16 - Winter 1998 - Watermark

\1\eOUTLIW TMaIL JOUlla
Winter
PAGES FROM THE PAST
1998
Property of the
Outlaw Trail
History Center
In This Issue:
Shertff Richard Pope
Bear River Massacre
The Red Sash Gang
Billie and Emest Untermann
Joe Haslam
Mary Reed Harris
Tom Horn
Poaching
Published By The Outlaw Trail History Center
Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

328 East 200 South, Vernal, Utah 84078
www.westernheritagemuseum-uc-ut.org
THE OUTLAW TBAIL JOUUAL
P!6ES Flell m
PAST
Managing Editor: Doris Karren Burton
A sociate Editors: Kathleen Murphy Irving and Karine Walker Nelson
Book Lay ut and Design: Karine Walker Nelson
UINTAH COUN1Y LIBRARY BOARD
Deborah Cross
Lois Goodrich
Tim Ingwell
Verna McKee
H rb Snyder, Commissioner
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Evan Bak r, Library Dire tor
John Barton, Utah State University
Edward M. Kirby, NaUonal Outlaw/Lawman Hall of Fame
Kent Pow n, Utah State Historical Society
Roy Webb, Univ r ityofUtah
Roy P. O'Dell. England
THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL (ISSN 1520-328Xl is supplied to

anyone interested in the history and culture of the greater Uinta
Ba in, the In ennountain West and the Outlaw Trail, and is also
available through purch se at th center and other outlets. Annual
SUbSCliptions 0[$15.00 (includes shipping and handling) should be
sent to Doris Karr n Burton, Uintah County Library, Outlaw Trail
History Center, 155 East Main. Vernal. Utah 84078-2695, telephone
(435) 789-0091. Subscdb rs will receive reduced rates for photo
copying hrough he C nter.
Publication of the OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL is made possible

through financial support and assistance from:
Uintah County Library
Utah State University: Uintah Basin Branch Campus

THE OUTLAW TB.AlI. JOURNAL
~ OUTL
Winter
WTMIL JOURNAL
PAGES FROM THE PAST

Contents
1998
Historical Articles-Sheriff Richard Pope.""""."",."",.,., .... ,."""", ..... ", .. ", 2

Karine Walker Nelson
The Forgotten Bear River Massacre
11
Kathleen Murphy Irving
The Red Sash Gang ........ ".......................................... 18

Kerry Ross Boren
Spotlight in History-Billie and Ernest Untermann
"." .. "" 26
Marie Harrison Nelson
Memorable Character-Joe Haslem, Storyteller
40
Doris Karren Burton
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Native-Anlerican Profile-Mary Reed Harris
".'
"
45
Norma Denver
Infamous Person-Tom Horn's Destiny
"
"
,.,
47
Richard Wm, Horton
Country Humor-Poaching
51
Roy C. Freestone
Poetry from Arden's Saddlebag-I am the Outlaw TraiL
58
Arden Stewart
The Rim Rock and the Pine
59
Arden Stewart
Center RevieWS-Richard Pattersons "Butch Cassidy: A Biography"
60
Donald A. Smith
Index
62
THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL is a journal of history published semiannually by

the Outlaw Trail History Center. It is a journal dedicated to the preservation and
research of the history of the greater Uinta Basin, the Intermountain West, and the
Outlaw Trail. Historic interpretation of articles are the authors' and do not necessar
ily reflect those of the Outlaw Trail History Center. Manuscripts for journal articles
or folktales are welcomed. Article manuscripts should be submitted in duplicate,
double-spaced, with footnotes following the Turabian style of annotation, Folktale
manuscripts need not be annotated. If possible, please include a copy of the
manuscript on a disk and typed in WordPerfect only. Please send all manuscripts for
consideration of publication to the Editor, Uintah County Library, Outlaw Trail
History Center, 155 East Main, Vernal, Utah 84078-2695. Manuscripts will not be
returned unless a self-addressed, stamped envelope is included.
Copyright 1998
Outlaw Trail History Center

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL
Sheriff Richard Pope

A Fearless Man, An Exemplary Public Officer, Citizen,
Husband, and Father
Karine Walker Nelson
Richard Pope, son of Robert and Sarah leDuc Pope, and the younger
brother ofJohn T., was born in St. Charles, Idaho, 28 September 1864. The
first part of his life was spent in Cache and Bear Lake valleys; he came to
Ashley Valley at the age of nineteen, where he manied Jane Bennett, 1
January 1885. Soon after, he was elected president of the Central Canal. He
played an important part in bringing about a peaceful settlement of the
dispute over the waters of Ashley Creek. He did this without taking the case
into court. He was foreman, an engineer, and a superintendent for the Dyer
Mine. He held this position until operations of the mine were discontinued.
He had charge of much assessment work on mining claims, and the rock
work on the Powerhouse Canal for the Vernal Milling and Light Company.l
Property of the
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Richard Pope.
(Courtesy Daughters of the
Utah Pioneers)
Jane Bennett Pope.

(Courtesy Daughters of the
Utah Pioneers)
Many outlaws came to this area because of the conditions found in the
Basin. DUring this time, Vernal was about 125 miles from the nearest
railroad, and it lay between two Indian reservations, the Uintah (Ute) on the
west and the Uncompagre on the south. "Green River lies east, and the
boundary of Utah and Colorado-where one travels for days over badlands,
deserts, rugged mountains and deep ravines without seeing a human
being. "2 Colorado at that time was sparsely settled; you had to travel east 150
miles before coming to the first settlement. The nearest tovm north of Vernal
2

was Carter Station on the Union Pacific Railroad, with almost impregnable
mountain passes.
Telegraph or telephone lines were something unthought of in
that remote part of the country at that time; communication was very
slow and torturous, the only means of transportation being stage
coach or pony express. The only way of catching up with a man was
on horseback, if one was lucky enough to avoid running into a trap
and getting killed from ambush by the object of the hunt...The three
luckiest pieces a man could possess were a fleet-footed horse, a keen
qUick eye and a good Winchester.
Another thing in favor of the outlaws was that when winter
[came], the inhabitants of the Uintah Basin [were] all on "Crusoe's
Island," isolated until spring came again. Once the outlaws were in
the confines of the Basin, they were safe from the outside world,
leaving their names and their deeds behind them, ready for new
adventures. Where the three states join, [Utah, Colorado, and
Wyoming] there was the roughest kind of country, which offered the
most ideal haven for the outlaw gangs which infested Ashley Valley
every winter.
There was a well-beaten trail running from the southern part of
the State to Arizona by way of Thompson's Springs; north over the
Rone or Bookcliff Mountains, [or] north on the east side of Green
River, leading to Brown's Hole in Wyoming and continuing on north.
Horses were stolen by well organized bands of thieves and taken
over this pass. They were then relayed from one to another of the
gangs. One gang would steal the horses in the north and take them
to another group and another cache and be back before they were
missed. Then that man, or men, would drive them a ways farther and
so [on], in like manner, with perfect organization, the stolen horses
would be many miles away before daylight and the theft discovered
by parties mostly interested. No man would be gone long enough to
arouse suspicion. This added in making it extremely difficult to trace
the stolen stock or the men responsible for their disappearance. The
only way the stolen stock could be recovered was to trace them, and
that was nearly impossible as a lot of the trail led through water or
over rocks, the water leaVing no tracks and the rocks very little. 3
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At that time no one wanted to be elected to the office of sheriff in Uintah

County. The outlaws were well organized and the job of sheriff "entailed a lot
ofdanger and hardship, as well as leadership and determination."4 Richard's
brother, John T., was sheriff in 1891 when an outlaw named Jim McKee
came into town. Jim was standing on a comer making a ruckus about Wild
West law and order. He would punctuate his statements with a shot from his
six-shooter. Jim was a bully and was trying to impress his audience by
showing his importance.
Sheriff John T. walked up to McKee and placed him under arrest. As he
placed his hand on McKee's shoulder, McKee snarled "Oh, no you don't," and
went for his gun. Pope grabbed McKee by the neck, at the same time someone
grabbed Pope from behind. McKee made another attempt to go for his gun.
3

Deputy Sheriff Richard Pope was there and came across the head of McKee
with the butt of his gun and knocked him out. As McKee relaxed and
slumped to the ground, John T. grabbed McKee's gun with his left hand and
stuck his own gun into McKee's ribs. He ordered him to come along. Now that
McKee was disanned and covered he went along peacefully.s
Richard Pope was elected sheriff in 1908, which position he held for over
seven years, he was a successful officer. He was especially successful with
juvenile offenders. He was able to reason with them to lead better lives where
others had failed.
Richard Pope, along with his brother John T., were the men who first took
Matt Warner to the state penitentiary in Odgen, Utah. John T. was sheriff at
the time and Richard was the deputy sheriff. While they were traveling to the
penitentiary over the Uinta Mountains, Matt Warner's hands were tied to the
saddle hom and his legs were tied underneath the horse. They were traveling
dUring wintertime and in deep snow. Warner's legs began to chafe and he
asked John T. to please untie him. John T. told him, "if it weren't for you Matt,
we wouldn't be here. So get back in line!" Warner returned to his place in line
and a short time later rode back up to John T. and asked him again to untie
him. John T. told him to forget it, so he rode over to Richard and asked him.
Richard told John T. that, "they couldn't treat Warner that way." John T. told
Richard to untie him, but to ride right behind him so he couldn't get away.
Matt Warner later wrote a letter to Richard saying, "You were the kindest
sheriff I ever had in my life. You were really kind to me."6
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Years later Richard's son, Mars, became friends with the editor of The
Times Independent newspaper in Moab, Utah, Bish Taylor. One day Taylor
asked Mars to go to Price with him on business. While they were there, Taylor
told Mars he wanted him to meet an old friend of his. He took Mars to a saloon
where Matt Warner was a bartender. When Taylor introduced the two men,
Matt \Varner fainted. When Warner came too, he asked Mars who's son he
was and Mars told him Richard's. Matt Warner then said, "I thought I would
never see another Pope."?
One of the few crimes that was never solved while Richard Pope was
sheriff, was that of a murdered baby found in a cabin near the upper canal
on the Duchesne road New Year's Day 1909. When the baby was found, it
was wrapped in a gunny sack. Around its neck was a rope made with two or
three strands of a woman's underclothing. The rope was tightly pulled and
the child was strangled to death.
A number of travelers had camped in the vicinity of the cabin the night
before the baby was found. Since no woman was thought to have been in the
party, they were thought to have had nothing to do with it. Unfortunately,
no one was ever convicted. 8
In July of 1910, Sheriff Pope was called to Moffat (formerly knm:vn as the
Strip, a lawless area that was a safe haven for outlaws) to investigate a
murder. An Indian by the name of Tabby Weep White claimed he had some
money troubles with Judge J. A. Wilson. Wilson claimed to have settled all

accounts with Tabby and said he had papers to prove it. Tabby had some
hard feelings for Judge Wilson.
J. A. Wilson had been in Nichols and Donaldson's store. He stepped out
to feed his team, and when he turned around the southeast comer of the
store, he met Tabby Weep White and the muzzle of his gun. Judge Wilson
asked Tabby what he wanted and then reminded him that the gun might go
off. Tabby told the judge he wanted some money, about thirty or forty dollars.
The judge told him he would give him what he had which was only sixteen
dollars. Tabby told him to put it on a rock. Just as the judge was putting the
money down, Bob Reynolds came out ofthe store and said "That's light, treat
the Indian light." The three men were within arm's length of each other.
Tabby told the judge to tum his back. He did and had taken only two steps
when the shooting began. At first the judge thought he had been shot and
was dead, then he realized he could not be killed and not fall down. He walked
back into the store and immediately heard that Reynolds had been shot and
the Indian had taken off on his horse over the hills to the north.
Bob Reynolds had fallen into a ditch. They pulled him out and found that
he was dead. They immediately sent for Sheliff Pope. He told Constable
Koontz and Mr. Donaldson to go after Tabby, they found him three miles
north of Moffat. He was taken to the Guard house in Ft. Duchesne. Tabby
had been shot twice: one bullet grazing his jaw and neck, the other cutting
along his light side over his libs. Neither injury was necessanly dangerous.
There was some confusion over who fired the first shot. Tabby tlied to
claim that he had shot in self-defense. Tabby refused to talk to Sheliff Pope
Sheliff Pope and Deputy Sheliff C. B. Atwood, Jr., went to the scene of
the clime and gathered as much evidence as possible. They talked to
witnesses while the people were still there.
A coroner's jury found Bob Reynolds had died from gunshot wounds
inflicted by Tabby Weep White. They charged him with intent to commit
murder.
A tlial was held on September 13th and 14th. They found Tabby Weep
White guilty and sentenced him to life in plison. He served fifteen years and
was paroled. 9
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In 1911, Lewis Lind turned over a suitcase and its contents to Sheliff
Richard Pope. He said they belonged to a young man named George Walker,
presumably ofSalt Lake. Lind was concerned about the disappearance ofthe
young man. He told Sheliff Pope that Walker had engaged transportation
with him to Plice. Just before they reached Ft. Duchesne a horse had gotten
loose and headed back to Vernal. Walker said he would go on ahead by foot.
Walker had left his fishing gear and suitcase in Lind's wagon. Lind
figured Walker had gotten a lide with someone else and that he would see
him in Price. When he got there, he looked for the young man and could not
find him. After a month he brought the gear and suitcase to Sheliff Pope.
During Sheliff Pope's investigation he found that Walker had indeed
found a lide into Plice and had gotten there before Lind. He could not wait
for Lind and took the train home. He then realized that he could not
remember the name of the man he had started out with. Walker wrote to
Edward J. Young, Jr., the postmaster in Vernal, in hopes that he could help
him. Sheliff Pope received the letter and \\!Tote back to him. 1o

During that same year Sheriff Pope was called to investigate a human
skeleton that was discovered in Ashley Creek Gorge. Hugh Coltharp, Sidney
Lewis, Jr., and Amos Hoeft had been fishing up the gorge and were headed
back when they found the bleached skeleton of a young man. From the
weather-worn appearance of the yellowing coat and overalls, and the
complete disappearance of flesh, they figured the body must have been there
for a long time.
Beside the skull, which was several feet away, lay a 45-caliber Colt
revolver and a half-pint flask. The screw cap to the flask had been flipped a
few feet away. An examination of the rust-covered gun showed two empty
and four loaded chambers.
Sheriff Pope thought this might be Roy Dodds, who had disappeared
three years prior. Mr. Pardon Dodds, Sr., and his son, Pardon, Jr.,
accompanied the sheriff to the gruesome sight. They made a careful
examination of the skeleton and the parts of the clothing that had not rotted
away. In the pocket of the overalls they found a jackknife and some
cartridges. The original color of the coat could be distinguished under the
lapel. The boots were examined as well as the bleached white left ann of the
skeleton. It had a ridge in the same place Roy had broken his arm when he
was young. They checked the fillings in the teeth and had no further doubt,
these were the last mortal remains of the missing boy. 11
In 1912 Sheriff Richard Pope was again called out to investigate the
remains of human skeletons found in the Brush Creek cliffs. He found the
skeletons of a child and two adults. The child had lost its front teeth on both
gums and the new teeth were halfway grown in. A lock of reddish -brown hair
was found on one of the skulls. Charred pieces of wood and corncobs were
found in close proximity to the skeletons. Some well-shaped arrow points,
a piece of hard, twisted fish line, and tanned rabbit hide, which resembled
buckskin, were also found.
Sheriff Pope was convinced these were the remains of white people. He
was also sure they had been handled by "savages" who had no respect for
the dead. One of the arm bones showed evidence it had been chipped with
flints, possibly for the purpose of malting a skinning implement. The heaps
of flint chips found confirmed the belief that the cliff retreat was the
workshop of "Indian savages," where they made their weapons. Sheriff Pope
figured by the marks on the skeletons that the individuals had been burned
or may have been tortured by their captors. Sheriff Pope came to the
conclusion by the hard twisted fish line woven into the rabbit hide that this
tragedy happened around the 1870s. 12
In those days there were two emigrant trails through this country, one
going north via Fort Bridger and the other just east of where the bones were
found going through Brown's Park heading south. This was called the
Cherokee Trail. These people may have been emigrants malting their way
over one of these trails and were captured and slain by Indians.
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In January 1915, Sheriff Pope apprehended some outlaws who thought

they could outsmart the sheriff by walking backwards to Jensen. "Smokey"
White, Jim Dragoo, and Earl Dragoo were charged with stealing twenty-one
head of horses. They hoped walking backwards would fool the sheriff into
thinking they were walking into Vernal instead of out to Jensen. They went
6

