USA > California > Santa Barbara County > History of Santa Barbara county, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 102
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Dr. C. L. Bard testified to attending George Stow who had all the symptoms of strychnine poison.
A. M. Cameron testified to hearing More threaten- ing to burn his house as he had Bartlett's, Cameron retorting that if he did he would shoot More.
The testimony generally showed a great amount of ill-feeling between More and the settlers, but the charge of poisoning in the Bulletin was entirely with- out foundation. It may be remarked, here, that the use of poison for squirrels, coyotes and other vermin, is almost universal; that the wonder is that the number of accidents is not greater. The jury found a verdict for the Plaintiff with nominal damages at $150. The sum was so disproportionate to the amount claimed ($100,000), that the result was con- sidered a defeat of More and a triumph of the Bulletin. The people manifested their delight with shouts even in the court room.
ILL-FEELING.
The matter of the libel suit will show the feeling towards More on the part of the people and settlers some years previous to the murder. The public feeling was not much better in the years that followed. The settlers were still maintaining possession while More was endeavoring to perfect his title to the land. The settlers had formed themselves into a league for mutual defense and assistance. Whether unlawful measures had been considered or resolved upon is not known to outsiders. Common report says that a resolution in the significant words, MORE MUST DIE, had been adopted. Members of the league whose veracity is beyond question, if that can be said of any one, state that no such resolution was ever proposed or discussed, much less adopted. It is likely that in this league as in most of such societies there were members whose zcal outran their discretion, whose minds were inflamed by the violent demonstrations and More's efforts to get possession of their land, as they considered it.
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HISTORY OF VENTURA COUNTY.
The following letter was delivered to Mr. More in person :-
SESPE RANCHO, June 9, 1871.
T. W. MORE, EsQ .- Sir: Sespe Settlers' League met on the 16th inst. While in session a complaint was brought against you for trespassing on settlers' rights who are living quietly and peaceably upon Government land.
Resolved, therefore, that a committee of three be appointed to wait on T. W. More and notify him that he is not to injure, molest, or insult any settler that is settled npon land in Santa Clara Valley, between Santa Paula Creek and the Piru Creek. And if said T. W. More does he is doing it at his peril.
Done in behalf of the Sespe Settlers' League.
G. M. F. HUNT, Secretary.
The winter of 1876-77 was unusually dry, and More commenced cutting a ditch to take out the water and carry it on his land. Mr. Storke, son-in-law to Mr. More, subsequently to the murder of More related an affair which probably led to the crime. He testified as follows :-
"We were constructing an irrigating ditch to carry water from the Sespe. There were some eight or ten men employed, and I was engaged directing the course of the ditch, which had been run too low by the surveyor. Mr. More asked me where I was running the ditch, and at my request he went with meto see. As we walked along we were hidden from the view of the men at work. Suddenly Mr. More said, 'There is that man,' and looking up I saw Sprague with a double-barrelled shot-gun on his shoulder. He said, : Don't you come here; this is my land; don't come here or I will shoot you.' Mr. More answered him, ' Oh no, you would not shoot anybody.' Sprague brought his gun down toa position so that if it had gone off it would have shot Mr. More. The latter went near him, and, jumping caught the gun and turning it from him, grasped the triggers and fired one barrel in the air. Sprague talked very loud and threateningly. Mr. More tried to fire the other barrel but could not. I then caught Sprague by the neck, and Mr. More took the gun away and fired it in the air. I believed Sprague had no other weapons and I released him. He grasped the gun and in the struggle the gun was broken. We then walked away. In a few moments we heard Sprague shouting to come on, and threatening to shoot. Looking back we saw him behind a brush with a pistol in his band pointing at Mr. More. Mr. Roberts, foreman of the men, had been attracted by the shooting, and coming up ran between Mr. More and Sprague, saying, 'Don't shoot.' Sprague endeavored to get out of line of him, and shouted to Mr. More that he had had a pistol loaded with six bullets, waiting for him for the past three months. This was not on land claimed by Mr. Sprague. Mr. More had been in possession of Mr. Sprague's land fourteen years before Mr. Sprague settled on and claimed it. On cross examination the witness said that Mr. More was a daring and deter- mined but not a desperate man. He was larger than Sprague. Sprague was arrested for the assault, and was discharged by the magistrate. The ditch was not on Sprague's land, and took water from the Sespe below Sprague's land."
