The silver state. [volume] (Unionville, Nev.) 1870-1903, 1879-06-09


Saturday afternoon with Frank Scha-
lata, whom he captured, after thirteen
days chase, near the Owyhee, gives us
the following particulars of the hunt,
which shows the remarkable endurance
of the fugitive, and the determination
of the officer to recapture him. Scha-
lata escaped through the window of the
| water closet of one of the passenger cars,
near Hot Springs, on the desert, while
the. train was running at full speed.
This, all reports of United States de-
tectives to the contrary, can be proved
by passengers, brakemen and Deputy
Sheriff Pryor, who had charge of the
prisoner. He was slightly stunned
by the fall, but recovering himself, inn
mediately Travelled thirty miles across
the desert in a northerly direction with
out water. He hid in the sage brush
in the day time and travelled at night,
frequently doubling on his track to mis-
lead his pursuers. At the Sulphur
mine he told the boys that he had been
arrested and held on false charges, but
had escaped from the officers. They
assisted him by giving him provisions
and sewing barley sacks on his feet to
conceal his tracks. He procured gal
lon demijohn at hay ranch and filling
it with water, whenever he had oppor-
tunity, did not suffer much with thirst
after the first twenty-four hours. The
Sheriff estimates that he travelled be-
tween $50 and 500 miles, through the
worst country in Nevada, and that, ex-
cept when crossing deserts or valleys,
he travelled along stony ridges and
mountains the greater part OF the time
TO conceal his tracks. II rained the
night before he was caught, and instead
of travelling as usual, he stopped at a
lonely station on the Idaho road, hav-
ing obtained permission of the hostler
to sleep in the stable. Next morning,
thinking that he was not pursued, he
continued his journey north along the
stage road. Meantime, Sheriff Miller,
whose horse had given out, took the
stage, and when he arrived at the sta
ton where Schalata slept the night be-
fore, was informed by the hostler, that
a man answering the description he
gave of the fugitive had slept there,
and started north early in the morning.
The Sheriff kept sharp lookout for his
man, and as the stage reached the sum-
NIT Of ridge, not far from Rattlesnake,
he saw man leave the road and dis
appear behind a clump of sage-brush.
Arriving near the place, the Sheriff left
the stage and proceeded to the sage
brush, some distance from the road,
when he saw Schalata and called on,
him to surrender, which order he obeyed
Immediately. He had some thirty or
forty pounds of beans and flour, a little
tea and sugar and a demijohn OF water,
and, as he afterwards admitted, in
tended to get to the lava beds on the
Owyhee, where he could remain with
out fear of being captured, while his
provisions held out. He was caught
near where the Indians killed MeCutch-
en- the stage driver year ago and
burned the stage His feet were badly
swollen, and the skin was worn off his
ankles. The Sheriff, who had lived on
crackers and cheese, and ridden day
night for nearly two weeks, was almost
as completely used up as the man he
was chasing, and few officers, at their
own expense, would have pursued an
escaped prisoner sepersistently. Scha-
lata was taken to Carson last evening,
and it is not probable that he will -es-
cape or attempt to escape again.
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