Craig Empire Newspaper Articles
1918-1922
for the communities of Lily and Blue
Mountain
Moffat County, Colorado
(note: This collection of news articles is not complete. I searched for mention of the Thomas Alvin Smith family)
December
1918 - Thomas A. Smith of the Craig-Sunbeam stage escaped
serious injury Friday when his motor truck skidded over an embankment a short
distance this side of Sunbeam. The car turned over and the driver stuck to the
steering wheel, which gave him a fierce jab in the chest. Aside from this
bruise Mr. Smith was not injured and is again on the job.
LILY
ITEMS Jan. 1, 1919 - The Lily threshing machine returned to the park after
about a three months run. C. E. Owen took his cattle to White River some time
ago, where he has feed for the winter. Rosa and Julia
Smith came down Friday from Craig to visit friends in Lily park. The
people of this vicinity enjoyed an entertainment by the school Monday night.
Mr. and Mrs. Owen made a trip to Craig last week. They took a hog to town.
LILY
NEWS Jan. 8, 1919 - (crowded out last week) R. A. Morris and
A. S. Wilson stayed at the White Bear ranch Monday night. They were on their
way to Craig. C. C. Weaver was at the W. B. Ranch yesterday. Everyone present
at the skating party given by Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Barnes enjoyed the skating and
lunch. F. C. Barnes and T. W. Barnes have been working on F. C. Barnes new
house. R. A. Morris and S. A. Wilson and E. F. Smith
stopped at the White Bear ranch last night. They were on their way to Bear
Valley. H. A. Shank has been breaking some horses lately. Mr. Eller was at the
White Bear ranch the other day. The Cross Mountain Grangers met at the Cross Mountain
hall last Saturday night.
February
5, 1919 - R. E. Morris and son have been up from their new
ranch property in the Blue Mountain district this week. Mr. Morris
will buy a tractor outfit this spring and expects to get several hundred acres
of the new land in cultivation by fall.
March
5, 1919 - Thomas A. Smith and Floyd Williams, until recently proprietors of the
Craig-Sunbeam stage line, departed the latter part of the week with their
families for Lily Park, where both have excellent homesteads. Robert E.
Morris came up from his Blue Mountain homestead on business last week.
He is preparing to farm on an extensive scale this year and has ordered a
tractor outfit for the heavy work.
LILY
NEWS March 12, 1919 - F. Williams, T. A. and J. W. Smith
stayed at the White Bear ranch Tuesday night. They were on their way to Bear
Valley. Louise Barnes spent the night with Mary Weaver last week. R. E.
and B. L. Morris moved the W. F. and T. A. Smith families and
Mrs. Williams to Bear Valley Monday.
April
2, 1919 - Thomas A. Smith came up from his homestead in Blue
mountain country, suffering with throat trouble. He has been quite ill at the
home of Mrs. Fuller, but yesterday had sufficiently recovered to stand an
operation which it is believed will result in permanent relief.
April
16, 1919 - Thomas A. Smith, who has been in poor health since
last fall, was again brought to Craig yesterday from his ranch in Bear Valley.
His father, W. F. Smith, will remain here with him.
YOUGHALL
NOTES Sept. 17, 1919 – Messrs. Bob
Morris, A. Power, and Frank Smith
are busy cutting logs to build our Youghal school house. Tom
Smith went up to the Douglas saw mill for school house lumber. Yesterday we
had such a good old-fashioned downpour of rain that the cows and farmers are
all in the blandest smiles today. Bear Valley now has a new locked mail pouch
and everybody is glad to have a post office nearer home. We sometimes forget
the name but we’ll get used to it – it’s Youghal.
YOUGHAL NOTES Oct. 8,
1919 – (too late for last week) The people of Bear Valley met at Frank Smith’s home Sunday,
September 11th, and organized a Sunday school, with A. Power as superintendent.
