The Manhunt for Claude Dallas, the ...

This story, “Final Day of the Wardens,” appeared within the July 1981 challenge of Outside Life. It was written whereas Claude Dallas remained at giant and recreation warden William Pogue’s physique had not been recovered. This story was printed with the next editor’s word:
 
Editor’s Be aware: This story was obtained from interviews with varied regulation­ enforcement officers in Idaho, includ­ing state Fish and Recreation officers, an Idaho Bureau of Investigation agent, and the Owyhee County sheriff. The accounts of the capturing and the occasions that adopted had been obtained from the testimony of Jim Stevens, the one wit­ness to the capturing, and others at an Idaho judicial continuing on February 3, 1981, the aim of which was to have Invoice Pogue declared legally useless. A potato farmer from Winnemucca, Nevada, Stevens has cooperated with enforcement officers, and a number of other poly­ graph exams indicated he was telling the reality.

It had been a protracted journey for Idaho con­servation officers Invoice Pogue and Con­ley Elms. After a five-hour, 175-mile drive throughout the rugged desert close to the Idaho-Nevada border, the wardens fi­nally parked their pickup at 3 a.m. and crawled into bedrolls. They slept only some hours on that morning of January 5, 1981. Each rose at daybreak to fulfill with a rancher who had reported unlawful trapping.

Close by, 30-year-old Claude Lafa­yette Dallas Jr. was camped alongside the south fork of the Owyhee River. An skilled woodsman, crack shot, and survival knowledgeable, he was stated to be working 80 traps within the space, largely for bobcats. A self-styled mountain man, he reportedly took what he wished from the land with out regard to recreation legal guidelines. Dallas was not keen on recreation warfare­dens. A couple of years earlier, when arrested in Nevada for a recreation violation, he’d informed law-enforcement officers that he’d by no means once more be taken into custody.

Because the morning progressed, Pogue and Elms questioned the rancher. He informed them he had ridden into Dallas’ camp on horseback a number of days earlier than and had seen bobcat hides and contemporary venison hindquarters. Deer season was gone, and the Idaho bobcat season hadn’t opened. Dallas was in a hostile temper, and the rancher sensed his life was in peril, considering he could be gunned down earlier than he left the camp. The rancher warned the wardens to be extraordinarily cautious.

Within the meantime, Nevada potato farmer Jim Stevens was making the lengthy overland journey to go to Dallas on that very same day. Dallas had labored on his farm. Stevens anticipated spending a number of days enjoyable and serving to together with his buddy’s chores.

The next account relies on Stevens’ description of what then happened.

Earlier than heading into the Idaho desert, Stevens stopped on the Paradise Bar in Paradise Hill, a tiny Nevada city north of Winnemucca. He picked up Dallas’ mail and provides from George Niel­sen, the bar proprietor and an in depth buddy of the trapper.

Nielsen lent Stevens a gun and informed him to sign Dallas by capturing twice within the air from the highest of a hill about three-quarters of a mile from the camp. Upon listening to the pictures, Dallas was speculated to hike up the steep path to assist pack provides to camp.

When Stevens drove to the rim above the camp and fired twice, he heard no answering pictures. He determined to stroll in with among the provides and met Dallas strolling up the path. After they greeted one another, Stevens con­tinued to camp whereas Dallas went to the car for the remainder of the provides.

Dallas’ camp was a white, lO X 12-foot wall tent about 50 yards from the river. When Stevens reached it, he put the provides down and went for a stroll alongside the river. Someday later, he heard voices from the course of camp, and somebody shouted for him to return to the tent. Officers Pogue and Elms had been speaking with Dallas.

Apparently the wardens had met the trapper on the path. Or on the car. Pogue had unloaded a handgun that Dallas wore on a belt holster.

When Stevens walked into camp, the wardens unloaded the gun he had bor­rowed from Nielsen and continued their dialogue with Dallas in regards to the reported violations. At that time, one of many officers evidently noticed a bobcat cover contained in the tent.

