Folsom prison escape While Chris and John awaited their trial in Fresno, Eva decided to busy herself with assisting George's escape from Folsom Prison. She had received a letter from George written in code that May, telling her to expect and assist a “Mr. Johnson” who would arrive in Visalia in the coming weeks. Later that June, a man came to the Byrd’ home asking for “Mrs. Bolivar”. Eva told Fredericks, under the alias of Johnson, to meet her that evening in the orchard. He told her that George wanted her to gather guns for his escape and that he would have arrived earlier but had been thrown off the train several times after his release. At first she denied the request, but after Fredericks told her how harsh life in prison had been, she agreed to help. Eva knew a saloon keeper in Visalia, a friend of her father named Si Lovern. He had previously told Eva that several bounty hunters had pawned their guns for drinks, and that he had stashed the weapons in his saloon. Si Lovern would later be suspected of laundering money for Evans and Sontag. Lovern brought the weapons to Eva, which consisted of two Winchester rifles, three pistols, and a knife, and she hid them in her grandmother's barn. Eva wrapped the weapons in a blanket and gave them to Fredricks, along with $300 and George Witty's revolver, which Eva had acquired after Witty dropped it during the confrontation in Visalia. On June 27, Fredericks had returned to Folsom Prison and was able to successfully hide Lovern's guns in the prison quarry undetected. He then got word to Williams of the gun's location. Fredericks then stowed away on a train east and shot a brakeman who tried to throw him off near
Colfax. He again became a wanted man. By that time, George and Frank Williams had gotten several others involved in their escape plan, including convicts Anthony Dalton (no relation to the Dalton Gang), Hiram Wilson, “Buckshot” Smith, and Charles Abbot. While there were no walls at Folsom Prison, there were several towers positioned on the hills armed with
Gatling guns, as well as several men on horseback who patrolled the grounds. Despite the danger, the men assumed that the poorly paid guards would not fight back after seeing the prisoners were armed. On July 28, 1893, George, his friends, and fifty other convicts were working in the prison quarry. George secured the weapons and, after noticing the guards were distracted, gave the signal to his friends to commence their plan. Hiram Wilsom grabbed a nearby lieutenant named Frank Briare, and held a knife to his heart with the intention of using him as a human shield. Another lieutenant named Lamphrey rushed to the scene but ran into George who aimed a rifle at his face. Another convict realized what was happening and decided to join in the escape. They then forced Lt. Briare up a steep cliff, using him as protection from two guard towers above them. The convicts shot at any guards that came into sight, with George and Williams using the Winchesters. The guards were unable to shoot the convicts as they were packed close together and any shots meant death to the hostage. Lt. Briare suddenly broke free and flung himself over the cliff, taking Smith with him. They both fell down the cliff, exposing the rest of the men to the guards and Gatling guns. After falling , Smith attempted to kill Briare with a hammer but Braire struck him with a rock and knocked him out. The remaining convicts then began taking fire from all directions. Warden Aull told the guards to shoot indiscriminately, as they could not risk any convicts escaping into the public. The convicts attempted to take cover behind some rocks in a depression in the cliff, but were pinned down by the oncoming gunfire. Williams was shot in the heart and killed instantly. Dalton attempted to fire at the guards but was shot thirty times by one of the Gatling guns. Wilson was shot twenty-two times, both men died. George attempted to take out the guards in the tower but was shot three times in the thigh and knee. Several other convicts who hid nearby were also wounded but none of the guards were hit. After about forty-five minutes of gunfire, the wounded George Sontag and Charles Abbot threw up a white flag and surrendered. None of the prisoners escaped. While George recovered from his wounds in the prison hospital, he was visited by his mother and several reporters. Authorities then began searching for William Fredericks, who had last been seen near the
Yuba River, east of
Marysville.
The Evans and Sontag melodrama John Sontag's condition had worsened considerably, as he was dying of
peritonitis. Eva made a trip to Fresno where she was permitted to see her fiancé one last time. Sontag's mother was also present, as well as Molly Evans who tried to comfort her. On July 3, 1893, John Sontag succumbed to his wounds and died. He was buried the next day west of Roeding Park, at the Calvary Cemetery in Fresno, not in Mankato as requested by his mother. No mourners were present, but the sky was filled with the sound of fireworks as people in Fresno celebrated the Fourth of July. On July 11, Molly Evans went to San Francisco to seek legal protection for her husband, but was in desperate need of money. San Francisco in the 1890s supported numerous theaters and at the time was known as an actor's town. During her time in the city, Molly was approached by an actor named Richard C. White, who had the idea of bringing the outlaw's story to the stage. The story of Evans and Sontag had created a media frenzy in the city, but this was not exclusive to newspaper coverage. The famous photograph of John Sontag in front of Marshal Gard's posse had become a popular cabinet card, and the cabin at the Stone Corral had been disassembled shortly after the shootout and put on display in San Francisco for an unrelated melodrama titled,
The Train Wreckers, drawing large crowds. White was convinced that a melodrama about Evans and Sontag, starring Molly and Eva themselves, would be extremely popular. Molly was hesitant at first and asked to confer with Chris before making a decision. White sent a letter to Chris through Molly explaining how a quarter of the proceedings of the drama would go toward his court fees. Chris agreed to the idea as long as his cousin, Jim Evans, would get to represent him in a minor role. It is unsure whether Chris knew Eva would be starring in the play. On July 29, 1893, the San Francisco Examiner announced that Molly and Eva Evans would star as themselves in the six act melodrama titled,
Evans and Sontag. While Molly worried about her ability to act, Eva was excited to play her role and longed for a career in acting. In September, Molly and Eva traveled to San Francisco where White rented them a flat in
the Mission District. The rest of the Evans children went with them, and eventually all seven of them would appear in the production, although they would return to Grandmother Byrd's once the show went on the road. The complete cast of characters consisted of Chris Evans, John and George Sontag, Molly and Eva Evans, Mrs. Byrd, Miss Byrd, Mrs. Sontag, Detective Willy Smooth (Will Smith), George and Al Witty, Sheriff Kay, McGinnis, Elijah Perkins, Hall, Burns, O.P. Byrd, Vic Wilson, Frank Burke, Warren Hill, and the Apache trackers Pelon and Cameno. While the announcement of the play received mostly negative reactions from a variety of newspapers, the San Francisco Examiner heavily marketed the play, and was even accused by the
Bakersfield Echo of championing the cause of the outlaws. The story of Evans and Sontag sold newspapers, and Hearst seemed intent on perpetuating the media hype for profit. On the night of September 18, 1893,
Evans & Sontag premiered at the National Theater in San Francisco, with an attendance well over the theater's 2,200-person capacity. Although it was cheaply produced and mostly consisted of the firing of blanks in shootout scenes, it was very popular. Showings were held in San Francisco for over a month, and it was then performed throughout California, although the performance was not allowed at theaters in Visalia. The play also met significant resistance in Hanford, since the play portrayed Mussel Slough settlers as the Collis train robbers. They still decided to perform in Hanford, although they would use a nearby barn instead of a theater, and they were still able to attract a large audience. The play portrayed Evans and Sontag as heroes, who were victims of the corrupt Southern Pacific Railroad and the villainous detective Will Smith. Detective Will Smith tried to prevent the appearance of his character, so White renamed him Willy Smooth in order to prove that the character was purely fictitious. The story insinuated that Will Smith was in love with Eva Evans, and that he tried to frame and imprison John Sontag in order to have his way with her. When Eva denounces Smith, he retaliates by burying a sack of stolen coins found at the Collis robbery in the Evans’ backyard. It was in this way that the play set up the argument for Chris Evans' later defense in court. White also attempted to give the play a certain sex appeal, with one particular scene featuring Eva riding her horse across the theater in boys clothes being especially popular. At the time, a woman wearing pants was considered somewhat
risqué.
