Imperial Valley press., 1916-01-03
Hunting for the Facts
Of John Welch's Death

After traversing the same perious
route on which John Welch, Los An
geles attorney, met his death; pluck
lily walking from the spot where the
ill-fated machine broke down and
where WEIGH perished, to the Salton
sea, to establish the distance; gaining
the information from the persons
whom Welch and his two partners
met on the death trip, Mrs. Matilda
Thompson of Los Angeles, aunt of
the dead man, arrived in Ell Centre
this morning.
Almost since the oeath Of her
nephew, August 2, Mrs. Thompson has
been seeking untiringly for the facts
woven about the tragic story of the
desert.
"Do l think Welch met foul play?
| am merely trying to establish the
facts Of his death to my own satisfac-
tion,' she said this morning. l have
been tracing the course of the party
from Indio, where they spent the night
and had breakfast. to the spot where
his death occurred.
"Most of all, | am trying to find
out if anyone passed the spot between
the morning of August and August
a." she continued.
"After James Clark and James
Roche, Welch's companions, had re-
covered from their terrible experience,
| interviewed them both at Los An
geles. The stories they told me were
conflicting, particularly the account
of their quest for water.
"When l asked Roche what took
place he said:
"'After the machine ran out of wa
ter and broke down Clark went out
to look for water, taking the canteen
with him. He came back unsuccess-
full. He was tired and peeved. He
threw the canteen at Welch and said:
"'"You go out and find water. It's
up to you."'
"Roche finally went with him.
"Clark, however, denied that this
took place, when | talked with him.
He said:
"'Roche must be crazy to say such
a thing
81 was told also that flask OF
whisky which they had with them had
disappeared when the came back
without finding any water.
81 was also informed that it was 8
miles from the spot where the car
broke down to the shores of Salton
sea. On the way down we stopped at
the spot where Welch died and
started out to walk back to the shores
of the sea. completed two-thirds of
the distance in a short time and
am satisfied that the entire distance
was not more than mile and half.
"At Indio, where the party stopped
Monday night on the way to INLAND,
where they We're negotiating to buy
some land, l found a man named
Courtney, who had served the party
with breakfast the morning they left.
"At Mecca I was unable to get any
trace of the party. Mr.. Clark told me
they bought soma soda pop there and
that he tried to get rope to tie
about the wheels of the car to insure
better traction. He failed to get the
rope and instead he got a board, to
be used in case the sand stalled the
machine, and placed 1t IN the car.
"Welch and Roach started out to
find water after the auto had broken
down. Clark said they went short
distance from the machine, where they
could plainly see large body of wa
ter. Then he lost sight of them and
when they did not come back he wrote
a note and struck out to find help.
"After terrible walk across the hot
sand, he heard cow bells. Turning
in that direction, he came to pool
of water that was little more than a
mire. Here he discarded his coat and
vest and started out to track the
, cows.
, "The tracks led him to the home of
5 a rancher near Westmoreland, where
: Clark told the story of the plight OF
| his companions. He was placed in a
' buggy and taken to Westmoreland
= where he said he wanted to get help
At Brawley, am told, he got clean