THE CRIME.
The murder of T. W. More oeeurred on the night of the 23d and 24th of March, 1877, at a place on the
Sespe occupied by More, a hired hand by the name of Ferguson, and a Chinaman. The barn, containing horses, wagons, and harness, was set on fire. When the inmates of the house discovered the flames, all ran out to save the horses and harness, etc. The murder of Mr. More seemed to be the sole object as he was fired upon by five men as soon as he came prominently into view. When he fell, three or four men ran up to him, and repeatedly shot him, putting three bullets in his brain at such short range that his features were nearly obliterated with powder smoke, and deliberately left with the expression, " Come on boys."
The murder excited the most profound horror throughout the State. While the sympathies of the people were with the settlers in the contest for homes, the cowardly and brutal character of the murder excited only abhorrence.
Shortly after the murder a meeting of the citi- zens of the Sespe was held at the house of F. A. Sprague, on the evening of March 28th, to give ex- pression to public sentiment in regard to the horrible murder and arson which had lately been committed. After electing N. H. Hickerson, Chairman, and F. A. Sprague, Secretary, and some discussion, the follow- ing resolutions were passed :-
" Resolved, That we deplore with deepest regret the awful tragedy that has lately taken place in our midst, and that we most emphatically disapprove of and denounce the act, whether employed as a means of settling difficulties. or of obtaining revenge either for real or fancied injuries.
" Resolved, That we hereby tender our earnest and hearty sympathy and co-operation to those engaged in ferreting out and bringing the assassins to justice, to the end that if they be among us, that we may be purged of their presence, and if they be not among us, we may be relieved of the stigma that suspicion throws upon us, and that full and exact justice may be meted out to all parties concerned.
"N. H. HICKERSON, President. "F. A. SPRAGUE, Secretary."
F. Delmont, Coroner for Ventura County, held an inquest over the body, and the following witnesses were examined: Juan Olivas, George Ferguson, Jim Tot (Chinese cook), A. J. Cole, B. J. Robertson, Alfredo Ramirez, Ponciano Martinez, and Santiago Rival, from whom the following facts -were elicited :*
" That the deceased, Ferguson, Olivas, and the Chinese cook were the only persons lodging in the ranch-house the night of the murder. That they all retired to rest from the fatigues of the day early. That about 12:30 o'clock at night, Ferguson and Oli- vas, lodging in the same room with the cook, were aroused by him from a sound sleep, stating that the barn (about 200 feet distant from the house) was on fire, the light of the conflagration shining through the window into their room, and they got up and called Mr. More. All rushed out in their under- clothes and bare feet to save what they could of the property in the barn, consisting of twelve work-
"We have copied freely from a pamphlet issued by L. C. Granger, Acting District Attorney in the case.
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MURDER OF T. WALLACE MORE.
horses and their harness, about 2,000 sacks of wheat, and mme barley, with several tons of hay in the western shed part of the barn-their first thought being that the fire was caused by some accident. The fire originated in the western shed part of the barn where the hay was. That the deceased, Ferguson, Olivas, the China cook, and Ramirez (who slept out- side that night), were occupied in cutting the horses loose and turning them out, and in carrying out the harness. The deceased was fired upon while outside of the barn bearing out harness, by two of the masked men, who came forward and guarded the corral gate, and was wounded in the thigh, front part, near the groin, the ball ranging upwards. That he clapped his hand to the wound, crying out, ' What's the matter?' That Ferguson called out, 'Run for life !' That Olivas and deceased ran from the north side of the barn westerly into the plain. after getting over the corral fence inclosing the barn-yard, and the two separated-deceased taking a south westerly course- and concealed thereafter by the smoke of the barn from Olivas. That Ferguson and the others fled southerly into the plain. That three masked men ran and overtook deceased, who had fallen to the ground about seventy-five yards from the southwest corner of the corral, in the open plain, and riddled the body and head of deceased with bullets. That the leader said, 'Boys, let's go.' That one of the employees of deceased saw three armed, masked men, another saw five, and another from five to seven, who were engaged in the work of arson and murder. That they came to the house on foot from northerly direction, and returned the same way. That one very peculiar track led towards and near the house of Churchill. That of the three men who fired into deceased, two were full ordinary sized men, and the third was taller than his comrades. That one of the masked men told the cook, who was sent to the house for a knife to cut the horses loose, to go back or he would shoot him. That the only words that were heard from the masked men were spoken in plain, good English. That a shell dis- charged from a Henry rifle was picked up early in the morning near the corral gate. That Ferguson in the night received a spent bird-shot lodging in his forehead. That deceased had three bullets in the head, one entering the forehead, and several in his body, and that he died of these wounds.
