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| photo: cowboylands.net |
PART 3.
As you read in Part 1 of the Rancheria Massacre, the heinous
atrocities this band of criminals committed in the small town of Rancheria
(Amador County) and in The Rancheria Massacre Part 2-The Round Up, the angry mob that ensued upon discovering the gory
site, now we are onto Part 3, the hunt! This is the part that will remind you
of something from a good old western movie.
On The Trail Of The Bandits
Earlier in the morning the Sheriff came down to the scene of
the murders, to view the mutilated bodies. He was so overcome with disgust of
what these bandits had done to law abiding citizens of his County, that now
only justice was on his mind. And he intended to make sure justice was what he
got! Speaking very little as he stepped along the ground, witnessing the gory
aftermath of a murderous rampage, Sheriff Phoenix yelled out , “Let’s Go!” as
he mounted his horse and motioned for his posse to follow him.
In order to catch this large group of banditos, the Sheriff’s
office had made a posse to go after them. Sheriff Phoenix, Constable Cross,
George Durham, Perrin, Eichelberger and Sherry took off and followed what they believed
to be the trail of where the bandits had went. Unfortunately, they were off a
little, they realized by the time they were nearing Indian Diggings, El Dorado
County and turned by to Jackson. By the time they got to Jackson, they learned
that the bandits had crossed over the Mokelumne River at Diamond Bar. Once Sheriff Phoenix and his men made it to
the Calaveras County side, they met up with Sheriff Charles Clark, Paul
McCormick, and “Six-Fingered” Smith. Clark told Phoenix and his men that they
attacked the gang at Texas Bar and captured one of the men. His name was Manuel
Castro (Garcia), and he had been previously employed as a vaquero for Charles Stone of
Buena Vista. Garcia was hanged, but not before giving up the names of the men in
his party and their whereabouts to the authorities.
Two days had gone by and the Sheriff and his posse of men
were still searching for the bandits. Upon reaching Jenny Lind they discovered
law enforcement had found an encampment of men near Reynold’s Ferry. There they
realized the men were not of the bandits’ gang so they kept moving onward into
the Jamestown area. Upon arriving in Jamestown, they found some of the horses
the bandits had stolen from Rancheria, and it appeared they were dying from
exhaustion.
On August 12th, after coming across the “Old Chinese Camp” (originally known as Camp Washington) and the adjoining
Mexican camp "Campo Salvado" where they noticed a large dance hall or "cantina" on a hillside. Sheriff Phoenix and
his posse decided to stop and question the people there, while probably
attempting to “wet their whistles” so-to-speak. Remember, this was August and
it was noted in the papers as being exceptionally hot that time of year. I am
sure they were parched and needed to take a break, so they stopped there to
clear their heads and rest for a spell.
While sitting inside the Dance Hall/Saloon, Durham noticed a
“senorita” over by one of the doors making hand gestures to someone outside to “go
away!” Quickly he ran over to the door and recognized some of the men they were
looking for. Guns blazing, the Sheriff
and his men took off after the men, shooting in their direction. They were met
with incoming fire from the bandits as well, as the men took the shootout into
the street.
A young child attempted to warn the officers that he saw one
of the men who was shot, crawling away into a cloth shanty. The members of the
Sheriff’s posse snuck up on the shanty, noticing the bloodstained finger prints
that showed he was in there. They called for him to surrender, to no avail, so
they lit the shanty on fire. The bandit then ran out of the shanty, completely
engulfed in flames, screaming and shooting his weapon until he was shot dead. Somewhere during this ordeal, although someone in the posse motioned for the Sheriff to shoot one of the men instead of trying to capture him, Sheriff Phoenix still attempted to apprehend him and got shot in the process. It
was said that the man who shot Sheriff Phoenix was shot down, while another who
had been shot but kept attacking was finally taken out by an American who
struck the man down with a blow to the head with an axe.
For Sheriff Phoenix, the one bullet that struck him, hit him
dead on into his chest, killing him instantly. Sadly, a hero who was only
seeking justice for the lives lost in Rancheria, now had become a victim of the
very same murderous men. Some of the bandits managed to escape into the woods,
while others lay dead. As for the Sheriff’s men, they had to return Sheriff
Phoenix’s body to be buried.
U.S. Census records of 1852 show that Sheriff William H. Phoenix
was born in 1823, in New York. I am unsure as to when he came to California, or
why, but it is recorded that he became Amador County’s very first Sheriff in 1854. Sadly, Phoenix was only in office about a year before he died.
Sheriff Phoenix died on August 12th, 1855 in the
line of duty. The History of Amador
County states that he was buried by the Masonic Order at Sonora. He was only 32 years old at the time of his
death. He was said to be “open-hearted,
holding malice to no one, and was universally esteemed.” It was also mentioned that he was in poor
health at the time of the hunt for the bandits and that he was told to rest
upon reaching Jackson earlier in the trip. Phoenix refused to rest, stating
that his presence was needed due to the “disturbed condition of the County” and
that if he declined going after the criminals that he knew his courage would
have been called into question.
Out of
all the men who took part in hunting down the criminals responsible for the
Rancheria Massacre, Sheriff Phoenix is one we should never forget, and always
pay our respect to. He gave the ultimate sacrifice, his life in the pursuit of
Justice. He was a true hero, if ever there was one.
(Copyright 2013- J’aime
Rubio- Dreaming Casually Publications)
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