The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-08-10
MAXWELL WRITES A LETTER
FOR THE PURPOSE OF AIDING
THE COMMITTEE.
Having Heard of the Meeting He
Voluntarily Drafted Letter That
Justice Might Be Done and Real
Merit Rewarded

Provo, Aug. 9.-Tonight there will be
a meeting held at Springville for the
purpose of deciding 10 whom the reward
offered for the capture of Maxwell, the
Springville bank robber, rightly be-
longs, and. as there are three or four
claimants, Maxwell wrote the following
letter to guide the meeting in its deci-
sion:
will say regarding my capture that
the four men who are laying claim to
the reward are not entitled to the same,
neither are they entitled to any more
credit Gf there be any than any of the
others. When / was aware that l was
surrounded-as 1 had seen men on the
hillsides on each side of the creek from
where l was standing-these men were
at these points, at least five minutes
before these four braves entered the
brush. The brush where they entered
is very thin, and one could see the
opposite bank of the creek and the men
standing thereon.
Il do not believe these four men
would have entered the brush if they
had not seen some of the posse on the
opposite bank of the creek, only a few
yards distant. However, they did not
search the brush, as they passed within
ten feet Of myself on a plain trail to the
creek bank. After Whitmore and two
others had passed, l came out of the
patch of brush to give myself up. By
this time Packard had discovered me.
He acted like a man with the ague
when l told him who 1 was. He drop
ped the muzzle of his shotgun to the
ground. 1 talked to him at least one
minute before he could speak. He then
called Whitmore and the other men.
who were still in the creek. Whitmore
came to the bank of the creek and saw
me, but didn't move or speak until I
told him he would get his feet wei and
might have rheumatism. l then start
ed for some men on the t',lSide. Sheriff
Storrs was among them. Whitmore,
Packard and two others followed me.
We were talking all the while, but they
didn't come close to me until we reach
ed the wire fence. On the other side of
the fence was John Lewis and several
others. Sheriff Storrs came to me first
after 1 had got through the fence.
Storrs, John Lewis and several others
were at my side nearly as soon as these
four man-eaters.
IF they had been alone they wouldn't
have taken me. 1 could have killed
them with rocks or held them up with a
stick
Mr.. Whitmore called on me few
days since. With tears in his eyes he
told me the town of Springville had lost
lots of friends. / asked him who they
were. He said himself 1 hope the
people of Springville will give him q
decent burial. He told me he bought
his hat a size larger since the 2Sth of
May. 1 see he is training his moustache
in such a way that it makes him look
quite fierce. Say, Whitmore, you and
your three friends should give your no
ton of the reward up TO the man that
lost a limb. 1t amounts to only about
S120, then people will think you have a
little principle, even if you haven't
(Signed) ''MAXWELL.'
Maxwell wrote the letter voluntarily,
having heard of those WHO were laying
claim to the reward.