" Under this evidence the Coroner's jury found ' that deceased came to his death on the morning of the 24th of March, 1877, by gun-shot wounds in- flicted by divers persons upon the head and body of said deceased. by parties unknown to the jury; and that the jury further find and declare the said crime to be a case of willful murder."
TRACES OF THE MURDERERS.
" The several persons composing that jury, six in number, left the ranch-house of deceased to return to their respective homes about an hour previous to night; but on their way they inspected the foot- prints of the masked men making their way from the scene of the slaughter. The tracks all led in the direction of the house of F. A. Sprague. or nearly so. One of these parties inspecting the tracks saw distinctly the tracks of seven men going from be- tween the house and corral of the deceased across the plain outside of any road directly to an alder tree, near by a patch of cactus, where he dis- covered that horses had been tied (this fact being developed on the last trial), the tree being about a
half mile from the More house, and less than that from the line of the Santa Clara River; and from the alder tree there were the foot-prints of only two men, which he did not follow to their termination, as it was near night. This citizen also picked up one of the masks that had been secreted under a cactus bush near the alder tree.
" The reader is requested to bear the fact of the alder tree in mind, with the fresh tracks of the horse hitched there the night before, as it has a great bear- ing upon the story of the murder given to the Court by the State's witness, Jesse M. Jones.
"Others of the Coroner's jury followed the pecu- liar foot-prints of one of the masked men to within a hundred yards of Churchill's house, and there lost sight of it, as it had been effaced by travel in that vicinity. This foot-print showed rows of tacks in the half sole of the right boot diagonally across it, and nails as usual on the heel; the left boot showed no prints of nails on the half sole, but nails in the heel. They measured the size of the track, and when they came to Churchill's house, and while con- versing with him and MeCart outside and near the house, one of the persons who had been following that peculiar track to the vicinity of the house, noticed the size and shape of MeCart's boots, caused him to lift up his foot, and took the measure, and found it to correspond exactly with the peculiar track which he had measured. They said to him that they arrested him. Then Churchill spoke up in a defiant tone, demanding of them by what authority they, as private citizens, presumed to arrest him. He was answered, by the authority which every citizen with- out a warrant has to arrest a man supposed to have been connected with a murder. It was then agreed to send the Sheriff next day to effect his arrest.
" On the next day, Sunday. Charles McCart was arrested by the Sheriff, charged with participation in the murder. But he had pulled off and thrown away the fraction of the half sole from his left boot. Ile was brought to the town of San Buenaventura for examination. On Monday morning, bright and early, came Sprague and Churchill to town, espous- ing the cause of MeCart out of the pure disinterested- ness of their nature, of course, everywhere vouching for his innocence, and soliciting counsel for his defense. A long and tedious examination succeeded, founded upon the evidence of the tracks, and he was held by the County Judge, acting as examining magis- trate, without bail, to answer for the crime of mur- der. I have ever thought, since studying that evi- dence under all the other circumstances of the case, that it was sufficient to insure his conviction before an impartial jury; and so thought a majority of the next grand jury; but they lacked one of a legal majority, and so the bill was ignored. We shall make further reference to this grand jury hereafter.
