Submitted by TDHS Research Historian Chaun Mortier
November 2009
Article published on April 21, 1877 – Truckee Republican
November 2009
Article published on April 21, 1877 – Truckee Republican
Wednesday morning, about 7 o’clock, a most cold-blooded and cowardly murder was perpetrated at D. McMillan’s camp out twelve miles from town and about two miles beyond the dividing line between Sierra and Nevada Counties. Jack Tallan, a teamster in the employ of Joseph Gray, of Truckee, and one of the steadiest, hard working men in the section was shot in the back, while seated on top of a load of square timber. It appears that all the teamsters at the camp, (three in number) were just coming in with their first load, when one of them in front was startled by the cry of “murder” from the man driving the hindmost team. They went back immediately and found Tallan in the last struggles of death. They raised him up at his request, and placed him on a log, but he never spoke afterwards. As none of the men had heard the reports of firearms, they supposed that he had fallen off the wagon and been killed. He was placed in a wagon and brought to town.
Dr. Curless made an examination of the body, when it was discovered for the first time that he was shot in the back with (3) three buckshot. They were all very close together, not being more than three inches apart, and in a triangular shape. One shot entered just below the left shoulder blade, another about two inches to the right, and a third about three inches below and between the two. A number of the number four shot, were also taken out of the back of his head, which makes it look as though the gun was already loaded with shot, and when the assassin got ready to do his work, he poured the bullets in on top of the charge of shot.
The strangest and most incomprehensible part of the affair is, that when the men hearing the cry of “murder” and going to the spot, and finding Tallan dying, should jump at the conclusion that he had fallen from the wagon and broken his neck, and that they should bring him all the way to Truckee, a distance of twelve miles, before it was discovered that he had been murdered. When told that he was shot they were all perfectly thunderstruck and would not believe it till they had seen for themselves. That a hard-working, peaceable man, who was never known to have any trouble with any one, and who did not have any money at all about his person, should be assassinated in this manner, while attending to his work, is perfectly inexplicable.
The affair caused a great deal of excitement in Truckee, and Wednesday and Thursday it was the only theme of conversation. Everybody has a thought of their own, but none have, as yet, come to any satisfactory solution of the mystery. A man claiming to be a tax collector, was at the camp the day before the killing occurred, and he is the only man, save those employed at the camp, that has been seen around in that section for some time. It is said that Tallan had some few words with him, and he made the remark to one of the men at the camp, that he “succeeded in making the fellow believe that was no collector at all.”
T.C. Plunkett and James Reed went out to the spot where the killing occurred, Thursday morning, in order to see if they could track the murderer, but about four inches of snow had fallen during the night and of course their trip was useless.
We publish below the testimony adduced at the coroner ’ s inquest.
Jesse Harvey Hitchcock, Sworn.
I knew deceased; I last saw him alive this Morning between six and seven o’clock at the camp of McMillan’s, about seven miles from Boca on the Little Truckee River. The next time I saw him he was lying on the road, about two feet from the wagon road, and seemed to be injured. He said “ lift me up!” This morning going out of camp Alex Anderson was ahead of him, this being their first load. As soon as Tallan could get loaded he followed him with his team. A very short time afterwards Jas. Rahl said to me, “Did you hear that; someone bellowed murder! ” I said “No.” Rahl started in the direction in which he heard the noise. I unhitched my horses and followed him as soon as possible. Hugh McMillian also heard Rahl and started afoot. Rahl went past where the body was lying without seeming to see it; he went on down to the foot of the hill, and there he found Tallan’ s team; he then came back to where the body was. We both took hold of Tallan, and tried to stand him up, but he could not stand; we seated him on a log; he afterwards asked us to lift him up again; Rahl started for a doctor, but we found that Tallan was dying and called him back. I think deceased was born in Canada; was about 32 or 33 years of age; I never knew of him being engaged in any quarrel; he seemed to be a very pleasant man among his companions; he had gone a quarter of a mile from the camp; deceased was about one hundred yards from his wagon when we found him. It seemed that he fell from the wagon right where we found him; I have never seen any hunters in that neighborhood this Spring; there are no other camps in that vicinity; a man purporting to be a tax collector of Sierra County was out to the camp yesterday and deceased had a talk with him; I do not know the substance of their conversation, but Tallan afterwards told me that he thought he made that fellow (meaning the tax collector) think that he had no right to collect taxes there.
