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CHAPTER SEVEN OUTLAWS

1986 *Copyright by Hollyfo Ann Harer {Beers) Reproduced on the City of Ukiah website witir . permission from the author. 70

THE WILD & WOOLLY NORTH FORK: II aven for Horse Theives

Way back when the country Julia was reported to be a around Ukiah was fairly sparse- horse thief and infamous drink- 1y settled the North Fork of er. 0nce while driving stolen the John Day River country lias horses to Heppner (so the story even rougher and harbored quite goes) Julia took a chance & dove a number of outlaws, including off a sheer shale wa 11 of rock. many horse theives. On€ fami- She escaped and went to Chicago 1y of nuch notoriety who l ived where she cleaned out a Chinese in the back country was the 01' joint and got a scar on her face Bill Walker tribe. which ran fron her temple across 01d Bill hinself was re- her cheek to her chin. portedly a s coundrel of hiSh- She was also once reported- est ca1ibe". 'fn fact, he used 1y caught for horse theft and to te11 fo1ks, "f an the law on Lodged in the o1d Echo j ai1. It the North Fork." Apparently it didn't hold her long as she not was true at the tirne as Bill only tore down her ce1l but did was purportedly party to sorne the same to her partnerrs & es- das t ardly deeds. caped to the wilderness of the One story reLated to me North Foxk country. concerned 01d Bill selling some It was said that if an out- horses to thTee men. He then 1aw could make it to the North stood in the doorway of his 1og Fork he would be safe as not cabin ith a rifle and toLd the nany lawmen took the chance of boys that they had best leave being anbushed in that part of one of those horses there. Af- the county. ter some persuasion fron Bi11s fn one of the old Pend1eton rifle they did as they were re- bars Red Wing got into a fit & quested. when the bartender couldnrt get BiLl. was so ornerythat ha her out he called the police. When shot his own brother-in-law o- they arrived she beat the twoof ver a horse deaL and then left then up and stayed there drink- him there in the sun for 2 days ing until her brother-in-1aw, a to die. Bill sat in the house cop named Jack Powe11, r.rent in with his rifLe and refused to and got her to leave. 1et anyone help his sister's JuL ia was definitely one nortally wounded husband, I of the nost renenbered persons guess when BiLl got mad every- ever to have lived in the Ukiah body knew it. area. She could ride, Tope, and He was later buried in the drink next to any man and left sand beside the river he had quite a legend in Ukiah countTy ruled over for so long. and the surrounding area. It's no wonder that some She did marry once as hex of his offspring turned out to nane became Julia Walker Shultz be equally as nean as this o1d but I did not discover who would man . Bill and his wife, Maggie, have tackled the j ob. had s even daughters and final- Jul,ia's sister, Susie, was 1y s on, BilL Walker, Jr. involved with a horse thief by The nost notorious of the the name of Albert "Bert" Ledg- 1ot was Ju1ia, also known as erwood. In fact, he and Susie "Red Wing", al-though she hated I,lalker lived together for fifty the nane with a passion. years before they got married. 77

The couple l ived on the North safely away from the scene of Fork for nany years before they the crine. The sher iff await- finally moved to Athena. Roscoe ed and the nan was caPtured.He Dickenson had also noved to A- spent a year in j ai1 for horse thena and every norning he went rustling, but' while he was in down to Bert and Sus ie' s, who the hooseSow his outlaw Part- arust have been in their 70's by ners paid and saved his I4tages this tine, to see if they had for hirn for the ent ire Year. any children ye t. Roscoe said Upon his re j,ease fron jail that all newlyweds soon had a they turned the noneY over to few children. ft was a big joke h in, but he was verY indignant for then all. and asked thenr why theY had 1et Bert Ledgerwood was the hin take the whole raP for the son of San and Rebecca Ledger- job. They asked hin whY he was wood fron Missouri. He was a c omplaining s ince he'd never very ta11 nan and lean as a nade such an easy Year' s wages,'I s ap 1ing, therefore, everyone in his Iifo. His replY? ca1led hin " Tamarack. " do have a reputation to think Roscoe D ickenson was nar- of, you know !" ried to Emna Ledgerwood in U- kiah. They had 1400 acres a- 0ther known, or purported, bout halfway between the Hynd horse theives a1s o l ived on and Lazinka raches southeastof the wild North Fork, including town. The Ledgerwood's l ived Spot Stanley and a nan naned up Cable Creek. Bohart. The terrain of the area a- Shorty Garrett was a self- round the river was perf ectly proclaimed horse thief who a1- suited for hideouts and cab ins so had a hidaway on the North for those evad ing the 1aw. The Fork of the John Day R iver. steep canyon wall-s and rugged Shorty, however, was per- vegetat ion would hinder any haps more honest than a 1ot of but the roughest of persons. people in his own way. He once borrowed $2,500 fron Roscoe D ickens on and paid A MYSTERIOUS MURD E R it all back--a11 but $25. He j ust couldn' t seem to round up A saloon was once operat- that final 25 bucks so one day ed at the foot of the North Fork he rode up to Dickenson I s and Grade and at one tine was run told Roscoe he'd give hirn his by Bill Anderson. ft was nost rifle for the final paynent, 1ike1y quite a rowdy place be- Dickenson told him that ing situated in the desolate wouldnrt be necessary, that he re g ion inhab i ted by outlaws & would wait for the rest of the others. money, but honest Shorty, the William Hale is said to horse thief , l ayed the o1d 25- have died as a re sult of be ing 20 by the gate and 1eft. They shot with his own pistol Sept- were even. Even some horse ernber 29, 1899. Many beli€v€d thieves have scrupLes as the this happened at the North Fork f ollowing.story will prove. Grade saLoon, Hale supposedly checked in An unnamed bunch of horse his f irearrn with the bartender thieves got caught in the act and later that evening someone and all fled the sceneron hor- stole it and shot hin in the ses, of course. Later one of back of the head. No suspect the outLaws came back to see was ever apprehended and Ilale, if all his cohorts had nade it 33, was buried in Ukiah. 72

Willian Hale & his brother John Sam Hale, cane to Oregon fron Virginia in the late 1800's and John worked the mines in the area, mostly the Greenhorn and Bonanza outfits wbile youngWil- Liam ran and deaLt in horses in the Ukiah area. Perhaps young Hale had nade an enemy in his horse dealings. He was described as liking liquor, women and had a fiery temper. He did die rath- er young at age 33.

W. W. Walker, early hone- steader on North Fork.

In the WaLker fanily there were nine children. Katie Walk- er Peterson Sturn-Mana Jo Brehn was her daughter. JuLia Walker Shul"tz, the notor ious "Red l{ing. " I'Baberr Walker Anderson who was narried to 8i11, Nancy Walker Ryder Harer & LiLliam Walker Plant 0ates. Susie Walker, who married Bert Ledgerwood. Po11y and Emna Walker. Emma died on the way to a hospital in John Day. Wi11iam Powel1 Walker was the only son and the youngestof the f aniLy. He was known as Bi11y PoH- elL in school as hls stepfather r^ras named Powe11. He now goes by WiL1ian Walker. Bil1y drove the nail truck through DaLe a1l" through the 50s and part tine after that for Garrett Fre ight and later Phit" Moss. Mr. Walker now has a h obby where he rnakes animals & statues out of rocks. Television and neI^ts - papers have carried the s tory.