A Fun Photo—Tuesday, July 15, 2015

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Dayphoto

Main Street in Delta, Colorado (shown in 1893), has two banks at the time of the McCarty heist. Despite the depression that has cleaned out many financial institutions across the country, both banks were solvent.

Jim Wetzel’s latest literary effort, a book titled, BANKS, BULLETS & BODIES; A Failed Robbery in Delta, Colorado, is available for purchase.

It is the story about the 1893 robbery of the Farmers and Merchants Bank on Delta’s Main Street in which two members of the McCarty gang were killed by Delta hardware merchant, W. Ray Simpson, during their attempted escape to safety. During the robbery, bank cashier, Andrew Trew Blachly, was also killed by one of the outlaws

This book not only tells the story of the bank robbery, but provides lots of background details about the people who were caught-up in the event. In addition, Wetzel has disclosed many details never before provided in previous writings of this event. Finally, he offers strong evidence that there were more than three gang members involved in this robbery, leading the reader in directions never imagined.

This book is the culmination of twelve years of research, and many hours of studying this event with the goal of correcting the written history of this story, so much of which has not been very accurate with regard to some details. As Wetzel says, “I question everything that doesn’t make complete sense, and that is very clear in this book.” Regardless of such questions, the stories surrounding the event make for fascinating reading, and this book tells it all.

The book retails for $16.95 and can be purchased at the museum or by mail.

MUSEUM DIRECTOR / CURATOR Jim Wetzel MUSEUM: (970) 874-8721 deltamuseum@aol.com

I must say—this is a VERY interesting book! If you like history, I highly recommend BANKS, BULLETS & BODIES; A Failed Robbery in Delta, Colorado to you.

Your friend,

Linda

Delta’s First House — May 19, 2014

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Dayphoto

Guest Article by Jim Wetzel, Curator of the Delta Museum

There is no question that Delta’s first house was a log cabin. If you have ever visited the Delta County Museum, you are familiar with the mural which is painted on an exterior wall near the entrance to the museum. The mural depicts this log cabin, and is a reasonably accurate view of what the cabin looked like. The cabin was built by George W. Moody, and was captured on film in 1900 by photographer Francis M. Laycook.

That photograph, shown above, is part of our photo collection in our museum, and was the documentary evidence for the mural. Not too long ago, I was given a copy of a hand-written letter by Ben Laycock, and he had titled it: Retrospect’s by Laycock – The First House in Delta. The letter is not dated, so it is not possible to determine when it was written, but it details his effort to determine the earliest house from testimony from some of our earliest settlers, one of which was Moody, himself.

The cabin was located “just west and north of what is now the West end of the original Second Street.” We always tell the story here in the museum that it stood near the sugar factory silos. Laycock noted that the cabin “was torn down shortly after the sugar factory was built.” The factory was built in 1921, but the silos did not appear until the 1960s, and the factory complex almost surrounded the silos on three sides. Suffice it to say that the cabin stood “near” the factory.

George Moody came in before the area was legally open for settlement. He was single, and “not menacled by any wife or children” according to Laycock. He further states that Moody completed his cabin in late 1881 but abandoned it for the first winter and “sought refuge with the soldiers on the brow of California mesa” by working in their kitchen.

Our museum version reads a little different, for we heard that the soldiers from Fort Crawford had arrested him and put him in their brig until the area was open for settlement (September 3, 1881), after which he returned to his cabin to complete it. I have read other sources which describe a U.S. cavalry encampment on California Mesa, so that part is accurate, but whether Moody was on the mesa or in the fort, or both, is not verified.

There will always be confusion over the spelling of the Laycook / Laycock name. The genealogically derived name is Laycook. At some point in Ben Laycook’s early adult years, he changed his name to Laycock. We have no evidence that this was done legally – through the courts – but he changed it prior to his first marriage. He was married five times. If that isn’t confusing enough, his father, Francis M. Laycook, was married three times, with Benjamin Levi Laycook the offspring of his third wife. Ben was one of twelve siblings of the three marriages (8-1-3). Once Ben changed the spelling of his last name, the change has continued through his lineage.

Guest Post, by Mr. Jim Wetzel, Curator of the Delta Museum

Posted on October 28, 2013 by Dayphoto

September 12, 1913

The Grand Mesa Resort Company has let a contract to complete the road to their resort on Grand Mesa. They expect to have the road completed this season and be in readiness for the stockholders and others to enjoy the pleasure of this wonderful resort next season.

For those who are interested in history of Grand Mesa, Mr. Wetzel has put together the following bit of information.

Enjoy!

Your friend who loves history,

Linda

THE GRAND MESA FEUD

In early 1886, William Alexander came to Grand Mesa, though it was two years later that he took up a 160 acre preemption near a body of water soon to be known as Alexander Lake. He lived there for 4 years and then mysteriously disappeared. While on Grand Mesa, he had a partner, Richard Forrest. Forrest Lake is named for him. Alexander and Forrest built a hotel and fish hatchery near Alexander Lake in 1891, and began a resort business within their claim for fishing and raising trout. Their holdings included portions of Alexander, Hotel Twin, Eggleston and Barren Lakes

In 1886, the Surface Creek Ditch and Reservoir Company (SCD&RC) contracted with Alexander and Forrest to assist the Company in locating and constructing dams for the Surface Creek irrigation system. The stockholders of the SCD&RC retained the right to fish in the lakes. The public was also allowed to fish in these lakes with no restrictions.

