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Show DAIL Y H E R AID Sunday, September 11 2004 The History page SOT HtSTORY7 The Dally Herald is looWn for interesting stories about local history for this weekly page. Make suggestions or submit material by to Executive Editor Randy Wright, rwngnt9heraktextra.com. Or mall to the ; Daily Herald. P.O. Box 717. Provo, UT 846030717, No phone calls, please. Mystery on Nephi's Rocky Ridge Part 2 Continued from last week ited the murder scene before D. Robert Carter On the morning of Sept. 27, 1895, Louis Price, son of sheep rancher Charles Henry Price, left Nephi on horseback traveling toward Rocky Ridge in Salt Creek Canyon. Louis led a pack mule loaded with supplies meant for Ike Cartwright, foreman of the Price family's herd. Louis hoped to deliver the provisions, help move the sheep camp farther up the canyon and return home in time to take his girlfriend to the Friday night dance. He did not return that night, nor did he come back from the canyon the next day. The Price family experienced a foreboding of gloom when Cartwright . came to their home on Saturday with the news that Louis had not arrived at the sheep camp. Searchers left Nephi to determine the lost boy's whereabouts. On Sunday morning, Cartwright discovered Louis' corpse 50 feet below the trail in a burned area near the foot of a steep slope. Parts of the body were burned, and it looked as though a scrub oak branch had penetrated the small of the boy's back and come out through his abdomen, Initially, a coroner's jury determined Louis' death to be accidental. However, when the family washed their loved one's body in preparation for burial, they found that the hole through Louis's charred body had been made by a bullet. The coroners jury reconvened, examined the boy's body and twice visited the site of his death. They finally concluded that Louis had been murdered with his own revolver. Who would have killed one of the best and quietest boys in town? Some townspeople could think of no possible motive, and they continued to believe Louis's death was accidental Perhaps he had been hit by a stray bullet fired by a hunter who was afraid to tell of the accident, or maybe Louis was shot when his gun accidentally discharged. However, most everyone in Nephi believed the boy's death came as a result of coldblooded murder. Marshal Goldsbrough, Deputy Sheriff Adams and Constable Sparks set out to solve the mystery. Oddly enough, it appeared that two or more people had vis , . Cartwright found Louis' dead body. One of those rode a horse with one shoe missing. Author ties followed these tracks to the shabby hut of Nels Jacobson, a squatter who lived in Salt Creek Canyon who survived by doing odd jobs for ranchers. Officers learned that Jacob-so- n had recently quarreled with the Prices. When the squatter visited the Price home the day relatives brought Louis's body back from the canyon, Charles Henry Price ordered Jacobson to leave immediately. The scorned man complied and went even farther than expect-'eSunday evening he left town on horseback heading north. Jacobson's actions appeared suspicious, and Nephi's law enforcement officers requested a warrant for his arrest. They wired ahead to towns in Utah County and expected to intercept Jacobson in Payson or Pro- ' LI r-- - f 1 i -r ..... d. Photo courtesy D. Robert Carter i the Juab County Jail in Nephi, has been restored and is open to the public on most afternoons. In 1 91 0, Cartwright resided here for 34 of the 100 days he received as a sentence for battering his wife. A board of pardons released him early so he could earn money to support his wife and family. Ike Cartwright' s home away from home, vo. Sheriff Adams rode to Payson on the train and apprehended Jacobson later that evening. The squatter agreed to return to Nephi as a witness, so the arrest warrant was never served. That night officers listened to Jacobson's alibi, and it proved He denied the to be iron-clacrime, and the Salt Lake Tribune announced Jacobson had been working with a man named Smith from "morning till sundown" on the Ockey farm located farther up the canyon. On the strength of this alibi, Marshal Goldsbrough released Jacobson before October 1, the day of Louis's funeral. After Jacobson proved his innocence, Nephi's lawmen seemed uncertain where to turn next in their search for the murderer. Suspicion briefly fell upon a Mexican who had been seen around camp, but that trail also led