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOUB.NA1
to the Indian Department cabin in Jensen. Sheriff Pope tracked the outlaws
there. The cabin itself was made of huge cottonwood logs. The outlaws
figured they could hide out there for a long time.
WhenSheriffPopeanived there, he wanted to showthe outlaws he would
give them a fair deal. He pulled off his coat and laid the gun he always wore
in a holster underneath his left shoulder on the stump in front of the cabin.
He said, "Now, I'll go talk to them." He walked up to the window knowing full
well that the men had two rifles and a six-shooter. He figured they would not
shoot once he looked into their eyes with that calm and intrepid stare of his.
Pope did not know what fear was, it was not in his vocabulary. He never got
excited, never lost his head so anyone would notice it. He told the outlaws,
"Now you fellows will have to come out. We can't leave you here. You'll have
to come out." The outlaws replied "Well, we won't come out." Sheriff Pope told
them he would give them an hour to decide what they wanted to do. In an
hour he returned and the outlaws said they would not come out. Sheriff Pope
warned them there was no way out of the situation. They still replied they
would not come ou t, so he sent his posse to Jensen after some coal oil to burn
them out. When his posse returned with the coal oil, the outlaws saw he
meant business and came out. 13
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Besides having the regular duties of sheriff, Pope was chairman of the
local draft board. He was also instructed in May of 1913, by the board of
county commissioners, to investigate streams and canals used for culinary
purposes. As a rule, the sheriff did not use very strong language, but he
found that the English language was inadequate for the words he wanted to
use to express himself strongly enough about the water conditions. If there
had been words which conveyed more force than "damnable, pernicious,
obnoxiOUS, stinking, foul, or rotten" he would have used them. He had found
that the streams were in what he had called "damnable conditions and he
(did) not mean that dams should be made out of dirt." He found corrals
reeking with filth located within four feet of the creeks and canals on sides
that sloped toward the water. Dead animals were found on the banks and
in the water. The owners had not moved them. Sheriff Pope stated, "It is a
shame and disgrace to any civilized community, and somebody will be
arrested and punished good and plenty unless they clean up. They have had
fair warning and now it is up to them. I do not mean to say that everyone
living along these streams is guilty for such is not the case. Some of the
residents have their premises in fine condition. But those who are guilty
know it.")4
In 1917 Sheriff Pope arrested two brothers for two separate crimes. First,
Bruce Blair was arrested on burglary and robbery charges for stealing a
watch from a vest that was hanging in the Uintah Railway pump house in
Watson. Blair took the stage from Watson to Vernal. The officers had been
notified that Blair was on the stage and were looking out for him that evening.
Blair got off the stage just outside of town, though, and walked into Vernal
just before dusk. SheriffPope, City Marshal Arthur Rich, and Night Watchman
Dobbie were on the lookoutfor Blair. When Blair did not anive with the stage,
they started to look for him. Rich found Blair walking down the street and
placed him under arrest in front of the Bank of Vernal on the southwest
7

comer ofthe main intersection. When Rich stepped into Uintah Drug to call
the other officers, Blair made a getaway. He ran up Main Street, going west,
and turned on First West, heading south. Rich was close behind. Unfortu
nately, there were too many people on the road so Rich could not use his gun.
When Rich was finally able to use his weapon it was too late; he fired twice,
which caused Blair to run faster. He cut through the lots and eventually was
able to elude the officers.
Sheriff Pope immediately went out on horseback in the direction Blair
was headed. Sheriff Pope lost track of him until daybreak when he found the
trail again. Sheriff Pope tracked
James E. "Ed" Blair, on a charge
him to the Neil Ranch in Davis.
ofburglarizing Hanna's Restau
He arrested Blair and
rant. How he accomplished
broughthim back to Verthis was rather clever.
nal.
Ed had been under
It was stated in
suspicion for somethe VemalExpress,
time, and went to
"The Sheriffis to be
his farm beyond
congratulated on
Blue Mountain
the capture of his
about forty miles
man. Notin all the
from Jensen. A
years of his pub
warrant was is
lic life as sheriff
sued for his arrest,
and a deputy sher
but they knew he
iff, has any man
would eventually
ever succeeded in
come to town to see
his brother, so Sher
getting a way from
him, if there was not
iff Pope did not go af
more that one hun
ter him. Ed went to
dred miles between
dinner at George
them."ls
Matt Warner described Richard Caldwell's house and
Five days later,
heard of his brother's
Pope as "the kindest sheriff
Sheriff Pope arrested
arrest. He immedi
[he] ever had in [hisllife."
Bruce Blair's brother, (Doris Karren Burton collection) ately went to the jail
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to see him. When Ed applied for admittance to the jail, Marshal Rich told him
he would have to speak to Sheriff Pope, who was just then entering the
courthouse grounds. Pope granted permission, and "very obligingly un
locked the door and escorted the visitor inside. He then proceeded to lock the
door and serve the warrant of arrest, which he had in his pocket, making Ed
a prisoner with his brother."16
Two days later Bruce Blair escaped from jail by sawing out two bars from
the iron door of the inner corridor. Ed Blair told the sheriff that, "Bruce had
two hacksaw blades of tempered steel on him when he was captured,
contained ina soft leather belt next to the skin. These he used to saw the bars
on a level with the cross piece just below the heavy steel lock, making an
opening large enough for a man to squeeze through. The hole was about
eighteen inches wide by thirty 10ng."I? Ed Blair started shouting at the top
of his lungs for the sheriffshortly after Bruce left the building. The alarm was

THE OUTI.A.W TRAIL JOURNAL
spread by telephone to all points in the valley to be on the lookout for the
fugitive.
Even though Sheriff Pope was tied down with the draft examination and
could not leave immediately to hunt down Bruce Blair, he was caught just
twenty hours later at Cart Creek in McKee Draw on Diamond Mountain.
Bruce had arrived at Steinaker Draw dUring the night, then followed the road
to McKee Draw. Since he had been without food for twelve hours, he became
hungry. He met up with some sheepherders and ate. When the officers got
to McKee Draw they met up with Haller Witbeck who told them Blair was at
the camp wagon. Before Blair was even aware of any trouble, he was looking
into the barrel of a Winchester in the hands of Marshal Rich. At the moment
of arrest, Blair was shaving and had to be commanded twice before
relinquishing the razor.
Blair claimed that he found the hacksaws in the jail and that with a
penitentiary sentence staring him in the face he deCided to try for freedom. IS
Bruce Blair pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison for six months
to three years. No court proceedings were available on Ed Blair. 19
Richard Pope's health began to decline and after receiving medical
treatment in Salt Lake City, he died in his home on the morning of 16 May
1918, at the young age offifty-three. His funeral was held in the UintahStake
Tabernacle. He was eulogized "as an exemplary public officer, citizen,
husband, and father." County Commissioner George W. Perry was the
opening speaker. He mentioned the integrity with which Mr. Pope had
discharged his duties as sheriff of the county and as a member of the draft
board. He characterized him as one who was always willing to do more than
what was reqUired, and one in whom explicit confidence could be placed. He
payed tribute to the optimism and pleasant disposition which always
pervaded Richard, saying, "one of our best citizens has been removed from
our midst."20
Attorney Thomas W. O'Donnell was the next speaker. He said, "the very
atmosphere reminded him of the life of Richard Pope, as it was so quiet,
peaceful, and calm." He said, "No few words of mine can add any glory to the
life of Richard Pope, as he lived a life that showed forth as an example and
aid to all with whom he came in contact. His life was characterized by a quiet,
unassuming manner, and yet throughout he always performed his duty in
a manner that was thorough." He added that, "never but once dUring his
entire career as a peace officer, had he testified against a prisoner whom he
had arrested-that one occasion was when an attempt was made by a man
to escape, after being arrested. Not thathewas negligent, but it merely shows
his kind, sympathetic nature. He was energetic in securing evidence and
made every possible effort to bring violators of the law to justice. He was also
a man who knew no fear."21
President Don B. Colton said "he was a man who loved peace and quiet,
and above all, he was an honest man, which is the noblest work of God."22
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ENDNOTES
1. Richard Gilbert. grandson of Richard Pope. "Memorandum." Uintah County Library

Regional History Center. Folder 3070.
2. Lora Sannes. "The Last Cowboy Sheriff. A History of John Theodore Pope." unpub
lished manuscript. Uintah .County Library Regional History Center. Folder 3071.
3. fbid.
4. fbid.
5. Ibid.
6. Richard Gilbert interview with author. 31 October 1998. Richard Gilbert. "Memoran
dum."
7. Richard Gilbert interview.
8. Vemal Express. 8 January 1909.
9. VemalExpress. 29 July. 16 September 1910.
10. Vemal Express. 29 December 1911.
11. Vemal Express. 28 July 1911.
12. Vemal Express. 9 February 1912.
13. Richard Gilbert. "Memorandum." VemalExpress. 15 January 1915.
14. VemalExpress. 30 May 1913.
15. VemalExpress. 3 August 1917.
17. Ibid.
19. VemalExpress. 14 September 1917.
20. VemalExpress. 24 May 1918.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid.
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10

The Forgotten Bear River Massacre

Kathleen Murphy Irving
"Colonel Connor and the Volunteers who went north last week to look
after the Indians on Bear River have, in a very short space of time, done a
larger amount ofIndian killing than ever fell to the lot ofany single expedition
of which we have any knowledge."1 So stated the DeseretNews in Salt Lake
City days after the January 1863 slaughter by United States troops of
Northwestern Shoshoni in Cache Valley, Utah, a disaster that had a longer
list of casualties than any other massacre to date.
After an unsuccessful
stint hunting gold in
California,
Colonel
Patrick Edward Connor, a
veteran ofthe Mexican War,
was recalled to active duty
when the Civil War broke
out. Despite his desire to
serve his country in the
rebellious southern states,
Connor was placed in
command of the Military
District of Utah in August
1862 and arrived in Salt
Lake with his troops, the
California Volunteers, in
October that year. He
founded Camp Douglas,
became a foe of the Mormon
element he despised, and
sought to gain the military
recognition he felt he had
been denied. 2
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Utah Territory's Cache

Valley settlers and members
of the Shoshoni tribe had
immediate conflicts when
th whites arrived, first in
Colonel Patrick Edward Connor led the expedi
1856 and worsening over
tion against Bear Hunter's Shoshoni band.
time. By the spring of 1860
(Courtesy Utah State Historical Society)
the Sho honi were suffering
from the loss of access to traditional lands and food sources. They began to
raid cattle herds for beef. stole farm horses, forced pioneer women to cook
for them at knife-point. and kidnapped or killed whites caught alone on the land.
On 9 September 1860 a group of Shoshonis ambushed a party of
immigrants, the Otter train, bo nd [or the Oregon Territory. During a thirty
six hour battle west o[Salmon Falls. Indian warriors killed most ofthe party.
11

Connor founded Camp Douglas in Salt Lake City in 1862 with his troops,
the California Volunteers. (Courtesy Utah State Historical Society)
Survivors, including members of the Alexis Van Orman family, abandoned

their livestock and possessions, and ran into the willows along the Snake
River to hide. For several days the surviving immigrants wandered in the
untamed land, hiding, starving and completely exhausting their strength.
Ten days later they settled into a makeshift camp to await their fate. News
of the Otter massacre did not reach authorities at the Umatilla Indian Agency
until 2 October. Unaware of the army troops dispatched to rescue survivors,
Van Orman, his family and ten others chose to make a last desperate attempt
to reach safety and avoid starvation. Soldiers later found six mutilated
bodies, but there was no trace of the Van Orman children. They were
presumed kidnapped. 3
Indian Agent John Owen was instructed to use every means available to
him to rescue the children, but he met without success. He did express the
opinion, however, that the hostile attitude the formerly friendly Shoshoni
and Bannock tribes exhibited could be "attributed to the treatment they
have [received] from unprincipled White Men passing through their country.
They have been [robbed], Murdered, their women outraged, etc., etc., and,
in fact, outrages have been committed by White Men that the heart would
shudder to record."4
By 1862 the condition of the Shoshonis had only worsened and
depredations continued. Utah Superintendent of Indian Mfairs James D.
Doty said he found Cache Valley's Northwestern Shoshoni "in a starving and
destitute condition ... They were enduring great suffering '" with the
prospect that they would rob the Mail Stations to sustain life."s In a wire to
Salt Lake City one mail agent noted that hundreds of Indians thronged the
stations, clamoring for food and threatening the white populace. "They will
steal or starve," he wrote. "Will they starve?" As the Civil War began, Doty was
ordered by the Indian Office in Washington, D.C., to begin treaty negotia
tions with the tribes, but he found he could not extract sufficient funds from
the federal government to feed the starving Native Americans. 6
While Indian agents eventually gave up the search for the Van Orman
children, their uncle, Zachias Van Orman, who had been living in Oregon
Tenitory, did not. He eventually learned that a white boy had been seen with
Bear Hunter's Shoshoni band in Cache Valley, and that three young girls,
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12

apparently the boy's sisters, had died of starvation. Van Onnan anived in
Salt Lake City in the fall of 1862 and made his way to newly-anived Colonel
Connor at Fort Douglas, pleading with him for military help to rescue the boy
he assumed was his nephew, Reuben Van Onnan. Connor readily agreed
and sent an Indian messenger ahead of the troops to warn ChiefBear Hunter
to release the boy or risk the slaughter of his people.
Connor sent Major Edward McGarry and a number of cavalrymen into
Cache Valley. Although McGarry planned a surprise attack of Bear Hunter
and up to forty of his warriors, the Indians escaped. There followed an
indecisive two-hour battle that wearied Bear Hunter until he called a truce.
McGarry took Bear Hunter and four other men captive and told the others
to bring the boy by noon the following day or the prisoners would lose their
lives. Bear Hunter dispatched his best wanior and fastest horse to get the
child. YoungJohn T. Pope, a Uintah County sheriff in later years, witnessed
the events in Logan the following day:
The next morning a pole was set up in the public square with an
arm extended from it, and a rope swung from the ann. As soon as the
sun was up, Chief Bear Hunter commenced watching the trail, then
the sun, then the trail again, hoping against hope that his messenger
would get there in time.
As the time neared, the anxiety and agitation were manifest in the
old Chieftain's actions. If ever he prayed for favors from the "Great
Spirit" to prepare a place for him in the happy hunting grounds, he
did while waiting for his messenger. His anxiety became greater as
a crowd of men gathered around the pole with the cross ann. As the
sun neared the zenith [Major McGarry] ordered the rope put around
the neck of Bear Hunter. The old Chieftain pleaded with them to wait
justa little longer, saying his messenger had not yet had time to make
the trip but that he would be there if they would just wait a little
longer. [McGarry] would not relinquish, or concede to give him a
reprieve, but instead ordered the rope around his neck.
As the rope was being tied into place on the old Indian's neck, a
cloud of dust was seen in the distance. A mere speck was all they
could see, but rapidly becoming larger and taking fonn. The rope was
stayed; it might be the messenger. Larger and larger became the
cloud of dust as nearer and nearer the horseman came. It was the
messenger, and the little [boy] was behind him on a horse, exhausted
from making such an impossible trip in a record time.
[Major McGarryl, true to his promise, let the Indian Chieftain go
back to his people, buttold him that ifhedidn't stop his depredations
against the white people, and that if he was ever called to bring his
troops against him and his renegades again, he would wipe out every
last one of his people, not leaving one alive. 7
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Early the next year that promise was nearly fulfilled.

Traffic through Cache Valley increased when mines were opened in
southwestern Montana in 1862-63. The valley lay along a convenient
freighting/travel route. Despite the fact that Indian Affairs Superintendent
James Doty planned treaties that would offer the Indians protection and
13

THE OUTLAW THAlL JOURNAL
Cache Valley, Utah. (Courtesy Utah State Historical Society)
compensation, they had not been concluded, and the Native Americans
doubtless saw little reason to trust the white man's papers in any case, Time
after time freighters and miners were attacked by desperate Shoshoni and
Bannock raiders, and they continued raids on the settlers as well. In early
December 1862. several weeks after the Van Orman case was settled,
Colonel Connor sent McGarry and one hundred cavalrymen to the Bear
River feny crossing at the north end of the Great Salt Lake to recover stolen
livestock from a Shoshoni encampment.
The soldiers traveled in secrecy, but still the Indians were warned and
moved north after cutting the feny loose, McGany was able to get his troops,
without their horses, across the river and captured four Indian men. He then
sent a message to their leaders demanding the return of the stock, and
threatening to kill the hostages unless they complied. The Shoshoni
continued their northward trek into Cache Valley. however, and McGany
ordered the hostages tied to the feny rope by their hands and killed. Soldiers
pumped fifty-one shots into the men before they died, and their bodies were
dumped into the river. The Indians later sent word that they "could, and
would, thrash the soldiers on the first opportunity."8 They swore revenge for
what they considered the unjust deaths of their companions.
On 5 January 1863 ten miners were attacked and killed by Shoshonis.
On 14January two freighters were reported killed on the Cache Valley Road.
In his report, express operator A.H. Conover noted that Bear Hunter's
Shoshoni band had vowed to kill every white man they met on the north side
of Bear River. 9 The event that caught the attention of Colonel Connor in Salt
Lake City, however, was the 6 January slaying of John Henry Smith, who
was traveling with seven other men through Cache Valley to Salt Lake. On
19 January 1863 miner William Bevins, one of the survivors, swore out an
affidavit claiming he and the others had been attacked by hostile Indians
while en route to Salt Lake City from the Dakota Territory. 10 Connor did not
take time to investigate the attacks, but immediately made plans to punish
the Indian band.
Colonel Patrick Edward Connor has been described as a brave, able and
determined soldier. qUick to quell Indian uprisings. When the Cache Valley
attacks occurred. he snatched at the opportunity to build his military
reputation and hoped to gain a promotion after a successful campaign. l l
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14

U.S. Marshal Isaac L. Gibbs turned over warran ts for the arrest of Shoshoni
Indian chiefs Bear Hunter, Sandpitch and Sagwich to Connor, and on 22
January the first troops were dispatched.
Connor used the snowy winter weather to his advantage as he prepared
his surpIise attack. He directed his foot soldiers to march sloppily, giving
"every indication of being an undisciplined band of dunderheads out on a
lark."12 He hoped the Indians would assume that the troops were an easy
target, and either disregard them or simply wait for them to appear. The
intense cold and snowy conditions also worked against the soldiers,
however. In some cases the men could not talk to one another because of
the ice in their beards, and seventy-five of the 275 soldiers and officers who
started the trek were left in settlements along the route suffeIing with
frostbite.
Marching at night, both the infantry and cavalry made the tIip from Salt
Lake City in six days. The two contingents arrived in Mendon the night of 28
January 1863 and continued on to Franklin, Idaho, about fifteen miles from
the Indian encampment. When the infantry anived in Franklin, three Indian
men were loading the usual gift of grain settlers provided them onto horses.
When they saw the soldiers, they immediately mounted and sped away,
presumably to inform their leaders of the situation. Bear Hunter and his
other chiefs knew the soldiers were on the march, but because of their
apparent disorder and the severe winter cold, they were apparently not
overly concerned. 13
Connor ordered his men to march to the Shoshoni camp in the early
morning hours of 29 January 1863. The cavalry anived first, and under
Major McGarry's command, they surrounded the Indians' Bear River
encampment to prevent escape. The infantry, which was delayed when a
suitable guide could not immediately be located in Franklin, anived some
time later and fell into place awaiting orders to open fire. The Shoshoni
village was situated between 200-foot bluffs at the base of Cedar Point, and
was filled with willows that hampered visibility. Battle Creek flowed through
the village and into Bear River just south of the camp. The village appeared
to be in a strong, defensible position. Connor and another officer stationed
their contingents east of the village. McGarry and Captain Samuel W. Hoyt
took their men to the village's north end; Lieutenant John Quinn received
orders to prevent escape up the bluffs to the west, Lieutenant Cyrus D. Clark
closed off the south end of Battle Creek, and Lieutenant George D. Conrad
and his men were stationed to block anyone from enteIing the ice-jammed
Bear River from the creek. 14
Colonel Connor and his infan try engaged in several skirmishes with Bear
Hunter's Shoshoni band beginning at 6 am. An hour later when the cavalry
was sent into action, Chief Bear Hunter rode to the front of the Indian lines
and challenged the soldiers to fight. Connor ordered his men to charge and
when they did they were immediately repelled by the entrenched Indian
waniors. A number of soldiers were killed or wounded. Connor retreated
bIiefly to regroup, but the final outcome was inevitable. The federal troops
were provided with much more ammunition than the Indian band pos
sessed. By 8 am the Indians were engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the
soldiers, and they were eventually reduced to defending themselves with
pots, pans or anything else that could be used as a club. Of the estimated
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15