George Sontag's confession With the money from the melodrama, Molly Evans was able to secure lawyers to defend her husband. While Chris awaited his trial in the Fresno jail, George Sontag languished with a shattered leg in the Folsom prison hospital. George now viewed his situation as hopeless; he faced a life sentence, his health was poor, his brother was dead, Chris Evans would surely get convicted for the murder of Vic Wilson, and he claimed to have learned that prison directors were planning on sentencing him to five years in solitary confinement upon his release from the hospital. In late September, after going over his options, George sent for Warden Aull and told him that he was going to confess. He told Aull that he preferred to confess to Wells Fargo Detective James Hume and a representative from the Southern Pacific. He insisted that under no condition would he speak to Detective Will Smith, whom he hated. George felt that if he confessed directly to the companies that had offered rewards for the outlaws, he would be assured favors. He told them that he would confess under the condition that his wife and children be moved to Sacramento from Mankato so they could visit him, that they be provided a furnished house and money for groceries, that he be allowed to visit them for one week each month, and that after a decent interval he would be released with a full pardon. Surprisingly, all these requests would be granted. George admitted that his decision to confess also had to do with the fact that he held some animosity towards the Evans family. He claimed that they had been rude to his mother upon her arrival in Visalia, refusing to make her acquaintance. George also felt that the Evans family hoped that he would be killed so that there would be no witnesses to prove that Chris was involved in any robberies. The next day, Warden Aull brought in detective Hume, S.P. division superintendent J.B. Wright, and a prison
stenographer who took down George's lengthy confession. All together George admitted to taking part in three robberies, as well as having knowledge of three others. The confession was then sent to Governor Markham. George also agreed to stand and testify against Chris Evans in court. He told his story as follows: In the spring of 1891, George was running a paint shop in Mankato, Minnesota, with the belief that his life was all mapped out ahead of him. One morning, on May 14, George was walking through the Mankato Hotel when he met his brother, John. He had gone West in 1878, and George had heard very little from him in years. John was the older of the two and was the leader in all things. But George was never far behind. John told George that he had been all over the West, but did not say much else. After he had been home a few days, John went to George's shop, where they could be alone together. After asking a lot of questions, John finally asked George if they could go fishing together at
Lake Washington. George agreed, and after they pulled their boat about a quarter mile from shore, John laid back on his seat and watched George work the lines. "Been railroading have you, kid," he began. "So have I, some. But I got hurt awhile back and was laid off. What do you think they told me, when I went to the superintendent's office and asked for some light work until I could get well. They told me they weren't employing cripples. After I had been hurt on their own road too! What do you think of that?" George told him it looked pretty low down. "It sure did," John retorted, "But I'm getting even". John then went on to tell George what had happened during the last few years since he had been away. Shortly after being laid off by the railroad, John met a man named Chris Evans, who asked him to go to work leveling land. He agreed and went with him to a ranch near Visalia, California. Out there, working together, they talked about John's injury until one day Chris said: "There's just one thing to do---rob a train and get even.” According to George's testimony, John then told George about how Chris and him had robbed a couple of trains in California. After John had been home for about five weeks, he received a letter from Chris asking him to return to California. He told his family he had to go away and one night disappeared without telling anyone. Ten days later George read in the papers about the Ceres robbery. John returned to Mankato the following week and told George the details of the Ceres robbery and how it had been easily accomplished. During that fall, when George's paint business got slow, John asked him what he knew about trains carrying money. George had railroaded in the area for twelve years and John knew he had some inside information. George told him there was the No. 3 on the
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and that it carried a big shipment out of Chicago at 11PM every Wednesday night with enough money to retire for life. John studied George for a moment, then suggested that George go in on the robbery with him, that he would never be able to retire slinging paint. Before agreeing to the arrangement, George told his brother that he had to think it over. The next day, George decided to accept the offer immediately. The Sontag's had relatives in Chicago they could stay with, and they both felt there would be little danger. George then learned that the No. 3 made a regular stop at Western Union Junction, south of Racine, Wisconsin, between Chicago and Milwaukee. They moved their headquarters from Chicago to Racine, where they rented a room in a small hotel, intending to come back to it after the robbery. They spent the next day planning their attack and making a number of dynamite bombs. When the day arrived, the Sontag brothers packed the bombs in a suitcase and started for Western Union Junction. They left Racine about 7:30PM, walking the eight miles south in order to keep anyone from recognizing them. John carried the suitcase and George had their shotguns wrapped in canvas, each had six-shooters under their coats. When they had gone about from Racine, the first snow of the season began to fall. It made things look bad for them, as their tracks showed them plainly. John and George halted to argue whether to go back or go on. Then, since the ground was very wet, they decided the snow would soon disappear. They went on and arrived at Western Union Junction around 10:30PM. This gave them half an hour before No. 3 was due. The robbery at Western Union Junction occurred at about one o’clock in the morning on November 12, 1891. George decided that a good place to stop the train was at a wagon road, three quarters of a mile from the station. They hid under a platform, both wearing masks, and holding buckshot in their mouths to disguise their voices. When they noticed No. 3 pounding along the rail towards them, they unwrapped each coat pocket and stood ready. When it stopped, the two boarded, John getting up with the engineer and fireman, while George got onto the blind baggage. After covering the crew, John had the fireman light the cigars. Then he looked out of the cab and, seeing a fence at the wagon crossing, ordered the engineer to stop. This was at the first, instead of the second crossing, which George had picked out. Unaware of the mistake, John took the engineer and fireman and got down on the right-hand side, the moment the train stopped. In the same instant, George jumped back to blow the express car. Going on the run, George fired a charge of buckshot along the train to keep the passengers, or anyone else, from sticking their heads out, then reached the express car and laid a bomb on the doorsill. George ducked out of danger beneath the car, and the bomb exploded, blowing the door in. George's call to the messenger brought no response, so he lit a bomb and threw it in a window. This time the messenger knew it was time to surrender and came out with his hands up. According to George's testimony, upon entering the express car it occurred to him that there might be two messengers in the car due to the amount of valuable cargo present. When the first messenger came up to him, he yelled, "Tell your partner to come out! What do you think you're doing?" The messenger then turned back, "Come on Fred," he called, "they know you're in there." After the partner came out, George told John to bring the engineer to the side of the train and to keep watch while he searched the messengers. After finding them unarmed he ordered them to unlock the safe. The messenger made the excuse that the explosion had caused him to lose his keys. George cocked the hammer of his gun and told him he had two seconds to find them. After the messenger unlocked the safe, he began taking out the packages of money himself when George pushed him out of the way and put what he thought most valuable into a sack bag. Just as George was getting ready to leave, he noticed a smaller safe covered in debris. After ordering the messenger to open it, he replied that it had a time lock. After George saw he was telling the truth, he had the messenger throw the safe out of the car. He then jumped out with the