Saga of Queho

ONE SUNDAY morning in February of last year, two Nevada prospectors, Charles M. Kenyon and Art Schroeder, picked their way along the west bank of the Colorado River scarcely ten miles below the mighty concrete wall of Boulder Dam. The going was exceedingly rough, and the two men progressed slowly, stopping often to sample likely looking ledges for traces of precious ore. Before many hours had passed the discovery they were to make became the most sensational one Boulder Dam Recreational Area had yielded for many months. The prospectors' discovery, though not of scientific or mineral value, was to reveal the final act of a gripping human drama enacted over a score of years ago.In the course of their wanderings, the two men stumbled onto the entrance of a small cave fortified by nature on the craggy canyon wall high above the river. Following the human instinct to explore caves, Kenyon and Schroeder were more than amazed at the sight which met their eyes barely inside the cavern's entrance. On the ground lay the shriveled body of a man, apparently an Indian. From the appearance of the dry, almost mummified body and tattered clothes, there was no telling how many years it had lain there undisturbed. Near the body was an age-rusted .30-.30 Win chester rifle loaded and cocked, a twelve gauge double-barrel shotgun, a powerful bow and sev eral vicious-looking steel tipped arrows. Well-worn articles of camp equipment nearby bore witness to the fact that the cave had been the temporary home of the occupant for some time previous to his death. Making a hasty search of the cave and its contents, Kenyon and Schroeder crossed over to the Willow Beach boat landing on the Arizona side of the river and made their way up out of the canyon. Crossing Boulder Dam, they proceded to Las Vegas, Nevada, to report their discovery to the police.

The following morning they contacted Police Chief Frank Wait and gave him their story, describing in detail the location of the cave and its strange occupant. From the descrip tion of the body, Police Chief Wait and other old residents of Las Vegas who heard the prospectors' tale began to remember the halfforgotten saga of an Indian renegade named Queho. Queho was a Paiute Indian who terrorized the Las Vegas and Colorado River mining areas more than twenty years ago, hav ing as many as twenty-three brutal murders attributed to him. Hounded and tracked bythe peace officers of Arizona and Nevada, in 1919 his trail was finally lost in the precipitous canyon country near the Colorado River, and it was believed he had fled the country. The people of Las Vegas wondered could the body in the cave be that of the now almost legendary Queho?Interest ran high, and immediately a party was organized to visit the cave and determine the identity and cause of death of the occupant. The group was headed by Kenyon and Schroeder, Police Chief Frank Wait of Las Vegas, Coroner A. J. Nelson of Boulder City, and Rangers Ed Schenk and O. P. Senter from the National Park Service headquarters in Boulder City. It was a strange trick fate played by sending Frank Wait along with the party. for he had been a member of the last posse which tracked the wily Queho when the trail was lost forever twenty years ago. Arriving at the cave after a stiff hike following the two prospectors, a coroner's jury sworn in by Nelson established the body as being that of Queho. The tattered clothes were identical with those worn by Queho when last seen, and other objects found in the cave proved his identity beyond the shadow of a doubt. Frank Wait said the cave was within a few miles of the place where the posse lost Queho's trail in 1919. The cause of death? Hard to determine, but most likely Queho had retreated wounded or injured to the safety of his heavily fortified cave overlooking the broad panorama of the (Continued to Page Thirty-Three) Below. Loaded .30-.30 Winchester rifle and 12 gauge shotgun within easy reach of the body gave mute testimony to the fact that Queho died while in constant fear of attack from below. Note the powerful bow [center] and steel tipped arrows for use in case ammunition for the guns gave out. Right, other objects in Queho's cave.

The Saga of Queho

Death Comes for a Paiute Renegade in a Lonely Cave.

BY WILLIAM BELKNAP, JR.