THE OUTLAW TRAlL JOURNAL
450 Shoshoni villagers, between 250 and 270, including women and
defenseless children, were killed. Chief Bear Hunter and one of his sub
chiefs, Lehi, were also killed. Sagwich escaped with a wound to his hand.
Connor ordered the soldiers to destroy the village and take anything of
value they found to pay the expenses of the expedition. They gathered 175
horses, 1,000 bushels of wheat and flour, beef, potatoes, blankets, mirrors,
cooking utensils and other property stolen from wagon trains, along with
traditional Indian buffalo robes, beads and pipes. SUrviving women were
raped and brutalized, and Connor seemed to disregard the breakdown of
military discipline among his troops. While the dead soldiers were carefully
loaded onto wagons to be returned to Salt Lake, the Indian dead were left
where they lay. Over five years later, a Salt Lake City reporter from the
Deseret News noted that "the bleached skeletons of scores of noble red men
still ornament the grounds."15
Indian survivors were left with little or nothing to sustain life. Some
escaped to be taken in by white families. Wi-Vee-Da, a young girl, received
a bullet in her heel and watched as her family members were slaughtered.
but together with two other small girls, she fled to a Mormon family that
cared for them. Wi-Vee-Da later moved to Wyoming, where she met her
husband, James Scott Reed. The couple lived in Brown's Park before finally
settling on the Ute Reservation in Whiterocks. 16
The California Volunteers returned to Salt Lake via Cache Valley,
carrying their twenty-three fallen companions and plunder along with them.
The young John T. Pope watched with fascination as the victorious fighters
entered Logan. His impressions were recorded much later.
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Even without the aid of our modem communication, the victory

of General [sic] Connor and his troops over the Indians spread like
a wild-grass fire through the open prairie. At each stop the troops
made along the way from Franklin to the Fort, the general populace
would tum out to greet the victors of a great cause well conquered.
The dead soldiers were in a big bl ue wagon box on the bob sleighs.
John Pope, a lad of near seven, went up to the sentry guarding the
improvised morgue and asked ifhe might see the dead soldiers in the
wagon box. The guard, a big. red-faced Irishman, gave the lad a
penetrating look, a look that sent a chill down the spine of the lad,
and answered, "Yes, by God, you can see them."
The sentry lifted the boy up and pulled back the canvas covering.
exposing the faces of the slain men; and the boy, who was to be sheriff
of an outlaw country, got his first look at the wholesale dead. An
impression was imbedded with a clear vividness on an impression
able mind, at a real tender age. He never forgot that sight, and it was
to come back to him a great many times in all its horrible morbidness.
He took one long look at the lifeless faces and then, turning away,
took another look, a long look at the guard. He turned away from the
morgue, and the face of that soldier was written as indelibly on his
memory as was the sight he had just witnessed in the blue wagon
morgue. 17
16

Despite criticism that the massacre was unnecessary, harsh and

brutal, settlers noted that it seemed to have broken "the spirit and power of
the Indians.... It made the flocks and herds and lives of people compara
tively safe."IB Indian Superintendent James Doty concluded treaty negotia
tions later in 1863, establishing peace be"hveen the white settlers and the
Shoshoni. The massacre likely helped to convince the Native Americans that
such agreements were preferable to slaughter.
For his part in the Battle of Bear River, Patrick Edward Connor was
promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He led subsequent expeditions
against other Indian tribes and continued to lead the affairs of Fort Douglas
until 1866, when he was relieved of his command. Connor then returned to
civilian life and industry, eventually becoming known as the father of Utah
mining. He died in Salt Lake City on 17 December 1891.
The Bear River Massacre, coming as it did during the Civil War, was
largely forgotten over the years. Other battles, such as the 1868 Washita
Massacre, with General George Custer in command, and the infamous battle
at Wounded Knee in December 1890, had lower casualty rates, but have
received more attention.
The continual conflicts be"hveen Indians and white settlers over use of
land, natural resources and respect defined all of their relationships. It is
a legacy that continues today.
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ENDNOTES
1. Deseret News. 4 February 1863.

2. Quig Nielson, "Harsh Vengeance at Bear River," Wild West Magazine, April 1992, 53.
3. Brigham D. Madsen. The Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre, (Salt Lake
City: University of Utah Press. 1985), 116.
4. John Owen, The Journals and Letters of Major John Owen, Pioneer of the Northwest,
1850-1871, Owen to Geary, Flathead Agency, Washington Territory. 13 February 1861.
262-263. punctuation added for clarity.
5. Brigham D. Madsen, Glory Hunter A Biography of Patrick Edward Connor, (Salt Lake
City: University of Utah Press. 1990), 76.
6. Ibid.
7. Lora Sannes, ''The Last Cowboy Sheriff, A History of John Theodore Pope," unpub
lished manuscript, Uintah County Library Regional History Center, Folder 3071, 4.
8. Brigham D. Madsen, Glory Hunter, 78.
9. Ibid.
10. Quig Nielson. "Harsh Vengeance at Bear River," 53.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid., 54.
13. Brigham D. Madsen. Glory Hunter, 80.
14. Ibid .. 82.
15. Brigham D. Madsen. Glory HLmter, 84: Deseret News, 20 May 1868.
16. Norma Denver, "Mary Reed Harris: Early reservation settler, mid-wife, and host to
Butch Cassidy," Uintah Basin Standard., 8 July 1997.
17. Lora Sannes, ''The Last Cowboy Sheriff." 6.
18. Quig Nielson, "Harsh Vengeance at Bear River," 57.
17

The Red Sash Gang

Kerry Ross Boren
The year was 1898, an even one hundred years ago. The Union Pacific
express train rumbled along the tracks near Fish Cut or Point of Rocks, north
of Rock Springs, Wyoming. Steam was streaming from its blackened stack
as it trembled along the steel rails, only slowly now for the grade was steep
and winding. Suddenly, down from the rocks near the first sharp curve ofthe
tracks came five masked riders; above, on a promontory overlooking the
scene, was another, watching intently. Even at a distance it was easy to
discern that he was a Negro.
Daringly, one of the riders came alongside the steaming engine and left
his horse, clambering aboard with a pistol shoved before him. The fireman
backed against a sidewall while the engineer was forced to bring the
locomotive to a halt. With a hiss of steam and the clang of steel against steel,
the lumbering train slowed to a stop.
Back near the express car, four ofthe riders dismounted and approached
the door, one of them pounding against it with his gun barrel and calling out,
"Hey, you in there! Open this damned door or we'll fill it with lead!" Slowly
the door was unlatched by the guard inside and the heavy, paneled door slid
back. The outlaws clambered aboard, only one remaining on the outside to
stand as watch.
This was the bold and daring Red Sash Gang, led by the dashing and
immaculate outlaw leader known only as "Red Bob." Whatever his real name
was, if ever it was known, it has been lost to history. Dressed always in the
finest riding clothes, Red Bob wore as his trademark a red sash about his
waist; some thought perhaps this denoted Spanish descent, but no accent
was ever noticeable. Great care was taken by Red Bob at all times to keep
his identity unknown, as if, perhaps, he was prominent or easily recognized
in the region of his "occupation." Many thought they knew the identity of Red
Bob, but none ever came forth to prove it.
The robbery of the Union Pacific express at Fish Cut or Point of Rocks (it
has never been established just which) netted the daring gang more than
$85,000 in gold coin and bullion, an immense fortune at that time. The heavy
loot was loaded aboard pack mules brought forth from the rocks by the
waiting Negro and the gang disappeared into the trackless wastes of the
Wyoming Badlands.
The train sped on and soon arrived at Rock Spring, Wyoming, where the
necessary officials were made aware of the events and a posse was hastily
formed and soon on the trail of the desperadoes. Because of this and
subsequent events, the outlaws were forced to bury the gold, and in the gun
battle that ensued, many of them were killed, and as a result, the gold was
never recovered. The location of the buried gold was never revealed to
authorities and all indications are that none of those captured outlaws who
were subsequently released ever returned for the treasure. Therefore, it can
easily be said that this is a story about a lost treasure as much as it is a
chronicle of a fantastic outlaw gang of which little is really known or
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18

understood. The author will attempt here to reveal much which has never
been told before.
For many years the treasure of which we speak became a main source
of conversation among residents of the area who took every opportunity to
explore for the buried gold. Although no one knew even remotely the precise
location of the treasure, each had his opinion and the mountains and
badlands of the region became pockmarked with exploratory diggings.
After several years had elapsed, even though the treasure had not been
forgotten, the searches became less and less frequent, and as a conse
quence, after a time treasure seekers came to believe that the story ofthe lost
gold was nothing but a myth. This is understandable because of the fact that
so very little was ever known about the robbery itself. Having taken place
in 1898 itwas pushed out of the news headlines by local reporters who chose
the more choice items about the Spanish-American War then in progress in
Cuba. Even the exact location of the scene of the robbery is vague, being
described in official records as either "Point of Rocks or Fish Cut, southwest
ern Wyoming." 1
The Red Sash Gang has long been a point of interest with this author,
certainly more than usual because so little was known ofthem to begin with.
Since the writer desired more information in order to complete a comprehen
sive history of the region and not just a sketchy one, old records and
manuscripts, newspaper files, interviews with old-timers, etc., etc., caused
such a complete study of the subject that it is this writer's thought that more
is contained about the gang within this article than has ever been written on
the subject previously anywhere. In the process of research, the writer may
also have narrowed down the location of the buried gold itself; at any rate,
it is up to the reader to decide for himself. The facts are presented in full
wherever this writer has been able to ascertain them to be true. Legend or
rumor does not enter into this account unless word-of-mouth communica
tion was in error.
The exact amount of gold in relation to coin or bullion, i.e. the weight of
it, is not known, butitcan be supposed that the larger amount was in bullion
due to the fact that several mules were needed to transport the horde.
Bullion, i.e. gold bars, usually weigh about fifty pounds per bar. Records
show that better than $85,000 was in pure gold, very little cash or bank notes
having been taken. It is not known for what or whom the gold was being
transported.
The outlaws continued westward from the scene of the robbery to a point
just east of Fort Bridger where they changed course abruptly in an effort to
throw the lawmen off their trail and went due south towards the rugged
Uinta Mountains. They were seen as they passed near Mountain View,
however, and the posse was duly notified as to the change of course.
At Burnt Fork, Wyoming, jU t b fore crossing the state line into Utah,
the posse took on several more members, including Mark Anson, a local
resident who knew the area quite well and wa at that time employed in some
capacity as a peace officer in the area. 2
It was apparent to Anson that the Red Sash Gang was making a
desperate bid to reach Brown's Hole where immunity from the law was
assured since a posse had not brought a man out of that stronghold in years.
One of two routes was therefor evident: due east through Lucerne Valley
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THE OUTLAW TBAI1 JOUBHAL
(present-day Manila, Utah) and across the Green River at Cottonwood

Crossing, or south to the High Uintas and thence east along the summit,
dropping off the face of Diamond Mountain into Brown's Hole.
Anson then instructed the posse to send a rtder ahead down Henry's
Fork to wmn ranchers in that area to set up a blockade should the outlaws
decide to penetrate the valley. Tom Welch, who operated a ranch on Henry's
Fork, rode immediately to Lucerne Valley, wmning ranchers along the route
to be on the lookout for the gang. At Linwood, Utah, Welch organized several
of the area residents into a posse and posted them along the Green River to
await the possible arIival of the gang.
Meanwhile, Anson, knowing that the gang would most likely choose the
safer mountain route, directed the posse along the trail to that place in
pursuit of the gang. At this time the posse was an estimated two hours
behind the ou tlaws. Traveling light, the posse knew that they would overtake
the gang in about four hours. It was thenjust breaking dawn; both groups
had traveled over twenty hours since the robbery the day before.
While all of this was taking place, an officer at Fort Brtdger w:as
telegraphing the shertffs department in Vernal, Utah, across the Uinta
range who promptly organized yet another posse and closed in on the gang
from the opposite direction. They wanted to stop the outlaws before they
reached Brown's Hole and sanctuary.
Meanwhile, the Red Sash Gang hadjust rounded the mountain of Phil's
Peco and were approaching the ranch of George Solomon in Conner Basin.
Solomon was away at the time as a flag-bearer of Torrey's Rough Riders in
the Spanish Amertcan War. The outlaws took the opportunity to catch
Solomon's favortte horse, a roan called "Old Cleveland," and transfer some
of the weight of the gold to his husky back. Before them lay a mountain of
about three thousand feet in ascent; up Sol's Canyon they climbed to the
summit of the mountain and turned east through Long's Park, a mountain
meadow at the feet ofthe lofty 14,OOO-foot domes of the glacial High Uintas.
Brown's Hole and safety lay yet some fifty miles away.
Charley Brant, a resident cowboy from Brown's Hole, was on the Long's
Park trail and saw the approach of the mounted men. Brant was acquainted
with Red Bob from an earlier "association" and he also recognized Old
Cleveland from having worked for George Solomon in the past. Curtous,
Brant rode toward the men to investigate; immediately they pulled their guns
and leveled them at Brant, who promptly whirled and rode into the timber
for safety. Skirting the edge of the park, he passed by the gang and rode on
toward the approaching posse.
Yet some two hours behind, but gaining fast, the posse with officer Mark
Anson gUiding, encountered Charley Brant coming out of the mouth of Sol's
Canyon. Brant related his story of having see the outlaws and the posse dug
spurs ever harder in an effort to overtake the gang.
From Long's Park, the Long's Park-Brown's Hole Trail crosses what later
became known as Telephone Creek, then branches. One branch turns
northeast and falls off into colorful Mahogany Draw and Sheep Creek
Canyon; the other holds toward the south and the snowcapped high country,
and then extends along the foot of the mountain range through miles of
virgin timber. The outlaws had chosen the latter, perhaps because of the
cover it afforded.
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Just offthis trail and

some ten miles from
Long's Park lay a small
meadow which to this
time had no particular
name. Here the Red Sash
Gang stopped to water
their tired animals at the
cold springs which af
forded a beaver his
home. Here, somewhere
within the confines of
this small meadow, the
gang buried lhe gold
treasure.
It must have taken
the better part of two
hours to bury or hide
th heavy gold, mark its
location and draw a map.
The map, knO\vn to have
definitely eXisted, was
drawn by laying together
two sheets of paper and
in so doing, creating two
maps, one half useless
without the other to the
novice unfamiliar with
the country. Ifcaptured,
A posse chased the Red Sash Gang over rocky
the treasure could not
terrain to the foot of Diamond Mountain.
then be located without
(Richard "Dick" and Daun Dejournette collection)
both sections ofthe map.
It must have been th intention of the outlaws to split up and regroup later
at a predesignated place when they could safely return for the gold. All
noticeable traces of the burial or hiding place of the eJold having been
removed, the outlaws rode leisurely out of the little meadow in a direction
which would cut the main trail to Brown's Hole.
Suddenly, the timber roared with the sound of gunfire-the posse had
come upon them! Caught unawares at. the very edge ofthe meadow, the Red
Sash Gang rode hard for the safety of he timber, leaving the mules and Old
Cleveland behind in their haste to reach protection from the flying lead. They
kept to the comparative safety of the timbered ridges for the next several
miles, veering northward and dropping off in to Dowd's Hole and then racing
for safety across the open botlomland. There was a time when they might
have dropped off the face of tile mountain into the safety of the ranch of
Cleophas Dowd, a friend of the leader Red Bob, but now Dowd was dead, shot
in the back only a year before.
The posse was now very close upon them; however close, the chase
continued for some twenty to twenty-five miles and for a time it appeared as
if the gang would reach the stronghold of Brown's Hole and escape their
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21

Gang members, pursued by posses from Vernal and Linwood, headed toward
safety in Brown's Park, (Mary K. Ferguson collection)
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pursuers, But then, at

the foothills of Diamond
Mountain-within ten
miles of Brown's Hole
the Red Sash Gang met
face to face with the
posse out of Vernal,
Uintah County, Utah, A
Here battle ensued dur
ing which several of the
outlaws were killed and
others wounded before
finally they surren
dered,3 The remnants of
the gang were tossed in
the county jail at Ver
nal, pending extradition
and trial. Meanwhile, This posse apprehended the Red Sash Gang, killing
several of them and taking the rest to justice,
they had destroyed the (Used with permission Ken Sanders, Originally pub
maps and refused to dis

lished in Some Dreams Die, Dream Garden Press)
close the location of the

buried or hidden gold,4
The remaining members ofthe once notorious gang were tried, convicted
and sentenced to long terms in prison, The records are notably silent
concemingthe entire affair, Itis not knO\vn if Red Bob was one of those killed,
though it must be assumed he was since no more was ever again heard of
him.
Upon the release of each of the men (supposedly, only two were ever
released. two having died in prison), they were followed incessantly by
22