messenger, expecting to blow open the smaller safe. However this had taken too much time and John told him that they'd been there too long. Still, George was eager to open the safe and replied, “Wait till I blow this. It has all the money.” John called out again from the front of the train, “Here comes the special train from Racine!” George stepped out from the train, looked back, and saw three men crawling around the end car. George and John fired their shotguns and the men retreated. Then, herding the train crew ahead of them, George and John started down the track running until they came within a short distance of the crossroad. So far, there was no sign of pursuit, so they stopped, told the men to go back, and advised the engineer to go back "dark". The moment the train vanished, the two started diagonally from the track across to the wagon road, leaving two plain paths in that direction. Upon reaching the road, they walked a hundred yards in the snow, deliberately making marks which could be followed. Abruptly they stepped into the ruts, where soft mud had melted the snow, and began to backtrack. They then came to the railroad again, arriving there after the train had pulled out. Yet there still seemed no way of getting onto the ties without leaving their prints, until they saw a chance by the old rail fence. The two got onto the bottom plank and walked sideways on it for three quarters of a mile. At the second crossroad, they were able to get onto the ends of the ties where they could leave no marks. Heading back toward Racine, George and John barely escaped discovery as a train with a single coached filled with armed men thundered past. They ran most of the way to a deserted house outside of Racine Junction. They went down in the cellar, took their guns apart, and wrapped them in canvas. They then walked directly into town and made their way to their hotel room. Since it was a small place, there was no desk clerk to see the mud on their shoes, and up in the room they set to work at once cleaning off suspicious marks. Neither of them stopped until they were free from mud and could rest easily in their chairs before a little wood stove. Then they counted their hand. George's bag held $10,000 in "greenbacks". Satisfied, the two went to sleep, waking up in the morning to hear newsboys outside crying: "Big train robbery! Milwaukee No. 3 robbed last night!" John told George to buy a paper, and they learned the good news that a posse had found the robbers’ tracks in the snow and had followed them down a crossroad. Soon, the paper said, they would have the men captured. All seemed well. The Sontag brothers split their pile in the room, agreed to meet at home later and took different ways out of town. In a few days John joined George at his home in Mankato and suggested that they go out to California, "just to look around." George agreed, and the two made the trip West, mainly to meet Chris Evans. In December 1891, John brought George to California to meet Chris Evans. George was not impressed with Evans like his brother however, and described him as, “a somewhat religious man of medium build with reddish hair and slow movements, who looked more like a farmer than a train robber.” Evans filed a mining claim that February, but according to George the three did little mining. Instead they went into the Sierra Nevada mountains in search of potential places of concealment, where they felt comfortable they could hide out for months at a time if needed. George's trip was cut short when John broke his leg during an accident with a runaway team. George had also received a letter notifying him that his wife had delivered a baby, so he bought a train ticket home. During his trip to California, George brought up to Evans the idea of robbing a train back in Minnesota where George knew the country well. That June, Chris sent a letter to George telling him he was coming to Minnesota alone and to prepare for a “hunt”. On June 28, Chris arrived in Mankato under an assumed name, Charles Naughton, and booked a room at the Sontag hotel. George already had a whole robbery planned and after discussing it further they both decided to rob the "Omaha" on the night of July 1. George explained how he had begun to mistrust Chris from the beginning, but because his brother had a deep respect for him, he went about the robbery as if John were there. As usual, they reached the scene a day ahead of time, looked over the ground carefully and came to the conclusion to rob the train in between
St. Peter and Kasota. The next afternoon, they rode some distance from town, hid their horses close to the tracks, and returned to St. Peter in time to board the No. 1 as it pulled out. They stopped the train in the usual manner, with the engineer and fireman covered. It was raining hard this night, making everything along the track very dark and uncertain. After coming to a stop, Chris and George planned to use dynamite on the express door, but it became unnecessary when they caught the messenger with the door open. Chris told George to watch the engine crew while he went in to search the car. Like usual, the train crew was then marched down the tracks and after a safe distance was ordered to go back to the train. The two grabbed their horses and rode off. However, when George drew close to Chris and asked him what the loot was, Chris explained that the messenger had told him there was no money. George swore that the messenger must have lied, but before he could turn around the engine headlight flashed on and the train started back toward St. Peter. They were forced to leave empty handed and George was left believing that Chris had swindled him. "To this minute, I don't know the truth of that deal," said George. "In the light of later events I would not hesitate to say that I was a young fool, innocent in the game, and let an older hand stall me out of my share in the haul. I had to learn that a thief will steal from a thief and that this was a hard, grim business in which no favor was asked nor given." After the robbery a letter from John convinced George to join him again in California. Not trying to be seen in Mankato, Chris went to
Minneapolis, where he planned to meet George on their way West. George reached Minneapolis on July 10 and started for the hotel where he agreed to meet Evans. "Something made me cautious, and I did not go directly to the spot. Chris didn't give me a feeling of confidence now. He was careless, it seemed." George left his suitcase at the
Union Depot and walked to the hotel. When he entered the lobby, he saw three men standing in conversation with Chris. George could tell that he was answering questions. Playing it cool, George went up to the desk and bought a cigar before leaving the hotel. George believed the three men to be officers, so he walked back to Briggs Square, crossed to the opposite side of the street, and came back. Upon turning back, he saw Chris come out and sit down in a chair arranged near the sidewalk. At once the three men followed and also took chairs. George continued past them on the far side of the street. By the time he reached the next corner, Chris had noticed George and moved to approach him. George quickly wrote on a piece of paper: "Am leaving for Fresno tonight. Meet me there." and put it on the window ledge of a store unnoticed before walking on. Chris found the note and that night George caught the
Northern Pacific for the coast. George was certain that he had not been a suspect of either of the past years' train robberies, but after spending two hours in Portland switching cars, he began to suspect that he was being shadowed. While sitting in a hotel lobby talking to the conductor who had brought him to Portland, George noticed what he thought to be another "plainclothes man" standing near the front desk. He asked the conductor quietly if he knew who the man was and if he worked for the Northern Pacific. The conductor told George the man was in fact a detective. George kept an eye on him until his seven o’clock train for California, but when he went aboard he discovered that the man did not follow. After arriving in Fresno, he was sure he had not been followed, but believed the man had wired ahead. George liked Fresno's location; it was close to his brother in Visalia, as well as Chris Evans’ mountain retreats. Upon arriving, George immediately craved a beer from the