By a vote of those present the new school which is under construction is to be
called Youghal. Fray Baker is in Craig this week on business. Jim and Ernest Smith are haying at
Sunbeam this week. Durward Morris started to Price Creek Friday to get a load
of grain. Frank Smith won two prizes
at the Maybell fair. Thursday brought Youghal another fine rain. Farmers are
building the school house while farmer’s sons are plowing and seeing
after their fathers’ business in general. John Hewitt went to Maybell
Monday. Mr. Power will teach our Youghal school this year. G. W. Graham was in
the neighborhood yesterday seeing after cattle. The Rev. A. L. Duncan, who has
been visiting his brother Joe Duncan of this community left Monday for his home
at Ft. Summer, New Mexico. Mr. Duncan preached several sermons while here, the
meetings being held at the different Youghal homes. Messrs. Morris, Smith, Power and Duncan are
still hammering on the school house which they hope to finish next week. Tom Smith is at the Hell Canyon mine
this week. Floyd Williams had
returned to Oklahoma to spend the winter but expects to be back on his
homestead in time to plant his garden in the spring.
YOUGHAL NOTES Oct. 29, 1919
– We are still having Sunday school at the home of Frank Smith because the furniture for our school house has not yet
arrived. Youghal school opened October 13. Jim
Smith graciously received the school into his home pending the readiness of
the school building. Fray Baker went to Craig on a business trip Saturday. Bob Morris came home Tuesday but
returned to Mud Springs today with Fray Baker to begin work on the road. John
Hewitt is now the mail carrier from Youghall to Lily. Mrs. Floyd Williams left Monday for Nolan (note: probably Noble), Okla., where she will join her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Williams will return to
Youghall in the spring. Tom Smith
started for Denver Monday on a very special business trip (note: On October 29, 1919, in Ault, Colorado, Tom Smith married Chloe
Belle Callender Jones and brought her back to Bear Valley). Mr. Smith has been breaking land for
Mrs. Bosley. Mr. and Mrs. Power took dinner with Mrs. Frank Smith Sunday. The singing given by Mrs. Smith Sunday evening in honor of Mrs. Williams’ departure was well attended. Bernice Morris is visiting home folks
this week. Jim Smith is helping push
to the limit the interests of the Hell’s Canyon Copper Company this week.
The homestead of Charlie Wilcox has been closed for the remainder of the year,
he having returned with his family to Wichita Falls, Texas. A. V. Spurgin of
Havernal ranch made a business trip to Bear Valley springs one day last week. Ernest Smith is now in Maybell on
business. Durward Morris was at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Power Sunday. We
Youghal people love to hear the noise of those Hell’s Canyon Copper
company 5-ton trucks going through our valley. They make us feel like business
is picking up.
YOUGHAL NOTES Nov. 12, 1919
– Our school house is now completed and furnished and actually being used
as a school house although it has seemed so long in materializing that
sometimes we thought it “only a dream” More patronage is coming to
our new postoffice from time to time as people within reach realize what a
great convenience it is to get their mail nearer home. When the snow gets
deeper and we want to send out for Santa Claus on a pair of overshoes
we’ll appreciate our postoffice more than ever. We are pleased with the
promptness and general efficiency of our postmaster R. E. Morris. Ernest Smith
went to Lily Sunday. Fray Baker was over at Bear Valley springs Monday on
business. R. E. Morris is making a
trip to Meeker this week to take his horses and cattle nearer feed. School is
progressing nicely now, every child in our community who is of school age being
enrolled. Bernice Morris is going to
remain at home and attend school this term. Joe Duncan went to Massadona
Tuesday. While there he had his postoffice address changed to Youghal. Jack
Stuart was up at Youghal Tuesday for mail. Mrs. Power substituted at school for
Mr. Power Monday, he having been hurriedly called away by the trowel to the
north side of the school house. Jim
Smith is at the mine again this week. We now have Sunday school literature
on hand and cordially invite all who are within reach to come and help us with
our lessons.
YOUGHAL NOTES Nov. 26, 1919
– (too late for last week) Tom
Smith has consummated his business at Purcell, Colo., and we are daily
expecting him to arrive with his bride.