to a dead end. Local authorities failed to collect enough facts to convict anyone of the crime, but as they gathered more evidence, their suspicions fell upon ike Cartwright, the man who The justice found.Cartwright guilty and sentenced him to pay , a fine of $5 or spend five days injaiL Apparently, this was not an isolated incident. According to local newspapers, Cartwright earned the "generally unsavory reputation" of being "a rough character ... handy with a gun." In the early 1890s, Cartwright married Mary Jane Bridgewa- ter, an English emigrant who hailed from the same town in England as her new husband. The Cartwrights had been married about a year when Louis Price was murdered. Soon thereafter, whatever connubial bliss the two had enjoyed as newhyweds abandoned them forever. Shortly after Louis's death, authorities arrested Cartwright on suspicion of murder, but they released him for what the Salt Lake Tribune called an "insufficiency of evidence." The . courts may not have been able to convict Cartwright, but according to the Tribune, "Mrs. Cartwright always believed her husband to be guilty." Price family tradition also points to Cartwright as the guilty man. Longtime Nephi resident. Merron Price remembers his father, Joseph, telling him Ike was responsible for Louis's death. The murdered boy's younger sister, Geneva Allred "found" Louis' body. English immigrant As a young man, Cartwright emigrated to America from England, and in 1886 he arrived in Nephi. It didn't take him long to make his presence known Nephi City court records for 1887 show that officers charged him with disturbing the peace. Tolley, claimed that Cartwright unintentionally revealed incriminating evidence to his wife as he talked in his sleep. Of course, Cartwright could not be con- his farming so he could support his wife and growing family . According to the Juab County. Times, Cartwright appeared be- victed on that type of evidence alone. Under these circumstances, it is easy to understand why the couple didnt get along during nearly their entire marriage. Cartwright emotionally and physically abused his wife and family. In 1910, the law took action. In September of that year, neighbors complained to authorities about the horrific actions of Nephi's meanest man. One morning, the surly husband expressed dissatisfaction with the pancakes Mrs. Cartwright fixed for breakfast. He became so incensed that he threw the mixing bowl at her, battering the woman with such force that a doctor had to be summoned. Mrs. Cartwright was too apprehensive to file a complaint, but after Mayor Whitmore heard of the matter he directed an officer to investigate. The lawman found cause for a complaint, and the judge found Cartwright guilty, sentencing him to 100 days in the Juab County Jail. After serving 34 days of his sentence, Cartwright applied for a pardon in order to return to , fore a board of pardons, "acknowledged his error, and promised to do better in the future, if he were given a chance." Mayor Whitmore lectured him on the seriousness of his crime, and the board released the abuser from jail Cartwright may have exerted more control over his violence, but the emotional abuse appears to have continued during the next dozen years. He repeatedly threatened to kill his wife. The deranged husband exhibited a knack for threats and violence, but was he capable of murder? Future events provided the answer to this question. One fateful evening In about 1921, Mrs. Cartwright, who was now 52 years old, finally gave up on her unsavory union and threatened to begin divorce proceedings on grounds of cruelty and threats against her life. She traveled to Payson and moved in with her daughter, Adelaide Wilson, and her young family. Meanwhile, Cartwright's violent behavior showed no signs of remissioa He quarreled with his son Robert, a resident of Eureka, and took a potshot at him. I Luckily the bullet went wM In Aug. 1922, after being separated from her husband for more than a year, Mrs. Cartwright sued for divorce. On Aug. 29, Ike Cartwright learned of the steps his wife had taken to nullify their marriage. He left his job at the Nephi Plaster Mill that evening and visited with friends until about 10 o'- clock. His acquaintances noticed that Ike was in a rather nervous condition. The last . place Cartwright visited was City Meat Market's slaughterhouse, where he bought a secondhand Colt 8 caliber pistol that had been used to kill cattle. Putting this revolver