J Street Palm Garden, where he could escape from the hot summer day. George had written to John to meet him in Fresno, but he began to wonder where Chris had gone, as he had not seen or heard from him since Minneapolis. George kept watch of the train station waiting for his brother to show up but also kept his eyes on the streets for any detectives. That night, George was walking by a livery stable when a man stepped out from the dark and said, “Hello, kid. Come in here.” John laughed after he saw that he had surprised George, then explained that he had driven a team he rented from Visalia, instead of taking a train in case of any problems. George told John how he thought he was being followed by detectives, and how he had seen Chris talking to the three men in Minneapolis but had not heard from him since. He then told John about the failed Kasota robbery and how he distrusted Evans, believing him to have withheld money. John became agitated and accused George of having "cold feet". "I could see," George said, "that he trusted Evans more than he did me." George wanted to prove himself to his brother and show him that he was game. He then brought the conversation back to the man he believed to be following him. John assured George that the railroad "dicks" had probably given up on trailing him, and that he had a good job planned out. George asked him whether he would even be able to commit a robbery considering his leg had still not fully healed from the team accident a few months before. John suggested that George and Chris rob the train while he waited close by with a team of horses for their escape. After talking for more than an hour in the doorway of the livery stable, they noticed a train pull into the station. They then happened to notice Chris exit the rear coach of the train, and they sent a boy to bring him to the barn. After the three were reunited in the back room of the barn, they began to go over their next robbery. "John has something good," George told Chris, "but I am afraid you may have drawn some dicks on your trail." Chris told them that if he had been followed, they quit at San Francisco. George then became irritated and asked Chris "what kind of play he had made" to put the detectives on their trail in Minneapolis. Chris denied that he had made any sort of play, and from this point on the two's relationship would be strained. George claimed that, no matter how friendly Chris was to John, "his relations towards me would not be so warm that I could go without an overcoat." John believed that he had a good plan devised to strike the Southern Pacific with a high chance of making a good sum, but they would have to move on the job immediately. George and Chris agreed that because of the failure of the past job, they needed to strike soon. George and Chris then planned to meet in the mountains at Dunlap, while John went to Visalia to secure weapons and explosives. George and Chris then robbed the Collis train in August 1892, while John waited nearby with a team of horses. George then told the men the details of his failed escape plan from Folsom and how Eva had helped furnish him weapons. His confession was so lengthy that the stenographer had to stop him several times to rest his hands. When he finished, he was promised his confession would not be used against him. When the news of George's confession was received, an
Examiner correspondent at the Visalia jail told Chris that Sontag had confessed to several robberies. "Bully for him." he replied, eager to hear the story. He was then told that George had implicated him in the robberies. "Who says so?" he asked. He was then told the news had been telegraphed from San Francisco. "Just say for me, that Sontag or any other man who says I ever robbed any train tells a lie from beginning to end. Besides, Sontag never made any such statements." He then asked to see the telegram and he read it over several times. Chris Evans laughed several times, "I can prove by dozens of men that I was not near these train robberies. I was at home. In no way could I get there, without flying, and I'm not an angel." "This thing is a julep. You may say to the Examiner that I have nothing to confess. This story is made out of whole cloth by the railroad people, who are using every effort to prejudice people against me. They have subsidized the press and are now using every effort to shut down the doors of the theaters in Fresno and Visalia on the 'Evans and Sontag' drama. Well, they're welcome to the job. Pixley, Goshen, Ceres, and Collis, that's four of them. Why don't they scratch up a few more! I wonder what will be the next move they make. I shouldn't wonder if they will have a dozen men up trees around Jim Young's cabin as witness to that fight." Evans' mood changed rapidly during the interview; while laughing and careless he would then flare up angrily over what he called persecution. When it was suggested that possibly George Sontag's friendship toward's him had changed, Evans said he knew nothing of that matter. He believed Detective Hume must've schemed to get George to confess anything if it meant his freedom. When Molly and Eva were interviewed, they commented that they felt pity for George that he had gotten so low to where he felt he needed to lie in order to secure a pardon. Eva also denied that she wrote George letters or supplied him with weapons, even though she would later admit to it many years later in her memoir.
Chris Evans' trial On October 19, Fresno Sheriff Jay Scott received a telegram from an informant in Visalia, warning him that Chris Evans was planning to escape from the county jail with the help of several friends. He was also warned to keep watch of Molly and Eva. Scott decided to move Evans to an upper part of the jail, with steel cells, where he would be more secure. Evans was not given a reason for the move and afterwards refused to see any visitors. A week later, a crowd of four thousand men, women, and children would gather outside Chris' cell to witness the hanging of convicted wife-murderer Dr. F. O. Vincent, the first legal hanging in Fresno County. Evans now faced the serious possibility of sharing the same fate. On November 20, 1893, Judge M.K. Harris opened the case of
The People of the State of California v. Christopher Evans, in the Fresno County Courthouse. Due to the amount of acquaintances Evans had, as well as the widespread media coverage, it took nine days to select an unbiased jury and three hundred names were called before twelve jurors could be selected. On November 29, Chris Evans was brought into the crowded courtroom wearing “smoked” glasses. He was accompanied by deputy Hi Rapelji and, even though the deputy had shot Chris months prior, the two seemed to be getting along well. Many had come expecting to get a view of a ferocious outlaw. Evans however was missing one arm and an eye, and was pale from his illness. Many were instead left feeling pity. Also present in the courtroom was Molly Evans, as well as the widow of Vic Wilson, dressed in all black, with her three-year-old son. Evans was represented by State Senator G.G. Goucher, and attorneys S.J. Hinds and T.S. O’Donnell. The prosecution team included Attorney W.D. Tupper and Alva Snow, future mayor of Fresno. Most of Evans' trial was basically a repetition of George's trial the year before. Even though he was being tried for murder, the first several testimonies were from witnesses of the Collis train robbery. The prosecution attempted to prove that Evans was guilty of train robbery in order to show that the killing of Beaver, Wilson, and McGinnis was inexcusable. On the other hand, if the defense could prove that Evans was innocent of train robbery, they could maintain he only killed in self defense. While the defense objected, Judge Harris stated that, while two crimes could not be tried at the same time, the prosecution could not be restricted from trying to establish a motive for a crime by presenting evidence of another crime. The defense was overruled and the first witnesses were called to the stand. The prosecution again called Wells Fargo detectives Thacker and Hume, who presented the sacks of Peruvian coins found at the Evans home. Most of the witnesses from George's trial were also called to the stand. Sanger Constable Warren Hill showed up at the beginning of the trial with two large revolvers strapped to his belt. This created such attention among the jury that the defense protested, arguing that Hill's parading around was giving the jury the false impression that Evans would try to escape. Judge Harris agreed and ordered Hill to disarm. A few witnesses, who had known Evans since his arrival in Visalia in the 1870s, were asked by Tupper if he had ever had any conflicts in the past, but the defense objected. While the facts of these fights were not allowed to be brought up in court, several reporters released their own findings. One story was reported on that took place in January 1871, when Evans was in business with a man named Thomas Love. One day Love got into a heated argument with a man named Newt Demasters over rent due on a pasture. De Masters lost his temper and shot Love with his revolver. He then fired at Chris, but missed. Chris then ran inside his house and grabbed his rifle, but by the time he returned a large crowd had gathered at the scene, which prevented the situation from escalating further. There were no reports of any arrests made. Another story was touched on that took place in the fall of 1875, while Evans was working at the Hyde Mill. One day, shortly after his first sons death, Chris discovered a note on the fence of the corral where he kept his horses. It was undoubtedly left for him to discover and was a nasty poem, or