" The further prosecution of the perpetrators of this murder was suspended for a whole year. During this interval the good people of this county were making a searching private investigation of the facts of the case. not to solve the mystery as to the principal parties to the crime, for there has never been the shadow of a reasonable doubt in their minds upon that point, but rather to obtain adequate legal evidence of their guilt. It was dis- covered that the shell of a needle gun was picked up the next morning after the murder between the ranch-house and the site of the burnt barn. There was no other needle gun in the Sespe settlement but the one belonging to Lord. It was also discov- ered that the shell of a Spencer rifle had been picked
436
HISTORY OF VENTURA COUNTY.
up near where the body of Mr. More fell, in the morning light after the murder; and there was no arm of that kind owned in that settlement except the Spencer rifle of Lord, which had been lent to Sprague two weeks prior to the murder, and was not returned until a few days after the murder. It was further ascertained that the impression of the hammer upon the rim of this shell corresponded precisely with the impression made upon six other shells which had been fired from the Spencer rifle of Lord by a young man in his employ about two weeks preceding the murder. It was also ascer- tained that Curlee and young Jones, who lived with him, were away from home all that night of the murder, on pretense of going to stay all night at a stock ranch of theirs in Poll Canon. not more than five miles from their home. And that about nine o'clock that night they were seen on horseback between Poll Cañon and going in the direction of Sprague's, while Curlee said they were there all night, going to bed early. Also that Sprague and Churchill had both been to Curlee's on horseback, each at a separate time, two or three days before the murder, holding private interviews with Curlee and Jones away from the house and hear- ing of others. It was discovered just before the trial of Sprague that both Lord and Hunt were out of their houses that same night, and abont the hours of the murder, upon the pretense of running depredat- ing stock off their land, their two places adjoining. It was also found that Churchill rode to Lord's and had a private interview with him the afternoon before the murder, and Lord told his sheep-herder to stay out with the sheep that night and not come to the house to sleep as was usual; and that Lord went down to More's sheep camp and stayed till near night, and until he saw More leave there to go to his raneh-house to sleep. All the others in that settle- ment could give the most satisfactory proofs of their whereabouts on that night, except the seven men finally accused and indicted for this murder. There could not be found any hypothesis from facts ever discovered that could by any moral possibility im- plicate any others than the-e seven men as being connected with the commission of that crime. No one' has ever had the audacity to promulgate any other theory for this offense, or of implicating any other individuals, and no other particular individuals have ever been suspected of a connection therewith.
DEVELOPMENT OF FACTS.
" However, none or all of the foregoing facts were esteemed by the authorities sufficient to put these men on their trial for the murder of Mr. More. * * Early in 1878, about the Ist of January, the brother-in-law of Austin Brown had jumped a possessory claim of his in the Sespe settlement, and was encouraged by Curlee to hold it. The next time Brown and Curlee met at the town of Santa Paula, Curlee being on the rampage and drinking freely, hard words ensued between them about the matter, stinging Brown to the quick, and, on going home, Lord happened to ride with him in his wagon, en- deavoring to assnage his wounded feelings. Brown said to him, 'Curlee must go slow; I know of bis connection with the More murder.' Lord replied, " If you know anything about that matter, for God's sake keep still, as you may bring suffering upon innocent persons also. I will see Curlee and have matters amicably settled.' The next day Curlee came to Brown and apologized for his unjust behav- ior. But Brown was cut to the heart; the wound
would not heal, and about the middle of February he sought an interview with Mr. Henry More, the brother and administrator of the estate of the deceased, who was spending a few days at the Sespe Ranch. In that interview Brown made a statement of the conspiracy organized by Sprague and Churchill to murder the deceased, of the parties expected to be engaged in the result, of the time set and the rendezvons, as well as the whole plan of its execu- tion, precisely the same, in word and substance, as given by him in a private statement previous to the arrest of the seven assassins, and as afterwards given at the several times he was placed upon the stand as a witness. This statement was given to Mr. More at the time in confidence, not to be divulged to the public until Brown could move from that set- tlement to a safe place, as he feared for his life, which had been threatened by the men who had mur- dered More, if he (Brown) should ever disclose the secret." * * *
Brown sold his place and prepared to move away, but stopped at the county seat, where he was con- sidered safe.
These circumstances and others induced the arrest of F. A. Sprague, J. S. Churchill. J. T. Curlee, Jesse M. Jones, I. D. Lord, H. Cook, and J. A. Swanson, the warrant of arrest being dated the 28th day of March, 1878. The parties were brought before R. C. Carlton. examining magistrate, on the first day of April.
NEW EVIDENCE.
