The Outlaw and the Neckties
After months of eluding sheriffs across the Pacific Northwest, a horse thief and burglar is captured in Spokane, but his case leads to a messy legal feud back in Colfax.
Sheriff Canutt has finally captured John Weston, a man long wanted for burglary and horse stealing across Whitman, Adams, Stevens, and Lincoln counties. Weston and his partner, Charlie Gibbon, had been evading authorities for months, moving through Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Weston was finally apprehended in Spokane after a long chase. The charges include the burglary of the W.J. Boatright Co. store in Johnson, where thieves made off with goods including ladies' corsets. A witness, John Dodson, later claimed Weston gave him neckties stolen during the robbery. Following Weston's capture, Dodson attempted to sue Sheriff Canutt for $5,250, alleging wrongful imprisonment after the sheriff held him to ensure he would appear as a witness in the upcoming trial.
“He has roamed Oregon, Washington and British Columbia during the time. But persistently the officers have thrown the net around him.”
This story captures the era of the 'wild west' fading into a more structured legal system, where witnesses and suspects alike found themselves trapped in the growing bureaucracy of the county court system.
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