[Granville-Hough] 21 Oct 2009 - The Saga of Tomato Springs
Trustees for Granville W. Hough
gwhough-trust at oakapple.net
Wed Feb 16 06:41:52 PST 2011
1912 - The Huff Girls in the Saga of Tomato Springs.
By 1912, Orange County was developed farmland growing cattle, grain,
beans and citrus crops. William Cook's family was growing beans on the
Irvine ranch, where the El Toro Marine Base was built during World War
II. There were two Huff nieces with the family - Jessie, age 13 and
Myrtle, age 17. On December 15, 1912, these nieces became the center of
an episode known as the "Saga of Tomato Springs.'
It began when an unknown drifter came by the Cook home with a pack
on his baack and a rifle and asked for work. While there, he eyed the
two Huff girls with great interest. He was told there was no work and
then he left. He then went on to Myford (now East Irvine) and purchased
dinner.
He walked back to the Cook ranch and was watching the house from a
concealed position, The family dog began barking and Mrs. Cook sent the
Huff girls out to see if a coyote was in the barnyard. Then the girls
reached the barn, the drifter jumped out with a gun and said: "Dont
scream, or I'll kill you both." He asked which girl was older. Myrtle
said she was the older, so he tied Jessie to a fence post and hustled
Myrtle to the nearest pile of hay. Meanwhile, Jessie worked herself
free and ran into the house. William Cook ran out, unarmed, to help
Myrtle. The drifter fired two shots at him, but Myrtle Huff was able to
get to the house. Later in medical examination, she was found to be
unharmed.
William Cook mounted a horse and rode to a brother's ranch and the
two began to round up a posse to capture the drifter. The sheriff was
alerted and he sent deputies to help. With lanterns, they were able to
trace the assailant, but could not find him in the hills.
The next morning, the drifter went to Edgar Chamber's ranch and
forced the people to feed him breakfast. He boasted he would kill a
half dozen men before giving up. Within an hour, the Sheriff's posse
had found him. in thhe ensuing fight, he killed Undersheriff Robert
Squires with six bullets, put two bullets through Deputy Sheriff J. F.
Stacy, and put one each through William Culver, the Irvine blacksmith,
and Albert Prater.
When news of the morning assault became known, Company L of the
National Guard under Captain Nate Ulm was called out, issued guns and
ammunition, and joined the fight. The drifter was surrounded and kept
pinned down. Over two hundred men were firing into the area of Tomato
Springs where he was holed up. Finally they decided to fire an intense
volley and then rush in. When they ceased firing and began moving in,
they heard a single shot. Fifteen different men claimed credit, but
none had a weapon which used a 32 caliber bullet. The drifter had
killed himself with a 32-caliber pistol.
Undersheriff Squires was given a hero's funeral, and the drifter
was assigned a pauper's grave. Before he was buried, he was tentatively
identified as Joe Matlock, son of a former mayor of Eugene, Oregon. The
senior Matlock came to view the body, but denied it was his son, Later
he seems to have concluded it was his son, though the son's appearance
was much changed. The son, Joe Matlock, had severe tuberculosis, and
his bravada showed he knew he was dying.
References:_ The Times_, December 17, 1912, with reprint of _Los Angeles
Times,_ Orange County Section, October 4, 1981. (The references show a
line drawing of Tomato Springs overlooking the plats of land involved
all the way to East Irvine. I believe this drawing is in the Jim
Sleeper Collection.) (GWH: As written above, I republished the story in
Granville W. Hough, _Tales of Our People,_ privately published, 1989.)
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