Mr. Power, our Sunday school superintendent, was not with us Sunday as he was
suffering from a cold. One noticeable thing about our Sunday school is that the
helpers are at once ready and willing to become teachers or superintendents as
the necessity demands. Jim Smith is
at home again from the mine. G. W. Graham of Lily was at Youghal Monday
rounding up his cattle. Last Friday brought a snow storm. Mrs. Robert Morris is sick this week. Bernice Morris is doing some plowing for A. Bower. Frank Smith made a trip up to the Hell
Canyon mine Saturday. Joe Duncan is carrying the mail for Mr. Hewitt this week.
Frank Jr. and Ola Smith are visiting Brandeford and Nahl Power this week. The
Youghal school was closed Tuesday for that we might join the world in the
celebration of the Great Peace.
YOUGHAL NOTES Dec.10, 1919
– (too late for last week) We are now having real “Indian
Summer” here in the valley, whereas all new comers expected to be snowed
under before this date. Our school is progressing quite nicely not withstanding
the fact that our furniture is not yet at hand. Henry Wassen is bringing horses
into this community for winter pasture. G. W. Graham of Lily has now removed
his cattle from Youghal. He and Ernest
Smith started for Meeker with them last week. It is said that Mr. Graham
will reside at Meeker during the remainder of this winter. The Youghal mail now
makes connection with that of Cross Mountain and since this change Youghal has
its mail only once per week. Bernice and Durward Morris are at work at the Hell
Canyon mine this week. A. V. Spurgeon was in our community Tuesday looking
after livestock. Tom and Jim Smith are in Craig today on
business. Our Sunday school is steadily growing under the direction of A. Power
as superintendent. We have received our 1919 song books recently and now have
singing immediately after Sunday school. R.
E. Morris is cutting posts for Mr. Eskridge this week. The reception given
by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Smith in honor of their son Tom and his wife was
heartily enjoyed by all present.
YOUGHAL NOTES Dec. 31, 1919
– Dry farmers of this community are elated over the deep snow they are
having to buck. It means more feed next year. A. S. Wilson is now overseer at
the Hell Canyon Copper Mine. Jim Smith
and Bernice Morris went to Cross
Mountain Friday for the mail. They got back Tuesday. Some trip that! School is
still in progress notwithstanding the frozen heels and ears of some of the
pupils. Thurman Morris and his
“big” brother Bernice
were out hunting Saturday when Thurman
was so nearly overcome by the cold that he had to be carried in. He has
sufficiently recovered to be in school again, however. A. Power made a business
trip to Lily last week. Many cattle are dying in this part of the district on
account of the severity of the last storm – and no feed. Messrs. A. Power
and Thos. A. Smith started to
Maybell today via Lily and Cross Mountain. No wagons can run here in Bear
Valley now on account of the depth of the snow. All traffic is by way of the
one bobsled of Youghal.
YOUGHAL NOTES Jan. 14, 1920
– Tom Smith and A. Power
returned from Maybell too late for the big Christmas dinner given by Mrs. Tom Smith. However, all the rest
of the “Youghalites” were present and certainly enjoyed the day.
Misses Mary Weaver of Lily and Rosa and Julia Smith of Youghal are visiting
Mrs. A. Power this week. R. E. Morris went
to Cross Mountain on business this week. Ernest
Smith and Bernice Morris started
to the Wolf Creek country yesterday but are expected to return in time to
re-enter school Monday. Will White of the White Bear Ranch was at the home of
A. Power last week. Fray Baker and Bill Edward were in this community last week
gathering up cattle. The occasion of the week was a New Year’s dinner
given by Mr. and Mrs. A. Power. The day was spent pleasurably by every one
present. The older people spent the afternoon in singing while the young folks
were out sledding or trying their new skis. Joe Duncan has gone to Vernal,
Utah, this week on business. Our Sunday school elected new officers last Sunday
except that A. Power was retained as superintendent and Joe Duncan was re-elected
secretary. Tom Smith was elected as
instructor and leader of our singing.
YOUGHAL NOTES Feb. 28, 1920
– We are hopefully expecting that the Youghal-Cross Mountain mail line
will be given a regular government mail carrier March 1st. All bids
are in. Mr. Milheim and son returned to their homestead this week. Mrs. A. S.
