Morticians R.T. Mitchell Ronald Kosec Robert H. Etzel Phone 8 9 Price rM- T-, --- lawmen or one) did (whether not behave in the brave manner set up as a standard by today's western movies. In fact, they appear overcautious, if not down right cowardly. Sheriff Allred (after consultation with Sheriff Phil Halamandaris - C' - Senior Citizen , Springs-however, seems a more logical spot for an outlaw camp,- particularly since the Webster Cattle Comwas apparently pany operating on the Hill Creek at this time. Opinions of the battle, as with most of Joe Walker's life in Eastern Utah, again vary; The Eastern Utah Advocate felt that Joe Bush had hidden while the fight was underway. The Salt Lake papers and others felt that Sheriff Allred's voice had cracked under excitement making calls of surrender useless and that Joe Bush had then warned the men to surrender and had led the attack. One source feels that the men were never warned but were shot and killed in their sleep. After the battle smoke had cleared and the prisoners were secured, the posse took a few minutes to settle their shaken nerves. The dead men were tied to the backs of horses, the captured men placed under heavy guard and the trip across the rugged Book Cliffs to Thompson started. No one wanted to cross the raging Green River again and it was closer to the railroad at Thompson than it was to Wellington or Price. The posse was without food and had been traveling practically day and night without sleep. It was a dismal hardship ride for all the with concerned presence of the dead men, bodies were those of Joe Walker and Butch Cassidy. The jury finally set down a verdict agreeing with the testimony. Others in town were not so sure that Cassidy had been killed. Doc Shores, a noted criminal hunter, was positive it was someone else. The two prisoners, named Thompson and Schultz, claimed they had known the dead man in Wyoming as John Herring. Carbon and Emery county residents who knew Cassidy well, said it was not him. Sheriff Tuttle and Sheriff Allred, already planning how to spend the $1,000 reward for Cassidy, claimed they had killed him. Saturday evening the bodies were prepared for burial. They were placed in "common wood coffins." The burial was Sunday outside of the fence and trees surrounding the Price City Cemetery as the people were not going to waste consecrated ground on outlaws! The graves today are inside of the expanded cemetery and will soon be covered with grass. Sunday evening, Sheriff Ward, who had been warden of the Wyoming penitentiary when Cassidy served a term, arrived in Price. Monday "Cassidy's" body was exhumed. Ward examined it and declared that it definitely was not Butch Cassidy. The body was finally identified as that of Johnny Herring or Herron, a minor outlaw from the Roost and Wyoming who looked like Cassidy. A story that persists to circulate is that Butch Cassidy drove through town hidden in a buckboard, wagon or buggy past the improvised morgue where "he" lay. A second story is that Cassidy sauntered into viewed the morgue-saloothe body and quietly left. Whether this is just part of the Butch Cassidy legend or like so many folk stories has a grain of truth in it, it's now impossible to tell. Joe Walker's outlaw career in Eastern Utah was short, spanning only seven years, but he became a large part of the fireside stories about the time when outlaws rode the land. Tuttle) in one version lit out for help immediately leaving Tuttle to the mercies of the afternoon sun with no water or medical attention. In the other story the remaining four men waited from 4 p.m. when Tuttle was shot until late the next morning before making a rescue attempt. Ihnovj where I'm mssm "I feel sorry for people who iloii'l know whim they 're going I'm glod I do. After high sehnol. J tluln't know what I was going (o do. go (o college or just find a job. I didn't tin either. I found Ihut could (ruin for n joh I really wonted. I've I'm a rurpenlrr. Anil, there's nfwoys uwoys enjoyed working with wood-no- w a demiiml or my work And I mukegnod money nl it, loo." Do-It-Yours- and Save! elf Modernize your home the way. It's easy, it's fun and you'll save money, too! Buy where and when you please, do your own labor to take advantage of every possible savings. 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