About this time it was learned that new evidence had been obtained. Mr. N. H. Hickerson, who was sick and in daily expectation of dying, had a secret which was weighing upon his soul, being no more nor less than the fact that he had been the recipient of Sprague's confession of his planning and execu- tion of the murder, the testimony being taken by N. Blackstock, Notary Public, given under the condi- tion that it was not to be divulged until after his death. Upon being informed. however, that the assassins were under arrest, and that Brown bad made a similar statement, he was induced to come forward and reveal the facts.
STATE OF CALIFORNIA, 2 County of Ventura. -
N. H. Hickerson of said county and State, being first duly sworn, deposes and says :-
First .- I am fifty-five years of age.
Second .- I am now engaged, when in health, in the business of farming.
Third .- My place of residence is on the Sespe River, next place above F. A. Sprague, and seven or eight miles north of Santa Paula, in said county and State.
Fourth .- I believe that I am soon to die; that my
. time is short; and that my present illness is absolutely sure to terminate in death. And thus believing, I cannot die satisfied, without first making a statement of what I may know in reference to the murder of T. Wallace More, which occurred in this neighborhood, in the early part of the year 1877.
Fifth .- All that I know of said murder follows, to wit: Some time between the date of the row between More and F. A. Sprague on the ditch and the mur-
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MURDER OF T. WALLACE MORE.
der, I think just after the row, F. A. Sprague said to me north of his house, that he was going to kill Tom More, and if he could not get any one to assist him, he would do it alone; and asked me if I would join him, when proper arrangements could be made. But I refused, and told him that I did not go into such operations as that. I saw from my house the light caused by the burning barn of Mr. More, on the night of the murder. That was about twelve o'clock at night. Soon after the murder, Sprague (F. A. Sprague) sent for me to attend a meeting of citi- zens, to pass resolutions denouncing the murder of Mr. More. I attended at his house as requested, and found there F. A. Sprague, Jule Swanson, and J. S. Churchill. The meeting was called to order. I was elected Chairman, and F. A. Sprague Secretary. After the organization as above. Sprague offered and read some resolutions which had been before pre- pared, which were adopted. And Sprague, after saying that it did not matter whether many were present or not, requested me to, and I signed the resolutions as Chairman, and he as Secretary. ] then returned home. A few nights after this, a report came that a mob was coming up to kill the settlers on the lower Sespe; and F. A. Sprague sent word to me of the rumor, and requested me to meet him and others at his house and we would defend ourselves. Thinking that I might he in some danger, or that under any circumstances it was my duty to resist mob violence, I went, and met. in front of Sprague's old store, F. A. Sprague, his son and nephew. J. S. Churchill, and a man who represented himself to be a newspaper reporter. After talking a short time I remarked that I thought the place an unfit one for protection, and that I would hunt a more sheltered one down among the willows. Sprague agreed with me, and myself and Sprague then left the party, and went a few rods among the willows where we were hid, but could see up and down the road. Sprague then. without a question from me, commenced a. conversa- tion abont the More place, and very soon told me the following partieulars of the murder of T. Wallace More :-
He said that himself, J. T. Curlec, Jule Swanson, J. S. Churchill, Charles McCart, Jesse Jones, and I. D. Lord, had decided to meet at a place near a little creek between Sprague's and Lorton's, on the left- hand side of the road. That after completing all necessary arrangements, and arranging their dis- guises, and seeuring their horses (some of them, he said, had rode horseback to the place of meeting, or rendezvons), they went across the river-bed on foot to More's ranch-house. On reaching there, they found that the lights were all out and everybody asleep in the house, except Juan Calderon, a Spaniard, who was asleep near the barn. Sprague said that he and one of the erowd went behind the barn and set it on fire, which aroused More, the Chinaman, and all the rest. They came out to the barn, and were try- ing to save the harness. That George Ferguson was the first to see the danger or real situation, and that he hallooed to More to run for his life, that he would be murdered. That Ferguson ran to the back of the barn, and called to More to run this way. Ferguson cleared the barn ahead of More. Sprague said no one was to molest Ferguson, and no one fired at him; but More seemed to be shot, as he elasped his hand to his hip, and ran limping; that he ran some 150 yards, and fell, and supported himself on one arm, until he (Spragne), Curlee, and Churchill went to him. That when they got to him, More begged for his life, and said, " For God's sake don't kill me!" and turned over
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