Wilson of Youghal is now at Lily awaiting transportation to her home. Her
friends here have been anxiously awaiting her return. We are expecting a fair
crop this year as we have had mountains of snow which is now melting and
soaking into the land nicely. Julia
Smith has been out of school for several days on account of sickness. H.
Wassen is sufficiently recovered to be out about his work again. Tom Smith returned from a business trip
to Craig rather late Sunday.
YOUGHAL NOTES Mar. 17, 1920
– Jim Smith started to Meeker
Sunday. He and Bernice Morris will
bring the Smith-Morris livestock
back to Bear Valley next week. The thaw is apparently on out here now though
light snows continue to fall. Saturday F. A. Baker, who has been engaged at the
Hells Canyon Copper Mine, was called home at Lily park by the serious illness
of his father. Mrs. R. E. Morris and
little daughter Thelma are visitors
at Meeker this week. Mrs. Estridge of Johnson’s draw spent last week
visiting Mrs. Frank Smith. Our
Sunday school met at the home of Mr. Power last Sunday owing to the fact that
every member happened to visit there that day. Durward Morris made a trip to Cross Mountain as mail carrier last
Friday. Mr. Manning of Badger Flat was over at Mr. Hewitt’s Tuesday on
business. Mr. Power has gone to Lily park today on a matter of business. Mrs.
Henry Wassen was at Youghal Thursday for the mail.
YOUGHAL NOTES May 12, 1920
– We are still having snow out here and many are beginning to wonder if
crops can be made between spring snows and autumn frost bites. Cheer up
neighbors and be thankful for the bright prospects of a garden. Seven months of
our school have been taught with only the loss of one day on account of bad
weather, notwithstanding the fact that at times it was unthinkably cold. Our
Sabbath school has been dismissed only for one Sunday during the winter,
although the attendance was registered at only a few degrees above zero –
a few faithful members saved the say when the snow was too deep for others to
buck. Mrs. Powers denies the “honor” of being a nurse – but
happily visited Mrs. White of Lily last week. Harie Estridge and wife are
staying with the R. E. Morris family
pending the arrival of the Estridge household wares from Cross Mountain. Durward Morris made a trip to Lily last
week, going on to Cross Mountain for the mail. R. E. Morris, in company with three homeseekers, started for Craig
this morning. Messrs. Tom and Jim Smith are on the road to Maybell
today. Tom Smith has been appointed
road overseer for this district from Cross Mountain to Utah. He will gather up his
road working implements as he returns from Maybell and make ready to begin his
road work soon. Harie Estridge is suffering from snow blindness since his trip
over to Wolf Creek Friday. Joe Duncan was a caller at Mr. Power’s
Thursday. Mr. Power went to Lily park Saturday.
YOUGHAL NOTES Jun. 23, 1920
– Farmers of this community have about finished planting. Most gardens
are up and looking fine. Mrs. Frank
Smith is on the sick list this week. Mr. Power has just finished fencing an
80-acre plot. Nick M. Patterson has returned to his homestead and is now moving
his house toward the south side of his land. Mr. Patterson’s many friends
welcome his return, doubly so since he brings his bride with him. Mr. Miller,
who has filed on the “Pot Hole” land, came in yesterday to begin
the ordeal of homesteading. Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Wilson returned home today from
Craig where they have been to meet their little daughter, Mary. Mary spent the
winter in an academy at Denver. Fray Baker was over looking after his farming
interests here Friday. People are all returning to their homesteads here now.
It looks quite prosperous now with so many fine rye patches.
(Note: from June of 1920 through December 1922 there were no news entries from Youghal.
Perhaps the person who provided the news tidbits moved away.)
BLUE MOUNTAIN AND HELL CREEK
BASIN Sep. 14, 1921 – Mr. and Mrs.
F. Smith of Bear Valley visited at Mrs. F. A. Fuller’s two days last
week.
