Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-04-15
TIE STORY OF A CRIME.
The Genesis and Outcome of a Case of
Cattle Stealing


me trail. The result was that at the October
:erm of the County Court the Grand Jury
indicted R. FL. Mccall and William Williams
;or stealing the cattle. There were several
,ontinuances of the case, but finally Williams
was brought to trial in July, 1880, the laws
delays having by that time reached limit
A wonder, by the way. But the edge of that
wonder was blunted by the
DISAGREEMENT OF THE JURY.
It took nearly year to get the cattle thief
TO trial again, Blu. in May, 1881. the law
could brook TO further delay and the fellow
was convicted and sentenced to serve six
wears in State Prison. But he appealed, and
pending the appeal Williams was kept in the
sacramento County Jail, Judge Clark refus-
ing him bail, but granting a certificate of
probable cause. The supreme Court, after
another long delay, affirmed the judgment,
the renlittiur reaching this city about ten or
twelve days ago, and so Williams had to don
the striped suit. Such were the legal pro-
ceedings To go back now to the romance of
the cattle.stealing, the reader is recalled to
the date when Biggs and his aids went out
This they did successfully to point near
lone City, in Amador county. October
4sh was Friday, and by Saturday night the
stock had been traced to that point. Some
people near lone, however, unaware of the
owner being on the trail, had their suspicious
aroused when the cattle appeared there, and
followed the band ard the thieves. A colored
man named Cecil finally found ten of the steers
on Sunday near the boundary of Amador and
Stanislaus counties, and ne took possession of
and drove them back that day to the farm of
J. C. Blythers, in Amador county, which is
some seventy miles this side of Modesto.
Within half hour after he had brought
them back a man came to Blythers and
claimed the cattle. Both BlYthers and Cecil
told him they believed the cattle had been
stolen that if he, the man, had proof OF
ownership, he could c2ms the next day and
establish it, but for the time being the cattle
would not be surrendered. The man there,
upon left. At the trial Cecil and Blythers
IDENTIFIED WILLIAMS
AS that man, positively. On the Thursday
following the capture of the ten steers, MIR.
Biggs and Sheriff Cunningham, of San Joa'
quin county, and Sheriff Vogan, of Amador
county, concluded the following of the trail
of the remaining ten steers, and the trail
6uC6u aG w aluSn ) ten lHHeS
of Modesto. There they found the cattle,
snd learned that they had been driven there
Wednesday morning. In the town of Mo.
desto on Thursday Mr.. Biggs saw and recog'
nized Mccall. That evening the officers ar.
rested Williams at Modesto, but Mccall had
taken alarm and effected his escape. At the
trial it became material for Williams to prove
that Cecil and Blythers were mistaken as tC
his being the man who claimed the cattle al
Blythers' place. Continuances of the case
were had from time to time. The first appli
cation for one was
MADE ON AFFIDAVIT
Setting up that George Graves was material
witness, that he was absent, that he wa;
clerk in the Ross House, n Modesto, that be
would swear that On Sunday night, October
6, 1873, Williams, the defendant, came to the
Ross House, in Modesto, and registered as g
guest and occupied room of certain mum
Der in the hotel that night. It will be re
membered that that was the same night the
strange man claimed the ten steers at Blyth
ers' place, seventy miles away. The contin
uance was granted on such a strong showing
that an alibi could be proven. At the next
trial the prosecution sent to Modesto. found
Graves, got out an attachment for him aut
had him brought to Sacramento, and he was
present at the trial. Minor Walden is the
owner of the ranch on which the second loi
of steers was found. 1t is a very large ranch
Walden is prominent land owner. He ha,
represented his county in the Legislature.
He was a witness for the defense at all the
trials, and took an unusual interest in the
case. He it was who made the statement Of
facts embodied in the affidavit that secured
the continuance.
THIS STATEMENT HE MADE
To I. S. Brown, an attorney. atlaw in this
city, and Mr. Brown Incorporated il in the
affidavit. Walden went on Graves bond
when the latter was attached as witness
The proposed alibi put the prosecution on it;
mettle. 1t sent to Modesto, and ascertained
that the room which it was said Williams oc
cupied OF that Sunday night was occupied
then by the cashier CT the local bank, and
had been his room for number of years. Il
was ascertained also that the name of Will
Jams entered on the register was q forgery
that some other name had been erased to get
Williams in. This hotel register was brought
to Sacramento. The defense on the trial did
rot put Graves on the stand as witness, but
the prosecution holding him on attachment,
BLOCKED THAT GAME
By calling him as witness. Graves, on be.
ing sworn, went on and testified that he was
not clerk at the Ross House on the Sunday
night referred to, and denied that he had
seen Williams at all. As stated, the jury dis
agreed. On the second trial coming on.
Graves did not appear, but Walden took the
stand and swore that on Monday, October
7tb, between and II o'clock, he saw defend
ant (Wiiliams) in the town of Modesto and
talked with him, and saw him every day
thereafter until his arrest. That on Tuesday
forenoon he hired Williams and Oscar Lyons
to go to his ranch and brig up FLY from
there that they went, and returned between
and ) P. NJ; that he saw Williams with no
cattle in Modesto. Didn'5 know of any cat
tie being driven upon his place, or that Biggs
had lost any stock. It was in proof that a
few hours before Biggs recovered the second
lot of ten steers. Williams and Mccall were
both seen on Walden's ranch.
THE PROOF WAS POSITIVE
Also of the tracing of the stolen cattle from
the Riverside road, just below Sacramento,
clear to Modesto. After Williams had been
convicted the prose cution found it had not
sufficient proof against Mccall, though the
moral certainty of his guilt was undoubted.
The case against him was therefore dismissed,
he promising to state the whole of the facts.
This he did to District Attorney Buckley,
and the statement was taken down by short
hand writer Win. J. Davis. His story cor
roborated all that had been proven. He said
that he and Williams stole Biggs' cattle !;
that they arrived in Modesto Tuesday night
and went to Walden and told him where and
how they had become possessed of the cattle.
Walden looked at the cattle and struck
a bargain with the thieves for the stock.
The attorneys for the prosecution, after hav-
ing secured from Mccall confession, went
to Williams to see if he would talk" 1t
should here be stated that the attorneys had
the support of the Sheriffs of number of
the interior counties, and number of people
who have lost stock. These officers and peo-
pie have long believed that there is
AN ORGANIZED BAND
OF stock thieves, whose field of action ex-
tends from the Oregon line to Southern Cali
fornia, and whose arrangements are complete
for the passage of stolen stock from hand to
hand, and in such way as to cover their
tracks we'll That such gang has existed is
now certainly established, and that it WAS a
stronger band than any supposed it to be is
also certain; and that its operations have been
very extensive, and that it has cenfederates
and agents in the vicinity of Sacramento, is
now equally well known. But this "confed-
Grafton " of rascals has now had its back
broken and its effectiveness crippled.
When the prosecution went to Williams he
refused "to talk" and the attorneys were
compelled to leave him.
The attentive reader of the RECORD. q MON
will remember the Crum, Miner, Miller,
OF oil capo of