doggerel, written about his wife. It implied that she had gotten pregnant before they were married, since the baby had been born only eight months after their wedding day. One verse read, “Molly, who belonged to the tribe of Byrd, had left to roam with another herd.” Evans was furious. He had reason to believe the perpetrator was an older man named A.D. Bigelow, who had recently left the mill with a man named Hunter. On November 6, Chris Evans, his brother Tom Evans, and Molly's brother, Louis Byrd, met up with Bigelow on the Badger road. Chris then proceeded to beat Bigelow nearly to death with a piece of iron while Tom and Louis held Hunter at gunpoint. Soon enough, a deputy sheriff came looking for Louis Byrd and the Evans boys. Tom surrendered himself without trouble, but Chris and Louis fled into the mountains. Chris had reportedly said that no one would take him, but Molly's father Jesse Byrd convinced the two to turn themselves in by telling them that he would pay the fine. They both turned themselves in early that December and, by the end of that month, all three stood trial. Tom and Louis were found not guilty, but Chris was found guilty of assault and battery. Chris was subject to either pay a hundred dollar fine or spend a hundred days in jail. Jesse Byrd paid the fine, and Chris tried to leave the incident in the past. A few months later however, Bigelow died. Some said he never recovered from the beating he received from Evans. On December 2, the prosecution surprised the court when they called in George Sontag, who had been secretly brought down from Folsom by train the night before. Evans became visibly angry and kept up a long hard stare. George did not seem to notice him and hobbled on crutches to the witness stand, giving a more complete story than his original confession. George described Evans during the Collis robbery as wearing overalls, a slouch hat, and a linen duster and said that they had used two shotguns, three revolvers, and six dynamite bombs. When the defense took its turn, they got him to admit that he had lied during his own trial and would lie again if it meant freedom. George was however not intimidated by Evans’ attorney and his dates, names, and times were all accurate. Chris came to court the next morning early, peacefully waiting for court to reconvene while reading a law book. After several witnesses went over the details of the shootout at Young's cabin, the prosecution concluded its case. When the defense took its turn they attempted to refute George's entire statement. Attorney Hinds then attempted to show through several acquaintances that Evans had been an honest, hard working, and substantial citizen before being hunted by lawmen. Also brought in were Evans' seven children, to remind the jury that he was a devoted family man. This included Eva and Winifred, who gave their account of the gunfight in Visalia in which they insisted that detective Will Smith had called Eva a liar. This minor detail was key for the defense as it would show that the shootout had been a result of tempers caused by Smith's impudence, not by the consciousness of Evans' guilt. Smith denied ever making the comment. Eva was also called to the stand to give testimony to the claim attributed to Vic Wilson, in which he claimed he was going to add Evans and Sontag to the notches on his gun. This was another key point for the defense as they could show that it would have therefore been useless for Evans to surrender. The prosecution heavily objected as Eva had been told by a friend that Wilson had made the comment, so her account was second hand. Eva was also given a lengthy cross examination by the prosecution, but stuck to her story. She was also questioned about a comment made by her cousin, Edith Byrd, that Eva had told her that she made up the insult attributed to Smith. Eva however insisted that the conversation never took place and that Edith's father, her uncle Perry Byrd, had betrayed her father and was the reason he was shot at Stone Corral. The defense then read several Visalia newspaper articles which expressed concern that the two outlaws would be lynched if captured. The defense also called Clark Moore, who gave testimony to how Wilson had threatened to kill him and how Warren Hill had offered him $50,000 to betray Evans and Sontag. Finally, Chris Evans was called to the stand and gave his own version of events, which almost completely denied George Sontag's entire story. He also gave his account of the shootout at Young's cabin, describing it as kill or be killed. While he admitted to the killing of Oscar Beaver, Andrew McGinnis, and Vic Wilson, as well as the wounding of three others, he insisted his actions were made in self defense. The prosecution attempted to show, without sufficient evidence, that he was also responsible for the killing of Gabert, Radcliff (even though it had been confirmed that his death was the result of a stray bullet from the expressman, Haswell, during the Alila robbery which had already been attributed to Bob and Emmett Dalton), and Christiansen, while committing several train robberies, as well as the indirect killing of those involved in the Folsom prison break. On December 14, 1893, fifteen days since the trial began, the jury announced their verdict finding Christopher Evans guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced him to life imprisonment in Folsom State Prison. Several newspapers expressed disappointment that Evans was not given the death penalty. One Visalia Times editor even wrote, “It is such miscarriages of justice that make law-abiding people resort to lynch law, and the jurors who rendered this verdict ought to be ashamed of themselves.” Chris was distraught after learning he would not have a chance at an appeal and would be spending the rest of his life in a prison. When Eva visited him in jail that Christmas, he told her that she only needed to get him a gun, and that he would do the rest. "There is no power on earth or heaven that can defy fate and fate is on my side. Man has no control over his own destiny. Men are only machines. When the thought strikes me and tells me to act, then I act. I may be in this jail two or three years, but I will get out at last." -Chris Evans
Escape from the Fresno jail Earlier that September, a man became a cellmate of Chris Evans in the Fresno jail after being arrested for threatening a local blacksmith and failing to pay the $1000 fine. The twenty-three year old, who went by the name Ed Morrell, was known to be a great admirer of Evans and was obsessed with stories of his exploits. After being released, Morrell got himself arrested several more times for making death threats with the intention of getting himself back in jail. One of which times he was arrested by Officer Byrd. He was released in time for Chris Evans' trial, during which he found work at the Union Restaurant in Fresno, under the name Frank Morey. In a letter written to Detective Will Smith during Evans’ trial that November, one of his informants described a man working for Mrs. Evans by the name of Frank Morey who was interviewing witnesses and gathering information on prospective jurors in Fresno. Ed Morrell was known to frequently visit the Evans family in Visalia and he quickly became enamored with Eva. After the trial, Eva asked Morrell to assist in her father's escape, to which he agreed, although they would not act alone. On December 28, 1893, a friend of Ed Morrell, named Edward E. Deck, informed the conductor of the Southern Pacific
Porterville branch line that there would be a hold up near
Lindsay at six that evening. He explained that he was originally one of the robbers, but was revealing their plot in order to save himself. Deck told the conductor that he knew there was a large shipment of gold on board to pay for recent citrus shipments, which worried the conductor enough to alert the authorities. Upon hearing the news, every available Fresno Deputy Sheriff was sent south to intercept the robbers. The robbery however turned out to be a fake, effectively creating a diversion to allow for Evans escape. Another friend of Morrell, Jim Hutchinson, had rented a horse and buggy that afternoon from the Fresno livery stable and conveniently left it near the jail, allegedly leaving a getaway vehicle. One person who was not aware of the escape plot was Molly Evans. The melodrama was closed for Christmas week, so she had planned to visit her husband in the Fresno jail that evening. Eva tried to talk her mother out of going, but was afraid to tell her not to go. Molly arrived at the Fresno jail on what would be a cold and very foggy evening. Most visitors to the jail met prisoners in a meeting corridor visible from the main office, but since Evans had been moved upstairs, he was permitted to be met, as well as eat meals, in his steel cell. Since Evans was in poor health, Sheriff Scott permitted his family to send in food in addition to the food already provided by the jail. This food was delivered by the Quinby Restaurant in Fresno, where Ed Morrell had begun working as a waiter. Sheriff Jay Scott was in San Luis Obispo that night, and his brother Ben was the only jailer present when Molly arrived. Ed Morrell arrived shortly afterwards to serve