Conley Elms entered the tent. “Listed below are the hides,” he stated as he emerged with a bobcat pelt in every hand.

“Nicely, am I underneath arrest then?” Dallas requested.

“Sure,” Pogue answered.

Invoice Pogue, who had been an Idaho conservation officer for 15 years and earlier than {that a} police official and recreation warden in Nevada, was often known as a first-class warden, considered one of Idaho’s greatest. He was outwardly stern, and had earned the nickname, “ice man with the steely eyes.” A cautious man, he at all times anticipated bother. He watched Dallas intently, prepared to attract his .357 Magnum at a second’s discover.

However, regardless of his coaching, instincts, and abilities, he momentarily took his eyes off the trapper to have a look at the bobcat hides Elms was holding. Dallas drew a gun.

“Oh no!” Pogue exclaimed, and the subsequent sound was the roar of the gun.

Stevens had been wanting away from Dallas, and the blast startled him so badly that he virtually jumped into the center of the capturing. He turned simply as Dallas fired a second shot. Pogue fell backward, and there was a cloud of gunsmoke and dirt between Dallas and the stricken warden.

Elms had been crouching as he got here out the tent. Dallas spun and shot him twice earlier than the warden may attain his revolver. Pogue was nonetheless shifting and had managed to get his gun out of the holster, however it fell to the bottom. Dallas shot Pogue two extra instances. The·n he went into the tent, got here again out with a .22 rifle, and shot every warden as soon as within the temple simply.as he would dispatch animals in his traps.

Dallas turned to Stevens. “Sorry I received you on this, buddy,” he stated. “You gotta assist me.”

Dallas waded throughout the river to catch two packmules he owned. Un­capable of catch the larger mule, be re­turned with the smaller animal. It weighed little greater than 300 kilos. Whereas Dallas was gone, the frightened Stevens had reloaded the gun he’d automobile­ried, and he questioned if he’d be the subsequent to die. Later Dallas took the gun and ordered Stevens to assist.

The 2 males loaded Pogue’s physique on the mule and packed it as much as Steven’s four-wheel-drive. The Fish and Recreation truck stood close by.

Conley Elms’ physique weighed about 280 kilos. The pair managed to load it on the mule, however the animal balked partly up the mountain and refused to proceed. Dallas unloaded the physique, used the mule to pull it again all the way down to the river, and dumped the physique in.

He and Stevens then destroyed as a lot proof as doable. They poured kerosene on blood spots and the wardens’ bloody clothes and burned them.

Then they drove to Paradise Hill with Invoice Pogue’s physique behind the four-wheel-drive. Whereas on the best way, they concocted a narrative to clear Stevens of the incident.

The lads pulled as much as the Paradise Bar after driving a number of hours. It was about midnight after they arrived. Dal­ las knocked on the door of Nielsen’s home and informed him what had occurred. He additionally stated he wished to make use of Nielsen’s pickup truck to get rid of Pogue’s physique. Dallas informed Stevens to take away his bloody clothes and take a bathe. He informed Nielsen to burn the clothes.

Dallas stuffed up the pickup’s gasoline tank, moved Pogue’s physique into the truck, and headed out alone into the night time. Stevens went house to Winnemucca, and Nielsen stayed at his house. When Dallas returned later, he informed Nielsen to take him to a drop-off level. Nielsen drove to a highway 12 miles north of Winnemucca, turned west onto one other highway for 2 miles, and dropped off Dallas within the desert. The trapper had $100, an olive-drab duffel bag, a backpack, a rifle, and a minimum of one handgun.

Stevens informed his spouse the false story he had put along with Dallas. His spouse thought he was mendacity and con­fronted him. The shaken farmer con­fessed and agreed to go to the authori­ties with the reality. However earlier than going to the police, he drove to Paradise Hill and informed Nielsen he was turning himself in. Nielsen agreed to do the identical. Collectively they informed their story to an lawyer and a county prosecutor in Winnemucca. No costs had been filed in opposition to them both in Nevada or Idaho as a result of regulation enforcement authorities are stated to imagine that each males acted underneath coercion and duress. Lastly, by the afternoon of January 6, the items had been match collectively.

