Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-09-12
In memory OF
BERTHA L. BoTHAMLEY.
Beloved wife Of
Clement L. Botharnley.

y 6elCyeU WHO OF
Clement l. Bothamley.
s..~----.... ............>-.......~.-..
Contrary to the old saying, this
tombstone Lies, but 1t is lie that will
.engraven in marble to cover the sin
of q woman. The rearing Of this mod
hest marble slab marked the close of
,one chapter in tragedy that had its
scenes laid in two continents, ran the
whole scale Of human emotions and
ended in murder.
It Is seldom that an operative in the
secret service Of the United States is
selected to unravel crimes other than
those against the currency of the eoun-
try. My connection with the Botham-
ley case came about through request
made by James J. Brooks, at that time
chief Of the secret service for the fed
eral department of Justice John w.
Carr, secretary Of the British Associa-
ton of Kansas, had written to the
British ambassador at Washington,
asking that he solicit the aid of this
government in clearing up the murder
of countryman and securing the con-
viction of the murderer or murderers.
Chief Brooks assigned me to the work
because the crime had been commit
ted in territory with which had be-
come familiar in the constant search
for counterfeiters.
1t often happens that the man who
makes the unraveling of crimes pro-
fession is called upon to take case
long after the commission of the crime
he is detailed to solve. Such tasks are
the most difficult in the detectives
calling Time is the criminals strong
est protector. This is illustrated al
most daily in our criminal courts, in
prosecutions which fail to result in
convictions at the first trial Before
second trial can be held some wit
nesses die or disappear, the recollec-
ton of others loses its clearness and
various considerations in favor of the
accused appear. These same consid-
erations work to the advantage of a
criminal before the case gets into the
courts. This depression applies aptly
W S!AS oSA eh5O ScSC 1 dlu dUOul W T0.
late Had the same efforts been made
in the early part of certain October
as we're started the latter part of the
following January am convinced that
the closing scene of this story would
have been laid at the scaffold. Had
certain significant incidents in the do
nestle history of man and his wife
in a small Dakota hamlet been care
fully Investigated several months be-
fore was called upon to go over them,
I am certain they would have led to
startling revelations that would have
proved one murder and prevented an
other.
Briefly stated, the mystery before me
was the murder of Clement L. Botham-
ley, good-looking, middle-aged Eng
lishman, wealthy as riches were COM
puted in the west at that time, and
while on his way over the Arbuckle trail
from Kansas to Texas, with $500 sheep.
The Arbuckle trail was one of those
great highways of the plains that then
Berved the nomadic cowboy, sheep
herder and immigrant as wagon road
and railroad combined. Its winding
course from Caldwell, Kan, to Fort
Reno, Indian Territory, was dotted on
either side with lonely graves, un-
marked. and in most instances SPELL
ing "fnis" to one Of lifes tragedies.
In such grave the body of Rothamley
had been buried the same day he was
found dead, his final resting place be-
Ing near small post known by the
grewsome appellation of Skeleton
ranch"
This border country was plagued by
murderous Indians and white desper-
ADDE'S, one as much to be feared by
the peaceful settlers as the other, and
each willing to cut throat or use the
deadly six-shooter at the slightest
prospect of gain.
Three months or more had elapsed
between the murder of the Englishman
and the time l was assigned to the
Clearing up of the case, and this made
1t necessary for me to secure all the
data concerning the finding of the
body and the incidents attending 1t at
second hand. Fortunately, a 17-year-
old boy, Wesley Vetter by name, who
had been in the employ Of the MUIR
dered man, was in Wichita and dis
posed to tell an unvarnished tale of
the circumstances surrounding the
death OF his employer. With this lad
visited the scene Of the murder, 10
miles from Caldwell This visit re-