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MYSTERIOUS DOUBLE MURDER.Saturday Jim Kwing came to Wadsworth iro.ii R. li. Cowles' range at Liiulio with the nows lliat Frank Meaner, better known uh Spanish Frank, a vaquero in Mr. Cowles employ, and Frank Jones, un Indian, who wan aUo in Mr. Cowles'employ, had liven accidently killed at the Uuilio ranch.Jim Kwing was working at the ranch and doen the cooking. It was the intention to build a miiiuII corral in which to slaughter a Iwef su-er occasionally and early Thursday morning Spanish Frank 011 hia home and the Indian with a wagon and double team h tufted tor the h Is to get cedar posts for the corral.Mr. Ewing expected the men back that night with the jKists but hour after h »ur passed and they did not return. At four o’clock the next morning Mr. E wing took a saddle horse and a rille to look up the missing men. The tirst lie saw of anything relating to his nesrcli was Spanish Frank's saddle horse with bridle, saddle and rope just as if Frank had just got off him.Further on the road he saw the wagon loaded with posts careened against a pile of rocks, the team horses at the end of tongue, facing each other and held by the neck yoke, the tugs having come loose. The horses were not hurt or bruised in any way.Up tlie bill further and in the middle of the road was the dead body of Frank Jones, the Indian, who lay on his back, the ban Is outstretched and one leg doubled under the body. The other leg was tangled in a long rope that was caught in the wagon.Passing the Ixsly of the Indian Mr. Ewing noon found Spanish Frank who was also dead, a stick of wood having passed through his body at the cheat, coming out at the back. He lay with his face to the ground an 1 hia arms out-atrct died uliove Ids head.How the accident happened, if accident it wan, may never Iks known. Mr. Cowles who has an intimate knowledge of the ground given the following version as an opinion. The ro|e in which the ln !y of the Indian was entangled was used to ,,Bllake,, the posts down from the hill to the road and after loading the posts the rope was thrown into the front end of the wagon which Frank Jones drove, Spanish Frank following 011 his horse. At a steep place in the r»ad the Indian lost control of the brake or dropped the lines and the wagon forced the team to run. The Indian jumped or was thrown from the seat and becoming tangled in the rope was losing dragged to death.Spanish Frank rude his horse down, jumped off him and attempted to atop the horses by catching tneir head;*. He fell an 1 the reach pole of the wagon having broke it ran through him as the wagon passed over him. The foregoing is simply Mr. Cowles’ opinion.When the accident was reported here George Duwding and Jim Kwing were sent to bring the bodies here, the place of the accident living seventy-live miles ii.vay from any settlement.Frank Messer is well known all over the State, having been a vaquero in Nevada for many years. He has an Indian wife, a boy and a girl. He has a ranch at Lovelock where his family reside. He was very proud of his children ami said when he was here a week or so ago that he wanted to make a will in their favor.George Dowding and Jim Kwing returned yesterday from Limbo with the body of Frank Messer, the lxly of Frank Jones being left with the Reservation authorities at the Agency.An examination of the bodies by the surgeons allowed that both men had been shot to death, most probably a riflle being used. Frank Messer was shot when his back was turned, the bullet going through the upper part of the chest and ranging downward. Frank Jones w is shot through the upper part of the chest the bullet ranging from the left side to the right. He was shot while looking at the shooter and while presenting three-quarters of hia body, l or the purp me of deception pieces of cedar wiod had been driven into the wounds of 110tli the men and everything left to make their deaths appear to have been caused by a runaway accident.As soon as it was known that the men had been murdered, a party of Indian trackers started for the scene and they are at this writing engaged in the work and are on a hot trail. They found at a bluff of rocks where two horses had been tied, near the wood road along which the murdered men passed, a place where the horses had grazed while tethered and tracks of themurderer where he waited and watched and where tin* murder took place. Starting from this point they took the trail easily following tic* tracks until dark. So.ne of the trailers came into the Reservation for supplies and expressed the opinion, from what they had learned on the trail that the men hail lx-en murdered by Monaco Ksciiovcrria. K?-eheverria came up from that country Sunday night where he had been working with rattle. Jim Kwing states thut Spanish Frank a week ago last Mondav visited Kscheverria's camp. That Ks-eheverria tol l Spanish Frank, Frank I IImg Ewing, that the arrest of Smith for trying to poison Lain I, Kscheverria ami others at Pyramid recently by putting strychnine in the suit, was a put up job and for hia share in the plot Kscheverria was to get one hundred dollars. Spanish Frank told Kscheverria that ho would lie a terrible witness against him, Kscheverria, if summoned to appear in t he case. Frank told Mon-ico that the lcst thing he could do was to keep his mouth shut in regard to the poisoning case for he would give himself away. We understand Kscheverria has talked to about the same effect with others. Joe Y’yra a Spaniard residing a. Lovelock and a friend of Spanish Frank’s, was in town Sunday evening and Kscheverria approached him without an introduction. Kscheverria asked if he knew Spanish Frank and was told by Y'yra that he came here on that business. Kseheverra told Vyra he bo-lieved Frank had been killed by Jim Kwing who was u damn rascal and who 10 make believe Frank had been killed ly accident had shoved the sticks in the bullet wounds. Munico will have to explain how lie knew sticks were shoved in the bullet wounds.Deputy sheriff Lothrop yesterday swore out a warrant and later arrested Kscheverria for the murder. Tne case will go to Humboldt County. Coroner J. A. Cochran is looking into the matter and has a very complicated case to handle.The excitement is at fever heat here and groups of men stund on the streets talking it over and giving opinions version and theories. The Indians arc greatly excited an I expect llinir trailer; to track the murderer to his present wiiemilHHUM.It is alleged Ed Laird had a row with Frank Jones over a horse a few days ago and Laird is also a witness in the poisonig case. He was in that country at the time of the murder. It is a complicated case for the abend of Humboldt couutry.Keclieverrie says he can prove an alive and Tom Applegate, Archie Steele and John Wadsworth were with him. The question is the distance he would have to ride and the time he was alone Thursday.
Newspaper Details
Wadsworth Dispatch
Wadsworth, Nevada, US
Wed, Nov 27, 1895
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Christopher B.
USA 05 Sep 2022
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Wadsworth Dispatch