railroad detectives in the hopes that one of them might eventually return to
the lost gold; they never did. One of the men, it is said, died shortly after his
release, while the other was supposedly killed in a gun duel in Arizona.
The story might well have ended here and perhaps it did as far as the
Union Pacific was concerned, but in 1900-two years after the robbery had
taken place-another incident occurred which brought new life to the
growing legend. A Negro showed up in the area and situated himself in an
old abandoned cabin at the place later known as McKinnon. The Negro was
commonly referred to as "Nigger Turner," and even today, the little town of
McKinnon in Wyoming is often referred to as "Coon Holler," in honor of the
mysterious old Negro.
Turner began immediately what was to become a ritual: with pick and
shovel strapped to his sway-backed mare, he would cross Conner Basin,
climb up the steep trail through Sol's Canyon, plod across Long's Park and
dig a little here and there. He would consult a worn and crumpled piece of
paper, gaze about wistfully, then pack up and dig some other place.
Certainly the old Negro's presence caused a new stir in the old feelings
first aroused by the gold treasure; there had been a Negro involved in the
holdup. This particular Negro had been sentenced to a long term in prison.
Was Turner this same Negro? Was he back to retrieve the gold?
Most of this speculation was false, but in some respects it was true
enough. Even though Turner was not the same Negro involved in the robbery
of the express train, he was definitely searching for the lost gold. According
to the later statements of Ole Nielsen, a local pioneer rancher, things
happened somewhat as follows.
The old Negro came to Nielsen's cabin one day and asked to borrow a rifle,
stating that two men had been following him for the past several days and
Turner was concerned for his life. He confessed his story to Nielsen, the
details of which were these: Turner had been doing a stretch in prison when
he had become acquainted with another Negro inmate. This Negro was the
member of the Red Sash Gang involved in the robbery and the gun battle
some time before. The two became friends and before very much time had
elapsed, the story ofthe robbery was broughtforth. The old Negro outlaw had
been wounded in the gun battle following the robbery and it was apparent
that he would not long survive. Therefore, he confided in Turner all that he
knew of the gold, including its location, saying to him that ifhe recovered it,
it would surely be his for no other members of the gang would ever be free
to claim it. He confessed that he had been cook for Red Bob's gang and one
half of the treasure map had been entrusted to him. He had, of course,
destroyed his half of the map earlier, but re-sketched it from memory on the
insole of Turner's shoe, that he might be able to smuggle it out of prison.
Ole Nielsen was shown the map, now crumpled and worn, and he tried
honestly to help Turner read it. Nielsen later stated that. in his estimation,
the map appeared to end somewhere near Long's Park. He gave the old Negro
his rifle and the man went on his way. But after that time the old Negro was
never heard of again. A search of his cabin revealed no clue to his
disappearance. His horse was later found grazing, saddle and bridle intact,
in the timber near Long's Park. Shortly thereafter, a man working for George
Solomon also came up missing and talk of foul play was strong.
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After a few years, excitement once more passed away and few people
thought of the buried gold. But, once in a while, someone would get "gold
fever" and make a prolonged search in and around Long's Park. Someone
even discovered an old rusty bucket in Dowd's Hole with the inscription
"D.P." engraved into it. For a time there was another rash of treasure hunters
and this became the cause ofthe treasure thereafter being referred to as the
"Bucket '0 Gold."
One morning some years later, William Riggs came bursting into
Ernest "Em" Crosby's house out of breath and excited. "Come on," he says,
"get up. We're going up on the mountain and find that buried treasure."
"Aw, hell," said Em, still sleepy. "I don't believe there ever was any
treasure. Nigger Turner probably got it if there was."
"No," said Bill earnestly, "I know right where it is-you see, last night I
had this dream... "
Em pulled on his pants and the two mounted up and rode upon the
mountain until they reached Dowd's Hole, scene of the bucket discovery.
With pick and shovel they set to digging, Bill with his anticipation and Em
with his doubtfulness. The location was a small wash where a huge pine had
fallen across and its branches hung heavily with dead, brown needles, "Just
as I saw it in my dream," said Bill. Well, Bill digs fUriously while Em stands
by eyeing everything suspiciously and adding a comment now and then,
such as "Huh! All this way because ofa dream," and "I told you it was useless
to dig here."
Then suddenly Bill comes up with an old shoe! Em grabs his shovel and
begins digging fUriously and before long comes up with a pair of pants. Now
they were satisfied that this was the place. But all day's digging netted only
what they found that morning. In the pants Em discovered fifteen cents in
one ofthe pockets. Turning to Bill Riggs, he muttered, "Here's your treasure."
Ever after, Em Crosby would be known to friends as 'Turner." He never lived
it down.
Shortly after the tum ofthe century, the author's father, Edward Boren,
was confronted by Mark Anson, the original posse member, with a proposi
tion to the effect that if he (Edward) would help him (Mark) search for the
gold, they would split the find, fifty-fifty. Edward was only a lad at the time,
but no one knew the mountains as well as he. Forming a grubstake, they
loaded everything aboard a packhorse and set out for the little meadow
where Mr. Anson believed the gold to be bUried.
After setting up camp at the spring where the outlaws had watered their
tired mounts, the two men began a systematic search. They began at the
spring and searched along the trail to the point where the posse had come
upon the outlaws-devoid oftheir load. Finding nothing, they searched each
small canyon leading from the park. In one they discovered more than twenty
ancient tepee poles, the remnants of a village. But they found no gold. After
a week offruitless searching, they abandoned the hunt. Edward Boren never
searched for the gold again, even though he made several trips through the
little meadow. Yet, he remained certain that the gold lay buried within that
little park somewhere.
Mark Anson searched continuously for the treasure for many years,
employing metal detectors, divining rods, etc., to no avail. He retraced the
outlaws' route from the bottom of Sol's Canyon, where they had stolen Old
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Cleveland, through Long's Park and Half-Moon Park to the place where the
outlaws were first spotted without the gold, just beyond the little meadow of
which we have spoken. Mr. Anson was convinced always that the gold lay
buried somewhere in that small park. There was no other possible place, said
he. They gave that little meadow a name, eventually. They called it Jackass
Park, for here could be seen the pack mules left behind by the Red Sash
Gang. These mules remained and flourished in that park for many years,
being bothered not at all by anyone.
This writer talked with Mr. Anson shortly before his death at ninety-odd
years. He had long ago grown too old to continue his search on the rugged
mountain for its hidden treasure, but he longed then to speak of it. His
conclusions-which are the most logical-are as follows:
1. The map given to Nigger Turner was but one-half of the original, a fact
that Turner was not evidently aware of.
2. The gold was not buried in Long's Park, as so long supposed, for
Charley Brant had seen them here-loaded-and they were then leaving the
park.
3. There was ample evidence that the men had spent some time in
Jackass Park before pulling out, just before being encountered by posse.
4. When they were caught up to, just outside the little park, the outlaws
had no gold and the pack animals, according to Mark Anson, showed signs
of having only recently been unloaded of their burden. Said Anson, Old
Cleveland was still sweating along the flanks and back.
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Of course, conclusions are only that-eonclusions-and no more; but

they are based on fact. Even the route of the Red Sash Gang can today be
accurately traced. The author has done his share of searching and has come
up with nothing but some very pleasant hours spent in the High Uintas and
some marvelous photographs. Who knows, with a metal detector and a little
patience-$85,OOO is quite a Bucket 0' Gold.
Keny Ross Boren co-authored Footprints in the Wilderness: a History of the Lost
Rhoades Mines. His latest work, written with his wife, Lisa Lee Boren, is Gold of CalTe
Shinab (a Ute word meaning "sacred mines") is due out in November 1998,
ENDNOTES
1, Union Pacific Railroad files,
2, I am indebted to Mark Anson for much of the information contained in this article,
3, No record of this battle can be located; court records are silent and the names of the
participants are unknown except from the personal infoITDation supplied by Mark Anson to
the author shortly before his death.
4, The maps were unknown to the officers who aITested these men; knowledge of their
existence did not come until much later.
25

~p()tliaht
Billie and Ernest Untermann and

their Labors of Love
Marie Hamson Nelson
Marie Hanison Nelson, a native ojVemal, is a doctoral candidate in American History
at Clark UniverSity, Worcester, Massachusetts. She has wriLten a biography oj Earl
Douglass, the paleontologist who discovered the dinosaur quarry in Jensen that
became Dinosaur National Monument. Researchjor this article and thejull-Iength dual
biography oj Billie Ruple and Emest Untermann, which she is preparingjor publica
tion, has been partially junded by a grantjrom the Utah Humanities Council and the
Uintah County Daughters oj the Utah Pioneers.
October 29, 1998 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the
Utah Field House of Natural History in Vernal, Utah. For more than a quarter
of a century, the Untermann name was synonymous with the Field House.
Indeed, as one WIiter noted, ''The Untermanns may not always be with us but
so long as the Field House stands we will have a fitting monument to their
memory."l It was the Untermanns, familiarly known as Billie, Ernie, and
Father Untermann, who took the hopes and dreams of a community and
crafted them into a reality. That reality, the Utah Field House of Natural
History, became one of the finest small natural history museums in the
country and one of Utah's top tourist attractions.
The Untermanns were gracious hosts and ambassadors of goodwill for
the museum, the Uinta Basin, and the State of Utah. Their love of natural
history and appreciation for the wonderful features of the region were
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Ernest (pictured) and Billie Untermann were the heart and soul of Vernal's
Utah Field House of Natural History for over 25 years. (UCL-RHC collection)
26

contagious. They made learning interesting and fun for hundreds of

thousands of museum visitors of all ages. They inspired the careers of
countless young people and assisted thousands more in the pursuit of
knowledge relevant to their hobbies or their professions. They made it all
look easy, but it wasn't. As Deseret News columnist Hack Miller wrote of
them, "Few people know the fight they've fought, the time and the toil, the
pennies they've saved, the sacrifices they've made to bring to the people of
this state, and our guests ... the vivid look into the past that the Utah Field
House of Natural History gives US."2
The long dream of Uinta Basin residents to have a local museum had its
beginning with Earl Douglass' 1909 discovery of the dinosaur boneyard near
Jensen which became Dinosaur National Monument. For fifteen years
Douglass and his crew worked the quarry for Carnegie Museum of Natural
History, sending more than 350 tons of fossil material containing the
fossilized bones of more than forty-three dinosaur skeletons back to
Pennsylvania. For years, other field parties from eastern institutions had
excavated fossil plants and animals from the Uinta Basin and taken them
back east for display. Douglass advocated and agitated for a place in the
Uinta Basin where people could see dinosaurs and other fonns of prehistoric
life in their place of origin. He drew up elaborate plans for an educational
resort and in situ display at the quarry, but the National Park Service did not
see development of the quarry site as a priority. Nevertheless, Douglass'
vision sparked the interest of locals, and in 1934, Lion's Club members
proposed construction of a museum in Vernal, but little came of that
initiative.
In 1940, Arthur G. Nord was assigned to supervise the Ashley National
Forest. Impressed by the breadth of natural history and geology represented
in the Uinta Basin, he, too, began advocating a museum. His-enthusiasm
regenerated support for the idea, and members of the Vernal Lions Club
fonned a new Museum Committee. Adopting the slogan, "Preserve Utah
Fossils for Utah," they began to work for the creation ofsuch a museum. Just
as economic conditions dUring the Depression had forestalled any museum,
now the entry of the United States into World War II resulted in a deferral
of those efforts and dreams. In 1944, anticipating the end of the war and a
period of economic growth, members of the Lions Club Committee and other
business, governmental, and educational leaders launched an aggressive
campaign for the "construction ofa modernistic museum" in "the heart ofthe
dinosaur quarry." This institution was intended to house what they hoped
would become "the west's largest, most instructive re-creation of prehistoric
life."3
In January 1945, after concerted lobbying efforts, Governor H.B. Maw
gave his support to the museum plan. In February 1945, the Utah State
Legislature voted unanimously in favor of Senate Bill 141 which authorized
the construction of a field house "for housing and displaying the fossil
remains of ancient plant and animal life and other objects of natural history
found in Utah."4 However, no funds were appropriated by the legislature for
the project. The Museum Committee continued its lobbying and in Decem
ber 1945, Governor Maw announced his approval of an expenditure of
$200,000 for the museum through the Department of Publicity and Indus
trial Development. It seemed as if the time had finally come to urn a dream
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Tm: OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL
into a reality. But someone was needed to take charge as soon as possible
if the funding was not to be lost. That someone turned out to be Ernest
Untermann, who was hired as project director in January 1946.
Ernie (G.E.) had come to the Uinta Basin as a twenty-one-year-old, in
1919, with his father Ernest Untermann, Sr., who had been commissioned
by the General Reduction Company of Nevada to study the feasibility of
reopening the Dyer Mine. Gerhard Ernest (G.E.), known as Gerhard or
Geddy to his family and Ernest (Jr.) or Ernie as an adult, was born in Berlin,
Germany in 1898, dUring his parent's extended visit with his mother's
family. Soon after his birth, the Untermann family returned to the United
States. Ernest, Sr., became a leader in the Socialist Movement, a political
theorist, and writer, and his wife, Helen Rashman, taught English and was
a feminist and populist activist. Following their parents' divorce when Elsa
(two years older) and Geddy were young children, and as a result of their
parents' various enterprises and occupations, Geddy and his sister made
many cross-country trips and lived in such far apart places as New York,
Kansas, California, Florida, Idaho, lllinois, and British Columbia.
Ernest, Sr., born in Brandenburg, Prussia in 1864, came to the United
States in 1881 as a crew member on a German sailing ship which was
condemned as unseaworthy when it reached Philadelphia. He spent the next
ten years sailing on American ships; he was shipwrecked twice in the South
Pacific. During his seafaring years he educated himself in zoology, paleon
tology, paleobotany, comparative anatomy, biology, and meteorology, and
his travels afforded him opportunities to visit the leading art galleries and
museums of the world and to acquaint himself with a variety of landscapes
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Ernest Untermann, Sr., painted dozens of prehistoric and landscape scenes.
Many of his paintings still hang in the Utah Field House.
(Courtesy L.C. Thome, UCL-RHC collection)
28

with their diverse flora and fauna. As a young man, Ernest, Sf., had
determined to become a natural science artist. His passion was painting
animals in their natural environments, particularly those strange animals
and landscapes of the geologic past. After becoming acquainted with the
Uinta Basin he decided to specialize in the scenery of the past and present
ofthe Uintas. He diligently studied the geology and paleontology ofthe Uinta
Basin so as to make his paintings as scientifically accurate as possible. He
devoted the last thirty-six years of his life to painting prehistoric and
contemporary scenes of the Uinta Basin and became known as the "Artist
of the Uintas." He was actively involved in the planning and design of the
museum and donated more than 100 paintings, panels, and murals to the
museum before his death at age 91 in 1956.
Shortly after their arrival in the Uinta Basin in 1919, the Untermanns
became acquainted with Hank and Mae Ruple, who owned a ranch at Brush
Creek, twelve miles north ofVernal. According to Ernest, the first time he met
their fourteen -year-old granddaughter, Billie, she was swinging on a gate at
the Brush Creek Ranch. Before too long. he had decided she was the girl he
was going 0 marry someday. In 1921 when the Untermanns had finished
their work at the Dyer Mine, they moved on to California, traveling for seven
weeks with a team and wagon just for the adventure of it. But the elder
Un termann had" fallen in love" with the Uinta Basin. In later years he would
write, "I was charmed with the picturesque scenery, which is more paintable
than that of the Grand Canyon ... To make a pictorial record ofthe prehistoric
life of the Vintas became a work of love. "5 Both father and son had made
many good friends in the Uinta Basin, and returned to visit over the years
before making their permanent residence here in the mid-1940s.
Billie Ruple, born in 1926 to Hod and Lily Taylor Ruple in Vernal. had
grown up on the family ranch at Island Park. The Ruple family had been the
earliest white settlers in Island Park and the land on which they ran cattle
and seep was a veritable wilderness. 6 Something of a "tomboy," Billie
learned Lo ride horses and help with chores at a very early age. The better
part of 'ach day was spent outdoors in a setting rich with geologic and
natural history wonders. Billie's father had been especially interested in
forestry and geology and her mother in archeology, and their enthusiasms
were shared by Billie. Billie once commented that although her parents had
no formal training, they were very good in th ir observations. As a family,
they often rock-hounded and hunted arrowheads and Indian artifacts, and
one can assume that Billie learned to really see and read her surroundings
at an early age.
Education was important to Billie and she was an eager student. It was
necessary for her to liv apart from her parents and younger sister, Wanda,
for h r to complete high school. She lived with an aunt in Wyoming in 1920
and then returned to Vernal to graduate from the Wilcox Academy in 1924.
She had made up her mind as a young girllhat he wanted to attend college
and study geology and paleontology. How fortunat that the young man who
had become important in her life shared similar interests. Accepted to the
University of California at Berkeley, she left for California right after
graduation.
Nearly six years after he had "put his brand on her," in August of 1925
Ernest and Billie were married in San Francisco. Ernest was employed as an
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The Unterrnanns maintained a close working partnership.

They described themselves as "just the greatest pals on Earth."
(Utah Field House of Natural History State Park collection)
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auto electrtcian at a Ford Motor garage. Billie continued her studies at

Berkeley. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in 1929 and went on for a Master's,
which she received in 1934. The expertise she gained mapping the stratig
raphy of the Wild Cat Fault, a branch of the San Andreas Fault system, for
her Master's thesis, would prove valuable when she and Ernie began
mapping the Uinta Basin. Often the only woman in her classes, and working
in a field which excluded all but a very few women, she served as a technical
assistant in the Department ofGeological Science and curator ofthe Geology
Museum from August 1931 to March 1936. 7
In 1936 Billie and Ernie returned to Island Park to help with the Ruple
ranching operations and to begin mapping the geology of the eastern Uinta
mountain region. Billie's father's sudden death the following year resulted
in a break up of the family ranching operation. Billie and Ernie moved to a
forty-acre fann they had purchased in the Rogue Valley, four miles west of
Medford, Oregon. They werejoined there by Ernest, Sr., who had retired from
his position as director of the Milwaukee Zoo. The Untennanns raised
chickens, tended an orchard, and sold eggs, fruit, and gravel from a quarry
on their land. Father Untennann, having passed his seventieth birthday,
spent most of his time in his studio painting.
In May 1943 Billie and Ernest returned to the Uinta Basin. Ernie was
hired as a seasonal ranger at Dinosaur National Monument with the
understanding that he and Billie would map the geology of the Monument
for the Park Service. No detailed mapping had ever been done in the area and
the Park Service wanted more infonnation to use in planning future
development and interpretation of the Monument. As was common in the
Park Service, ranger's wives were often expected to work as adjuncts to their
husbands, without pay. In this case, the Monument administrators wanted
the mapping done, but the budget did not allow for hirtng a geologist.
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Ernest's ranger assignments were designed to allow as much time for

mapping as possible. The mapping project. occupied the Unterrnanns for the
next five years. It was published in 1954 with the title Geology ojDinosaur
National Monument and Vicinity. Utah-Colorado, as Utah Geological Survey
Bulletin #42.
As a result of its beginnings as part of the U.S. Cavalry, the culture ofthe
National Park Service fostered a paramilitary mentality which exacerbated
the sexism ofAmerican culture and naturalized the exclusion ofwomen from
most professional fields. Follmvmg a slight shift in thinking as a result ofthe
1916 Organic Act which created the National Park Service and added public
relations and interpretation to the roles of rangers. the Park Service had
employed a limited number of women as naturalists or archeologists. most
of whom were either daughters or wives of park rangers. Actually. the
National Park Service "employed" almost as many women as they did men.
The women, however, were seldom official employees (except in clerical
positions) or given a paycheck. However, when Ernie agreed to become
director of the museum project, Billie was put on the payroll as a seasonal
ranger-naturalist at Dinosaur National Monument. She was thus employed
in 1946, 1947, and part of 1948, making her the first woman to be hired as
a ranger at Dinosaur National Monument and one of less than a dozen
women employed as rangers or naturalists by the National Park Service at
that time. s Her work included research. mapping, collecting and identifying
specimens for the museum, and answering a multitude of questions asked
by the visitors.
While they were at the Monument, they lived in the old hospital building
built dUring the Depression when a Works Project Administration camp had
been at the Quarry. They created a temporary museum and, using burlap
on the walls and shelves to display rocks and fossils, tried to tell the story
ofthe dinosaurs which had inhabited the area eons before and the discovery
and workings of the quany site. Although it was wartime and the roads were
rough, visitors to the Monument were frequent, especially dUring the
warmer months. Billie told how sometimes there would be groups of a
hundred or more that would come on a field trip and often they would make
as many as ten or twelve trips a day up the gulch, with wind and sand blowing
and mosquitoes biting, to show people the quarry site. As Billie related, now
and then soldiers would show up, even as late as eleven or twelve o'clock at
night and Ernest would take an old lantern and show them around. "You
didn't know whether they would be able to return or not, so he really told
them everything about the area and showed them everything that he could
show them at the time. "9
It was while they were at the Quarry that Billie and Ernie were first asked
for help by the Museum Committee. They offered to help in any way they
could, little realizing what that might lead to down the road. Agreeing to take
on the job of Museum Project Director in January 1946. Ernie resigned his
position at Dinosaur National Monument and turned his attentions full-time
to the museum. When the governor authorized the expenditure for the
museum, it was v\lith the stipulation that if the project was not started
immediately, the funds would be rescinded for use elsewhere. Therefore, the
immediate tasks the Unterrnanns faced in January 1946 were designing the
Field House, engaging an architect and calling for construction bids. Billie
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and Ernie drew up a preliminary floor plan for a 20,OOO-square-foot facility

