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| Right push pin is 37.2888 -111.78175 |
But what's the puzzle? Well, it's all about The March 1889 Canyon Diablo Train Robbery. The four robbers had a narrow escape in Cannonville, Utah, and then once again began their run from the law. Sheriff Buckey O'Neill and his posse of three hard-riding deputies got to Cannonville not long after the robbers skedaddled so their trail was easy to follow.
O'Neill and his men caught up with the robbers in Wahweap Canyon and, after a substantial shootout, were able to capture the outlaws.
Since I first became smitten by this story in the mid-1980's, I always associated Wahweap Canyon with the Wahweap we all know today...near the marina on Lake Powell near Page.
Well, after more than 30 years, today we finally pieced that part of the pule together. The shootout and captures didn't take place anywhere near what's now Wahweap Marina. Nope, the climax of the posse pursuit occurred many, many miles to the north.
In the past couple of days we've read perhaps a half dozen accounts of the pursuit and shootout. Using details in those accounts, plus currently available online descriptions of Wahweap Canyon, plus our own knowledge of the Cannonville, Utah, area we finally figured it out.
The robbers would have ridden east of Cannonville out past Kodachrome Basin toward what's now known as Grosvenor Arch near the head of Cottonwood Wash. By crossing a ridge east of the arch, they would have dropped into the Wahweap Creek drainage. The robbers weren't very bright and they rode out to a point overlooking Wahweap Canyon where they were surrounded by cliffs on three sides. Meanwhile, the posse had the fourth side--their escape route. and that's when and where the shooting started.
In the graphic, the left arrow shows Cannonville and the right arrow is the most likely site of the shootout and capture. This puzzle piece fits even better when considering the timeline of the robbers departure from Cannonville matched up with the approximate speed of a horseman in that rough country.
Finally, at least, we can plunk down another piece of this jigsaw puzzle. It's starting to come together!
Here's the Wahweap Creek Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahweap_Creek
On the evening of December 29, Tom Kliewer said: "I know we discussed this topic several years ago at Badger Creek, the true location of the final capture of the train robbers. Several books describe a dramatic charge on horseback by O' Neill with guns blazin' at Willow Tanks on Ferry Swale after trailing their bloody footprints from the Wahweap area. The tanks are located above the ferry and south of the mouth of Wahweap Creek on the Dominguez Trail. Having visited the tanks numerous times which are potholes on a rock "cockscomb"with ledges and loose rock on both talus slopes, My belief has always been is no way to mount a charge at the location without serious injuries to the horse and rider. With your latest research I believe you're "on the right track" to correcting this piece of the story. I've been organizing my storage and should be able to locate my copy of the original book which described the finale and I'll cc to you. Kudos to you and I'm looking forward to more!"
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