The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-05-31
Ed Harrington Trafton Con-
victed of RObbing His
Mother in Colorado.
MADE CRIMINAL HISTORY
IN SOUTHERN IDAHO
Was Daring Leader in Des-
perate Escape From Jail,
but Lost.
BY G., e, ARNEy.


of the details of story of middle
aged man and his wife robbing their
aged mother of $4,000, eliminating In
q Canon City penitentiary sentence OF
ten years for him and of from one to
six years for his wife
The Tribune readers OF all of south
ern Idaho will be interested IN the
knowledge that this man was Ed Har,
rington Trafton, who year ago solo
his Milk Creek ranch at Oasis, htteen
miles above here, and at the close OF
an interesting and picturesque, career,
shook the dust of Idaho from his teet
and, with his wife, went to Denver to
meet again his mother, whom be had
not seen or known for more than
quarter of century.
ii was in the early spring of 1887
that federal grand jury at Blackfoot,
then the seat of Bingham county,
which at that time embraced all of the
son, indicted Ed Harrington for com
plicity with Lem Nickerson in stealing
horses, moro through reputation than
any positive proof of his criminallty'
Ed knew he was not guilty of the
charge, hence he rode all the way from
Jackson s Hole to Rexburg, where he
appeared before Justice of the Peace
istrate bound him over to the United
States court on a bond of $4,000 There
was no man in this country then who
could Justify on a bond for such an
amount, so to Jail at Blackfoot went
Ed Harrington. At this early day he
was not known as Trafton, but as Aar-
rington.
The federal Judge at this time was
Judge James A. Hays, now deceased,
and his son Sam, now of Boise, was his
clerk. James II. Hawley of Boise was
the United States prosecuting attorney.
Sam F. Taylor, now of Custer county.
was the sheriff of Bingham county, and
his under sheriff was Robert j. Hayes
of Pocatello. His two guards were Will
liam J. Dineep of this place and Will
liam High, now at Lewiston.
Wife Betrayed Confidence.
Nickerson had wife and three chill
tions to his office force to permit them
to see the husband and father once
each week. At one of these periodical
visits she betrayed the confidence re-
posed by the officials and slipped
long six shooter in the pocket of her
spouse, who returned to the jail with
it unknown to the officers,
II vas soon after noon on Sunday,
the oath day of June, in 1887 when
Guard High was entering the county
Jail that he looked down the chamber
of large .45-caliber held firmly in
the hand Of Lem Nickerson, the des.
perate horsethief, and heard the quiet
but firm command to "Throw up your
hands and deliver me the keys to this
jail or down and out you go,
Quietly but determinedly Nickerson
and Harrington mounted the dingy
stairway and at the point Of the same
gun held up Bob Hayes, took his gun
from him and returned with him to
the Jail, where they securely locked
mainder of the twenty prisoners, ex-
cepting only Williams, a murderer from
Carribo; Woods, a colored murderer
from Pocatello. and Hughes, an asso-
ciate. charged with horse stealing.
A leisurely research of the county of"
fees was then made by these daring,
desperate men and such prominent men
as Charley Bunting, Harry Bennett and
later the other guard, Jerry" Dineen,
were led down the stairway to the dark
county bastile,
Nickerson quietly walked over to
the house of his family, where he got
horses left for him by his brother
the stable of Under Sheriff Hayes, re-
turned to the rear of the court house
preparatory to the flight.
1ClO dCIVCl lOL UuuS0s
In the meantime Ed Harrington had
observed the stationery in the desk
of the sheriff s office and, seating him
Hays in lines substantially as follows:
"We are off for the hills and the
mountains which we love so dearly
We are familiar with the mountain
trails. and the officers cannot catch us,
for We are we'll mounted and well
armed You cannot get a crack at
me this time, and when 1 meet you
again it will be in hell''
1t was near the dusk of the evening
when their, plans were complete, and
while Woods went to the brush on the
Blackfoot river, Harrington, Nickerson,
Williams and Hughes rode for the foot
hills to the east of the city. Before
of keys which locked the doors holding
officers and citizens as prisoners in
the jail. safely in the bottom of the
Bingham county court house well.
When the break was discovered and
the predicament OF the citizens, a black
smith was summoned to effect their re-
lease.
In the morning these daring escaped
prisoners took breakfast at the ranch
house of Cncle Johnnie Heath, on Will
low creek, told him who they were and
what they had done and rode swiftly
away, headed for the Teton and Jack
son Hole country.
Their objective point Of crossing the
turbulent old Snake was ten miles above
the Heath ranch, at the Anderson head,
gate. They crossed TO the 90 dry bed -
in tho river at this point, which is lust
three miles above the place where this
story is being written, Here they found
the main channel higher than ever be-
fore. They were nonplussed as to
progress. Before them was a treach-
erous stream. the attempt at crossing
which seemed TO mean certain death
behind them the officers Of the law
whom Sheriff Taylor had aroused into
action from old Eagle Rock, now Idaho
Falls, Bill Hopson. now of Pocatello
and Ed +. Winn of Idaho Falls had
,ome towards the "dry bcd' with a
crowd Of the shop men from Eagle
Rock, only to be. joined on Willow
creek by n crowd of the ranchmer
whom Mr. Heath had summoned, head
ed by Tom Edwards.
On Monday evening they surrounded