which featured exhibit halls, an auditorium, labs and study rooms. This
plan was submitted to the architect, and \\lith minor modifications necessi
tated by budget constraints, the building was constructed essentially as
designed by Billie and Ernie and situated on land donated by Vernal City.
Although the Utah Field House of Natural History was dedicated October 16,
1947 with due pomp and ceremony, the museum would not officially open
to visitors until the following year.
During the winter months 1947-1948, Billie and Ernie made a whirlwind
tour of the state of Utah to solicit support and displays from various
governmental agencies and business firms for the Field House. Knowing that
they would be representing the whole State of Utah to tourists, they felt it
important to see for themselves many of the same sites which tourists would
want to visit. This was the beginning of what would become their ambassa
dorship on behalf of the Uinta Basin and Utah. Their efforts resulted in the
eventual installation of displays in the Utah Room which was designed to
acquaint tourists with the rich diversity of scenic and recreation attractions
throughout the state.
In March of 1948 Ernie and Billie traveled back east seeking duplicate
or surplus specimens for the museum and building goodwill and support for
the fledgling institution. The Carnegie Museum donated $1500 worth of
fossil materials and offered to sell several thousand dollars of additional
material at a discounted price. More than 100 scientific publications and
books were donated for the Museum library by various institutions.
Everyone they met with expressed the opinion that the Utah Field House of
Natural History "was a unique proj ct in the museum world and that local
fossil material and local natural history values provided all that was needed
to create an important and nationally outstanding museum." In thirty-eight
days they traveled more than 6,000 miles, visited twenty-five museums, and
met with more than seventy "top-flight" museum and university officials
from such institutions as the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylva
nia, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, D.C., Harvard, Plinceton, and Yale universities,
and others. At that time, it was believed that between 15,000 and 20,000
specimens of fossil plants and animals representing more than 2,000
species had been colI cted by various museums and institutions from the
Uinta Basin. A s cond objective of the eastern tour was to create a list of
those specimens and their sites of excavation to facilitate and correlate
future research. Additionally, this expedition gave the Untermanns an
opportunity to study firsthand, modern museum management and display
techniq es. IO
Back lome in Vernal, Billie and Ernie worked almost around the clod:
to create the displays that would make the museum more than just a
building fill d with interesting stuff. Justifying the museum's reason for
being was not difficult. Eastern Utah is one of the world's outstanding
geological and fossil areas. Exposed in the upturned Uinta Mountains are
more than a billion and a half years of earth history. Three of the five great
eras of earth time are visible in the Grand Canyon, but all five of them are
represented in the Uinta Mountains. Twenty-six major geological formations
occur in the Uinta Mountains with evidence of fossil life as old as five
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hundred million years. Because the elevation in the Uinta Basin ranges from
4,500 feet to more than 12,000 feet, seven life zones are represented. Within
a distance of 50 miles north and south ofVernal , it is possible to study many
thousands of species of plants and animals which range from the Mexican
border to Alaska, making it an outstanding outdoor laboratory for botanists,
zoologists, geologists, and paleontologists. II Such a wealth of natural history
also implied an ambitious agenda for a museum whose mission was to
preserve and exhibit local fossil and natural history material. Accordingly,
exhibits depicting the various aspects of geology, mineralogy, paleontology,
archaeology, prehistoric and modem plant and animal life, and related
subjects needed to be designed. scientific research undertaken, display
cases had to be built. dioramas constructed. backgrounds painted, and
artifacts gathered, labeled, and prepared for display.
There was another "display" created by the Untermanns designed to
educate and celebrate the geological wonders of the Uinta Basin. In
cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service and with funds partially provided
by the Vernal Lions Club, the Untermanns initiated and maintained the
"Drive Through the Ages," along Highway 44 (now US 191) from Vernal to
Manila. which informs the traveler of passage through more than a billion
years of earth's history over a thirty-mile stretch of road. The Untermanns
identified more than thirty sites where major geological formations of the
Uinta Mountains were exposed and erected signs which identified those
formations. The first signs were erected in 1947. Subsequently, additional
signs were erected and a pamphlet written by the Untermanns was pub
lished by the Field House to provide additional information. The "Drive
Through the Ages" continues to be a favorite tourist attraction.
As of 1 July 948 Billie was officially employed as staff scientist and
technician at the Utah Field House of Natural History. In August Arnie Lewis,
a native ofthe Uinta Basin, left the Carnegie Museum in Pennsylvania to join
the staff as preparator. On 29 October 1948 the museum was officially
opened to visitors. In place in the Utah Room were seventeen exhibits
representing thirteen
Utah counti s, the U.S.
Forest Service, the U.S.
Bureau of Mines, and
the
Utah
Mining
Association. More than
$10,000 worth of
original oil paintings
depicting prehistoric
and modem scenes of
th Uintas painted by
Ernest Untermann, Sr..
and specimens from the
Earl Douglass collection
of Uinta Basin fossil
plants, fishes, and
insects were also on
display along with
Billie Untermann was employed as the staff scientist
various other artifacts.
at the Field House. (UCL-RHC collection)
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33

The Natural History Hall was designed to tell the story of living plants and
animals of the Uinta Basin; the Geology and Fossil Hall depicted the past.
As Ernie was fond of saying, "You can't build a museum by just sitting
at an office desk. You have to get out and work. 12 Some of that work involved
going out into the badlands and searching for fossils which could range in
size from smaller than a pinhead to larger than a man. It was not an easy
job casually carried out under "blazing sun, sandblasting winds, and
attacks from mosquitoes, gnats, and other pests"-but it was one which the
Untermanns felt was vital to the museum's success. Though the Untermanns
seldom took a day offfrom the museum, when they did, they usually headed
out to do field work. Often they were joined by family or friends who
considered themselves rock hounds or fossil hunters. From late spring to
late fall, they spent as much time as possible in the field, mapping or looking
for fossils for the museum. Billie and Ernie were great lovers of the outdoors.
Although their interests overlapped for the most part and they shared
nearly every endeavor, working together every day, Ernie and Billie each had
different, complementary strengths which enabled them to work as an
effective team. Ernie's forte lay in public relations and the administrative end
of things. He was a take-charge, get-things-done kind of guy, which was a
valuable trait for someone in his position. The early years of the museum
were filled with political and financial controversies and without Ernie's
fortitude and commitment to "giving the people of Utah a museum they could
be proud of," it might well have succumbed to the political and professional
jealousies which threatened its existence. A large man, he became known for
his hearty manners and wry speech. In spite of his position as director, no
task was beneath him. Keeping the museum clean and the rest rooms tidy
was important to him and he was often the one wielding the mop or broom.
He made himself a large badge to wear with the initials MLB, for "Mighty Lord
of the Broom." Because he oiled the hinges of the museum doors so often,
he remarked that when he died and got to the Pearly Gates, he expected he'd
be given the job of greasing the hinges. 13
He was a great kidder and often used humor to diffuse tense situations
or make an important point. Posted around the museum were signs which
read "WATCH YOUR KIDS!! KEEP THEM QUIET AND KEEP THEM WlTH
YOU!! Small Children Found Running Around the Museum UNATTENDED
Will Be Fed to the Dinosaurs!!" Wishing to prevent vandalism to "Dippy," the
cast of a Diplodocus skeleton mounted on the museum's lawn in 1957, he
posted signs informing would-be trespassers that the skeleton was charged
with high voltage electricity. One day a bunch oflocal kids challenged Ernie
about the electricity. As Ernie told it, one of the boys said, "Ah, there ain't
no juice in that thing! I don't see no wires hanging around." Ernie replied,
"Well, when you go home and tum on the light switch, the lights go on, don't
they?" "Yeah," was the response. "You don't see no wires hanging around
there, do you?" queried Ernie. "No," answered the boy with his friends
backing him up. "Do you want to go in there and touch it?" Well, no, having
given it further consideration, none of them wanted to do such a thing!
An advocate of reclamation and water development in the West, Ernie
became actively involved in lobbying for the Echo Park Dam. He made several
trips to Washington, D.C., in this endeavor. In 1954 Ernie appeared before the
United States House of Represent tives to give testimony. His "interesting
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34

THE OUTLAW TIlAIL JOURNAL
statement of high
literary quality,
['Realism and the
Dinosaur Na
tional Monument
Controversy'] ,
highlighted by
salty humor" was
read into the Sen
ate hearings by
Senator Arthur
Watkins. Among
the bon mots
which created
such a delighted
stir in the con
gressional chamThe Untermanns grouting the backbones of a 76-foot-long bers, as well as
Diplodocus skeleton at the Natural History Museum.
back home, was
(UCL-RHC collection)
Ernie's telling of
an encounter with Sierra Club members who came to run the river through
Dinosaur National Monument. One zealot announced to Ernie, "We repre
sent the Sierra Club of California, and we have come to Vernal to save
Dinosaur National Monument for you people so they won't built those dams
in there." "Well," he replied, "that's certainly nice of you and I am sure you
are prompted by the best of motives, but did it ever occur to you that we might
not want to be saved? As it so happens, we don't. We wanted to be
'dammed."'14
Billie and Ernie were frequent contributors to the Vemal Express, the
Salt Lake Tribune, the Utah Sportsman, and other publications. Although
they discussed their ideas together and frequently collaborated and coau
thored articles, their individually written pieces are somewhat different
stylistically, reflecting their different personalities. Ernie's writings, heavily
laced with satire or irony, are bluff and folksy in tone, intended to educate
and entertain the "illiterate sheepherders and bowlegged cowboys" of the
Basin, whereas Billie's writing is a bit more complex, refined, and elegant.
The titles of Billie's "Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs-An Allegory of
Prehistoric Monsters in Three Acts" and Ernie's "Dinosaurs Were Big and
Dumb" are suggestive of these stylistic differences. 15 In his newspaper
articles, Ernie took on "nature lovers," pointing out the error of the
misguided zeal and sentimental idealism of such "John Muir" groups as the
"Worthy Watchdogs of the Wilderness," the "Practicing Proselyters of Pris
tine Preserves," and the "Petulant Protectors of Posterity." 16 He was also a
tireless touter of the attractions of the Uinta Basin, frequently reminding
locals ofthe importance of being informed hosts to the thousands oftourists
to the area from which the local economy benefitted. And he often reported,
with justifiable pride, on the accomplishments and growing acclaim of the
Field House. An article appearing in the VemalExpress in December 1958,
entitled "Uintah Basin has Exciting History, Boasts many Tourist Attrac
tions," coauthored by Billie and Ernie, is just one example of many such
pieces published through the years.
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35

G.E. and B.R.

Untermann coau
thored a number of
technical papers and
scien tific mono
graphs. including
Geology of Dinosaur
National Monument
and Vicinity. pub
lished as Utah Geo

logical Survey Bul
letin #42 in 1954;
Geology of Uintah
County, published
Billie and Ernie Untennann stand next to the plaster
casted skull and tusks of a Columbian elephant.
Ernie helped excavate the skeleton. found
near Craig. Colorado. (UCL-RHC collection)
as Utah Geological
Survey #72 in 1964;
and Geolog' al Map
ofDinosaur National
Monument. Utah
Colorado. published
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jointly in 1965 by the Utah Geological Survey. inosaurNatureAssociation.

and the Utah Field House of Natural History. Two oth r publications. aimed
at a general audience. were Popular Guide to the Geology oJDinosaur National
Monument, publ"shed by the Dinosaur Na me Associa ion in 1969 and
Guide to Dinosaurland and the Unique Uinta Country, published in 1972. The
latter, subtiUed. "Its geologic and scenic wonders-what to see and do."
included color and black and white plates ofseveral of the paintings ofErnest
Untermann. Sr.. and pictuf s oft.he Unterm nns doing field work. Although
no longer in print, it continues to be a popular gUide, prized by those lucky
enough to possess a copy.
Bi lie, less flamboyant than Ernie, was no less well-known or respected.
Hers was the more scientific mind of the couple and the intellectual
character of the museum is very much a reflection of her work. She was a
tireless worker. On of her particular interests was plants and herbs. She
studied cacti and Ephedr ,th class of plants which include "Mormon Tea,"
and identified mar than forty-thr e varieties of Ephedra growing locally.
She also created an herbarium 'n the museum which featured prehistoric
plants extant in the Uinta Basin. Billie endeared herself to countless
schoolchildren who would bring in specimens and ask her help in identifying
them. When she didnt know, she would research and prepare a special
report for the yo ng person. She oflen made presentations or led field trips
for school groups. 4-H clubs. and scouting groups. and Vvith her abilities to
relate and teach people of all ages. fostered an appreciation of nature and a
desire to learn more abo t natural history in countless young people. One
writer noted Olat llie "Driv Through the Ages" was "an example of the
simplicity with which she conveyed the most difficull subject. Children
would return year after year and then bring their children to have Billie
explain Ole nature of things. always perfonned with a beautiful smile and
inexhaustible patience. "'7
36

Once when asked to describe her job as "staff technician" at the

museum, she replied, "I am really just a jack-of-all-trades, and I find that
growing up on a ranch helps. By profession I am a geologist and a
paleontologist. In plain English that means rock hound and fossil hunter,
but I find myself doing all kinds ofthings, from janitor to taxidermy...When
at the front desk, we are asked all kinds ofquestions. It is impossible to know
the answers to all of them, but we find that an honest, 'I do not know, but
I will try to find out for you' is acceptable. Thanks to our well-stocked library
we are able to find most of the answers. The work is fascinating, never
monotonous, and full of surprises. Like any other job this one has its
headaches, but I don't know of any other work that I would rather do."l8
At some point in their early life together, the Untermanns had written a
manifesto titled "WHAT\VE WOULD LIKE TO DO & THINGS WE WANT TO
ACHIEVE." It was signed "Billie and Gerhard-JUSTTHE GREATEST PALS
ON EARTH." The manifesto began:
We are two earnest and sincere young people. We have a serious
mission in life. We seek knowledge wherever we find it, and the
pursuit of this knowledge is our aim and purpose in life.
Our principal aim is the study of those subjects which will be of
material benefit to us. Our ideal is to carry on this work throughout
life...We must work to live and there is a great joy in such work, but
we do not work without an objective. We work because of the freedom
this work gives us to follow those things which we consider really
worthwhile. Success to us does not mean the amassing of great
riches, but a familiarity with that world ofknowledge which broadens
and enriches one's character and one's mind. To have achieved this,
is to us the fulfillment of a fine idea. With this objective in view we are
working towards its realization.
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They elaborated on their quest for knowledge as follows:
Our hobbies are varied as to character and nature. They include

the entire range of earth, sea and sky. Beginning with the sky we
would like to be familiar with the main constellations and have some
knowledge as to their origin, their habits, and in a general way be
conversant with the fundamentals of astronomy.
Concerning lhe earth, we would like to have a knowledge and
speaking acquaintance with the plants, trees, organic life (such as
birds and insects) and also of mineralogy and geology. We would like
to learn of the habits ofth organic life of the earth. In collecting this
material we wish to catalog our findings with specimens of the
subject we are studying. We wish to classify and file this material to
be added to as we have the leisure to continue or research. In years
to come we hope to have accumulated a fund ofinformation on varied
subjects which will be invaluable to us.
We also wish to become acqUainted with the plant and animal life
of the sea. In addition, we would like to be familiar with the small
marine organisms of the sea coast. As well as making a study of the
37

plant and animal life of the sea, we would like to be adept in the
requirements which life on the water makes of one. Such as
swimming well and handling boats.
Included in this program of pursuing our hobbies is the study of
literature in all its branches. We would like to have an appreciation
of art in the various fields which art embraces. It is our sincere hope
that life will grant us the opportunity to achieve these ideals.
Little could they have realized how nearly they had written their future
job descriptions or how clearly they had charted their course. Knowing how
they had envisioned their ambitions, it is easier to understand why they were
willing to work so hard, so long, with such devotion, and for such little
financial reward to make the museum what it was.
Though the Field House was yet in its infancy fifty years ago, it was off
to a healthy start. Within nine months, more than 15,000 visitors coming
from nearly every state and more than twenty-one foreign countries had
passed through its doors. Through the next twenty-seven years, the
Untermann years, collections would be added to and increased in scope and
monetary value, additional displays would be installed, dinosaurs would
appear on the lawns of the Field House, attendance figures would climb to
more than 175,000 in 1970s, and hundreds ofthousands of lives would be
touched and enriched by the warmth, generosity, and dedication of the
Untermanns. The museum would grow and mature, nurtured by the care of
the Untermanns and other museum staff. For the Untermanns it would
always be a labor of love. Childless, they would embrace the world as their
family. Not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, they would welcome
visitors to the museum as if to their own home and make the treasures ofthe
earth available for all to enjoy. Though they were honored in various ways
over the years for their many contributions, and even had a mountain named
for them, nothing gave them more pleasure than to see a visitor to the
museum enthralled with the wonders of "their" beloved Uintas, whose story
they had so lovingly and carefully told. 19
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ENDNOTES
1, Arthur L. Crawford. Director Utah Geological and Mineralogical SUl\Tey, in forward

to Untermanns' Geology oj Dinosaur National Monument and Vicinity, published as Utah
Geological SUl\Tey Bulletin #42 in 1954,
2. Hack Miller. "Billie and Ernest Untermann Built Monument to the Past." Deseret
News, 1 February 1961.
3, Vernal Express. 1 June 1944. 1, Because of his support and advocacy, Nord came to
be called "Father of the Field House Idea,"
4. Vernal Express, 8 March 1945, 1,
5, Letter to John E, Doerr, Superintendent, Rocky Mountain State Park, dated 22
October 1944: Untermann papers, MS 118. University of Utah Special Collections, Box 1,
Folder 8,
6, Hank and May Ruple and May's father and brother, Adam and Abraham Coon,
moved into Island Park in April 1883, Ruple had traded Duncan Blair a horse saddle and
bridle for his squatter's rights and a one-room cabin Blair had builL
7, Ernie, like his father, was largely a self-educated man, Although Ernie was often
given credit in the considerable press he received throughou t his life for degrees in geology
and paleontology, the author has found no eVidence that he was ever officially enrolled at
38