James Rahl, Sworn.
I knew deceased; last saw him alive sometime between six and seven o’clock this morning; I next saw him lying on the road some two or three feet from the side of the wagon road. Some very few minutes after Tallan had left with his team I heard the cry of "murder" and immediately I started in the direction of the cry; I notified Hitchcock of what I had heard and again started; I went to where the team was standing and called him; receiving no answer I returned to where Hitchcock was with the body; I was traveling very fast when I passed the body; I was looking for the team and not thinking of finding a body; I heard no shots fired, the sound of the shot may have been drowned by the noise I was making with my rigging; I am positive I heard the cry of murder, and thought I recognized Tallan’ s voice.
Jno. A. McMillan, Sworn.
There is a shotgun in the camp, the property of Alex Anderson; I heard that he had given the gun to Tallan; I do not know of his having received any money lately; I never knew of Tallan having a quarrel with anyone except a few words with Jas. Rahl sometime ago, which seemed to engender no ill feeling.
Alex Anderson, Sworn.
I made Tallan a present of a shot gun about a month ago; he always kept it under his bed; when I returned to the camp after Tallan’s death, I saw the gun in the same place where Tallan usually kept it; as I went along the road from the camp that morning, I was attracted by the barking of my dogs, which were following behind me; the dogs always bark loudly when there are any strangers near; deceased has a brother living at Reno, Nevada and one at Nevada City, CA; since the quarrel between Rahl and deceased they have been on very friendly terms.
Dr. Curless’ Report.
The wounds found on the body of deceased would produce death in a sort time; perhaps from five to thirty minutes. There were no other wounds on the body which could have produced death.
Verdict of the Coroner’s Jury
We the undersigned, jurors summoned to appear before T.C. Plunkett, J.P., acting Coroner, in and for the township of Meadow Lake, Count of Nevada, State of California, on the 18th day of April, 1877, to inquire into the cause of the death of an unknown person, found near the logging camp of Duncan McMillan, in Nevada County, having been duly sworn, according to Law, and having made such inquisition, after inspecting the body and hearing the testimony adduced upon our oaths, each and all, do say that we find the deceased was named John Tallan; was a native of Canada; aged about thirty years. That he came to his death on or about the 18th day of April, in this county, at, or near the place known as McMillan’s logging camp, having been killed by gun shot wounds, administered by some party or parties to this jury unknown, all of which we duly certify by this inquisition in writing, by us signed this 18th day of April, 1877.
J.F. Greeley,
Lee Johns
D.W. Leach,
W. Richardson,
Thomas Helm,
S.B. Weller,
Isaac George,
Frank Rabel,
H. Davis,
R.P. Moore
Dr. Curless made an examination of the body, when it was discovered for the first time that he was shot in the back with (3) three buckshot. They were all very close together, not being more than three inches apart, and in a triangular shape. One shot entered just below the left shoulder blade, another about two inches to the right, and a third about three inches below and between the two. A number of the number four shot, were also taken out of the back of his head, which makes it look as though the gun was already loaded with shot, and when the assassin got ready to do his work, he poured the bullets in on top of the charge of shot.
The strangest and most incomprehensible part of the affair is, that when the men hearing the cry of “murder” and going to the spot, and finding Tallan dying, should jump at the conclusion that he had fallen from the wagon and broken his neck, and that they should bring him all the way to Truckee, a distance of twelve miles, before it was discovered that he had been murdered. When told that he was shot they were all perfectly thunderstruck and would not believe it till they had seen for themselves. That a hard-working, peaceable man, who was never known to have any trouble with any one, and who did not have any money at all about his person, should be assassinated in this manner, while attending to his work, is perfectly inexplicable.
The affair caused a great deal of excitement in Truckee, and Wednesday and Thursday it was the only theme of conversation. Everybody has a thought of their own, but none have, as yet, come to any satisfactory solution of the mystery. A man claiming to be a tax collector, was at the camp the day before the killing occurred, and he is the only man, save those employed at the camp, that has been seen around in that section for some time. It is said that Tallan had some few words with him, and he made the remark to one of the men at the camp, that he “succeeded in making the fellow believe that was no collector at all.”
T.C. Plunkett and James Reed went out to the spot where the killing occurred, Thursday morning, in order to see if they could track the murderer, but about four inches of snow had fallen during the night and of course their trip was useless.