in his pocket, Ike went to the Nephi Train Depot and boarded the 125 a.m. train en route for Payson. He reached his destination at 2:30 on the morning of August 30 and walked to his daughter's house. Knowing that his Leslie Wilson, was away at work in Milford, and expecting no strong resistance, Cartwright deliberately went about his devious duties. First, he sat down on the ground near the house and removed his shoes so he could move noiselessly. Then he quietly removed a screen from a back window and crawled into the home. Once inside, Cartwright re--' : i u. - j u: half, inside out and laid it on the dining table with the inside pocket exposed, disclosing one end of an envelope that protruded from it. He had scrawled the following three sentences on that envelope: "There is money in the bottom of the stove in the parlor. Things are in the seller. I loved you all to wel" Now in his shirt sleeves, Cartwright crept toward a dark bedroom, cracked the door and peeked inside. His young son, Ted, normally slept in that room, but the boy was sleeping with neighbors that evening, so the room was empty. Cartwright entered it, lay on the bed for a few minutes and savored the moment. son-in-la- ru See This poem by local poet J.L. McKan appeared in Nephi's weekly newspa- per. The poem was written specifically for the Price family after Louis' murder. It shows how loved and well respected the murdered boy and his family were and expresses the shock and sadness felt by the townspeople of Nephi A I B5 HISTORY, Prayer By J. L. McKan Oh Father up above Whose eyes look down on every one, Go comfort them who now are called To mourn the loss of a kind and loving son. i 1 ywtf'ff 4 4 Bathroom Mirror Refrigerator That father on his couch of pain Go bless and make it known; Through justice kind, O Lord make known Who slew his darling son. Television I I i P'w V (J yw p'ff ysvrprrtf .UJ'iJ I That mother dear, whose loving hands Have often smoothed his brow; Oh Father, dear, look down upon And Ness that mother now. Down on her knees with clasped hands Would melt the hardest heart To see that broken-hearte-d mother Fran her darling have to part Jj Closet Door Dresser Microwave FRIENDLY REMINDERS FROM QUESTAR GAS TO GET YOUR FURNACE READY FOR WINTER: With cooler weather just around the comer it's time to have a licensed heating professional perform a routine maintenance inspection on your furnace. t Here are some other things you can do yourself: dean or replace the filter. Check the blower belt ond oil the blovr motor Furnaces need to breafie. Keep axnbustiorv-oiopenings dear. ' Keep ihe Make sure the blower doors are replaced property; Check to see that the verts in the house are unrjbstruded. r r t Your sea tonal inspection it also an j ideal time to make sure your space- ana equipment has a , water-neati- - Green Sticker. A Green Sticker ! your appliance has been ! properly adjusted for the gas supplies I entering Uuestar Oas $ system. Call a J I licensed hearing contractor or visit www.questargas.com i for more information and to determine whether a Green ' Sticker is 1 required in your area, ' indicate r area around your furnace dear and unobslructed. Done store combustibfe nwlerid gasoline, etc near your fumoce. J Then sisters too, and brothers, In thy mercy comfort them And give them strength, Oh Father, to overcome their pain. . Having your furnace properly maintained will bring you peace of mind and may even lower your gas bills. A list of licensed contractors in your area is available by calling: Rocky Mountain Gas Association: Salt Lake Crry: (801) 832-949- 0 Outside Sah Lake Chy (800) 729-679- 1 ' Or you can visit their Web site at www.utrmga.org. A list of contractors is also available in your local Yellow Pages under "Heating." ( Questor Gas is celebrating 75 years of keeping Utah warm and is corrymitfed to doing everything possible to prwfcfe safe and reliable service at rotes among fhe lowest 1 fn fbe nation. m And, Oh Father, be thou merciful And grant that it be known The cruel hand that in cold blood Did kill their darling son. , How could he have any enemy That would harm him so; Loved by all mat knew him, He never had a foe. '' In innocense and purity So cruelly was he slain, ' Oh, who could be so wicked, Who did that awful crime? And grant it soon will be ' known And justice claim its own. And, Oh God, bless the parents And give them strength To bear this sorrow of all sorrows, Oh Father, this is our prayer. - -- |