When Alexander disappeared in 1892, Forrest succeeded to his partner’s rights. In 1896, Forrest sold the 160 acres of land and the fishing rights to an Englishman named William Radcliffe. Radcliffe was an avid fisherman and sportsman. As soon as Radcliffe obtained the property, he immediately sought to exclude the public from fishing in his lakes without a permit. The public resented this change of policy. Stockholders of the S C D & R C were antagonistic. They considered their fishing rights equal to Radcliffe’s.

Radcliffe was supported by the Colorado Fish and Game Department in his feud with the public. Then, in 1899, the Colorado state legislature gave to individuals the right to lease public lakes, so Radcliffe obtained a lease to the Alexander group of lakes for $145 which permitted him to sell fish and exclude the public from his premises. Until this law was passed, his right to the lakes was largely a moral one.

But the public continued to fish in his lakes as they had before. As a result, Radcliffe hired a number of guards, all of whom were deputized as game wardens under the state Fish and Game Commission. Feelings against Radcliffe were high!

On Sunday afternoon, July 14^th, 1901, William A. Womack and four of his ranch-hands of Surface Creek Mesa were at DeepWardLake where they had intended to go fishing. They were soon confronted by Frank Mahany, a rather hot-headed game warden employed by Radcliffe. Mahany threatened the five men–as they were planning to fish without a permit. The anglers then went over to IslandLake, where they were met by Frank Mahany, again.

During this second confrontation, Mahany’s anger got the best of him. He pulled his revolver and fired at Womack and missed. Womack immediately jumped off his horse and put his horse between him and Mahany, as a shield. Mahany then fired at another man, hitting him in the leg. Womack’s horse shifted, leaving him exposed. Mahany emptied his gun at a range of about 25 feet. One bullet went through Womack’s leg, and another lodged in his chest. (He died that night at about 10:00 p.m. before a doctor was able to reach him from Delta.)

After the shooting, Mahany went home to his cabin across the lake, and with his wife and another game warden, sat out in front of the cabin to keep watch. Mahany was getting concerned, so he left on horseback for Delta–taking a seldom used trail. Soon after he left, about 25 armed men arrived looking for the warden. Mahany arrived in Delta about 8:00 a.m. and turned himself in to Sheriff George Smith. Mahany was placed under strong guard in the courthouse and Sheriff Smith and several others left for Grand Mesa to investigate the shooting.

As the day progressed, many horsemen arrived in town, and fearing a raid to grab the prisoner for some “western justice”, Mahany was secretly moved to the Smith ranch several miles from town. Just after midnight, about 150 armed men broke into the courthouse looking for Mahany. Not finding him, they checked the jail and every other place in town when they thought he might be hidden. The search continued until about 4:00 a.m.

Later in the morning, two deputies took Mahany to Olathe where they boarded a train for Gunnison, to place Mahany in the safety of a Gunnison jail. Mahany was tried there and convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to eight years in the state penitentiary. He only served two years.

That Tuesday night – two days after the killing – about one hundred armed men rode to Alexander Lake and ordered all of Radcliffe’s men to pack and leave. They did. After they had gone, the mob tossed a lit kerosene lantern into the hotel and burned it to the ground, along with some of the nearby cabins.

Radcliffe was away on business when this all occurred. He was informed of what awaited him if he returned on the train, and he never returned to western Colorado. About 1911, the Grand Mesa Resort Company purchased the interests of Radcliffe. They incorporated, sold shares at $50 a share, built a new fish hatchery, restocked the lakes, and improved the main road.

Radcliffe, via the English ambassador, sued the U.S. Government for $65,500 to reimburse him for the damages to his property. Eventually, he received $25,000. William Radcliffe died in Kent, England in 1938 at age 81. His difficulties on Grand Mesa resulted from his inability to understand the people of Delta County and their inability to understand his English ways.

What really happened to William Alexander? His mysterious disappearance occurred in 1892, shortly after purchasing a new saddle at George Wilson’s saddle shop in Delta. Years later, in 1906, a skeleton was found in a shallow grave about two miles west of Cedaredge, near where the old road was. There was no positive identification. Some speculated that it was Alexander, and that he was killed for the saddle. Others thought he was killed by his partner, Richard Forrest, because Forrest had previously sued Alexander over some money owed him. This fact was widely known, but it was not proof of murder. The mystery of his disappearance was never solved.

Jim Wetzel

Note: In early 2011, Jim Wetzel published a book regarding the 1901 incident on Grand Mesa, titled: “Murder and Mystery on Grand Mesa / A Fishing Feud Begins.” Copies of this book can be obtained at the Delta County Museum, 251 Meeker Street, Delta, Colorado 81416.