He’s rumored to be living off of the grid part time in AK and otherwise in either ID or NV.
I agree that I don’t respect poaching and that the officers probably didn’t deserve to be shot.
It’s an interesting story and one that I had never heard of. Playing Devils advocate Dallas probably didn’t do anything worse than any number of outlaws that we glamorize and make movies or write songs about today. He just did it a hundred years later.
If he hadn't been stupid, he'd have walked on justifiable homicide. He had both of them down and he should have left it at that. But, he was an idiot and he shot them both as they lay there. Then he tried to hide the bodies. It became murder 1 and there was nothing justifiable about it.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
Interesting tidbit, my dad flew Tim Nettleton, the Owyhee County Sheriff to the San Francisco FBI office with Dallas's guns.
Evidently, it was next to impossible to preserve the chain of custody shipping them on a commercial flight.
That is interesting. From the sounds of it Dallas was a bit of a local folk hero at the time. At least as how portrayed in the channel that I linked. I’ve read about the “Mad Trapper” but hadn’t heard of Dallas.
I remember this. The wardens were out of control and he was a self-styled mountain man idiot. To put it kindly, a clash of cultures separated by about 100 years. It probably should NOT be looked at that way however.
"Be sure you're right. Then go ahead." Fess Parker as Davy Crockett
I had a copy of the book "Outlaw" about 35 years ago. Should've kept it. For some unknown reason, used copies are commanding crazy prices now. People seem to want to believe in the myth of the rugged individual living on his own terms in the Wild West. I guess they're ok with him being a cold-blooded killer.
I read that book about 35 years ago, too. I think the book probably made him a folk hero of sorts; but before that nobody knew of him, and I doubt he was any "Last of the Mountain Men". The book also painted one of the wardens as an [bleep] that kinda had it coming.
So many opinions, none of them worth rancid dog poop. Who among you lived in that are during the time frame of the occurrence? Any one of you know Pogue or Elms? Any one of you know or have even met Claude Dallas? I lived in Winnemucca Nevada for just shy of ten years, from 1970 to 1979. Only reason I left was a job transfer. I don't know when the feud between Dallas and Pogue started and I d not know all the details of the why or wherefore. What I do know is Pogue was a dirty cop. One of his tricks was if he stopped you in your vehicle while out on a hunt, he'd ask for your gun and open it to check for a loaded chamber. Usually while hunting near the Idaho/Nevada. Then he'd rack the bolt closed, hand you your gun and tell you to go on. As soon as you got back in your truck, BAM! You'r under arrest for having a loaded gun in your truck. Happened every time unless you were smart enough to clear that chamber before getting back into, your vehicle. He busted an awful lot of people that was and I saw him do it. He was great for unintended entrapment like the above example. That's the kind of game warden he was. Elms I know nothing about as I never met the man. At least I don't think I did.
As to whether there was a hatred between Pogue and Dallas, Dallas never said anything to me but Pogue had/has kin living in Winnemuca and there were times he's be down in town at the Winner's Inn celebrating a birthday or something and be a few sheets to the wind. More than once I heard him say that it he caught Dallas out on the range, he'd shoot him down like a rabid dog. I know damn well if someone was shooting their mouth off that they were gonna kill me, I'd take them at their word and act accordingly.
Dallas on the other hand was a strange duck. A reasonably agreeable sort based on what contact I had. He did odd jobs in Winnemucca and I hired him to build a fence around my house. He did a good job of work and I paid him. Knew him well enough to say hello when he hit town. Talked guns with him a few times. We got along OK. I do know that most people in Winnemucca were on his side in the affair and that Pogue was intensely disliked by the locals.
The fact is only three people really know what went down out there in the Nevada desert and two ain't talking. None of us were there on the scene. I know the area, at least the Nevada side because I've deer hunted there. It's a lonely stretch of desert with miles and miles of nothing. It's really hard to say if you're still in Nevada or have crossed into Idaho. No white line denoting you're now in Idaho nor is there a fence with a sign saying NV/ID border. The late Pogue's favorite hunting grounds BTW. I wonder why?
PJ
Our forefathers did not politely protest the British.They did not vote them out of office, nor did they impeach the king,march on the capitol or ask permission for their rights. ----------------They just shot them. MOLON LABE
