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Vic Wilson was not known to the residents of Tulare County when he arrived in Visalia. He was quiet and unassuming as he planned his campaign against the outlaws, Evans and Sontag. However, the Southern Pacific Railroad Company was not held in high regard in the San Joaquin Valley at this time because of its treatment of earlier settlers over land disputes which resulted in the shootout near Mussel Slough in 1880, and for its monopolistic practices which many considered dishonest and unethical at best. These attitudes were negatively reflected on the company’s detective force. Later, some writers on the subject put Wilson in a bad light because of the company’s reputation. As a result, Tulare County history has not treated Wilson well. He is recorded mostly as a victim of Chris Evans’ unerring and deadly aim. However, in Arizona Wilson enjoyed a much different reputation and, further, Wilson’s life experiences were and are impressive. Wilson’s posse consisted of Los Angeles based Southern Pacific Detective Will Smith, Tulare County Deputy Sheriff John Broder, Constable Warren Hill of Fresno County’s Sanger township, reward-seekers Fred “Al” Witty of Modesto, California, and Andrew McGinnis of San Francisco but formerly of Modesto. Also part of the posse were Yuma County, Arizona Deputy Sheriff Frank Burke and his Yuma Indian trackers Pelon and Camino. Broder and Smith were familiar with the search area but on the second day in the field, left the posse and returned to Visalia for business reasons. They planned to rejoin the posse a few days later at James Young’s cabin near Sampson Flat in Fresno County. During the morning of September 13, 1892, the posse approached Young’s cabin hoping to have breakfast there and to get some potatoes for their camp meals. They also planned to leave a note with Young for John Broder indicating they would still be in the area when he returned. The posse felt they would be safe in Young’s cabin since so far in their search there were no indications that the outlaws were close by. However, at that very moment Evans and Sontag were sitting in Young’s cabin and watching the unaware posse approaching up the trail. Young was not in his cabin and did not know the outlaws were there; however, a young neighbor, Ed Mainwaring was. Chris Evans did not want the young man in the cabin with them when the inevitable shooting occurred and ordered him to walk to a nearby spring as if to get water. Mainwaring left the cabin. The posse stopped at Young’s gate and Wilson and McGinnis dismounted from their horses, entered Young’s yard through the gate and walked toward the cabin. At the same time, Frank Burke and Al Witty also entered Young’s property but they did not move toward the cabin. Hill, Smith and the tracker remained mounted. As Wilson and McGinnis came up to the cabin, Evans broke a window out with the barrel of his shotgun and Sontag stepped from the cabin onto the porch with his shotgun held ready. Wilson and McGinnis realized they had been ambushed by their quarry and reached for their pistols. Evans shot Wilson dead in his tracks while Sontag mortally wounded McGinnis with a shotgun blast. Evans fired the other barrel of his shotgun at Al Witty and knocked him down with a shot in his neck. Witty tried to regain his feet but Frank Burke told him to stay on the ground. Burke opened fire on the outlaws. Pelon and Camino took cover behind large boulders and shot at the fugitives. Meanwhile, McGinnis managed to raise himself enough to fire a shot at Evans, the bullet grazing Evans’ head. Evans shot McGinnis dead and the outlaws ran into some nearby brush and escaped. During the gunfight Smith’s horse bucked and threw its rider onto the trail; and while Warren Hill was trying to draw his rifle from its scabbard, his horse was shot dead. The battered posse could not pursue the outlaws so they transported their dead and wounded back to Visalia. The bodies of Wilson and McGinnis were left at Wayne, Cameron & Co. to await further disposition. Although the victims were killed in Fresno County, Tulare County coroner T.W. Pendergrass impaneled a coroner’s jury and held an inquest hearing. After viewing the bodies and taking evidence from the battle survivors, the jury rendered a verdict, “V.C. Wilson, a resident of Tucson, Arizona, and A.W. McGinnis of San Francisco, came to their deaths from shotgun wounds in the hands of Chris Evans and John Sontag at the residence of Mr. Young on Pine Ridge, at or near Sampson’s Flat in Fresno County on the 13th day of September, 1892.” In all of his endeavors, Wilson had been respected for his honesty, reliability and competency. He was married and he and his wife had a daughter. The family was popular in the Arizona community in which they lived, and his future had appeared bright and secure. Tucson honored Wilson and citizens in Arizona regarded his death as a tragedy. His funeral service was held in the city park to accommodate the huge gathering of attendees. It was the largest attended funeral in the history of Tucson up to that time. Southern Pacific closed its shops so its employees could attend the service. The local chapter of the railway conductor’s union gave Wilson special recognition for his past service to the railway industry. Tucson city offices and Pima County offices were closed for the funeral and the circumstances of his death were fully reported in the local newspapers. His remains were interred in Tucson’s cemetery. Vernon Coke Wilson was a competent officer who was assigned by his superiors in the task of searching for Evans and Sontag in California. He had been in Visalia only a few days before his death. He didn’t know the search area, the people who resided there, the fugitives or even his fellow officers. As a result of these factors, he miscalculated the possible whereabouts of his quarry in enemy country, and for this he paid the ultimate penalty—a bad end for a good man.
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