Jack Powers: Race Against Time
4. Out in the Open
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4. Out in the Open
From “Remembering Jack Powers” by Bill Horace in the Los Angeles Star, 1876.
Jack's gang knew very little of his problems. He wouldn't share them even with El Huero Raphael, much less the other Sonoraños, nor would they care in any case. But they noticed Powers was distracted and spending too much time away. It'd been a while since their last robbery and they were anxious and a little irritated with their leader.
For all the bad publicity in San Francisco, Jack had lined up something good. A couple of Basque drovers met him in The City and struck a deal to buy a herd. This would be a large transaction and they'd be bringing down a lot of gold. Because these men spoke little English, they'd picked up nothing from the papers and were thrilled to deal with Jack in fluent Spanish.
These men would be arriving at a meeting spot beside the Nacimiento River. Jack went up to Rancho Santa Margarita to be seen the night before at a fiesta. It would be quite a ride up to the river, even swapping horses, but Jack could make it if he left before the crack of dawn. The other hombres would arrive from their own disparate locations. But Powers drank too much and found that he'd awakened late. He galloped hard, but El Huero and the others had been waiting many hours in a place across the stream. Just as Jack was getting close, El Huero lost his patience as the victims seemed preparing to move on. He charged across the river with the other men and shot the two Basque drovers in their saddles. Jack arrived in only minutes and was furious. The plan had been to lead the victims off some miles into the hills, as usual, before assaulting them. Now their bodies were sprawled out upon a traveled road, and maybe someone heard the shots from not much distance.
The only choice was dragging off the corpses to some nearby brush and riding off at once in all directions. Jack was angry past all self-control, offending some, confusing others of his company. Nieves Robles, who was none too smart, grew so flustered that he rode to San Luis, where he'd just left that morning. He'd told everyone around the Mission that he was leaving on a cattle drive and would not be back for weeks. His quick return attracted notice but he said he'd quit the drive before it started, in an argument about his pay. No one thought much more about it until the bodies were discovered three days later.
The tiny group of San Luis Americans decided to arrest Nieves Robles for the murders, as his sudden reappearance seemed sufficiently suspicious. They saw him as the weakest member of Jack's gang, one that they might squeeze for evidence. When Jack heard of the arrest, he understood the danger, because Robles, though a hardened killer, could be stupid and unwittingly confess things. So Jack was forced to act on what he’d always promised, to protect his men from law were they arrested. But he was even more concerned to manage Robles and make sure that he'd stay quiet until Jack could spring him loose.
* * *
Powers rode to San Luis and found a lawyer to defend Nieves Robles. The man was desperate for work, and edited the tiny local paper, but working on behalf of Jack was so provocative among the gringos that he would only take the case for an unreasonable fee. His meager skills weren't really needed. If the jury were composed of mostly Californians, Robles couldn't be convicted. Far more critical was keeping him from speaking foolishly in jail. Jack visited each day for many hours to keep a watch on him and fill his mouth with food and drink. Nothing could have damaged Powers more. The fact that such a famous and important man would leave his ranch in Santa Barbara to babysit a greaser criminal in jail in San Luis could only prove Jack's own involvement in the murders beyond argument. And the lavish sum he paid the lawyer to defend the man confirmed it.
The lawyer did his job and made certain that the jury was of Californios, which was easy as they were the vast majority of citizens. There was no way of placing Robles at the crime scene. The only purpose of arresting and indicting him had been to pressure him for information. And so Robles walked from jail, Jack breathed easier, and the Americans of San Luis Obispo seethed. The lawyer feared he'd have to leave the county.
* * *
Under pressure to redeem himself, the lawyer wrote a long account about the incident and sent it to the Daily Evening Bulletin in San Francisco. Without admitting that he'd represented Robles, or even that he was a lawyer, the man posed only as a correspondent. His letter, which was very long, detailed how Jack was known by everyone to be the leading actor in the robberies and murders that plagued the region. Up to now, this was impossible to prove because his victims weren’t found and his alibis had been supported by a hostile population.
But now the sun had broken through. Two murdered men, identified as drovers, had been discovered. A Sonoran who was known to ride with Jack had come and gone suspiciously enough to justify arrest and trial for murder. Jack Powers had dropped everything to save the man and keep his mouth shut. What could possibly speak louder that he ran the savage gang that had been keeping gringos settlers out of San Luis? For that, beyond the gains of robbery, had been his overwhelming purpose, so much so that even the great Barbareño dons had been protecting him.