the University of California, Berkeley, or ever received any university degrees, Billie's sister.
Wanda Staley, reported that he studied with Billie, accompanied her on field trips, and
wrote field notes and papers just as she did, This pattern of shared study and research was
one they continued throughout their lives together. Ernie's sister. Elsa, was a matriculated
student at Berkeley between 1914 and 1918. It may be that Ernie's "extension work" was
informally done by sharing Elsa's classes as he did Billie's, In an article written about the
Untermann family by Inez S, Cooper, "A Family and Field House," published in the Deseret
News Magazine, 11 September 1949, Ernie is quoted as saying that his "official" degree is
"LLMB" for "Loyal Lord of the Mighty Broom,"
8, See Polly Welts Kaufman, National Parks and the Woman's Voice A History, (Albu
querque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996),
9, Interview of Billie Untermann by Sue Ann Bilbey, seasonal ranger-naturalist at
Dinosaur National Monument. 30 July 1971: Utah Historical Library Manuscript A2861.
10, G,E, Untermann, "Report on Museum Travels," 26 April 1948, copy in scrapbook
# 1, Utah Field House of Natural History Library,
11. G,E, Untermann, "Summary of Events covering History and Progress of Field
House Development," 15 March 1949 and "Script B Utah Field House of Natural History
Program," Untermann Papers, MS 118, University of Utah Special Collections, Box 6,
Folder 1,
12, News Hem Information Sheet. 1 January 1968; Untermann Papers, MS 118,
University of Utah Special Collections, Box 3, Folder 6.
13, Ivan Hall, interview with author. 1998.
14, Excerpts from a speech of Honorable Arthur V, Watkins, of Utah, in the Senate of
the United States, Monday, 22 March 1954; Congressional Record 9293782-49695, page 2.
15, Billie Ruple Untermann, "Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs B An Allegory of Prehis
toric Monsters in Three Acts," Vernal Express 21 December 1950, I, and "Dinosaurs Were
Hatched From Gigantic Eggs," Vernal Express. 18 December 1947, 2,4; G,E. Untermann,
"Dinosaurs Were Big and Dumb," Vernal Express, 18 December 1947, 1.2.
16, G.E, Untermann, "Jones or John Muir," editorial published in the Salt Lake
7hbune, copy in scrapbook I, Utah Field House of Natural History Library, no date
available,
17, "Obituary 8 Billie R. Untermann 1906-1973," Society oj Vertebrate Paleontology
Bulletin, Number 99, 1973,65. The obituary included these words of tribute: "Vernal, Utah,
known as Dinosaurland, has losl a 'First Lady,' but the nation has lost a geologist.
botanist. paleontologist and museum technician of importance upon the death of Billie R.
Untermann .. ,The close association shared with her husband served as an inspiration
openly noted by all whose lives brought them into contact. The Field House is a monument.
a written record of her accomplishments and her dedication to accuracy in the presenta
tions displayed within, of the scientific, paleontological, and natural exhibits,"
18. Wanda Staley, "Billie Ruple and Gerhart Ernest Untermann," unpublished
manuscript. copy in author's possession.
19, Ernie was director of the Utah Field House of Natural History from 1948 to 1969,
Upon his forced retirement. Dee Hall was named director. Hall left after a year and Billie
was hired as director. Ernie had continued to come to work at the museum as he had done
for so many years, After his retirement. he was no longer on the payroll, One day Billie told
him that she wanted to show her appreciation for all his hard work, so she was going to
double his salary. Billie died 30 January 1973. Following Billie's death, Ernie returned to
the payroll as acting director of the Field House until Mike Perry was appointed director in
January 1974, Like the old firehouse dog who couldn't quit. Ernie continued to work at the
museum on a voluntary basis until a short time before his death on 10 November 1975.
Ernie's obituary, published in the Society oJ Vertebrate Paleontology Bulletin (No.6:
Feb. 1976) noted that he and his 'Nife, Billie, had "put together one of the finest natural
history displays in the country." Also remarked upon were the many honors and awards
the Untermanns had received for their contributions to science and the community,
including being named as honorary life members to the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology,
an honor that had been accorded only eighteen other scientists at that time. In 1974 the
Utah State Travel Council had named Ernest as "the one individual who had done more to
promote 'Dinosaurland' and tourism in the state of Utah than any other person of his
generation." The obituary concluded with this tribute: "Ernest was the last survivor of his
family. It might be said, however, that he was survived by thousands of people who have
treasured memories of how their lives had been touched and enriched by him, He was most
successful in bridging the gap between the cold-blooded scientist and the warm-blooded
human,"
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39

Joe Haslem, Storyteller

1895n1987
Doris Karren Burton

On a warm spring day in June, Haslem's little log-cabin home was filled
with excitement and anticipation. The tea kettle was filled and placed on the
old wood-burning stove to make ready for the birth oftheir fourth child. The
midwife lay little Joe in his tired mother's arms, he latched on and began to
grow up and up to become one ofthe tallest, thinnest, cowboys to ever mount
a horse. God also gave this cowboy a tremendous sense of humor. His
vocabulary contained a few choice words which cannot be edited without
changing Joe's personality. His son, Jack, who became a Bureau of Land
Management fire officer and a rancher at Susanville, California, stated the
first two words he learned from Joe were "dod damn." Jack also thought
everyone was a son-of-a-bitch-either agood son-of-a-bitch or a bad son-of
a-bitch.
The author of this article wrote the following poem to describe Joe:
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JOE'S BRAG
The skinny cowboy, thinner than a blade
Is county-wide famous for brags he's made.
The tall tales he spins are extremely immense:
He's "set" in the shade of a barbed wire fence!
And not only that, old Joe made the crack
His buns would fit in a small deer track.
Snow won't wet him; he walks between flakes,
And rattlers think him just one of the snakes.
There's doubt about whether this one is true,
But Brigham Young taught Joe's dad how to
chew.
Old Joe is a wonder as he spins a yam
In his high-pitched voice with his jug of "cam."
"I was a poor boy from a large family," Joe

related. "By golly, there was nine of us kids in
the outfit. Incidently, I'm married, and I'm not a
Mormon. I raised two kids and housebroke an
Airedale. My dad, Sam, was born dUring a Mor
mon handcart company that came from En
gland, and he and his father became Mormon
Church blacksmiths. The first chew of tobacco
40

Joe Haslem
(Doris Karren Burton
collection)
THE OUTLAW THAlL JOURNAL
he ever took in his life, he stole from Brigham Young. Old Brigham used to
use plug tobacco and soak it in a fifty pound pail of brandy. Dad got to
chewing it and chewed it all his life. When Brigham got older, myoid man
used to drive him down to Saint George in the winter. He said, 'Hell, that was
just a picnic-drive in there in those bishop's yards, throw down your reins,
and say Brigham's team. They'd take care of the team, give you a good bed,
and the next morning the horses were all hooked up, the copper on the
harness all polished up, and the coach all cleaned. My dad used to tell me
he got $60 a month, but every month the church used to take offthe tithing
of $6. They gave him a tithing receipt which stated Brother Sam Haslem
willingly and freely donated to the cause, but my dad said, "Them old
bastards never knew how much I stole from them to get even." Even though
Joe's Grandfather, John S. Haslem, was a strict Mormon, traveling across
the plains to be near the Mormon headquarters, somewhere along the line
they lost their religion and Joe always made fun of Mormons. Whenever he
referred to them, he called them, "Those dod damn ten percenters."
At one time, Joe's father, Sam, became trail boss, driving 600 cattle from
Nevada to Montana. When they reached a small southern Utah town, which
Joe thought was Beaver, they hired two Mormon boys-Willard and Chris
Christianson. Will later became the infamous Matt Warner. In those days
they worked bulls on the mess wagon and the bed wagon. When Sam came
to Uintah County, he ran cattle on Diamond Mountain with Bill Ainge and
the Burton boys-Ira and Joe. Cabins had not yet been built on the
mountain, they just had a "greasy sack outfit around a campfire." One night
Matt Warner rode into their camp. Joe Burton introduced Sam to Warner.
Sam said they were sitting across the fire looking one another over-eyeing
each other up and down. Finally, Warner said,
"Remember Chris and Will Christianson?" Sam said, "Yeah." Warner
drawled out, "Well, I'm Will." Haslems always maintained a good rapport
with Matt and his colleagues.
Joe was born in Naples, Utah. He had very little schooling and stated he
was twenty years old before he knew anybody but Levi Strauss made men's
clothing. He worked as a cowpuncher for many outfits around the western
states. He was always pulling pranks. One day Joe and some friends were
in Jensen when they saw a lone rider starting across the long Jensen bridge
towards them. Joe thought it would be funny to play ajoke and hold him up,
so he pulled a bandanna over his face, rode out onto the bridge and said,
"Stick 'em up, this is a holdup." The cowboy, however, raised his whip and
whipped Joe clear across the bridge. Joe began hollering, "Stop! Stop! It's
me, Joe Haslem"-as if anyone in the area would not recognize the lanky Joe
Haslem, bandanna or not.
Joewent on a trail drive consisting ofabout 1.500 "dogies." It was raining
and when they made camp for the night, part of the wranglers stood guard
around the cattle until midnight, then the shift changed and the second shift
rode guard until daylight. Joe was on the daylight shift, so he was sitting
around the campfire one evening visiting with other cowboys. One of the
cowboys on the midnight shift was sleeping. He had purchased "the biggest
Indian hat you ever seen." Joe suggested to another hand, Azer Johnson,
that they playa trick and stretch his hat. They built up the fire, heating up
a Dutch oven full of water and immersed the hat in the boiling water, then
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THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOUIUlAL
Will, Joe and Clyde Haslem. They were so thin that several of the locals would
say, "they could sit in the shade of a bobbed wire fence."
(Uintah County Library Regional History Center collection)
stretched it over the ax handle. When the cowboy awoke he asked if anyone
had seen his hat. Joe said, "Something is sticking out of that bush." When
he found his hat, he was furious and pulled his gun demanding to know who
the dirty culprit was that had stretched his hat. Mum was the word. Joe and
Azer thought this was so funny, they tried it again another time. This time
he was working for Frank Bourdette, driving his cattle to market. When
Frank was asleep one night, they soaked his hat and poked a stick up into
it. It dried dUring the night, and the next morning it looked like a witch's hat.
They expected the fireworks to start when he woke up, but he just picked up
his hat and with his favorite phrase, "be gawd," put it on his head and rode
away.
While Joe was serving in World War I, he met Ruth Perkins. He always
said that he had mamed a mailorder bride, a women he had ordered from
the Montgomery Ward Catalog. The truth is he met her in Austin, Texas,
where they had a whirlwind courtship. Ruth was a Congregational Church
missionary schoolteacher. Joe came home and after ten years of letter
writing, they decided to marry, so he traveled to Bedford, Massachusetts,
where they were wed. At their fiftieth wedding anniversary Joe said, 'There
are a hell of a lot more people here than when we were married. At the
wedding there was just Ruth, me, the preacher, and her old man with his
shotgun."
Joe always told tall tales. He stated that the Chew boys on Blue Mountain
only had one pair of boots. Whoever got up first in the morning put on the
boots and became foreman for the day. 'Those sons-a-bitches got to staying
up all night to make sure they got the boots first."
Another Chew story he told was about the old man, Jack, who spent a
little time in the state pen for stealing another man's cow. Jack's justification
was, "I just picked up a rope. How did I know it had another man's cow on
the other end."
Joe said just what he thought, no matter who he was talking to. When
they were planning to build a road from Dinosaur, Colorado, up the
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mountain to Harper's Cor

ner, and down the moun
tain through Cub Creek,
bringing the tourists to the
Dinosaur Quarry. They had
to deal with Joe for a right
of-way through his property.
Conrad Wirth, Director of
Park Services, was in town
from Washington. D.C., ne
gotiating the deal. He made
a field trip up Blue Mo n
tain to the area the road
would pass through. Agroup
of interested land owners
and Dinosaur National
Mon ment personnel st od
on the face of the mounta'n
discussing the proposed
road. It was a hot day, and
Joe pulled out a bottle of
whiskey, took a swig, wiped
off the bottle's ne k with his
shirt sleeve and shoved it
under Conrad Wirth's nose.
The surprised Wirth, who
was used to a cocktail glass,
hesitated a minute and then
tipped the bottle up to his
lips and passed it on. He
had a big story to tell when
he arrived back to Dinosaur
Park headquarters, and he
had an even bigger story
when he went back to Wash
ington, D.C., for the next
incident that happened was
even better.
Wirth held an open meet
ing in Vernal to discuss the
proposed mountain road.
After much debate and disYoung Joe Haslem. (UCL-RHC collection)
cussion Joe took the floor
and brought the house down
when he qUipped, "Dealin' with you government guys is jest like wipin' yer
ass with a hoop. There's never no end to it!"
Property of the
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History Center
Joe was a big pusher in the Cattlemen's Association, and they held a big
dance every year at the Rod and Gun Club. He loved to dance and his long
grasshopper legs hopped up and down. He also drank a lot dUring the dances
43

as did the other cowmen and cowboys. Whenever there was a break, a long
line of men congregated in front of the cowboys' restroom while only a few
ladies waited to use the cowgirls' room. Joe was in the back of the line and
was standing on one foot and then the other wondering if he could hold it,
when the last lady came out ofthe girls' room. Joe said to himself, "What the
hell, I can't wait," and scurried into the ladies' room-even though Joe had
long skinny legs he always took small, fast steps. This restroom was just like
a bathroom in a home except an open partition had been built alongside the
stool to fonn an open cubicle. Joe was standing there tinkling when a lady
popped in. She screamed and said, 'This is strictly for women!" Joe's reply
was, "Lady so is this, but it don't hurt to run a little water through it."
Joe died in 1987. I am sure if you astronauts chance to see a seven-foot
tall, twelve-inch wide angel wearing cowboy boots, spurs, and a ten-gallon
hat, flapping around out there somewhere, you'll know you are passing
Cowboy Heaven. You can bet your boots all the other cowboy angels will be
laughing at one of Joe's great stories,
Property of the
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An article appeared in the VernaL Express's Jensen column stating
Joe had purchased the ward bull. Well, we can safely say
Joe spread it thick from that time on.
Here Joe and Marcus Jensen shoot the bull. (Doris Karren Burton collection)
44

Mary Reed Harris: Daughter of Wi-Vee-Da, Early

Reservation Settler, Hostess to Butch Cassidy
Nanna Denver
Somewhere on the plains in Wyoming, Mary Reed was born on November
7,1858 to "Wi-Vee-Da," her Shoshoni Indian mother, and James Scott Reed,
a Kentucky trader.
Wi-Vee-Da was a cousin to Sacajawea, the Indian wom<l!1 who led the
Lewis and Clark expedition across the Rocky Mountains. She and other of
her family members were baptized by Brigham Young into the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the time she was r:enamed "Margaret,"
her mother, Pe-Kage, was recorded as "Mary," her sister was called "Lucy,"
and her father, Running Bear, was renamed "Brigham."
The years 1862 and 1863 were disastrous for Wi-Vee-Da's people. The
winter was cold, the snow deep, game was scarce, and many people starved.
They found cattle along the Bear River in what is now Cache County, Utah,
and killed some of the herd to eat. It wasn't long before Colonel Patrick
Edward Connor and a large detachment of U.S. soldiers surrounded their
camp. They massacred many women and children.
All ofWi-Vee-Da's family were killed. She received a bullet to her heel, but
was able to crawl under some driftwood along the banks of the Bear River
with two other small girls. There they listened to the screams ofthewounded
and dying. They heard rifle fire, shouts from the soldiers, and finally, the
bugle retreat call. When night came, they walked and crawled to the cabin
of some Mormon settlers. The family there befriended them and cared for
their wounds. Later, they were taken to Lone Pine, Wyoming, where Wi-Vee
Da was raised by Mr. and Mrs. Phil Moss.
James Scott "Jimmy" Reed arrived in the Whiterocks area of the Uinta
Basin with his uncle, William Reed, Sambo Archembeau, and Denis Julien
in 1828. They built the first white settlement, a trading post, in Utah. After
it closed, James went to Wyoming, where he met and manied Wi-Vee-Da.
The couple had three children there-Mary being the eldest-before they
moved to Bwwn's Park, Utah, in 1876 and built a log cabin.
A creek ran past the house and James named it the Jimmy Reed Creek.
He sold his property to Charley Crouse in 1880, and Crouse renamed the
creek Crouse Creek, the name by which it is known today. Reed moved his
family to Ashley Valley (Vernal) and built another home there so his children
could attend school. Several years later, Wi-Vee-Da was granted a land
allotment on the Ute Indian Reservation near Whiterocks. The family moved
again, and James and Wi-Vee-Da remained on the land until their deaths.
Wi-Vee-Da died in 1920; James followed her in 1925. Both were buried in
the Reed Cemetery, one half block northeast of the old Whiterocks school.
Mary attended school at Teller Institute in Grand Junction, Colorado,
where she met Henry E. Harris, a Paiute from Nevada. She took him home
Property of the
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45

to the Ute Reservation and the couple married. They built their home on a
land allotment north of Fort Duchesne and raised eight children and several
grandchildren. Henry had a keen mind and his fair attitude kept alive the old
virtues that have been attributed to the Indians of the past. He served as an
interpreter and property clerk for the United States government. He also
farmed his land and raised cattle. He was constantly working on programs
to help the Ute people. When the Uintah Reservation was thrown open to
non-Indians, many of the Utes left for South Dakota to persuade the Sioux
Indians to return and help them remove the non-Indians from their land.
This was impossible, however, because the Sioux were having troubles of
their own. Henry was instrumental in bringing the Utes home.
Mary was a great lady by the Lord's measuring stick, spending her life
in service to others. Her home was always open to anyone passing by and
everyone was invited to share her family's food. She was an excellent cook
and it didn't matter how many times the table had to be set, everyone was
fed. She often told of Butch Cassidy and his gang stopping for a meal as they
traveled to and from Brown's Park.
Mary was a midwife and delivered many babies when a doctor wasn't
aVailable. She loved to sew, knit, and crochet, and she made beautiful
beadwork. She also tanned and made buckskin gloves. All of these items
were freely shared with others, without charge. Mary helped historians who
loved to talk to her about the past. She spent many years working with
Mildred Dillman as she gathered material for her Duchesne County history.
Mary was a member of the LOS
Church and remained active in the
women's Relief Society. She was
loved by all who knew her, both
Indian and non-Indian. She was
honored by the women's clubs in
Roosevelt, and was a candidate for a
Woman of the Year award.
Mary and Henry always extended
a warm welcome to visitors in their
home. They had many Indian and
white friends. They always prac
ticed the old adage "a friend in need
is a friend indeed." They lived by the
Golden Rule. The fruits of Mary's
efforts were seen in the way she
reared her children and appreciated
in the many achievements of her
children, grandchildren, and great
grandchildren.
The Harris family did not have a
great deal of money, nor did they
possess mu h material wealth, but
the wealth Mary treasured was the
good deeds she and Henry per Mary Reed Harris settled near Whiterocks, Utah,
formed, which cannot be measured with her husband Henry. They enjoyed a repu
tation as fine hosts to all, from neighbors to
in dollars and cents.
outlaws. (Norma Denver collection)
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46

Ain't Losin' Your Nerve, Are Ya, Joe?

