Wednesday, July 9, 2008

CULBERTSON, MONTANA....the site of the murder of WILLIAM WATER GREER


CULBERTSON, MONTANA....the site of the murder of WILLIAM WATER GREER


William Walter GREER was born near Bloomfield (Nelson County), Kentucky. Hi sparents were Thomas Newton and Sally Foster GREER. After college graduation, he left for Montana and bought a ranch. He was murdered. His body was brought back to Bloomfield for burial He is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery there. His grandfather was James and his great grand father was Samuel GREER.


William Walter (W. W.) Greer (13 January 1874 - 26 January 1905) graduated from Centre College as Valedictorian of his class. He was unmarried and lived on a ranch in Culbertson Valley, Montana. He was called the "duck man" in the newspaper. I think maybe he had tame ducks living in the cabin with him. He was murdered by a rustler named James Malcolm on 26 January 1905. Read the article from the Searchlight. It is a classic.

MURDER MOST FOUL

The Dead Body of W. W. Greer Found in His Own Cabin at Big Lake with Two Bullet Holes in His Body.

R. P. Bowman Found the Dead Body While Out on Horseback Last Friday Looking for Some Stray Horses. James Malcolm, who Was Arrested Saturday for Stealing a Horse, Is Suspected of Committing the Crime. Malcolm Visited the Duckman's Ranch on Thursday, Jan. 26th, the Day Before the Body Was Found. A Coroner's Inquest was Held in Culbertson Today.

While looking for stray horses belonging to the Bowman Ranch last Friday, Rusaw P. Bowman rode to the cabin of W. W. Greer, known in the Big Muddy District as the Duckman cabin and when he entered he found Greer lying near the door dead.

At first Mr. Bowman thought the man died from near-------, as he lay in an apparently natural position and that was the first report sent out, but the next day when Coroner Getty arrived on the scene, a closer examination was made and the man was found to have been murdered. ………………(lines missing) ranch, notifying Mr. Bedford of the occurrence, and from there to the ranch of Gay Allen, whom he notified. He also met the stag on its way from Plentywood to Culbertson, and sent a message by the driver to Agent Stanfield, who telegraphed to Coroner Getty at Glasgow to come to Duckman's cabin as soon as possible.

Mr. Bowman then returned to Duckman's Ranch, accompanied by Messrs. Bedford and Allen, where they all remained until Dr. Getty arrived there the next day, Saturday, January 28th.

Coroner Getty was accompanied by Thomas Moore and Orrin Denn, the latter driving the team.

The coroner and party brought the remains of Greer to Culbertson, arriving here about noon on Monday, when the body was laid on a table in the restaurant building opposite the Evans Hotel. Dr. Getty immediately empaneled a coroner's jury composed of W. S. Evans, foreman, Alb. Manderbach, W. T. Stephens, Thomas Darwin, P. J. Nagy and Walter S. Patch.

In the meantime County Attorney John J. Kerr and Sheriff Griffith had arrived from Glasgow in response to telegram and were present at the inquest. The examination of the witnesses took place in the office of G. H. Coulter, beginning about 2 o'clock Monday afternoon, and the reporter was present during the proceeding.

The principle witness at the inquest was R. P. Bowman, Orrin Denny and Thomas Moore simply corroborating his testimony. The awful story of the tragedy is best told in the language of Mr. Bowman, as follows:

"My name is Rusaw P. Bowman. I reside near the Big Muddy River, about 27 miles from Culbertson, in Valley County, Montana. "On Friday, Jan. 27th, I left home about 1 o'clock p.m., on horseback to look for some stray horses. I rode over to the Duckman's cabin, which is about four miles from my ranch. I went to the door and knocked but there was no answer. Again knocked and on receiving no reply was about to go away when I heard a noise in the shack, which I afterwards concluded was made by some tame ducks in the cabin.

"I opened the door and saw a man lying there with his feet near the door. I afterwards found that his name was W. W. Greer, known in this vicinity as the "Duck Man," for the reason that he was raising tame ducks.

"I spoke to him and he did not answer. I shook him and found that he was dead. I closed the door and rode back and found Mr. Bedford and Guy Allen and the stage driver to send a message to the coroner.

