Imperial Valley press., 1910-04-23
TRACKED THROUGH SANDS
Horse Thieves Trailed Across Desert
 and Captured by Sheriff.

After making strenuous efforts to get away with stolen horses by cross ing the desert stretches between Cal exico and Yuma, and after losing their way and seeking in great distress for water holes, two men giving their names as Frank Graham, aged nine teen years, Dave Dobyns, aged nine ty-one years, have been safely land ed in the Imperial County Jail at Fl Centro. They will be arraigned to- day on the charge of horse stealing
 That both men are not HOW lying on the burning sands, their bodies food for coyotes and vultures, is due to the pluck of Sheriff Mobley Mead ows and his brother, Deputy Sher- if Jake Meadows. They started out on an attempt to trail the men across the desert while the thermometer registered 104 degrees in the shade
 Graham and Dobyns secured horses from a livery stable in Fl Centro, drove them to Calexico and left them in a stable there, taking fresh horses from that place for an alleged trip a short way down into Mexico. h. stead, they headed for Yuma, and to do so undertook to cross the desert country. They were unfamiliar with the tradls, and were last seen at Vaughn's ranch, about eight miles east of CaleMco.
 The Sheriff's office vas notified and the two Meadows men started post haste on their trip to run down the fugitives. The Sheriff and his broth CT are thoroughly familiar with the desert and are expert in following trails. They went by automobile to the Vaughn ranch, where they took saddle horses. and pushed ownward until they found that the men had come northerly almost to Holtville be- fore they discovered that they were going away from the point they sought and from there had turned back to- wards Yuma.
 The officers then started out on their long trail five hours behind the men, and for forty miles their horses plodded through the burning sands.
 hen the reached water hole they found that the water was polluted by the bodies of dead rates; but they were in such straits that they had to partake of 1t. Here they found that the fleeing men had seacherd for the water hole but had not found it. The next water hole was twelve miles further on, and the trail showed that the men were wayering and at times had turned aside evidently in search of water.
 When the officers came up to the second water hole they discovered the two men watering their horses and drinking from the pit. They were utterly exhausted from lack of food and their long ride without water, and stretched themselves out on the sands in despair
 Meadows and his brother had taken food with them and fed the men, and after resting they took their prison CTS on to Yuma. This made trip of seventy-two miles, mostly over des- ert, besides the extra distance cov- cred by the following of trails made by the men in their side trips. The total distance covered was probably eighty five miles, twenty-two by au- tomobile, the entire trip being made by the officers fin thirteen hours.
 After thoroughly resting at Yuma, the officers came to El Centro and placed their prisoners in jail. The description of the prisoners is simi- lar to that of men known as the Powers brothers, and wanted in San Bernardino County for bank robbery.