Tom Horn's Destiny
Richard Wm. Horton
On the 21 st of November 1860 (1861), near the small town of Memphis,
Scotland County, Missouri, a legend was born. Depending on the reader's
point of view, this could be either good or bad, but one thing is certain, it set
off a controversy-some one hundred and thirty-seven years of continuous
argument, and it is doubtful the argument will ever be settled.
Tom Horn lived under his family's roof for close to fourteen years. He
hunted and fished with his dog, and probably neglected his schooling, as
well as his chores. His father,
He convinced a freighter
who was a farmer, did
company to hire him. He
not agree with Tom's
was doing a man's job
attitude, and tried to
and earning a man's
change him by uspay when
he
inga leather strap.
reached Santa Fe,
His mother, a very
New Mexico. Dur
religious person,
ing this period,
attempted to
Tom became flukeep peace in
ent in Spanish,
the family for
which was to
years, but lost
prove beneficial
the final argu
to him when he
ment. Tom left
later became an
the homestead
Army scout.
and never reAround 1880
turned.
Tom moved on to
Tom arrived in
Arizona. He arrived in
Kansas and worked for
YavapaI County where
the railroad for awhile.
he was recognized as a
The west was his goal, Tom Hom was convicted of champion roper and
and even though he the murder of Willie Nickell rodeo cowboy. During
was only fourteenand hanged. Some say
this time, Tom met Al
years old, he could eas
justice was not served.
Seiber, who was the
ily pass for eighteen.
(N. H. Rose collection)
chief of scouts for the
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U.S. Army. Seiber arranged for Tom to go to work as a paid horse wrangler.
A short time later Seiber asked Tom to accompany him as an interpreter to
the San Carlos Apache Agency. Apparen tly, the perilous life ofan army scout
appealed to Tom and he remained at San Carlos for more than a year. While
there, he learned to speak and understand the Apache language.
47

THE OUTLAW TBAI1 JOURNAL
In the spring of 1886, after the weather pennitted, Captain (later

General) Henry Lawton began tracking the Apache, Geronimo. A few days
later, Captain Emmett Crawford followed with a small force with Tom as a
scout. They encountered a troop of Mexican cavalry and were fired upon.
Captain Crawford was killed. Hom returned Crawford's body to FortApache.
Eventually, Geronimo met with General Nelson A. Miles and agreed to return
to the reservation. At this time, General Miles shipped hundreds ofApaches
to Florida to the old Seminole Reservation. This more or less ended the
Apache problem in Arizona, so Tom was free to pursue other activities.
After many adventures, Tom headed north with a small fortune on his
person. Money he had realized from his share of a mine soon led him to new
heights in the life of wine, women, and real benders. Over a vast period of
frightful headaches, his money ran out, and he was forced to find work. He
started as a Pinkerton detective, which made him both famous and
notorious. He boasted of his accomplishments, but always toasted his Anny
friends, and when the Spanish-American war broke out, he was one of the
first to enlist in the Rough Rider outfit with his old buddies, Leonard Wood
and Bucky O'Neill. The troop was lead by Theodore Roosevelt, the cowboy
from North Dakota. They all arrived in Cuba, and after a short time, charged
San Juan Hill. It was a brief war. Although Tom never saw action, he did
manage to become a packmaster. Bucky O'Neill was killed, but Henry
Lawton and Leonard Wood became generals. Theodore Roosevelt made his
way to the White House as president. Tom was bitten by a mosquito that soon
had him shivering with malaria. He was sent to New York to recover and was
then discharged.
Fever-ridden and war-weary, Hom returned west to resume his role as
an "annihilator" of outlaws. His was a gun for hire. He felt he had few peers
and no masters at that time. In 1900 Hom located in Brown's Park in
northwestern Colorado, settling down while a fight raged between the large
and small cattle owners. It was a common occurrence for the smaller
operators to lay their brands on mavericks from the larger ranches, which
rankled the cattle barons enough for them to seek a solution to their
problem. The answer was Tom Hom, extenninator of rustlers.
It wasn't very long before Tom had familiarized himselfwith the area, and
the problems at hand. He made a list of perpetrators and soon began his
work. He left warnings on Matt Rash's cabin, which he completely ignored.
Rash was shot dead on a bright July morning, 1900. Next to follow in his
footsteps was a black cowboyfrustler named Isom Dart. He was shot in
October, as he left his cabin. This put a halt to the running irons' cherry-red
gleam in the Brown's Park area. Others who had received like warnings left
the area on very important business elsewhere-and lived. The cattle barons
were satisfied, and Tom Hom left for Wyoming.
When Tom arrived in Wyoming in the spring of 1901, he went to work for
his old friend, John Coble. Coble had fonned the Frontier Land and Cattle
Company, but had gone bankrupt in the disastrous winter of 1886-1887.
He then founded the Iron Mountain Ranch, and soon controlled most ofthe
Iron Mountain range. The smaller ranchers around Coble's kingdom felt that
Coble's cattle were fair game and acted accordingly. They helped themselves
wheneverthe opportunity confronted them, so John Coble forced the issue,
and brought in Tom Hom.
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48

Tom worked in his own fashion, and soon became involved with some of
Coble's enemies, specifically Kels Nickell and James V. Miller, who had
small ranches next to the Iron Mountain Ranch, and with whom Coble had
had problems over trespassing livestock. To complicate the problem, Nickell
and Miller hated each other to the point that they had serious conflicts on
many occasions-some close to fatal. This worked in Tom's favor to a point,
I am sure, that Tom felt that Nickell would try to kill Miller, but there was
also the possibility that Miller would kill Nickell. It made no difference,
whoever was killed, the blame would lay on the other.
On 18 July 1901, a dismal, overcast day, someone made a very serious
mistake. They shot and killed Willie Nickell, who was mistaken for his father,
Kels. He had donned his father'sjacket and hat, opened the gate, and ridden
off down the road. He was hit twice. As others have stated, "If Kels Nickell
had been killed, nobody would have cared, but to shoot a thirteen year-old
boy, in cold blood, all of Wyoming went up in arms."
The murder baffled the local law enforcement people. Sometime after
Willie's death, somebody waylaid Kels Nickell, broke his arm with a well
placed shot, and knocked him down with another shot to his left hip. Hewas
taken to the hospital in Cheyenne, and while he was convalescing, he
received word that many of his sheep had been slaughtered by a person or
persons unknmvn. This convinced Nickell that the cattle barons had won the
war. He sold his holdings and moved to Cheyenne, where he opened a
laundry.
In the meantime, Sheriff Shafer became sick and requested that Deputy
U.S. Marshal Joseph leFors take over the Nickell case. Hom was in Denver
when this took place. He had been living high off the hog since he had plenty
of money in his pocket and was willing to part with it, spending it on women
and booze. He also managed to get in a fight with none other than
"Gentleman Jim" Corbett, who carefully and skillfully broke his jaw in two
places. Tom received a letter warning him about leFors, which he ignored,
but when he left Denver he did not go back to Coble's ranch. He went to
Cheyenne and competed in the Frontier Days celebration and rodeo.
Lefors was busy back in Wyoming gathering so-called evidence. He
questioned anyone remotely connected with or interested in the Willie
Nickell homicide. He kept his findings pretty much to himself because he
wasn't satisfied to just gather facts, lies, and stories. He was building a case
against Hom, not just to arrest him, but to see him convicted.
A letter from Montana in leFors' handWIiting, requesting someone to do
some secret work for him, showed up. Tom responded, writing to leFors that
he was interested in the job and that he would take it, guaranteeing
satisfaction. leFors wrote Tom back and invited him to visit him in his
Cheyenne office. Tom borrowed a rig from John Coble and set off for
Cheyenne. It was a hot, dry trip, and ofcourse, he had to stop enrou te to hoist
a few drinks. Had Tom Horn not been so enthralled with the bourbon
dynasty, he might have lived a great deal longer. By the time he reached
Cheyenne, he was close to being inebriated. In his account, leFors said Hom
had not been drinking, yet other witnesses stated that Hom had definitely
been drinking. In leFors' office, which had been rearranged for the meeting,
were two men. They were to listen to the conversation and take down what
was said. Regarding the conversation, Tom Horn later said of leFors, "The
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49

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOUBHAL
son-of-a-bitch made me lie by asking questions." leFors said, "It is doubtful

who told the biggest yarns. me or Tom."
Mter leaving leFors' office, Tom left for his favoIite haunts, and spent the
remainder of the night dIinking. The infamous three stayed in leFors' office
transcIibing the so-called "Hom confession," adding to it, subtracting from
it, and changing it to fit what Lefors thought he knew, thereby sealing Hom's
fate. A warrant for Tom Hom's arrest was issued for murder. As a result, Tom
was arrested and taken to jail. The records show that on January 13, 1902,
Hom was arrested by SheIifI Smalley. On January 24, 1902, Hom's
preliminary arraignment was held, and sufficient evidence was presented to
bind the pIisoner over for tIial for the murder of Willie Nickell.
The tIial lasted from October 10 to October 24, 1902. Tom Hom was
found guilty, and ordered executed. On November 8, 1902, a motion for a
new tIial was blocked by the prosecution. On December 31, 1902, the court
ordered a stay of execution until the Supreme Court could hear the case. In
early 1903, the defense filed a new tIial motion with the Supreme Court, but
on August 10, 1903, the same day Hom attempted ajailbreak, the Supreme
Court affirmed the lower court's verdict. From October 29 to November 13,
1903, thirteen affidavits for and against Hom were presented to Governor
Chatterton, who refused to stay execution and said Hom would hang. On
November 20, 1903, a little before 10:30 am., Tom Hom died on the gallows
of the Laramie County Courthouse. His last words were, "Ain't losin' your
nerve, are you. Joe?"
Tom Hom was buIied in the Pioneer Cemetery in Boulder, Colorado.
Arguments still prevail today regarding his case. I, personally, have always
felt that all some lawmen need is glory, and hang the circumstances. I also
feel that some politicians always serve politics first and justice comes
second.
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50

Poaching
Story and Illustrations
by
Roy C. Freestone
A Brief History
Between the years of 1950 and 1959, my 01' Man herded cows for the
Brush Creek Cattle Association on Brush Creek Mountain.
There was a cow cabin and this was his headquarters. Each of the cattle
owners would furnish a horse to be used for various duties that the 01' Man
was to perfonn, so he ended up with a herd of horses. About eight in all.
These horses were turned loose in the grassy hills south of the cabin and one
horse was kept in the corral, also south of the cabin. Each morning the horse
in the corral was saddled up and ridden out to round up the rest of the
horses, which were driven back to the corral. The number of horses to be
ridden that day, were saddled up and the rest were turned back in the grassy
hills, including the horse which had spent the night in the corral. Sort of a
rotation system.
The cabin itself was a fairly large, one-room structure with a steep metal
roof so the snow could slide off in the winter. It had a large attic and at night
you could hear the rats scurrying back and forth. There were even some
bullet holes in the ceiling where someone had blasted away at these rodents.
Taking sound shots.
Inside the cabin there were four beds all in a row. At the foot of the beds
was a big long table, looking somewhat like a picnic table, only longer. There
was a big kitchen range, a wood box and cupboards. By the front door was
a wash basin sitting on a small stand and above the basin hung the soap in
a pouch. This pouch was quite unique as it was originally the pouch that
covered the testicles of a deer.
There was a small spring, not too far from the cabin, that furnished us
with water. When I say "US" I am talking about dad, me, and my little brother,
Ted. One or the other of us would stay on the mountain with the 01' Man all
summer. Mother didn't want him staying up there alone.
Over the hill from the cow cabin sat the Colton Ranger Station, about a
quarter of a mile away. On the front porch of the station, there was a
telephone. An old style phone with a crank handle on its side. To make a call,
you would crank the handle, making a ringing sound and then listen on the
ear piece. You would hear a faint voice say, "NUMBER PALEEZZ," way down
in Vernal, our hometown. You would say the number and generally get a
connection.
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51

With this setting in mind, I hope I can relate some of the happenings that
occurred dUring these years. To set things straight even more, I will have to
say that my 01' Man was a poacher and I ain't talking about eggs!
Walk on the Rocks
The Brush Creek Cattle Association, it was said, should furnish some of
the groceries to help feed the cowherder. Some said they should and some
said they shouldn't, and so consequently they didn't! So to help out with the
grocery bill, it was not beyond the 01' Man to supplement the food source
with a little 'vild game.
We were sitting in the cabin late one afternoon, after a day of riding the
range, when the 01' Man said, "Let's get in the pickup and ride over on the
rim of the mountain and see if we can find us some meat for supper." Now,
"meat for supper," might mean sage chickens, or maybe a grouse or even a
buckskin! So, as me and Ted piled into the truck, the 01' Man loaded his
arsenal, a shot gun, a couple of rifles and a .22 pistol strapped to his waist.
Dad would usually make me do the driving, even though I was only
fourteen and couldn't get a driver's license for two more years. The reason
for this was, if we should see anything to shoot, he would holler, "WHOA,"
and out the door he would go, blasting away.
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52

On this particular evening, as we approached the rim of the mountain,

there, almost as if he was waiting for us, stood a three-point buck! "WHOA"
hollered the 01' Man and out the door he went KABLAM BOOM KABOOM
KABAN!!! The sound of the shots echoed down the face of the mountain for
a good five minutes.
By the time the echoes had quit bouncing off the hills and dells below,
the 01' Man had the deer's throat cut and it was halfway gutted! Then a
strange transformation came over the 01' Man. It was as if there was a Game
Warden behind every bush, behind every tree, on top of every hill, and he
would start to whis per. "Get ahold ojthe gawd damn leg and let's get this deer
dnLg up to the truck," Then he would say, "Walk on the rocks, gawd dammit
walk on the rocks." I presume he didn't want to leave any footprints for a
super sleuth Game Warden to find. Then we heard it-the droning of an
airplane way off in the distance. All of a sudden the whispering qUit! "GET
UNDER THAT BUSH QUICK! GETUNDERTHATGAWD DAMN BUSH!" And
there we lay, the three of us cowering under a servicebeny bush like three
whipped hounds, while 500 feet away sat the white ford pickup looming out
like a shithouse in the fog!
At last the sound ofthe plane faded away and we got the deer loaded into
the truck, which was no easy task, jumping from one rock to another.!
Later that night, as we sat by the big table eating our meat, deer heart
and liver, the rest of the animal hanging in a grove of quaking aspens, the
01' Man said, "Tomorrow we'll cut us off a hind quarter ofthe 01' deer to keep
and then you," looking at me, "go over to the Ranger Station and call rna and
tell her to get up here, 'cause there's something that needs taken care of."
"Something that needs taken care oft" This was the password.
I was home one day, Ted and Dad were on the mountain, when I received
the fateful phone call. I told my mother, "Dad just called and he needs
something taken care of." Well, my mother's comment referring to the call
was, "OH, MY HELL WHAT HAS HE GOT THIS TIME!" So, being the faithful
spouse that she always was, we climbed in the Chevy coupe and started up
the mountain.
Climbing the mountain in those days was no easy task. The road
consisted of a series of switchbacks and in the summer it became extremely
rough-"wash boardy" as the old timers called it.
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53

iHE OUTLAW iBAIL JOUBBAL
The road was graveled, but no one seemed to maintain it. There was one
section about halfway to the top, that was so rough your automobile simply
jumped up and down, hardly gaining any forward motion at all, even
jumping back sometimes.
It was about in this section of the road that we saw the 01' Man coming,
sluing around a bend showering the cedar trees with dirt and gravel. He was
pouring the coal to the old white, Ford truck. He had the pedal to the metal.
When he went by us. I could see Ted hanging on for dear life! His eyes
bugging out, his face as white as a ghost!
To this day I don't think the 01' Man ever saw me, mother nor the car.
Mother honked the hom but her reaction time was too slow, the 01' Man was
already sluing around another bend a half mile down the road.
It took some time for us to tum around, having to wait for the dust to
settle. We could see the big dust going down the mountain, which was the
01' Man, Ted and the truck, seeming to gain momentum the farther they
went.
When we got home, dad was skinning a deer that he had hung in the
granary. He said he had changed his mind and decided to bring it dO\vn
himself. Ted was in the house laying on the bed. trying to get over a bad case
of the shakes.
Dad said, "We'll cut and wrap 'er up tonight, and I'll go back on the
mountain in the morning."
To cut and wrap a deer was another big ritual. Blankets ha to be hung
on all the windows to make the house look as though no one was home. The
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THE ali MAN

COMIN/ DOWN
THE MOUNTAIN
r
.
54

old meat saw was brought out and the big butcher knife sharpened. The deer
was brought in and plunked on the kitchen table and the cutting and
wrapping began. Dad would do the cutting. cussing the old. dull meat saw.
trying to saw through a bone. Mother would do the wrapping and then put
the packages of meat in the Montgomery Ward deep freezer.
The next day 1went back on the mountain with the 01' Man. Ted needing
some R& R!
Jeeps
The 01' Man had a misconception that anyone driving ajeep was a Game
Warden. Granted. most of them did. but so did a lot of other people.
After the war, surplus jeeps were sold and 1 suppose that the Fish and
Game Department got in on the action because of their versatility.
The 01' Man would see ajeep traveling along a road five miles away and
let out such a string of cuss words that it would melt the gum right out of
the pine trees.
Fred Reynolds had ajeep and was also a Game Warden. When the 01'
Man heard that Fred had became a warden. his reaction was. "Why. he used
to be the worst poacher in the country!" Then after thinking awhile he said,
"1 guess it takes a thief to catch a thief."
So Fred Reynolds became my dad's arch enemy! Now Fred had a lot of
country to cover, checking out other areas and certainly didn't have time to
watch the 01' Man. But as Fred said, "It pays to keep a beady eye on that Betts
Freestone!
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The Plan
Dad always kept four or five white, seamless sacks behind the seat of the
old Ford pickup. These sacks were ideal to store meat in. Maybe a hind
quarter of buckskin or a mess of sage hens, Maybe a blue grouse or two.
It was on a Friday afternoon that he decided to go home to get his hay
cut and so we set out, the 01' Man driving. As we were climbing up the long
hill that led to the Ranger Station road, a bunch of sage chickens ran across
the bumpy old road in front of us. Now behind us, hanging across the
window, was my trusty 41 0 shot gun, also, a 30-30 rifle. These two guns were
kept hanging there most all of the time, along with a good supply of shells
in the glove compartment and it was my tum to holler, "Whoa!"
1grabbed a shell out ofthe glove compartment and the 410 offthe rack,
popping the shell in the chamber of the single shot shotgun qUicker than the
time it takes to tell about it.
As soon as 1got the gun cocked, the sage chickens took flight. 1took aim
right in the middle of the whole group and squeezed the trigger. "KAPOW!"
and down fell two sage hens! Not too bad!
We gathered the two birds up and pulled their guts out and popped them
in one of the seamless sacks. "We'll get the feathers off when we get home,"
the 01' Man said and on we went.
55

