| Show bandit isaac potter held early day settlers in hi constant fear by hugh oneil isaac potter struck terror in the hearts of hardened pioneers of northern utah in the early sixties far more than any gun toting outlaw could have done they not only had to contend with an outlaw but also constantly feared the savage indians who accompanied potter on many of his raids As no family was sate safe heavy armed guard was maintained and i continued until isaac potter and charley wilson were shot to death cleath and john walker wounded in an attempt to escape guards at coal I 1 ville utah on the night of august 1 I 1867 according to D clayton who recently unearthed the records in I 1 n I 1 the case several events led to the shooting of potter and wilson his depredations and hl his known bitterness I toward members of the mormon church probably had much to do with his eventual slaying lie he rides hides grain potter had contracted with the settlers on june 10 1867 to transport pounds of grain from Co alville to fort bridger wyoming however having gained possession of the grain he hid bid it in cache cave intending later to sell it the settlers hearing of his plans brought court action and recovered their grain I 1 during july of 1867 1967 a group of afi men employed on the Spring springville ville mining minilie company property reported to the authorities that they had b n stopped by potter wilson and walker potter told these men that he was on his way to fort bridger to secure assistance against again sr the settlers whom he claimed were persecuting 0 him if he could not obtain help at the fort he apropo proposed sed to call on black hawk a famous indian war chief for assistance in attacking the people of summit county utah I 1 guard placed I 1 on receipt of this in information format on binai i cluff the mayor of cc coal al ville placed heavy guard around the city and notified the farmers in that vicinity to gather in town for protection cluff later testified in a court action that lie he had counted ten white men besides a few indians in the potter gang however potter never made thel the anticipated attack on the vIlla village villager gei havin having been unsuccessful in his attempt to influence the soldiers at fort bridger to accompany hi him M ne and his rien men returned to sum mit county ile he encountered some indians near bear river tut out they refused to follow his gang on the raid he did however stir up considerable unrest among the indians mrs james bromley owner of the famous old weber stage and pony express station near the present site of echo utah reported general i unrest among the indians a good number of whom were her friends I 1 cattle stealing on august 1 1867 george 0 C roundy sheriff of summit county obtained a warrant for the arrest of potter and his men on a charge of cattle stealing A posse waa quickly organized and in the round up isaac potter charley and john walker were captured 1 0 on n the return to they were lodged in jail and placed in the custody of alma eldredge deputy sheriff eldredge placed the men under guard of two special deputies joshua wiseman wd and james maloney I 1 that night the prisoners made an attempt to escape under the mistaken impression that maloney 1 had bad go gone ne home and wiseman was I 1 the only man on duty wiseman who was sitting near the door dhori reading was knocked to the VOC flor ty the men on their rush for free dom maloney who was standing in the yard adjoining the jail or dred dered the men to stop as they ran from the building seeing that i i they hey did not intend to heed his on at the same time wiseman fired from a window of the jail building potter was killed as he ran from the building while wilsons Wil sons body was found about three hundred yards distant from the jail in chalk creek with his head and part cart of his body under water his body was not located until the next morning mornin n walker when located 1 was so seriously wounded that he could not be brought to the investigation vesti gation later held against the sheriffs force on charges of mur dering potter and wilson it wag waa 1 not known whether he died from J his wound or recovered a as he mysteriously disappeared after the shooting on the dead body of potter was found a copy of a letter written by an army officer at fort bridger wyoming to whom he had written for advice the letter dated july 25 1867 read 1 I have just received your note if you ars are charged with any crime and are prosecuted the best thing you can do Is come in and surrender yourself to judge carter and let the law lav take its course no one shall do you any harm if I 1 can prevent it it was signed amon mills brt lt col U S A comp post fort bridger probe started whether this letter was the cause of the immediate investigation is not now known at any rate an invests investigation aaion was held on august 6 and several witnesses were called e d most of the town people claimed they were asleep at the time the escape attempt was made and hat ahat the shooting awakened them wiseman and macney Ma oney the two claimed they were so ex at the time they were not ure whether their shots had taken ta effect wiseman stated that clui during ohp time he was in pursuit of w ets ls on he be was marly shot by bullets fired from source prom from the testimony secured at the investigation it was found that neither wiseman nor maloney snot the prisoners but they were shot by unknown persons I 1 eventful life an inkling of the true murderers was in later years gathered from ld id settlers setters of sum summit mit county who would say of potter he was one of the mormons cormons Mor mons most dangerous enemies on account of the influence he held over oter th the indians thus ended the eventful even tul life of potter the old jail at Co alville 1 is now a modern residence thel the heavy walls of which are still as i solid as the day they bull A few miles north norh of collvile Coal vile in the narrow grass creek canyon is located the grave of isaac potter f no word was boken in his de dei i tense at the investigation of those charged with his murder with the exception of his wife remarking that he was a good father to our six children 1 ogden standard examiner L J |