Evans his meal. Since Ben Scott was inexperienced, he let Morrell in without inspecting the food tray. Ben then locked the waiter in with the prisoner and his wife, leaving to his office. As they ate dinner, Chris lifted a napkin off his tray and revealed a revolver. He quickly shoved the gun into his pocket. Molly was horrified at what she witnessed, but remained silent. Morrell then stepped over to the door and called for Scott to let him out. As Ben opened the door, Evans and Morrell pointed their six-shooters in his face and ordered his hands up. Molly then fainted, while Evans and Morrell marched Scott in front of them out of the jail. Using the heavy fog as cover, the three walked Mariposa Street until they reached M Street. A former mayor of Fresno, S.H. Cole, happened to be standing in front of a church and ran into them. Cole quickly became a hostage and the group continued through the fog until they reached an Adventist Church at N and O Streets. In front of the church was Jim Hutchinson's team, loaded with supplies and ammunition for Evans’ getaway. At the same time, Constable John D. Morgan (later Fresno's first chief of police) happened to be meeting a former Texas Ranger, W.M. Wyatt, in front of the Advantest Church for a chicken dinner, but had arrived early. They became curious to what was happening too late, and even though the outlaws could have easily escaped, Morrell impulsively ordered their hands up. Morgan was wearing a long overcoat and was unable to reach his gun. Wyatt thought it was a robbery, and began throwing his money and possessions into the gutter. Morrell then disarmed Morgan and turned his attention to Wyatt. As he turned his back, Morgan quickly grabbed him, pinning both arms to his sides. Morrell began to struggle and yelled to Evans, "Shoot the son of a bitch!" while Wyatt stood by with his arms extended out in front of his chest in surrender. Evans ordered Morgan to release Morrell or he would kill him, and when he hesitated, Evans shot him in the shoulder, barely missing an artery. The shot spooked the team of horses, which broke their halters and ran away. Scott and Cole were able to take advantage of the confusion and escaped into the thick fog. Evans and Morrell then made their way on foot down an alley between O and P Streets to Tulare Street. Upon reaching the corner of Mono and Q, they intercepted Benny Cochrane, a newspaper delivery boy driving a one-horse Petaluma cart. Evans ordered the boy out of the cart, but he refused and began screaming for help. Benny's brother was nearby and began rushing over in assistance. Evans fired two shots at the brother, who ducked for cover, and threw Benny from the cart. The two fugitives then drove the cart down the road until they reached the Kings River Flume of the Sanger Lumber Company, twelve miles away near Sanger. They walked the steep boardwalk alongside the flume into the mountains until they reached Trimmer Springs Road, where they disappeared. Mariposa Street soon became crowded with spectators shocked at what had just occurred. After the excitement died down, Ben Scott went back to the Fresno jail and promptly arrested Molly Evans for complicity. Molly spent several days in the jail, but the charges were eventually dropped due to insufficient evidence. An attempt was immediately made to assemble a posse at Sanger following Evans escape, but the residents merely laughed at the Fresno deputies. When Sheriff Jay Scott returned from San Luis Obispo with the fugitive he had been tracking, he was heavily criticized for Evans escape. Detective James Hume, representing Wells Fargo & Co., stated that his firm and the Southern Pacific had spent about $30,000 and three lives to capture and convict Evans. From then on Sheriff Scott would be made responsible for organizing Evans recapture. Scott immediately organized over a dozen posses and sent them to various locations, with over a hundred men in the field searching for Evans and Morrell. Edward Deck, Morrell's friend who had told the false story of the Porterville train robbery, was arrested, charged with luring the officers away from Fresno which amounted to conspiracy. The team that had run away from the scene after Evans shot Morgan was found bogged down in the swamps of the
San Joaquin River, fourteen miles west of Fresno. Found on the team was a bag full of cartridges that belonged to Morrell's friend Jim Hutchinson. He was also arrested as an accomplice, along with his brothers Will and Henry, and his wife's fourteen-year-old sister Rose Lee. All were eventually released however due to insufficient evidence. Newspapers credited Chris Evans with masterminding the entire thing. Oddly enough, Eva Evans was never suspected, interrogated, or arrested, and she returned to work with her mother as an actress in San Francisco.
Evans and Morrell On December 30, 1894, Detective James Hume received Ed Morrell's prison record from San Quentin. Morrell was received for grand larceny in
San Bernardino County under the alias Ed Martin, and after two and half years he was discharged on March 27, 1893, at twenty-four years old. Hume also learned that Morrell was born Martin Delaney in 1868 in
Pennsylvania, where he escaped the coal mines at a young age. Upon arriving in California, Morrell found work at a hotel in
Riverside where he stole from a room and quickly left town, only to be arrested in
San Bernardino. While in
San Quentin, he befriended a notorious stage robber, Milton Harvey Lee. Morrell promised Lee that he would help him once he was paroled. Upon his release, he went to Fresno where he looked up Lee's ex-wife, who remarried to a man named Hutchinson. Hutchinson had adopted Lee's two daughters, Grace and Rose. Grace had also become married to one of Hutchinson's sons, Jim. Ed Morrell fell in with the Hutchinson family, all who had seen jail on various occasions. Grace Hutchinson would later state that Morrell had become obsessed with stories of Evans and Sontag. One day he disappeared, later returning with bullet wounds, which he told Grace he had received while being cornered by lawmen in Nevada City with William Fredericks. This led her to believe he had something to do with George Sontag's escape attempt in Folsom. Following the jailbreak, a man who had been in the Fresno jail with Chris Evans but had since been released, named Marion Childers, came into the sheriff's office and said that Evans was hiding at Frank Dusy's ranch near Selma. In jail Childers and Evans had developed a mutual hatred of each other, and on one occasion Evans even told the jailer that if Childers did not stay away from him he would kill him. A posse was sent to Dusy's ranch, where they believed Evans was hiding in a
cupola that overlooked the plains. After the cupola was found to be empty, the officers decided to search the barn, using Dusy as a human shield as they approached. The officers then shot up the barn and rushed the door, only to find that it had been empty. Chris Evans and Ed Morrell were now in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the middle of a harsh winter. While it seemed history was repeating itself, this time Evans was weakened from his long illness and suffered from the loss of his left arm and right eye, leaving him severely disadvantaged. Newt Demasters came into Fresno and claimed that the outlaws had spent the night at his logging camp on Deer Creek, four miles from Pine Flat, but gave no more details. He told the officers that Evans no longer trusted anyone since being sold out and would pay a visit to anyone who decided to give him away. The officers surrounded the cabin but again found no sight of Evans or Morrell. Two Pine Flat flume tenders also reported being threatened by Evans. Sawmill at Millwood, California, on the Converse Basin Sheriff Scott began hunting for the outlaws in the areas between Dunlap and Sampson Flat but was hindered by snow. Scott interrogated Clark Moore, as well as several other Sampson Flat residents, but all denied assisting the outlaws or knowing anything of their whereabouts. Posses then picked up their trail on the south side of the Kings River and followed it to a hog camp where they learned the fugitives had spent two nights. Evans and Morrell had noticed the trailing posse and decided to walk the boardwalk of the Kings River Lumber flume until they reached its end at the logging town of Millwood, only a few miles from General Grants Grove. Here lumber operations had closed down for the winter, besides a few caretakers who had entertained Evans and Sontag the year before. After making their way through the snow in Fresno County, Evans decided that they would head south into Tulare County to avoid the pressure put on by Sheriff Scott's posse. They finally went down to the Downing ranch on Dry Creek where Evans' loyal friends were again able to offer him supplies. It had not snowed on the road to the valley that winter, so Bill Downing was still able to leave for food and provisions. Since the road was open both ways, it was decided that it was unsafe for Evans and Morrell to stay at the Downings in case of roaming posses. .