Then the 01' Man started formulating a plan and this is what he said,
"Keep that sack of chickens on your lap and if we see anything suspicious
throw it out the window!" And that was the plan! Simple as that.
We drove off the mountain without seeing hardly a soul and were coming
down the Steinaker Draw with only a couple of miles more to go, when we
saw it. A JEEP! A GAWD DAMN JEEP! Now the 01' Man started hollering,
"THROW IT OUT! THROW IT OUT! And out the window they wentetwo nice
sage chickens that my taste buds had been counting on for supper!
As we got closer, we could see two men, one leaning over the hood of the
jeep getting ready to shoot at the hill. "Hell, it's just two guys target
practicing." But the 01' Manjust drove on saying. "One of them bastardsjust
might be a Game Warden, you never can tell, we better just get the hell
home!" And that was it! The sighting of a jeep had cheated me out of a sage
chicken supper!
Later that evening, after supper was over, the 01' Man walked down the
road to see about borrowing Uncle Lou's team and hay mower. I jumped on
my bike and peddled back up to the Steinaker Draw. The two target
practicers were long gone and on up the road lay the white seamless sack.
It was just getting dark as I walked in the door, holding up the sack for
the 01' Man to see-SAGE CHICKEN FOR DINNER TOMORROW!
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Foiled Again
I didn't get in on the following escapade and I-can't say that I was sorry!
The 01' Man brought Ted off the mountain for some more R & R. along
with himself and something else. Ted told me the story about what had
happened and said he, "wasn't going back on the mountain ever again!
Him and Dad had been doing some fence repair work down in the Little
Brush Creek Gorge. The work had taken about three days to complete and
as they gathered up their tools each evening a small herd of elk would appear
on the edge of the gorge high above them.
Now in the 1950s there simply were not very many elk. In fact, if the
conditions were the same in this day and age they probably would have been
put on an endangered species list. But seeing the elk three evenings in a row
was more than the 01' Man could stand, so he formulated a plan and this is
what he told Ted.
'Tomorrow afternoon we'll go over there, we'll take an extra horse with
a pack saddle on it and by gawd we'll shoot one of them bastards and then
we'll quarter it up, put it in the pack saddle and bring it back here and then
we'll call Ma!"
To get to the Little Brush Creek Gorge, they had to cross the main
highway. But the 01' Man had this problem figured out. In one spot along the
highway there were two big groves of quaking aspen, one on each side of the
road, so it would be plum easy to stay in the trees, make a charge across the
highway and disappear into the trees on the other side. Except for these two
groves of trees the landscape was nothing but sagebrush for three or four
miles on each side, so to make a big sneak, it was the only way to go.
As the man and his son rode on their way to the gorge, the man said, "Get
your mouth set boy, it's elk liver for supper tonight!"
56

The plan worked right on schedule and it wasn't long before they had a
pack saddle full of nice fat cow elk.
The 01' Man decided to make the charge just before dark, using the cover
of darkness to make it back to the cow cabin.
As the two culprits rode toward the big grove of aspen, the 01' Man had
switched to his whispering mode, telling Ted to keep his eyes peeled. Ted
didn't know what he was suppose to keep his eyes peeled for, so he just rode
along behind.
As they entered the grove, trying to be qUiet as possible, the 01' Man
straining his eyes, looking ahead trying to see the road, he caught a glimpse
of something. "What in the hell," he rode forward a little more and there it
was! A JEEP! A GAWD DAMN JEEP! parked right next to the road.
Needless to say, the panic was on! The 01' Man whirled his horse around
causing the rope that he was leading the pack horse with to tangle in a tree
branch. He made a mighty jerk and down came the branch spooking the
pack horse, who back pedaled into Ted's horse, who backed into another tree
and thenjumped sideways into the 01' Mans's horse, causing him to lose the
rope!
Ted didn't know what was going on, so he just sat there on his horse. The
01' Man kicked his horse in the ribs and thundered back out ofthe trees and
Ted just sat there looking at the pack horse not knowing what to do!
The 01' Man came thundering back through the trees, on foot this time,
and grabbed the pack horse rope. His whispering mode gone! "LET'S GET
THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"
So the man and his boy backtracked past the scene of their crime, and
under the cover of darkness, descended into Little Brush Creek Gorge!
Ted was already hungry and as the night progressed he became cold, and
there they sat, cold and hungry. The three horses were tied to a tree. They
were both back in the whispering mode and Ted whispered to his dad, "Let's
build afire." and the 01' Man whispered back, "For Christ sakes no! A Game
Warden might see it!" Ted whispered back, "Jj we could build afire, we could
cook us some elk meat. " And the 01' Man whispered back, " Jjyou don't shut
your mouth, when we get oJ! this mountain I'm gonna have you throwed in
reform school!" Ted wasn't too worried about this threat, it was something
that happened at least three times a week.
So there they sat, the man and his son, all night long!
They rode their horses back up the gorge, past the crime scene and into
the grove oftrees. At this point in time, the 01' Man didn't give a shit ifthere
were twenty jeeps parked by the road!
The jeep was gone and across the road they rode into the trees on the
other side, and as they came out of the trees the sun popped up, warming
their poor, tired, hungry bodies!
They reached the cabin along about 9 o'clock a.m., unhooked the pack
saddle, letting it fall into the backofthe pickup, elk and all, turned the horses
loose and headed for home, knowing mother would nurse them back to
health!
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57

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOUllHAL
Arden Stewart
I Am The Outlaw Trail

I am the Outlaw Trail,
I span this great western land;
From the Blue Canadian Rockies,
to the muddy Rio Grande.
Many an outlaw has rode my course,
and many a lawman as well;
Some have died along my way,
their stories I'll never tell.
I hold their secrets in my dust,
of buried gold and loot;
I guard them ever jealously.
as they molder along my route.
Property of the
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History Center
I go down through old Montana,
and Wyoming on the way;
Where the Hole In The Wall,
outlaw gang often times did stay.
I've seen Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch,

in Brown's Hole with all their take;
I've had them winter in Robbers' Roost,
waiting for spring to break.
On South through Arizona.

and New Mexico as well;
Always looking back to see.
if someone was on their trail.
I've seen them freeze on my mountains,

or thirst in my desert sun;
Harrowed sore, but come back for more,
and always on the run.
Yes, I'm the Outlaw Trail.
but, now my tract grows dim;
I've found my place in history,
from desert to canyon rim.
I am a living legend.
this I jealously claim;
I'm part of this great Western land,
never forget my fame.
58

The Rim Rock and the Pine

There's a place a way out yonder.
Mid' the rim rock and the pine;
A place where burns the sunset.
a place that knows no time.
A place a man finds comfort.
when there's trouble on his mind;
As he stands amid the grandeur.
of the rim rock and the pine.
The rim rock runs forever.
and the pines are so serene;
You can have your concrete highways.
I'll take pastures rich and green.
Property of the
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History Center
Where the sage brush smell is fragrant.
as it blossoms in the spring;
And the cactus and wild flowers.
add beauty to everything.
\\There the mule deer and the coyote.

roam the land still wild and free;
That's the place a cowboys heart is,
That's the place I'd like to be.
So. when this life has ended,

and I lay this mortal by;
Just send me out to that rough land,
beneath the azure sky.
I'll roam those hills forever,
I need no marble shrine;
I'll be content and happy
mid the rim rock and the pine .
...Arden Stewart
59

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOUBllAL
BUTCH CASSIDY: A BIOGRAPHY

By Richard Patterson
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln and London
362 pages $19.95 U.S.
For more than one hundred years the watchful eye of the Pinkerton
National Detective Agency, has been bent on chasing bandits, criminals and
outlaws with great success, but no one has gotten closer to Robert leRoy
Parker, than Richard Patterson's Butch Cassidy, A Biography. Patterson, a
retired lawyer turned free-lance writer and editor, seems to have followed
nearly every trail, well or little known, ever left by Cassidy. He has done his
homework and had he been born a century earlier "Butch" might have had
a worthy foe to contend with.
Much of Patterson's information is drawn from previously published
sources, but to ones surprise, Patterson has exhumed some rather exciting
new information on what seemed like an ex.~austed tale.
What makes this book so significant is that Butch's story is presented
in chronological order, with new information, critiquing the work of other
writers along the way, in a non bias' manner. With a detective style and legal
background, Patterson offers a perceptive analysis ofCassidy's legal difficul
ties which lures you back for more. The extensive notes, bibliography and
index are excellent and the writing is livery, stimulating, and understand
able.
Butch Cassidy was a personable, restless drifter, skillful cowboy, and
elusive prey of all those unrelenting posses and Pinkerton, railroad, and
bank detectives, who dogged him across the vast open ranges of Colorado,
Utah, Wyoming and, finally, South America. Patterson presents Robert
leRoy Parker (Butch's real name), as Mormon boy, born in Utah, as a hard
working ranch hand, a modem Robin Hood who was always loyal to his
employer, his friends, who loved children, and yet also a cattle rustler, horse
thief, and bank robber. Many Wild Bunch members eventually found
themselves shot, imprisoned, or hanged. Butch and Sundance later fled to
South America, where as many a yam would tell, that they died in Bolivia
or did they? Patterson's search for the facts is confo nded by numerous
reports that continues to bring historians to speculate their fate.
Property of the
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60

Persuasive accounts of later "Butch" sightings and meetings, for ex

ample, can only further complicate matters.
It is refreshing to read that the author has made no formal conclusions
as to the mystery of the return of this infamous character.
A hardcover would have a great addition to any western history library.
After reading this book, you will have a better understanding of the life and
times of the outlaw "Butch Cassidy." In my opinion, Patterson has accumu
lated the most exhaustive collection of information of the outlaw Butch
Cassidy to date. This is a definite must for any historian or interest in outlaw
history.
... Donald A. Smith, Ogden, Utah.
Property of the
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History Center
61

Index
Chief Bear Hunter 15

Chief Sagwich 15
Chief Sandpitch 15
Christianson, Chris 41
Christianson, Willard 41
Clark, Cyrus D., Lieutenant 15
Coble, John 48
Coltharp, Hugh 6
Colton, Don B. 9
Colton Ranger Station 51
Connor, Patrick Edward,
Colonel 11-17, 14, 45
Conover, A.H. 14
Conrad, George D., Lieutenant 15
Corbett, "Gentleman Jim" 49
Crawford, Emmett, Captain 48
Crosby, Ernest "Ern" 24
Crouse, Charley 45
Crouse Creek 45
Custer, George, General 17
Ainge, Bill 41
Anson, Mark 19, 20, 24
Archembeau, Sambo 45
Ashley Creek 2
Ashley Creek Gorge 6
Ashley National Forest 27
Atwood, C. B., Jr.,
Deputy Sheriff 5
B
Bank of Vernal 7
Bannock Indians 12
Battle Creek 15
Bear Hunter 15
Bear Hunter, Chief 13
Bear River 15, 45
Bear River Massacre 11-17
Bevins, William 14
Blair, Bruce 7, 8
Blair, James E. "Ed" 8
Blue Mountain 8, 42
Boren, Edward 24
Bourdette, Frank 42
Brant, Charley 20, 25
Brown's Hole 19
Brown's Park 6, 16
Brush Creek Cattle
Association 51, 52
Brush Creek Cliffs 6
Brush Creek Mountain 51
Burton, Ira 41
Burton, Joe 41
Property of the
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History Center
D
Dart, Isom 48
Diamond Mountain 9
Dillman, Mildred 46
Dinosaur National
Monument 27, 30, 31, 43
Dobbie, Night Watchman 7
Dodds, Pardon,Jr. 6
Dodds, Pardon, Sr. 6
Dodds, Roy 6
Donaldson, Mr. 5
Doty, James D. 12, 13, 17
Douglass, Earl 27, 33
Dowd, Cleophas 21
Dragoo, Earl 6
Dragoo, Jim 6
Dyer Mine 2
c
Cache Valley 11
Cache Valley Road 14
Caldwell, George 8
Camp Douglas 11
Cart Creek 9
Carter Station 3
Cassidy, Butch 45, 46, 59
Cedar Point 15
Central Canal 2
Cherokee Trail 6
Chew Boys 42
Chew, Jack 42
E
Echo Park Dam
34
F
Fish Cut 18
Fort Bridger 6
Franklin, Idaho
62

15
THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOUBHAL
Freestone, Betts 51-57

Freestone, Roy C. 51-57
Freestone, Ted 51-57
Frontier Land and Cattle
Company 48
G
Geronimo 48
Gibbs, Isaac L., U.S. Marshal
15
H
Hanna's Restaurant 8
Hanis, Henry E. 45
Harris, Mary Reed 45-46
Haslem, Jack 40
Haslem, Joe 40-41
Haslem, John S. 41
Haslem, Ruth Perkins 42
Haslem, Sam 40
Hoeft, Amos 6
Horn, Tom 47-50
Hoyt, Samuel W., Samuel 15
N
Neil Ranch, The 8
Nichols and Donaldson's store
Nickell, Kels 49
Nickell, Willie 49
Nielsen, Ole 23
Nigger Turner 23, 24
Nord, Arthur G. 27
Property of the
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Indian Department Cabin 7

Indians 6
Iron Mountain Ranch 48
Maw, H.B., Governor 27

McGarry, Edward, MCUor 13, 15
McKee Draw 9
McKee, Jim 3
Miles, Nelson A., General 48
Miller, James V. 49
Moffat 4
Moss, Phil, Mr. and Mrs. 45
Museum Committee 27
O'Donnell, Thomas W.
O'Neill, Bucky 48
Oregon Territory 11
Otter Train 11
Owen, John 12
Jensen 7
Jimmy Reed Creek 45
Johnson, Azer 41
Julien, Denis 45
K
Koontz, Constable
L
Lawton, Henry 48
Lawton, Henry, Captain 48
LeFors, Joseph,
Deputy U.S. Marshal 49
Lewis and Clark Expedition 45
Lewis, Arnie 33
Lewis, Sidney, Jr. 6
Lind, Lewis 5
Pe-Kage 45
Peny, George W. 9
Point of Rocks 18
Pope, Jane Bennett 2
Pope, John T. 2, 3, 16
Pope, John T. 13
Pope, Mars 4
Pope, Richard 2-10
Pope, Robert 2
Pope, Sarah LeDuc 2
Powerhouse Canal 2
Q
Quinn, John, Lieutenant
15
R
Rash, Matt 48
Red Bob 18, 20, 21
Red Sash Gang, The 18-25
63

Reed, James Scott 16, 45
Reed, James Scott "Jimmy" 45
Reed, William 45
Reservations
Uintah Ute 2, 16, 45
Uncompagre Ute 2
Reynolds, Bob 5
Reynolds, Fred 55
Rich, Arthur, City Marshal 7, 8
Riggs, William 24
Rock Springs, Wyoming 18
Roosevelt, Theodore 48
Running Bear 45
Ruple, Hank 29
Ruple, Hod 29
Ruple, Lily Taylor 29
Ruple, Mae 29
Ruple, Wanda 29
Untermann, Helen Rashman

Utah Field House of Natural
History 26-38
Van Orman, Alexis 12
Van Orman, Reuben 13
Van Orman, Zachias 12
Vernal 2
Vernal Lion's Club 27
Vernal Milling and Light
Company 2
w
Walker, George 5
Warner, Matt 4, 41
Washita Massacre 17
Watson 7
Welch, Tom 20
White, "Smokey" 6
White, Tabby Weep 4
Wi-Vee-Da 16, 45
Wilson, J. A., Judge 4
Wirth, Conrad 42
Witbeck, Haller 9
Wood, Leonard 48
Wounded Knee 17
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Sacajawea 45
Salmon Falls 11
Seiber, AI 47
Shoshoni Indians II, 15, 17
Smith, John Henry 14
Solomon, George 20, 23
Steinaker Draw 9
Strip 4
sub-chief Lehi 16
Taylor, Bish
Young, Brigham 40, 45
Young, Edward J., Jr. 5
Uintah Drug 7
Uintah Railway 7
Uintah Stake Tabernacle 9
Umatilla Indian Agency 12
Union Pacific 18
Union Pacific Railroad 3
Untermann, Billie 26-39
Untermann, Elsa 28
Untermann, Ernest, Jr. "Ernie"
26-39
Untermann, Ernest, Sr.

28, 30, 33
Untermann, Gerhard Ernest
"Gerhard or Geddy" 28
64

28
Outlaw Trail History Center

Research CenterJor Western History
Featuring History ojthe greater Uinta Basin,

the Intermountain West, and the Outlaw TraiL
Housed in the Uintah County Library
Property of the
Outlaw Trail
History Center
Regional History Center
155 East Main
Vernal, Utah 84078
1-435-789-0091
There have been fifteen issues of the Outlaw Trail

Journal published and we still have a limited number
of back issues available for purchase.
1 .. ,,:.

A library for all "ages"

Property of the
Outlaw Trail
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ISSN 1520-328X


16 - Winter 1998 - Watermark

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\1\eOUTLIW TMaIL JOUlla

PAGES FROM THE PAST

Published By The Outlaw Trail History Center

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TBAIL JOUUAL

Managing Editor: Doris Karren Burton

A sociate Editors: Kathleen Murphy Irving and Karine Walker Nelson

Book Lay ut and Design: Karine Walker Nelson

UINTAH COUN1Y LIBRARY BOARD

Evan Bak r, Library Dire tor

John Barton, Utah State University

Edward M. Kirby, NaUonal Outlaw/Lawman Hall of Fame

Kent Pow n, Utah State Historical Society

Roy Webb, Univ r ityofUtah

Roy P. O'Dell. England

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL (ISSN 1520-328Xl is supplied to

Publication of the OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL is made possible

Uintah County Library

Utah State University: Uintah Basin Branch Campus

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TB.AlI. JOURNAL

PAGES FROM THE PAST

Historical Articles-Sheriff Richard Pope.""""."",."",.,., .... ,."""", ..... ", .. ", 2

The Forgotten Bear River Massacre

Kathleen Murphy Irving

The Red Sash Gang ........ ".......................................... 18

Spotlight in History-Billie and Ernest Untermann

Marie Harrison Nelson

Memorable Character-Joe Haslem, Storyteller

Doris Karren Burton

Native-Anlerican Profile-Mary Reed Harris

Infamous Person-Tom Horn's Destiny

Richard Wm, Horton

Poetry from Arden's Saddlebag-I am the Outlaw TraiL

The Rim Rock and the Pine

Center RevieWS-Richard Pattersons "Butch Cassidy: A Biography"

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL is a journal of history published semiannually by

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

Sheriff Richard Pope

Husband, and Father

Karine Walker Nelson

(Courtesy Daughters of the

Jane Bennett Pope.

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

At that time no one wanted to be elected to the office of sheriff in Uintah

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

In January 1915, Sheriff Pope apprehended some outlaws who thought

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOUB.NA1

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTI.A.W TRAIL JOURNAL

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum

THE OUTLAW TRAIL JOURNAL

1. Richard Gilbert. grandson of Richard Pope. "Memorandum." Uintah County Library

Uintah County Western Heritage Museum