Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-11
TO START FOR
PRISON TODAY
CASTEAL BROTHERS TO SERVE
LONG TERMS
Desperadoes Who Gave Officers Long
Z Chase Are Denied Contention for
Hearing of Case Before
Supreme Court

Heavily roned and handcuffed to
officers from Sheriff Whites force, Silas
and Jacob Casteal, known to the
authorities as the two worst despe-
radoes of the southwest, will today
leave the county Jail, where they have
lived for the past two years. and will
proceed north to serve out sentences
of twenty and ten years respectively on
conviction Of burglary and robbery
charges
The two men do not look like they did
when they entered the county bastile
during August. 1904. At that time
Jacob, known as the big fellow. weighed
somewhere in the nelghborhood of 200
pounds, all of which was hard muscle.
Silas, the smaller one, weighed about
fifty pounds less, but both men were
as hard as iron from long years of hard
work on the ranges and before they
could be landed in Jail they put up
desperate fight against the arresting
officers.
But the Jail life has taken the fight
out Of the boys and today when
they leave and enjoy the fresh air for
the first time in two years they will be
so different from the boys who went in
the Jail that their own friends would
not recognize them.
Exercise in Small Tank
Both have relished the Jail food but
the constant worry and confinement
have made wrecks of them. Their only
exercise room has been the low iron
tank, midway between roof and cell
ing to the west side of the county Jail
and for a few hours each day they
have been allowed to pace up and down
| the hard floors and converse with their
companions.
To men who have spent their lives
in activity on cattle ranches and in the
mountains the change was fearful and
the boys broke under the strain.
But the officers will take no chances
Before when the Casteal brothers We're
taken into custody the officers made a
| mistake of putting but a single pair of
cuffs on them and simply cutting them
together with the result that the boys
put up desperate fight and nearly es-
| capped.
So today when the men start north
with the officers in charge both will
| wear the Oregon boot strapped TO their
legs and With the mass of sixteen
pounds it is not likely they will stand
any chance of escape. But. as an extra
precaution each man will be handcuffed
anC then handcuffed to an officer.
Yesterday the final papers i'm the case
arrived in department one of the SUI
peiior court and the trip north will be
the last chapter to the famous prosecu-
| tlon of the case.
Leave Trail of Crime
The Casteal boys are to serve SEN
tence for crimes committed during the
summer of 1904. At that time the two
brothers, who before that had been
good ranchmen. held up peddler on the
Capistrano road and took all his money
his goods and his horse and wagon.
Then while Deputy Sheriffs Len
Cleveland and Bert franklin went
scouting over the country for them the
two brothers worked their way TO the
| eXtre me southern section of California,
leaving behind them a trail of robheries
and burglaries at every village and
hamlet along the line.
Finally they arrived at their brother
in-laws ranch i'm the White Water cam
yon and there late ono evening i'm Aug
ust the local officers trailed them after
having spent six days and nights in
| the hunt
DurineSthe pursuit the only time the
officers caught the Casteal brothers off
their guard was while they We're at
supper that night and before either
man could draw weapon Cleveland
had stepped in one end Of the summer
house In which they were eating. while
Franklin showed up at the door of the
other end. The two desperadoes looked
up from their meal only TO find the
muzzes of the officers rifles glaring at
them.
They were handcuned and taken
about fifty yards down the road when
they turned and leaped on the officers
and before they were finally beaten into
submission they had managed to break
the rifles.