San Francisco Examiner, January 9, 1894. Evans' old camp at Fort Defiance, not far up Dry Creek from the Downings, had been discovered and reported by H. D. Barton of Auckland shortly after the shootout at the Stone Corral and was no longer a viable hideout. The outlaws decided to move to one of Evans' previous hideouts that still remained secret, Camp Manzanita, on Hartland Ridge. This place was surrounded by a dense growth of large manzanita bushes, making the hideout nearly impenetrable, with a small cabin and fireplace built into a large exposed granite slab. After making their way to the camp, Evans rediscovered a cat in the cabin that Sontag and him had befriended the year before. Elijah Perkins' son Elmer, reported that he had gone to his grandmother's house to find her agitated over a recent visit made by Evans and Morrell. During the visit Evans appropriated one of Mrs. Perkins' horses and carts and said that he was going to Visalia to kill her son Elijah and her son-in-law Perry Byrd. Evans hated Elijah for reporting his presence at the Perkins home to the sheriff's office after Stone Corral. He also believed his brother-in-law Perry Byrd set the trap that led to his capture and Sontag's death. Upon hearing the news, Elmer rode to Visalia to warn his father and uncle, only to find that Evans' threat had been a bluff. On the evening of January 10, 1894, a masked man entered the railroad station at
Fowler with two revolvers drawn and held up the railroad agent, George A. Leon, and three other men for twenty dollars. Two local passersby, A. A. Vincent and Howard Harris, stopped to watch the holdup through the window. The robber then pulled them into the depot at gunpoint and yelled, “Do you know who I am? I'm Ed Morrell!” He then robbed them of an additional forty dollars. He then marched the six men to the Kutner-Goldstein store across the street. While looting the cash register, the robber was interrupted by Constable Charles Oaks. The startled peace officer hastily fired two shots, but missed, wounding two locals, Pat Lahey and H. A. Mulligan, in the arm and shoulder. The robber then shot Oaks in the hip and the constable fell to the floor and rolled out through the open door. On January 15, Grace Hutchinson ran into Evans and Morrell about three miles east of
Kingsburg, while they were on their way from Reedley to Traver in a cart. Here Morrell told her about the Fowler robbery, claiming to have been in desperate need of money, and that Evans had waited nearby with a cart. Although the newspapers had reported that seven people had been robbed and $70 taken, Morrell claimed that he had robbed four others and got $150. From the Perkins home a posse consisting of deputies L. Parker Timmins and Charles Boyd, were able to track the outlaws to Camp Badger. The posse followed the tracks to a creek near the home of Dan St. Clair, where Evans and Morrell were eating breakfast. Timmins dismounted from his horse and went over a steep ridge on foot. As Boyd made his way over the grade in his cart, he was surprised to notice a cabin with Evans standing in the doorway. Evans called out to him, “Come in and be sociable.” When Boyd hesitated, Evans fired at him with his rifle, hitting Boyd's cart seat. Boyd managed to turn around while Timmins covered him from the top of the ridge, but he lost control of his cart and crashed. Boyd then unhitched his horse and took off down the road towards Reedley. Timmins was then pinned down by the shots from both Evans and Morrell and when the outlaws rushed up the hill he found himself alone. Timmins then made a full retreat, taking cover from one bush to another as Morrell followed him for a short distance while firing at him. Timmins managed to escape and reported the shootout at Slick Rock to authorities in Reedley. Evans and Morrell again returned to Camp Manzanita, their secret hideout on Hartland Ridge, but this secret was not as safe as Evans believed. The younger children in the Downing family had known about Camp Manzanita when it had been used by Evans and Sontag. When they were warned by their father to never reveal its location to anyone, they kept this promise. However, after John Sontag's death and Evans' incarceration, they believed the silence was over. One day, in a moment of excitement, the Downing children had shown Camp Manzanita to a young relative named Walter Kirkland while out adventuring. When Evans and Morrell suddenly showed up at their home, they knew they had made a mistake, but were afraid to tell their parents in fear of punishment. They only hoped Kirkland would remain silent. After Deputies Timmins and Boyd returned to Reedley, Walter Kirkland went to them and offered to lead them to Evans lair. The deputies telegraphed the sheriff's office, and not long after they were picked up by a posse consisting of deputies Bill Henry, Ed Miles, Fred Smart, P.J. Mead, Thomas Burns and Hi Rapelje. The posse then followed Kirkland into the mountains. On the night of February 7, Evans and Morrell were sitting in front of the fireplace at Camp Manzanita while Evans read a newspaper aloud. Evans was in his shirtsleeves and had taken off his artificial arm his wife had given him, as his stump still pained him. As Evans paused to laugh with Morrell over something he found funny, the posse came up upon the cabin. As several men in the posse attempted to move to the other side of the cabin to get a crossfire, deputy Timmins stepped on a twig and caused Evans' pet cat to sound the alarm. Evans ran out of the cabin without a coat or hat, and aimed his rifle at the posse when deputy Henry fired, barely grazing Evans' scalp. Evans and Morrell did not return fire but instead ran behind the large granite slab against which the cabin had been built, and disappeared into an arriving blizzard. The deputies attempted to follow the outlaws but as the blizzard worsened they gave up, sure that Evans would die in the extreme cold without a hat or coat. When the posse returned to Camp Manzanita they found food, ammunition, and Evans’ false arm, which Sheriff Scott put on exhibit in the Fresno jail. Before leaving Camp Manzanita, the posse removed some of the contents and then burned the small cabin to the ground. After twenty-four hours the storm broke and Evans and Morrell took shelter with an old
Yokuts friend in Eshom Valley. Later they returned to the Downings and learned how they had been betrayed by Kirkland. Over the next few weeks Evans and Morrell faced harsh winter weather in the mountains. Chris Evans was severely ill and weakened by the loss of his arm and the two outlaws were forced to travel from friend to friend relying on handouts. The posse pressed hard on the outlaws trail, convinced Evans had made up his mind to die rather than be captured. As Molly and Eva Evans had begun touring again with the melodrama, now
Evans and Sontag: Up to Date, the Evans children had been sent to live with their Grandmother Byrd in Visalia. To help care for the six children, Molly hired a couple named the Brightons. Mrs. Brighton and her husband Jonas had recently rented the foreclosed Evans’ home from Sol Sweet & Company and had befriended the Evans family that previous summer. It was not a coincidence that Jonas V. Brighton and his wife would earn the friendship of Molly Evans, but at the time very few people in Visalia knew anything about him. Jonas Brighton was actually an undercover detective for Marshal Gard, who rented the foreclosed Evans home with the purpose of gaining the trust of the Evans family in order to obtain information that could be used against Chris. Prior to his arrival in California, Brighton was known for killing Ike Clanton in 1887, one of the outlaws who famously fought
Wyatt Earp at the