Craig Empire Newspaper – Front Page October 12, 1921 W. F. SMITH AND SON SHOT TO DEATH;
NEIGHBOR HELD ON MURDER CHARGE. Eye Witnesses Say A. S. Wilson Killed Bear
Valley Pioneers After Bloody Quarrel. MEN HAVE HOT WORDS AND FIST FIGHT.
Frank Smith, pioneer Blue Mountain ranchman, and his son James Smith lie buried in one grave.
Their former neighbor and friend, A. S. Wilson, is in jail in Craig charged
with their murder. Eye witnesses say Wilson shot the two men following a fight
with the elder Smith.
A
double killing in which father and son met death is the tragedy which shocked
Moffat County last week. That Smith
and his son came to their death
“from a gunshot wound inflicted by A. S. Wilson with felonious
intent” was the finding of the coroner’s jury. Eye witnesses told
of the killing but no adequate motive to justify such a tragedy had been
advanced.
A
few words over the disposal of some potatoes, the suggestion that the elder Smith was indignant over land matters,
other motives for the quarrel which led to the fatal shooting have been
advanced. Yet the fact remains that no person has given an adequate reason why
a man should kill his neighbor and the neighbor’s unarmed son. This is a
mystery for which a solution will be sought at Wilson’s trial in district
court.
Testimony
given at the coroner’s inquest held before J. E. Duvall Friday showed
that the two Smiths were killed by
Wilson following a bloody fight between Wilson and the elder Smith.
J.
T. Elliot Sr., a renter living on the Tom
Smith ranch in Bear Valley, testified that Wilson had been helping him
harvest his potato crop. A portion of the crop belonged to Tom Smith for rent. Elliot stated the elder Smith came over to Elliot’s field to arrange about the
disposition of his son’s potatoes. When Elliot suggested that they be
left in his (Elliot’s) cellar, Smith
said, “Wilson would steal them if they were left there.”
This
remark was the only reason Elliot gave for the fight which followed. He
testified that the fight was a rough one in which the two old men rolled over
and over on the ground, pummeling each other and using any weapon which came
handy. Elliot said that Wilson struck Smith
three or four times with a hammer before the fighters could be separated.
Then,
Elliot said, Smith picked up a
baseball bat and endeavored to renew hostilities but was prevented from
following Wilson into the Elliot home. Smith
then said he was going for his gun and told Elliot, the latter testified,
“If you don’t want to see that old devil killed you had better get
him off your place.” Elliot said he gave this information to Wilson who
finished his work and walked home.
Later
the elder Smith returned accompanied
by his son James. The elder man had a baseball bat in one hand. The younger man
was unarmed, Elliot said. Jim Smith
was quoted as saying, “Where’s that s…o…b…? We
want him.” And Frank is said
to have added, “Yes, we want him. He can’t stay on this
place.”
When
Wilson appeared, armed with a 38-55 rifle, Elliot says he shot young Smith first and then shot the father
afterwards, walking away.
T.
J. Elliot, Jr. followed his father on the witness stand and told practically the
same story but added to the details of the fight which preceded the killing the
information that Smith hit Wilson
with a potato rake. He also said that Smith
made the prophetic statement that “one of us is going to be hauled off in
a coffin if he (Wilson) puts foot on this land again.”
Dr.
J. E. Downs testified that he had examined the bodies of the two Smiths after they were brought to
Craig. He told of finding evidence of the bloody battle which preceded the
shooting on Smith’s face and
head. The face and forehead were badly bruised and the skull had been
fractured. Doctor Downs said the fractures could have been made with a hammer.
He evinced surprise that the elder Smith
could have returned to the scene of the battle in so short a time after
receiving the head wounds. The fracture itself might have brought death to some
men, he stated.
D.
E. Shaw, school teacher, and R. E.
Morris, neighbor, testified that they removed the bodies of the two dead
men after the killing and afterwards undressed them. No weapons except the
potato rake and baseball bat which were found near Frank Smith’s body were found.
A.
S. Wilson is being held in jail on a murder charge. He will be tried at the
December term of court. Wilson came to Moffat County from Fort Worth in the fall
of 1918 and filed on a homestead in Bear Valley. He is married and a
step-child, Mary Wilson, 13, lives with him and his wife. He is about 60 years
of age.
