Los Angeles herald., 1909-10-10
ABANDON SIEGE
OF WILLIE BOY
POSSE FORCED TO RETURN TO
SAN BERNARDIN0
SYSTEMATIC SEARCH WILL BE
BEGUN NEXT WEEK
Exhaustion and Lack of Supplies ln1-
pei Pursuers to Leave Indian
to Escape - May Have
Killed Himself
Especial to The Herald,l

Especial to The Herald.l
SAN BERNARDINO, Oct. Eek
hausted from the lack of food and
rest. their horses starving, and no sup
plies within a radius of fifty miles,
Sheriff John Ralphs and his posse
were forced yesterday to give up the
hunt for Willie Boy, the Indian mur-
derer. and. carrying the wounded Off
Ger, Charles Reche, shot through the
hip, with half the men on foot, the
start was made for civilization. 'Ahe
sheriff reached here at o'clock in an
automobile that picked up the local
the first authentic report of the man
teh first authentic report of the man
hunt and is now arranging TO starr d
systematized expedition into the desert
to capture the murderer. Reche, the
injured deputy, was brought in aheaa
and now lies dangerously near death
in the hospital.
With but four men at the scene OF
the battle, one seriously wounded ana
the balance of the posse under Sheriff
Ralphs twenty-five miles distant, II
was impossible to take the INDIAN
even though he was almost dead from
hunger and exposure. Bearing the
news of the battle, John Hyde, pare
lv able to walk from injuries sustained
in a fall down the mountain STUN
bled into the sheriffs camp long aftef
sunset the day of the encounter, and
although pressing on toward the scene
of the fight and where his tralefS
were camped, the rest of the posse,
which had become divided at day
break the next day, after traVellng an
night without a guide, found the
tracks of the murderer which lead
towards the Bullion peak Supporting
Reche on a horse, the two parties met
on the train, and after a conference
II was decided to return and at once
reorganize the hunt. Hyde and an
other member of the party were sent
to whitewater to telegraph for a ply
sician.
Solitary shot Heard
During the night following the bat
tie. while the trailers were starting
down the canyon, solitary shot rang
out from the distant summit of the
peak. and whether Willie Boy, decld-
ing to take his life, shot himself to
death, or, imagining that ne saw an
officer creeping on him, fired into the
darkness, will not be known until the
fresh posse reaches the scene next
week. 1t is supposed he had but
few shells left but 1T is not positively
known how many he had, although II
the last shot fired was from few
remaining cartridges it is probable II
ended the life of the Indian murderer
IT is now the intention to start wagons
TO the various water holes and points
in the vicinity Of the country where
Willie Boy is hiding, and with pack
animals carrying supplies a picked
posse of mounted men will be thrown
into the field, and with supplies scat
tered throughout the desert the men
can quickly move from place to place,
following the tracks Of the fugitive
without the necessity of turning back
for food and water for both men and
horses.
The progress of the murderer as he
doubled back and forth among the
water holes and peaks was wonderful.
In frequent instances it was found
where he had run from ten to twenty
miles when hard pressed by the men.
He is without a coat and shoeless and
the cold nights will weaken his sys-
tenn
Sheriff John Ralphs has offered a
reward of 5000 for the capture of the
murderer, in fear of whom the miners
are leaving the desert regions near
where he is hiding, and an effort is to
be made to get the state to offer $1,000
and the two counties of San Bernar-
dino and Riverside $500 each, making
total of $4,000 reward for the capture
of Willie Boy dead or alive
Bringing Deputy Sheriff Reche, badly
wounded i'm the battle with the muir
derer. DR. H w Mills arrived in this
city this morning and Immediately
rushed the injured officer to the Mari
borough hospital, where an operation
disclosed the fact he was much more
seriously wounded than was at first
thought. The bullet from the fugitive S
gun in entering made but small
wound, but fattened on striking the
left hip bone, a portion of the lead con-
tinuing, splintering the base of the
spine. Both pieces of the bullet have
4 int nf
bone from the hip and spine. Dr. Mills
states that although the injured officer
is dangerously wounded he will recover
For six hours the injured officer lay in
the sun where he had fallen when shot
by the murderer from his garrison on
the summit of the rugged peak, and
every effort of his comrades to remove
him was frustrated by the Indian, who
continually maintained watch, firing at
the men whenever they exposed them
selves from behind the boulders behind
which they dropped under the deadly
fire of the murderer.
Physician Meets Wounded Man
DR.. Mills, hurrying to the scene of the
battle to render aid to the injured, met
the posse carrying Reche between War;
ren ranch and Warren wells. The in
jured officer was taken by the surgeon
to the ranch house, where temporary
dressing of the wound was made and
he was then hurried to Whitewater
forty-fiVe miles distant in the auto
mobile, and at this point Southern
Pacific train was tagged and the ply
sician and the injured man brought or
to the city. They were all night in
reaching the railroad,
The posse, made up of militamen witt
government rifles and Sheriff Wilson
of Riverside, which went forward from
this city yesterday afternoon to relieve
the wornout officers who have beer
continuously in the field for over 6
week. was stranded during the night
near Whitewater, where the automobile
was broken down, and the members oi
the party were forced to return, but in
tend to leave here again, possibly Tues.
day. when the reorganization of the
posses has been effected under the di,
rection of Sheriff Ralphs, when a sys-
temized expedition will go into the
desert to run the Indian to earth.
Willie Boy is believed to be on tho
verge of exhaustion, and for days the
officers have pressed him so closely
that it was impossible for him to secure
but scant food during the course of his
flight upon the bleak and desolute hilli
of the desert. At several points in tn,
course Of his flight Willie Boy devoureC
desert lizards in an effort to satisf,
his hunger
FIRE SWEEPS RECHE