John Tallan Murder Mystery Chapter 3 - The Final Outcome
Submitted by TDHS Research Historian Chaun Mortier 
Articles published in 1877 – Truckee Republican
May 5, 1877 - Truckee Republican
- The Reward -

As predicted by the Republican some time since, and particularly as the result of the many strong reasons named upon the public by us, a goodly reward has at last been offered for the murderer of Jack Tallan.  First comes $500 offered by the executive authority of this State, Governor William Irwin.  The Governor’s private secretary has written a letter to Mr. Geo. E. Marshall informing him of the event and further stating that in case more than one person was concerned in the murder the reward would be increased. Mr. Marshall deserves credit for his effectual zeal manifested in the matter, for he was the first who took the trouble to circulate a petition to the Governor, and took pains to enter into correspondence with his Excellency.

Posters have been printed and extensively circulated throughout this section of the country. Mr. D. McMillan has also improved the time and gained a large number of private individuals to subscribe amounts, all the way from $100 to $5. Over $400 were subscribed in Boca alone, and taken all together there are at present over $2,000 ready to be paid to the enterprising detective who will probe the matter, and bring the guilty party to justice. The general impression seems now to be that the person who did the act is some one residing in the vicinity where it was done. If more than one was concerned in it, it is almost certain that the affair will be brought to light.

The men in the camp where Jack was at work are eager in their desires to have the matter sifted, and nearly every one of them subscribed something toward the desired end. The stores about some old grudge against the victim and some one coming from the East to do the act are altogether too vague to become tenable.

May 19, 1877 - Truckee Republican
- Arrested on Suspicion -

H. Hitchcock, J. Rahl and H. McMillen were arrested on suspicion of being implicated in the murder of Jack Tallan by Constable Cross, Sheriff Clark and Mr. McGlashan, and are now being examined before Judge Keiser.  Nothing new is being adduced from that obtained at the Coroner’s Jury. We will give full particulars in the next issue.

May 23, 1877 - Truckee Republican
- The Examination of Suspected Parties -

When the community was startled by the news of the murder of an unoffending and quiet teamster, without the least show of provocation, it was little expected who the guilty parties were. All sorts of theories were advanced in regard to it, but no solution that was offered seemed to clear up the mystery. It was thought by a great many that the murdered man had been killed on account of an old grudge which was created in the Eastern States, and that the murderer had followed him to his new home and lain in ambush to perpetuate the fiendish act. A great many others supposed that from the circumstances surrounding the case that some of the men who were in the camp with Tallan and were working side by side with him were the men who committed the dastardly deed. After a good deal of work by the detectives three of the latter named were arrested on suspicion, and although the proof against them is by no means conclusive, still there are a great many discrepancies in their testimony, which leads many to suppose that they know something about the murder, even if they did not commit it themselves.

The murder was committed on the other side of the Little Truckee River, about four miles from the old Virginia House in Russell Valley. James Rahl, J. Hitchcock, and Hugh McMillan are the parties who are under arrest for committing the deed, and the first named of these has been under examination before Judge Keiser. The testimony for the prosecution has to be all put down in writing, and is very tedious business. The examination commenced last Friday morning, and lasted four days. T.C. Plunkett was the first witness who testified that he visited the spot of the murder the day after it was committed. He found an old hollow tree about fifteen yards from where the body was found. The hollow part was on the side opposite the road, so that a man could easily stand behind it and shoot a man who was passing on a wagon. It will be remembered that Tallan was found beside the road on the top of a hill, and that the horses and wagon were found at the bottom of the hill, the latter broken, as if the horses had run away when the murdered man fell from the wagon.

J.A. McMillan next gave his testimony. He was one of the men employed in the camp, and his evidence substantially corroborated much of that given the previous day. C. Meeker was then called, and stated that he had told parties around town that he had a dream about the time of the murder. He had dreamed that a man stood behind a hollow tree and shot Jack Tallan as he passed on his wagon. When the shot was fired he woke up from his dream. The description of the man did not answer any of the men who were in the camp. Here was where the hitch came. Meeker said he told of the dream after he was told of the hollow tree, and others testified he told them the day of the funeral.
Anderson, McIntire, Haight and others who were employed around the camp then testified, their evidence amounting to much the same. The story of the prisoners is about as follows: The three of them were up in the woods snaking timber about 700 yards from where the murdered man was found, when Rahl head a cry of “murder” and mounted his horse and rushed along the road without seeing the murdered man by the side of it and only halted when he came up with the wagon. The other men followed and found the victim by the side of the road, when Rahl rejoined them. They then went to the camp for assistance and brought the body to town. None of the nine men in the camp discovered that he was shot until he was in the Coroner’s Office in Truckee. There is a shroud of the darkest mystery surrounding the whole affair, which almost seems inexplicable.

On motion of Mr. McGlashan, H. McMillan, one of the prisoners, was discharged from custody yesterday morning.





May 26, 1877 - Truckee Republican
- The Trial -

After five days’ patient work, the examination of the men arrested for the murder of Jack Tallan was concluded Wednesday evening. There were three men arrested namely – James Rahl. J. H. Hitchcock and Hugh McMillan. Only one of these was examined before Judge Keiser although the others were under arrest. Rahl was the one who had to go through the ordeal. During the trial, it became evident that Hitchcock and McMillan knew nothing about the murder, so they were released from custody. After four days’ patient examination, nearly one day was consumed in the argument of counsel, after which the court delivered its opinion, saying that if Rahl did not commit the murder, he must know who did, and therefore held him to answer before the Grand Jury fixing his bail at $15,000, the largest bond ever given in Truckee for one crime. The bond was raised in a short time and Mr. Rahl discharged from jail and allowed his freedom.

Considering that many businessmen along Front Street signed the bond and that the prisoner was a poor backwoodsman seems to indicate that public sympathy was in his favor. Mr. Rahl will have to appear before the Grand Jury with the witnesses for the prosecution, and if he is indicted will have to take another trip to Nevada to stand trial, involving a great deal of expense. The parties who are working up the case are laboring assiduously, and will be sure to obtain all the evidence against him, if there is any more, before the trial comes off. It will be remembered that $2,000 reward is offered for the conviction, which is a prize worth working for. Mr. McGlashan’s argument for the prosecution was commended as a very able effort.

- Another Version -

The most mysterious and inexplicable affair was the murder of Jack Tallan – it has not been satisfactorily explained as yet, and perhaps never will be. Among those who have been working the affair up, is Mr. Jake Teeters, and with some prospect of success, as appears from the following: Just after the murder of Tallan, Teeters commenced corresponding with his relatives in Michigan. He learned that just before leaving for California, Tallan had become intimate with a young woman of questionable repute. Another man kept company with the woman after Jack left, and shortly before the murder, he suddenly disappeared, where he went no one knows. Before receiving letters from the east, Teeters had a conversation with a stranger in this vicinity, whom he suspected at the time, and who answered the description given in the letter of the man who had disappeared from the village where Jack lived. He is confident he talked with the right man. We suppress names by request. Jake is a sharp detective, and has labored assiduously in the case. If there is any chance at all to bring the guilty parties to justice, Jake may yet reap the honors.

October 10, 1877 - Truckee Republican
- The Rahl Murder Trial -

A letter from the District Attorney of Sierra County informs us that the bill brought before the Grand Jury against James Rahl was ignored.

**No further information was located regarding James Rahl or the murder of James Tallan so after 133 years this remains Truckee’s unsolved murder and Mr. Tallan lies buried in the Old Truckee Catholic Cemetery in an unmarked grave.