page_title: Convict Lake
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Convict Lake / History
caption_attribution_description: Photographed and uploaded by user:Geographer. Convict Lake and Mount Morrison in late spring,on March 27, 2003. en:Category:Lakes of California
context_page_description: Convict Lake is a lake located in Mono County, California, United States, situated in the Sherwin Range of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It is known for its turquoise-blue water, the dramatic mountains that surround it, the trout fishing it affords, and its unusual history. The lake, known to the Paiute as Wit-sa-nap, was renamed by settlers after an incident on September 23, 1871, in which a group of convicts escaped from prison in Carson City, Nevada, and took refuge near the lake. They were pursued by a posse, and after it caught up to the convicts, a shootout followed, in which a number of both posse members and convicts were killed or wounded. The remaining convicts who survived initially escaped but were eventually captured and lynched.
context_section_description: The Paiute Indians of the region are said to have called Convict Lake Wit-sa-nap: 
  "The streams which flowed from the mountains were supposed to be filled with Pot-sa-wa-gees, water babies, who lived in spirit, but were visible to the eye, having the face of an Indian child and the body of a fish." — According to Indian legend, Hi-na-nu was a wise and noble man, whose spirit was revered by the Indians and to whom they looked for guidance in earthly matters."
  Convict Lake, then known to Europeans as Monte Diablo, came to assume its present name in an unusual manner. On September 17, 1871, 29 prisoners, including murderers, horse thieves, train robbers, and other such convicts, escaped from the Nevada State Prison in Carson City, killing one guard and wounding several others. The prisoners split into two groups, one of which was led by convicted murderer Charlie Jones. Jones previously had lived in Mono and Inyo counties and led his group south toward the Mammoth Lakes area. Needing food and supplies, the escaped convicts robbed several people as they went along their way. Crossing the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Jones had hoped to reach the range's western slope, where they would be safe from pursuit. Jones correctly assumed that a Carson City posse was on their trail, but the posse, from Benton, California, led by Deputy Sheriff George Hightower, had given up within a couple of days and turned back. Meanwhile, on horseback, Billy Poor, a mail rider who was delivering mail for his first time, had accidentally encountered the group camped out near Convict Creek, a few miles south from the lake. The convicts naturally assumed that the rider, if permitted to continue on, would reveal their location. Subsequently, Jones captured the man and, with the help of Leandor Morton, killed him, after which they took his horse and clothing and dressed his body in discarded prison clothes.
  Outraged that, Poor, a Mono County resident, was murdered, the local community formed their own posse and pursued the convicts. By September 22, 1871, Sheriff George Hightower and Indian deputy Mono Jim led a new posse of 10 men and caught up to the convicts near Monte Diablo Creek. Early on the morning of September 23, Jones headed out for Bishop. Wanting to break off from their group, Jones and another man told the others that they were going to look for food. The four remaining convicts were soon approached by the new posse, and a shootout occurred, leaving Wells Fargo agent Morrison and Mono gunned down. The remaining convicts escaped to be captured later in Round Valley. By November 1, 18 of the 29 original prisoners had been captured. Jones and his partner had avoided the shootout but eventually were captured and executed. The remaining convicts were either killed in the shootout, or captured and lynched on the trip back to the prison. Mount Morrison, the highest peak in the area, was named after the slain Robert Morrison, with its nearby smaller peak named after Mono Jim.
caption: Convict Lake lies in front of Mount Morrison.
exif: {"Image Make": "Noritsu", "Image Model": "SI-1080 Film Scanner Model DLS1640", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "256", "Image YResolution": "256", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Windows", "Image DateTime": "2005:06:28 00:04:23", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "240", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "530", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8011", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0200", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2004:07:26 20:39:28", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2004:07:26 20:39:28", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0101", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1500", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1000", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "2167", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2167", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "1"}