We publish below the testimony adduced at the coroner ’ s inquest.
Jesse Harvey Hitchcock, Sworn.
I knew deceased; I last saw him alive this Morning between six and seven o’clock at the camp of McMillan’s, about seven miles from Boca on the Little Truckee River. The next time I saw him he was lying on the road, about two feet from the wagon road, and seemed to be injured. He said “ lift me up!” This morning going out of camp Alex Anderson was ahead of him, this being their first load. As soon as Tallan could get loaded he followed him with his team. A very short time afterwards Jas. Rahl said to me, “Did you hear that; someone bellowed murder! ” I said “No.” Rahl started in the direction in which he heard the noise. I unhitched my horses and followed him as soon as possible. Hugh McMillian also heard Rahl and started afoot. Rahl went past where the body was lying without seeming to see it; he went on down to the foot of the hill, and there he found Tallan’ s team; he then came back to where the body was. We both took hold of Tallan, and tried to stand him up, but he could not stand; we seated him on a log; he afterwards asked us to lift him up again; Rahl started for a doctor, but we found that Tallan was dying and called him back. I think deceased was born in Canada; was about 32 or 33 years of age; I never knew of him being engaged in any quarrel; he seemed to be a very pleasant man among his companions; he had gone a quarter of a mile from the camp; deceased was about one hundred yards from his wagon when we found him. It seemed that he fell from the wagon right where we found him; I have never seen any hunters in that neighborhood this Spring; there are no other camps in that vicinity; a man purporting to be a tax collector of Sierra County was out to the camp yesterday and deceased had a talk with him; I do not know the substance of their conversation, but Tallan afterwards told me that he thought he made that fellow (meaning the tax collector) think that he had no right to collect taxes there.
James Rahl, Sworn.
I knew deceased; last saw him alive sometime between six and seven o’clock this morning; I next saw him lying on the road some two or three feet from the side of the wagon road. Some very few minutes after Tallan had left with his team I heard the cry of "murder" and immediately I started in the direction of the cry; I notified Hitchcock of what I had heard and again started; I went to where the team was standing and called him; receiving no answer I returned to where Hitchcock was with the body; I was traveling very fast when I passed the body; I was looking for the team and not thinking of finding a body; I heard no shots fired, the sound of the shot may have been drowned by the noise I was making with my rigging; I am positive I heard the cry of murder, and thought I recognized Tallan’ s voice.
Jno. A. McMillan, Sworn.
There is a shotgun in the camp, the property of Alex Anderson; I heard that he had given the gun to Tallan; I do not know of his having received any money lately; I never knew of Tallan having a quarrel with anyone except a few words with Jas. Rahl sometime ago, which seemed to engender no ill feeling.
Alex Anderson, Sworn.
I made Tallan a present of a shot gun about a month ago; he always kept it under his bed; when I returned to the camp after Tallan’s death, I saw the gun in the same place where Tallan usually kept it; as I went along the road from the camp that morning, I was attracted by the barking of my dogs, which were following behind me; the dogs always bark loudly when there are any strangers near; deceased has a brother living at Reno, Nevada and one at Nevada City, CA; since the quarrel between Rahl and deceased they have been on very friendly terms.
Dr. Curless’ Report.
The wounds found on the body of deceased would produce death in a sort time; perhaps from five to thirty minutes. There were no other wounds on the body which could have produced death.
Verdict of the Coroner’s Jury
We the undersigned, jurors summoned to appear before T.C. Plunkett, J.P., acting Coroner, in and for the township of Meadow Lake, Count of Nevada, State of California, on the 18th day of April, 1877, to inquire into the cause of the death of an unknown person, found near the logging camp of Duncan McMillan, in Nevada County, having been duly sworn, according to Law, and having made such inquisition, after inspecting the body and hearing the testimony adduced upon our oaths, each and all, do say that we find the deceased was named John Tallan; was a native of Canada; aged about thirty years. That he came to his death on or about the 18th day of April, in this county, at, or near the place known as McMillan’s logging camp, having been killed by gun shot wounds, administered by some party or parties to this jury unknown, all of which we duly certify by this inquisition in writing, by us signed this 18th day of April, 1877.
J.F. Greeley,
Lee Johns
D.W. Leach,
W. Richardson,
Thomas Helm,
S.B. Weller,
Isaac George,
Frank Rabel,
H. Davis,
R.P. Moore