Because it was virtually darkish, searchers may do little till morning, however Tim Nettleton, Owyhee County sheriff, had time to fly over the camp space and he noticed the Fish and Recreation truck. By day­ gentle the subsequent morning, about 30 hours after Dallas had final been seen, regulation­ enforcement officers from a number of businesses had begun their search. The FBI was concerned as effectively, as a result of Dal­ las had crossed state borders.

Conley Elms’ physique was discovered within the river that first morning, a few quar­ter-mile downstream from the camp. However despite the fact that the wardens and police widened their search, they discovered no hint of Invoice Pogue’s physique or of Claude Dallas.

Officers discovered the spot the place Dallas received out of Nielsen’s truck. The foot­ prints led into the desert, then turned and got here again towards the highway, the place the path disappeared. Nevada’s chukar season was nonetheless open, and hunters’ tracks had been mistaken for Dallas’.

An intensive week-long search failed to show up Dallas or Pogue’s physique. Ed Pogue, brother of the useless warden, vowed to proceed the search till his brother’s physique is discovered and Dallas is captured.

“Invoice and I had been terrible shut — as shut as brothers may be,” Ed Pogue stated. “He was my solely brother, and you’ll think about how I appeared as much as him. Even after we grew up, we nonetheless made it a degree to hunt collectively in Owy­hee County.”

Bill Pogue had many different admirers too. The 50-year-old senior conserva­tion officer left behind a spouse and 4 youngsters. His household and pals knew him as a considerate, deeply delicate man, regardless of his status as a gruff, stern, wildlife officer. He was an achieved artist and loved draw­ing scenes and individuals related to the outside. One in every of his items, which depicted a trapper and a wolf, appeared on the duvet of Idaho Wildlife maga­zine, official publication of the Idaho Division of Fish and Recreation.

Conley Elms, 34, cherished his job as conservation officer and had labored lengthy and arduous for the place. A wild­life graduate of Oregon State Universi­ty, he by no means gave up making an attempt to get a job as a conservation officer after shifting to Boise together with his spouse Sheryl. He labored odd jobs at {an electrical} agency, a trailer manufacturing unit, and with the Ada Coun­ty assessor’s workplace. After working half time with the Idaho Division of Fish and Recreation, his dream got here true. He was employed as a full-time officer. To make his dream even higher, his brother Michael was a conservation officer in close by Mountain House, Idaho.

This case is much from closed. As this challenge goes to press, Pogue’s physique nonetheless stays hidden, and Dallas is at giant.

The place is Dallas, and the way did he escape the dragnet of searchers? Nobody has the solutions. As one authority stated, “Dallas may very well be in any respect factors of the compass.” After I requested Owyhee County Sheriff Tim Nettleton the place Claude Dallas could be hiding, the tall, lanky officer took a deep drag off his unfiltered cigarette, shifted his weath­ered cowboy boots on his desk, and blew a skinny stream of blue smoke towards the ceiling.

“Intestine feeling?” he requested. “Intestine feeling,” I answered.

“To start with,” he stated, “you need to perceive he’s able to strolling a great distance over tough nation, some 20 to 40 miles a day. My first guess can be he walked or received a trip to California the place he’s ready for spring to interrupt. Then he’ll head for Canada the place he frolicked touring up to now.”

This concept has sturdy potentialities, since Dallas was within the Northwest Territories together with his brother not too long ago and remarked he’d like to return and run traplines.

“Since he realized the basics of Spanish after working with migrant Mexicans on potato farms,” continued the sheriff, “he may need headed south. He informed some pals he wished to go down there some day.

“He additionally may need headed for the swamps of the Southeast. His people are in South Carolina, and the swamplands can be proper for his type of residing.”