William Franklin Smith, or Frank
Smith, as he was generally known, and his family came to Moffat County in
August, 1916. The Smiths were the
first settlers in Bear Valley.
Mr. Smith came to Moffat County because he had the
pioneer’s yearning to be on the frontier. He was born in Springtown, Tex.,
56 years ago when Texas was real “Wild West.” His boyhood was spent
in an atmosphere of Indian raids and the hardships which the pioneers of Texas
in ’65 were forced to undergo.
He lived the life of a cowboy on the Texas plains and several times rode with
the huge trail herds from the Rio Grande to Kansas City. When Texas began to
settle up he moved to the Indian territory and helped make history in what is
now the state of Oklahoma when there were not a hundred white people in the
whole territory. For a time he was a cowboy on the 101 ranch, and in 1893 he
filed on a homestead near Noble, Okla. He and his family remained there until
1908 when again the “call of the silent places” was heard and he
came to Bear Valley, then entirely unsettled.
His
sons filed on the homesteads and the elder Smith
stayed with them and assisted them.
James Wesley Smith, who was killed with his father, was 28 years old. He
was born in Agnes, Tex.
Mrs. Smith and two sons, Thomas
and Ernest, and three daughters, Mrs.
Floyd Williams, and Rose 17, and
Julia 13, survive. Mrs. R. E. Morris is a half-sister of Frank Smith.
The
two bodies were buried in one grave in the Craig cemetery Sunday. The ceremony
was conducted by the Rev. A Toothaker, under the auspices of the Odd Fellows.
Both
Tom Smith and R. E. Morris scout the idea of a feud between Wilson and the Smith family. Tom Smith says that as far as he knows the two families have always
been on the best of terms and that there had been no friction up until the time
he left to work at Milner some months ago. He says that the two families have
visited back and forth and have always been neighborly. During the winter of
1918 Wilson lived in Tom Smith’s
house, rent free, Tom Smith says.
Tom Smith says he had heard more to the effect that Wilson had
threatened a contest against the homestead entry of Smith’s son-in-law, Floyd
Williams, but knows nothing of the details.
Craig Empire Newspaper – Front Page October 19, 1921 RANCHER IS SHOT Arthur Fairchild’s Lung
Penetrated By Bullet From Revolver Accidentally Discharged. LIFTS AUTO SEAT
– GUN FIRES.
Arthur Fairchild,
32, a Youghal homesteader, was seriously injured by the accidental discharge of
a 45-calibre revolver Saturday morning. The bullet passed entirely through the
upper portion of his body, puncturing the right lung. Doctors say he will
recover.
Fairchild was at
the Cross Mountain postoffice on the M. H. Gordon ranch Saturday morning. He
left the house and went to the mail car standing in front of the gate. He
attempted to raise the front seat cushion which stuck slightly. He gave a sharp
tug and the revolver, which was lying under the cushion, was discharged.
The first news to reach Craig of the accident was to the
effect that Fairchild had been
fatally shot. Dr. R. A. Seydel made a hurried trip to Cross Mountain taking
Doctors Downs and Davenport with him. The latter stated that unless
complications set in Fairchild will
live.
Fairchild came
to Moffat County last March and has resided here since. He is a member of the
Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges in his former home in Nebraska. W. C. Fairchild, father of the injured
man, arrived in Craig Monday night and went to Cross Mountain yesterday to
remain with his son.
Craig Empire Newspaper Dec. 7, 1921 – WILSON MURDER TRIAL STARTED Blue
Mountain Ranchman Charged With Slaying Two Neighbors Goes To Trial as District
Court Session Begins. TWELVE JURYMEN SELECTED. Thompson “Tea Wagon”
Case and Malicious Mischief Charge Coming Next – Martin and Dykes Forget
to Pay Fine.
Abraham S. Wilson is on trial in the district court today
for the murder of Frank Smith. It is
expected by court officials that testimony in this trial will be completed
today.
