The renegade Queho murders again?
'Quintus Hopper of Nevada' series: After supposedly committing his first murder in late 1910, white men claimed that he struck again soon after. Proof thereof? None.
Quintus Hopper of Nevada, published in January 2022, is a historical novel that follows the epic and peculiar life of a frontier newspaper typesetter. As part of my research I made extensive use of newspaper archives and, in this series, I’ll share some of my often surprising findings. Here are history, commentaries and contemporary newspaper articles as they relate to the novel. This time a look at a very curious murder that was soon attributed to the newfound convenient scapegoat, the Paiute Indian Queho.
In the month after the murder of Joe Woodworth, the killing of a watchman, at a mill on the Arizona side of the Colorado River, is discovered. In the following article from the Mohave County Miner, Queho (giving there as Que-ho) is mentioned for the first time. Supposedly, he told an old Paiute (the nearly one hundred-year-old Canyon Charley) that he would cross the river to kill the watchman, and that he intended to kill more white men.
That statement was made, according to the paper, to I. W. Alcock. This is Isaac Alcock, known to everyone as Ike, who, in the novel, is Quintus’ best friend from the time they meet to their death. Ike was one of the old-timers at Eldorado Canyon, a jack of all trades who knew every inch of the surrounding mountains and was as good a tracker and hunter as were the Chemehuevi he called his friends. Ike had married a squaw and they had five children together.
Did Queho indeed kill Doc Gilbert? There is no way of knowing. Gilbert, who had been in San Bernardino before, must have had an interesting life – and maybe the cause for his murder might also be found there. As below article describes, letters were found with Gilbert, suggesting that he was a rich man. For some reason, he didn’t claim his wealth, but instead took the job of watching an idle mill in the middle of nowhere.
No doubt there’s a story there – unfortunately, I’ve not been able to find out anything more about Gilbert’s life before becoming a watchman. And the story of that inheritance by an Isaac Tremble also remains a mystery. And finally, why would Queho decide to make the effort to go and kill an old watchman on the other side of the river? If he wanted to kill white men, there was plenty of opportunity on the Nevada side.
November 26, 1910
Mohave County Miner, Kingman
Piute Indian Does Murder.
A telegram was received at the Sheriff’s office last Monday night bringing the information that a Piute Indian had murdered Dr. L. W. Gilbert, watchman at the Goldbug mill. Coroner Smith and Deputy Sheriff Gideon at once started for the scene of the crime, arriving at Eldorado Canyon about one o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesday. A panel of jurors were obtained at that place and with several Indians the trip to the mill was made by boat. The body of the murdered man was found lying in the wash close to the river, and in a bad state of decomposition, showing that the crime had been committed five or six days previous. After empaneling the jury a thorough investigation was made of the surroundings and of the body. It was found that the murdered man had been shot from behind by an apparently small caliber, high power gun, the bullet having gone cleanly through the body and piercing the heart. It cut so clean a hole that it was almost imperceptible whether it went in at the back or in front, except that the clothing showed the direction of puncture. Owing the condition of the body a grave had to be dug at the place where found and wrapped in blankets the body of the unfortunate man was placed in its tomb of clay. Cordwood was filled into the grave to keep animals from digging it up.
At the inquest I. W. Alcock testified that coming in from his mines, in the mountain west of Eldorado Canyon, he passed the camp of an old Piute who told him that a Piute Indian named Que-ho had been at his camp some days before and told him that he was going across the river to kill the watchman at the Goldbug mill and as many more whites as he could get. Alcock at once went to the mill and found the old man’s body. The murdered man was about 70 years of age and claimed to have been a practicing physician. He had been a watchman at the mill about a year and apparently got along quite friendly with the Indians.
A posse was at once put on the trail of the Indian murderer and a reward of 100$ was offered by the sheriff’s office of this county, which will undoubtedly be supplemented by the board of supervisors as soon as they can be brought together. Whites and Indians are now on the trail and every effort will be made to overtake and kill him. No effort is ever made to capture a Piute murderer, as they will always fight to the death and from now on it will be a case of kill or be killed.
This is the first outbreak by a Piute in about fourteen years, the last murders having been committed by Ahvote, who killed Judge Morton, Charles Monahan and three others about the year 1896. This Indian was killed by other members of his tribe. About the same time that Ahvote did the killing, an Indian named Mouse was being sought after for the killing of two white men. Mouse was afterward killed on the Muddy by a posse of whites and Indians.
Among the effects of the murdered man are a number of telegrams informing him of his heirship to a fortune of more than one million of dollars. The first of these telegrams reads as follows:
San Bernardino, Cal., May 20, 1905 – L. W. GILBERT, Arlington. – Isaac Tremble died left you a million four hundred thousand dollars cash three hundred twenty acres land in Cook county, Ills. Come at once. You will find will at Probate Judges office in Court house. – JOHN GRAY, Administrator
Following this is another of the same purport and reading:
San Bernardino, Cal., Feb. 16, 1909. – Dr. M. L. GILBERT, cr. Wm. Warren’s Livery Stable, Bumont, Cal. – I will pay you six hundred and fifty thousand dollars by the twentieth of Feby at the San Bernardino National Bank from Isaac D. Trimble estate. – JOHN ROBINSON.
Another signed by the same man states that he will pay Gilbert the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars on the 25th of February, 1907. Another telegram conveyed the information that James Longstaff had deposited in the United States Savings bank, San Bernardino, the sum of one million dollars.
Whether there was anything to this is unknown, but the telegrams were undoubtedly received and covered a period of four years from the date of the first notifications to the last telegram received by Gilbert.
Among the letters in the dead man’s effects was one from presumably relatives in Canada, in which he is addressed as Edward D. Gilbert, and the writer notifies him of her inability to make payment of certain indebtedness.
People who had known Gilbert for some time prior to his death are of the opinion that he was somewhat insane, and it is possible that he had these telegrams sent to himself for a purpose.