Nettleton confirmed me a map on the wall of his workplace. A pin was caught in Paradise Hill. A string tied to the pin evidently had been stretched and rotat­ed many instances by pissed off officers as they tried to search out Pogue’s physique. As a result of the police knew what number of miles Dallas drove in Nielsen’s pickup, they’d the radius narrowed to 25 to 30 miles from Paradise Hill. Officers stuffed the gasoline tank afterward and deter­mined about 85 miles had been cov­ered, together with the 25 miles Nielsen drove. That meant Dallas drove about 60 miles round-trip when he disposed of the physique.

When Dallas returned to Paradise Hill, he stated he hid the physique the place nobody would ever discover it. The area is pocked with numerous deserted mines and shafts, and he apparently discovered a spot so completely suited that his boast was proper. Regardless of a effectively­ organized, methodical search and the help of psychics, Pogue’s physique remains to be hidden. Solely Claude Dallas is aware of the place it’s.

And the way about Claude Lafayette Dallas Jr.? What sort of man is he?

Born in Winchester, Virginia, he reportedly confirmed up in Nevada about 10 years in the past, using a horse and main two packmules. Acquaintances say he rode west on horseback from the East. In accordance with Sheriff Nettleton, Dal­ las was clear and saved a tidy camp. He noticed a dentist in Winnemucca often and didn’t smoke or drink. He had the flexibility to get together with individuals if he selected to take action. Nicely-liked within the Neva­ da farm communities the place he labored, he was recognized to lend cash to pals who had been down-and-out. “He wasn’t a social recluse, ei­ther,” the sheriff stated. “He appreciat­ed neons and nylons, if you recognize what I imply.”

Nonetheless, Dallas was thought of unpredictable and harmful by those that knew him.

“You don’t dare cross Dallas,” a buddy informed the sheriff.

Why would Dallas kill the sport wardens? Evidently he felt they had been imposing on his rights within the outdoor. Sheriff Nettleton defined that in Dal­ las’ thoughts, the officers had been trespassing in his area.

Dallas has been formally charged with homicide. Nettleton confirmed me three books found in Dallas’ camp. One in every of them, No Second Place Winner, is about quick draw and fireplace­ arms. A passage within the ebook says: “Be first or be useless — there isn’t any second­ place winner in a gun battle.” One other ebook, Kill or be Killed, is described by its writer on this manner: “a ebook which belongs in each establishment charged with the coaching of cops or troopers.” The third ebook, Hearth­arm Silencers, offers with varied silencers used on weapons.

I requested the sheriff if he had any clues to Dallas’ whereabouts.

“Not a factor,” he stated. “We get 5 or 6 leads every day, and we’ve checked each one out, however none had been good. I’m afraid we could be in for a protracted search, possibly a 12 months or extra. Dallas will in all probability cover out in a giant, wild space and he’ll be robust to search out. I simply hope he doesn’t gun down some­one. I’m afraid that’s how we’d find yourself getting on to his path.”

Nettleton floor his cigarette butt into an ashtray, and for the primary time his temper turned harsh.

“I need Claude Dallas,” he stated. “I need him unhealthy.” And so do a variety of different peo­ple.

Editor’s Be aware (July 2025) — Claude Dallas remained at giant for 15 months, till he was positioned on April 18, 1982 by FBI brokers in Paradise Valley, Nevada. He was confronted fewer than 50 miles north of the place he killed Pogue and Elms. Dallas had been residing in a trailer and, when he fled in a pickup truck, was pursued with air help and captured. He was shot within the heel throughout his escape try, according to the Spokane Chronicle, and in the end charged with first-degree homicide. Dallas testified throughout his trial that he acted in self protection. Finally he was convicted of two counts of voluntary manslaughter and a firearms cost, and sentenced to serve 30 years in jail. In March 1986 he escaped the Idaho State Penitentiary and remained on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List for almost a 12 months earlier than he was recaptured on March 8, 1987 in Riverside, California. He was outdoors a 7-11 on the time. After serving a total of 22 years, Dallas was released from custody in 2005. William Pogue‘s stays had been lastly recovered some 17 miles west of the shootout website, on the foot of the Bloody Run mountain vary. His household deliberate to unfold his ashes within the Sawtooth Nationwide Forest.