A jury was empanelled to try the case yesterday. Little
difficulty was experienced in securing the required twelve jurymen, who are
Howard Thompson, Thomas S. Iles, E. W. Leggett, Clyde Hart, W. A. Jeffcoat,
Clyde Maxey, Lloyd Willis, Roy D. Mills, Earl T. Jackson, E. O. Allen, Carol
Wild, Frank Smay.
A. S. Wilson is charged with killing Frank Smith and his son, James
Smith, neighbors, following a quarrel on October 5, 1921. Two charges of
murder have been filed against Wilson, and if he is freed on the Frank Smith case he may still be forced
to answer to the charge of killing James
Smith. Wilson is represented by M. H. Gordon, J. F. Meador and E. W. Snoddy
of Alva, Okla.
The Wilson murder cases are the only ones of importance to
come before the court this term. It is expected that all court business will be
finished this week.
One other case which has attracted considerable attention
is the R. B. Thompson “tea wagon” case. Thompson is charged with
taking two second-hand tea wagons from the Denver & Salt Lake railroad.
Thompson claims that the wagons belonged to him and that carrying them away was
the only way he could secure his property. This will probably come to trial
tomorrow.
James Wells, charged with malicious mischief, will also be
tried at this term. Warren Cogdill charges that Wells broke up and damaged an
automobile. Both parties live on Snake River.
Warrants were issued by Judge Walker yesterday, for the
arrest of M. B. Martin and Charles
Dykes. Both men, charged with gambling, were released at the last term of court
when they promised to pay their fines. Martin paid $50 of his $300 fine and was
to make payments of $25 a month on the unpaid balance. He has never made a
payment. Dykes promised to “hurry back to court” with his $50 fine
if he was released, but he hasn’t shown up yet.
The civil docket is also light and the court session should
end within the week.
Craig Empire Newspaper – Front Page December 14, 1921 ALL FREED BY
DISTRICT COURT. Wilson Freed of Frank
Smith Murder Charge; To Be Tried for Killing Son at the Next Term of Court. “TEA WAGON” THOMPSON
FREED. James Wells Also Gets Acquitted In Snake River Mischief Case; Court
Adjourns Without Taking Up Civil Docket.
“The ‘not guiltys’ have it. Carried
Unanimously.”
This might have been Judge Walker’s statement for
closing the Moffat County District Court session yesterday. For only three
cases were tried and every one resulted in a verdict of not guilty. From murder
to malicious mischief the jury was with the men on trial and each defendant
went free.
A.
S. Wilson, charged with murdering Frank Smith, was acquitted on the first
ballot. R. B. Thompson came free of the charge of larceny of tea wagons from
the Moffat railroad. And yesterday afternoon James Wells was freed of malicious
mischief charges.
It took only one ballet to acquit A. S. Wilson of the
charge of murdering Frank Smith, a
Blue Mountain neighbor. The trial was hard fought by both the prosecution and
the defense. Wilson was represented by M. H. Gordon, J. F. Meador, and E. W.
Snoddy of Alva, Okla.
As soon as the attorneys’ arguments were finished the
jury retired and took a ballot, even before the instructions were read. All
twelve votes were for acquittal. The jury did not report until some hours
afterward, however.
The defense attorneys built up a case of self-defense. They
brought forth evidence to show that Wilson had been heckled and threatened for
a long time and that when the two Smiths
came forward to him he thought his life in danger.
Wilson is still charged with the murder of Jim Smith. The defense attorneys
attempted to have this case tried at the present term of court. It was put over
until the next term, however. Wilson is not at liberty under a $2,000
bond………..
(note: this article continues with the
story of the other cases before the court but that concludes the information
about the Smith murders.)
CROSS MOUNTAIN July 19, 1922 -
Tom Smith is now on the job of
carrying the mail from Cross Mountain to Youghal.
CROSS MOUNTAIN Dec. 27, 1922
– Tom Smith of Blue Mountain
made a business trip to Craig last week bringing home a big load of supplies
from the Youghal store. He stopped over night at the Mesa home on his return.