"I then rode back to ---- Duckman's Ranch accompanied by Bedford and Allen and we stayed there --- the next day when Coroner Getty arrived, when I assisted him to search the premises.

"After the coroner arrived, we made a ………..(lines missing)

"After examining the body, we looked around outside of the cabin and found tracks indicating that some person had recently ridden up on horseback, accompanied by three dogs, from the east. The tracks of the horse showed that there was a part of the right front hoof of the animal broken off so that it did not make a perfect impression, making it easy to follow the trail.

"This trail was traced up to within a short distance of the cabin where it was evidently obliterated by other tracks. On the west side of the cabin, tracks of the same horse were found, going in a northwesterly direction from the cabin.

"On account of darkness, we discontinued the tracing of the tracks until the next day. That night Mr. Bowman went home for the night and the coroner and his party stopped with a neighboring rancher, with the understanding that they would meet on Saturday morning at the Duckman's cabin. Continuing his testimony, Mr. Bowman said:

"The next morning I took up the trail of the horse and three dogs from my own ranch to this dugout or cave called Duckman's cabin where Greer was killed. I met Dr. Getty and his party there and we made a circle around the cabin about a quarter of a mile away to see if there were any other tracks leading to the Greer ranch, but found no other recent trail leading to or going away from the cabin, except the ones mentioned and one other, that of a man leading a horse. This trail had been partly obliterated by the wind filling the footprints with snow and appeared to be several days older than the trail of the horse and dogs.

"After this I and Dr. Getty's party took up the trail of the horse and dogs leading to the Duckman's ranch from an easterly direction, and traced it back about 10 miles to the ranch of J. H. Smith at the head of Big Lake.

"We asked Mrs. Bell if anyone had been there recently with three dogs. She answered that Jim Malcolm had been there with three hounds; that he left there saying that he was going to the Duckman's cabin to stay all night; that he left the Smith ranch about 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26th, for the Duckman's ranch.

"The same Jim Malcolm," continued Mr. Bowman, "came to my place on that same Thursday night, arriving about 10 minutes to 7 o'clock, and staid all night. He was accompanied by three hounds. My place is about four miles from the Duckman's cabin. While at my place, Jim Malcolm stated that he had intended to stay at the Duckman's ranch that night, but that he could not find the place. "He had a 30-30 barrage rifle with him. The Savage rifle was placed in evidence and handed to the witness. Mr. Bowman continuing, said: "This is the same rifle that Jim Malcolm had when at my house to the best of my knowledge. It is the one here in front of Mr. Crohn.

"The morning Jim Malcolm left my ranch I found ---- cartridge shell near the barn door where he kept his horse that night." Here Mr. Bowman produced the shell in court. "This scratch," he said, "is a mark I put on the shell myself to identify it."Question, by Judge Kerr. "Have you tried the empty shell in the gun since that time?" Answer: "Yes, Sir, and it fits this rifle."

The empty shell when compared with three other shells, one fired from the same gun since the first one was found, and two fired from other rifles using the same kind of cartridges, showing that the two fired from the Savage rifle that Malcolm had have the same peculiar markings from the ones fired from the discharge, and that they differed from the ones fired from other guns.

Continuing, Mr. Bowman said, "I have since seen the horse that Mr. Malcolm rode to my house Friday night. I saw it Sunday evening at Mr. Sherman's ranch. It was in Billy Crohn's possession. I examined the horse's hoof to see if it was the same horse I had been trailing and found that the hoof made the same footprints that I found near the Duckman's cabin.

Question: Who was with you during your search for the tracks around the Duckman's cabin and while following the trail of the horse and three dogs? Answer: Thomas Moore, Orrin Denny and the coroner, Dr. Getty.

After taking the testimony, the Coroner and jury proceeded to the Humphrey restaurant, where the body lay. Coroner Getty, assisted by W. T. Stephens, stripped the body by cutting the clothes from him.

Mr. Greer was rather a slight man, weighing perhaps 120 pounds. He was warmly clothed and as clean as a man could well be. He had on thin cotton underwear next to his skin, with heavy woolen underwear over this. His outside clothes consisted of a conductor's or motorman's uniform that he had recently used while working for the street railway in Chicago.

