b'POSSE RIDES DOWNKILLERS ON STRIPBy Bill Roberts Reprinted from The TravelerHouse Rock Valley, Arizona, housed a grim secret in the fall of 1886. The bodies of a pioneer couple, Mr. and Mrs. C Clevenger, were buried there on the remote windswept terrain in shallow graves. Cowboys working the range had come upon the graves, one opened by animals, exposing the husbands remains. The cowboys also found a burned-out camp and the charred remains of a light wagon.They rode the 40 odd miles north up the old Mormon TrailThe knife was more significant since the man murdered had to Kanab, Utah, to the Kane County courthouse to reporthis throat cut from ear to ear. There had been rumors inIn Prescott, Sheriff William Billy Mulvenon received their grisly discovery. In Prescott, Sheriff William Billytown that the stranger claiming to be a prospector may haveword from the Kane County sheriff of the murders in the Mulvenon received word from the Kane County sheriff ofcamped near the dead couple, or that others in a wagonnorthern reaches of Yavapai County.the murders in the northern reaches of Yavapai County.claiming to be friends of the victims might have met them The scene was near Jacob Lake, 250 miles around the Grandat their camp. Before leaving, Mulvenon and the cowboyWeinlass UncoveredCanyon and across the Arizona Strip from Prescott, the seatscouted the area. They found a campsite some 300 yardsUndersheriff Joe Waddell in Prescott was notified to track of Yavapai County. It took Mulvenon several days to reachfrom the murder scene. It contained waded up and yelloweddown Weinlasss address and keep an eye on him. While House Rock by stage. He arrived on October 26, 1886, tonewspapers, issues of the Globe newspaper dated in Marchthat was being done, the Fort Thomas postmaster wired find clues skimpy but rumors rampant.and April. The front page of one had a mailing address onmore information on the Clevengers. Seems they had come it. It read: F.O. Weinlass, Thatcher, AZ. Thatcher was not farto Arizona Territory from Missouri four years earlier with Visiting the Murder Scene from Globe, just before Safford on the old trail to Santa Fedaughter Jessie and settled on a small ranch near Fort Mulvenon had the instincts of a crack criminal investigatorvia Solomon. Thomas. They had prospered but grew weary of the desert. and a lot of common sense, plus pitbull determination toThey sold their stock and ranch and set out for the Spokane, solve crimes that came his way. He did some preliminaryVictim Identified Washington region where they planned to settle. The family inquiries around House Rock, learning several key factsMulvenon returned to the Kane County sheriffs officetook their time and wrote several letters to friends in Fort before going to the crime scene. He learned that the victimsin Kanab. There a deputy had found an almost forgottenThomas before they arrived at the House Rock region of had last been seen in House Rock back in the spring,message that had been left on May 20th for Mr. and Mrs.the desolate Arizona Strip. The last word from them was in about May 19th. Their daughter, called Jessie and aboutSamuel Clevenger from their daughter Jessie. A deputyMay from that area. Clevenger was known to have left Fort 17, was with them. She was riding in a heavy wagon thatrecalled that a man had delivered the message, saying theThomas with a large sum of money.accompanied the lighter rig, with two hired hands. daughter and two hired men had been in another wagon and became separated from the elder Clevengers nearFollowing the Fort Thomas postmasters informative Mulvenon learned that a man claiming to be a prospectorHouse Rock. He said that since the Clevengers had notwire, another came from the sheriff at Safford. It told of had been in the House Rock area about the time it wascaught up with them by the time they arrived in Kanab, heWeinlass being a self-styled prospector who did little in estimated the victims had been murdered. He was describedwanted to leave the note with instructions on where thethe way of prospecting or anything else. He was a gambler as a loner, one with no apparent reason for being in theolder couple could me them. by reputation and was suspected of several robberies area, who had camped near the murder scene. One of theand thefts. He had spent a short time in jail for attacking cowboys who had made the grisly find on the range guidedThe note said the two men and the daughter were headinga Fort Thomas soldier with a knife at Thatcher. With Mulvenon to the murder scene. slowly toward Salt Lake City and would meet them there ifthis information at hand, and a deep desire to talk with they had not caught up with them on the trail. MulvenonWeinlass, Mulvenon headed for Prescott. He instructed the Sifting Ashes for Clues now had an ID on the murdered couple and knew who theirsheriff at Safford to send details on the knife and attack on Mulvenon took a small rake with him to the murder scenedaughter was and that she was accompanied in anotherthe soldier in Thatcher and the most complete description to assist in combing the ashes for clues. There was littlewagon by two hired men of the Clevengers. He inquiredpossible of the knife Weinlass had used.left from the fire the killers had set at the camp. The sheriffaround Kanab and learned the elder Clevengers had not managed to come up with a fair description of the lightbeen seen in the Kane County Seat, further evidence thatWeinlass at Skull Valleywagon the couple had been in when they were murdered.the bodies in those two shallow graves near House RockWaddell had an easy time tracking down Weinlass He found a few items that had not been destroyed by the firewere the Clevengers. through the Prescott Post Office. He was camped in a but they shed little light on the murders. A charred watchwagon and had hired out as a ranch hand. So informed on fob with the initials S.C. indicated who the man that wasThe Kane County sheriff promised to make every efforthis return to Prescott, Mulvenon slept in his bed at home killed might be and indicated that the killers had taken theto track down Jessie Clevenger and the two other men onthat night and next morning rode out for Skull Valley. watch since he could find none at the scene. the trail to Salt Lake City. With that, Mulvenon sent wiresThe rancher informed Mulvenon that Weinlass had been to the Globe paper and the postmasters at Thatcher andcamped in his wagon and working for the rancher as a Nothing of significance was found in two graves. The sheriffFt. Thomas to learn what he could about the Clevengershand for three or four months. He directed him to a back saw something glint in the sun from the grass near theand Weinlass. The sheriff learned that in June Weinlasspasture where Weinlass was mending fence. Mulvenon charred camp. It was a heavy hunting knife with a uniquelyhad sent the paper a change of address from Thatcherrode up on a tall, gangling man about 40 years of age. carved handle. He already had found the head of an axto Prescott. The postmaster informed Mulvenon thatHe told the startled Weinlass that he wanted to return in the ashes. Inspecting both, he noted they were crustedWeinlass had filed a forwarding request to Flagstaffsomething to him and handed him the charred knife with with blood. Mulvenon thought the knife might be his bestin January before the permanent change of address tothe ornate handle found at the murder scene near House clue since its ornate handle was one that was rare enoughPrescott. The postmaster also informed Mulvenon heRock. Weinlass said flatly that the knife was not his and to possibly lead to its owner or maker. The ax was verymight learn more about Weinlass from the Grahamhe had never seen it before. He admitted camping near ordinary and offered only additional evidence to the bodiesCounty sheriff in Safford. Both Thatcher and Fort ThomasHouse Rock for a week or so a few months back but said that an ax had been used in the murders. are but a few miles north of Safford. nothing happened while he was camped there and that no one else was camped nearby at the time.20 August 2020'