O.K. Corral. Upon arriving in Visalia from Los Angeles, Brighton kept a low profile by acting as an old, tired handyman and eventually was hired by Molly Evans to do a few minor jobs. When Molly began touring with the melodrama, she trusted the Brightons enough to watch over her children while she was away. Two weeks after the burning of Camp Manzanita, Bill Downing made a trip to the valley for supplies. After deciding to check on the Evans children, Downing was told by the Brightons that the youngest child, Carl, was so deathly ill that Bill could not even see him. Downing delivered the news to Chris and told him that if he wanted to see his son alive he should go to Visalia at once. Evans and Morrell set out for the valley immediately and snuck into Visalia during the night of February 17. They immediately went to the old Evans home where they told Mrs. Brighton they had not eaten for two days. After serving the men dinner, Jonas Brighton told Chris that Baby Carl was suddenly feeling much better and had fully recovered. Evans then began to suspect Brighton of being a traitor. According to a later interview with Grandmother Byrd, after returning from a trip to Bakersfield on the evening of the 18th, she immediately went to check on the Evans children but was surprised to find Evans and Morrell. She remained at the Evans house for about an hour when her son George Byrd showed up. When George entered the house, Evans drew his Winchester and said, “You dirty bastard, I intend to kill you.” When Grandmother Byrd asked him what he meant, he told her, “I mean to kill that son of a bitch. He is a traitor.” Chris then told them he would not have his children raised by any of them. When George attempted to leave, Morrell blocked the door and said that they were going to kill George and Perry Byrd. After a while, Grandmother Byrd was able to eventually calm Chris down. As the outlaws slept that night, Jonas Brighton snuck out of the house and alerted Sheriff Kay that Evans and Morrell were in town. Kay immediately wired Marshal Gard in Los Angeles and ordered several posses to guard all the roads leading out of town. Gard arrived in Visalia around 3am, but the two decided not to do anything until daybreak. As daylight arrived the morning of February 19, Evans and Morrell woke up to find the house surrounded by Gard and Kay's posse. The posse consisted of fifty armed men, including Deputy George Witty and Deputy Perry Byrd. At around 8am, Sheriff Kay arrested Jonas Brighton for being an accomplice of Evans in order to deflect suspicion towards him. The news that Evans was surrounded had spread quickly and drew a large crowd of people to the house. Brighton then sent a letter to his wife telling her to leave the house with the Evans’ children immediately. Regardless of Kay's plan to distract suspicion from Brighton, Evans now knew he was a traitor. When Mrs. Brighton got the note and attempted to leave with the children, Evans' refused. Later, Mrs. Brighton and others in the house would accuse Evans of losing his temper, picking Mrs. Brighton up, throwing her into a bedroom and kicking her in the ribs. Before he could kick her again, Morrell interfered and Mrs. Brighton fainted. The Evans family would later emphatically deny Brighton's accusations. Although it is never clearly stated, it is most likely the case that Evans did not allow Grandmother Byrd or her son George to leave the Evans house the night prior. It was later reported by the Examiner that Grandmother Byrd was escorted out of the Evans house during the confrontation that morning by a man named M. P. Frazier. In her later interview, she told reporters that when leaving the Evans house with Frazier, she told him to walk in between her and the house saying Evans would kill her as willingly as he would a rattlesnake. Even with the presence of the mob, Sheriff Kay could find no one brave enough to approach the house with a message. Morrell was unknown to most, but everyone feared Evans. The posse did not want to fire into the house in fear of hurting others, which included six of the Evans children. Sheriff Kay knew that Evans had a fondness for children, so he sent an eight-year-old boy named George Morris to carry his first message to the outlaws. “Chris Evans: Surrender and we will protect you. If not we will take you anyway. E. W. Kay, Sheriff.” Evans knew the danger that the presence of the mob meant and sent the boy back with a message asking Sheriff Kay to disperse it. The boy's grandmother eventually came and rescued her grandson, so the posse was left to find another messenger. A local twenty-two year old, named Walter Beason, offered to serve as messenger for the Sheriff if he paid him a dollar. The Sheriff agreed and Beason made his way to the back door of the house, holding the note over his head as a white flag. Before he could knock, the door swung open and he looked into the barrel of two rifles. He was then pulled into the house by Evans and Morrell. They asked Beason what he wanted and if he was an officer. He replied that he was not, but that he had a note. “Mr. Evans: You have a chance to surrender. Surrender now without being hurt. If you give up to me, I will protect you and let the law take its course. I will disperse this mob if you say so, and will meet you. E. W. Kay.” After they read it, Beason told them he wanted to take back an answer. They both laughed and told him he might keep on wanting. They then asked Beason how the officers were situated and their chances of escape. When he told them they were surrounded and who was in the crowd, Evans wanted to surrender. Morrell insisted that they fight, but Evans told him there was no chance and urged that they give up. Instead of sending Beason back with another message, they decided to hold him hostage, and instead sent Chris’ son Joe with a note. Evans agreed to surrender, but only if Kay would disperse the crowd and bring only Deputy Hall with him to the porch to talk. When Kay and Hall reached the gate, both Evans and Morrell walked out onto the porch with their hands up. The Sheriff walked to the porch and Evans said: "Our word is good. If you protect us, we will surrender." Kay arrested Evans and brought him safely through the crowd to the Visalia jail. With his sentence pending, it was decided that Chris should be taken to the jail in Fresno. A lynch mob had formed in Visalia, and the officers decided to move Evans at midnight by horse and buggy instead of waiting for the next train. He received his official life sentence the next day and was transported to Sacramento via train before being taken to Folsom State Prison. His wife accompanied him on the train ride to Folsom. Chris smiled and bowed as thousands congregated at the depots to see him as he passed through the San Joaquin Valley. People trampled over each other in an effort to gain access to the prison car, so Evans opened his window and shook hands with as many people as he could. He arrived at Folsom on February 21 and Warden Aull promised him that his time as a celebrity was over. Ed Morrell wrote a letter to Molly Evans pleading with her or Eva to help him break from the Fresno Jail, but the letter was discovered by the guards before he could smuggle it out. He was found guilty after ten minutes of deliberation in the Fresno County Superior Court. On April 16, 1894, he was sentenced to hard labor in the rock quarries of Folsom Prison for the duration of his natural life. He was later transferred to San Quentin and banished to solitary confinement, where he struggled to keep his sanity. On March 23, 1894, William Fredericks attempted to rob a bank on Market Street in San Francisco. During the robbery, he killed the cashier and was eventually caught by police. Fredericks was found guilty of murder and sent to San Quentin. During his trial he admitted that he had supplied the weapons in George Sontag's attempted prison break and that he had stolen the weapons. He said that George's revolver was given to him by Eva Evans. He was executed on July 26, 1895. == Later life ==