When he was stripped, it was found that he had been shot twice, each ball going clear through the body. The ball supposed to have been shot first entered the left breast near the arm and went clear through the chest emerging almost straight across on the right side near the arm. The second ball, which was probably fired when the man was falling, entered the small of the back, a little to the right of the backbone, going through the abdomen and coming out a little above and to the right of the navel. Either shot would have been fatal.

Dr. Getty said after performing the autopsy on Tuesday morning that the first shot could not have been made in a manner to cause a quicker or more painless death, as it severed all the large blood vessels leading from the heart. Both lungs were pierced and the aorta or main artery was cut just above the heart.

Walter W. Greer was a well educated man, holding a diploma from a Kentucky college as a Bachelor of Science. He was an inoffensive man, fond of reading and experimenting in raising vegetables, etc. He had several dozen tame ducks which he was wintering in his shack, and intended making a business of raising ducks. From the pockets of the dead man were taken the following articles: A five-dollar bill, a nickel, a cheap watch, a common jack-knife, a bill of sale of a black mare, signed by Arthur Charlesworth, a union card from a Chicago Union and a couple of books of postage stamps, one empty and the other with only two stamps gone.

A message was sent to his attorney, Bedford C. Cherry of Bardstown, Ky, who communicated with his relatives.

A message was received by Coroner Getty Tuesday morning to have the body embalmed and held until the arrival of the sender, and the message was signed, E. A. Walton, Salt Lake City, Utah.

VERDICT OF CORONER'S JURY

We the jury summoned at the inquest held by the Coroner of the County of Valley over the body of one W. W. Greer, on the 30th day of January 1905 A.D., after hearing the testimony and examining the body, upon our oaths do say that the person here lying dead and upon which the inquest was held, was Walter W. Greer, and that he came to his death on January 26th 1905 at said Greer ranch, about thirty miles north of Culbertson and in Valley County, Montana, and that he came to his death by means of --- shot wounds ……………..some person or persons unknown ………… ------ in Culberson, Montana, January 30th 1905.

JURORS: W. S. Evans, foreman, Albert Manderbach, W. T. Stephens, Thomas Darwin, F. R. Nagey, W. R. Patch.

THE OTHER MAN

The only other man who is known to have been at the Duckman ranch within a week of the tragedy is Hugh Crohn, who was probably the last man who could have seen W. W. Greer alive except the murderer.

Hugh Crohn took dinner with R. P. Bowman on Tuesday, Jan. 24th, and told him he had staid all night at the Duckman cabin on Monday night and that he intended to stay with Greer again that night, Tuesday --- Crohn …….. wolf traps in the county and that he was ……………. to look after them ……… Hugh Crohn went to ……… Mr. Bowman's ranch …….. he is at present, but if information is filed against Mr. Malcolm for the murder of Greer, Mr. Crohn will be subpoenaed as a witness.

Court Attorney Kerr told the reporter that the matter would be taken up in due ---- a full investigation is made into the case.

MALCOLM ARRESTED FOR HORSE STEALING

On Saturday last Jim Malcolm was arrested in Culbertson for stealing a horse ………… . and was taken before Judge Coulter where he pleaded guilty to the charges. He was taken to Glasgow on Sunday and lodged in jail to await the action of the district court. While in Judge Coulter's office Malcolm, who is only 18 years old, said that he did not care if he got ---- years for stealing the horse, that he had been kicked and caffed around all his life and that he would be of age when he got out of prison.

As near as can be ascertained, the whereabouts of Malcolm last week were about as follows. About a week before, before he was arrested, he stole the horse, saddle and gun from George Bolster, while Bolster was absent from home. He went to the Crohn ranch on Monday of last week and stayed there a couple of days, and while there traded the stolen horse and gun to Billy Crohn for the Savage rifle and the horse which he rode on Thursday.

On Thursday about 11:30 o'clock a.m., he left the Smith ranch on horseback with the Savage rifle and the three dogs, saying he was going to stay all night at the Duckman's ranch. After being seven hours on the road, he arrived at R. P. Bowman's ranch and said he could not find the Duckman's cabin. Malcolm staid Thursday night at the Bowman's ranch and on Friday came to Culbertson.

In the meantime, Geo. Bolster had traced his horse to Billy Crohn's ranch where he found it and he and Billy Crohn came to Culbertson and filed information against Malcolm for horse stealing.

No comments: