On foot, Burt and Jesse were tiring from the chase. They were no match for a mounted posse, even under the cover of the dark pine trees. Somehow, this time the law had figured out where they were and their plan for escape. They knew that Jesse’s younger brother was already captured. Their luck had run out. As the posse closed in and forced their surrender, they briefly wondered if their plan to sell stolen horses to make some money had been misguided after all.
Dallas and Jesse Eby |
The arrest of Burt, Jesse, and Dallas made headlines 100 miles away in Spokane, as well as through the grapevines from Latah County to Clearwater County. The horse thieves that had been plaguing the area had finally been arrested. Knowing they had been caught dead to rights, all three pled guilty and were sentenced to hard labor at Walla Walla State Penitentiary for grand larceny. Burt Paget and Jesse Eby, at 23 and 21, were sentenced to two years. Eighteen-year-old Dallas was sentenced to one year. They served their time, and as far as this writer knows, they were released as changed men who led ordinary lives on the right side of the law until their deaths. I know because Dallas Eby was my great-grandfather and his brother, Jesse Eby, was my great-grand uncle.
Dallas was born on August 19, 1884, in Yakima, Washington, to David and Mary Louisa Eby, pioneers who had come to the Pacific Northwest around 1880, likely due to the offers of land grants and job availability in timber and mining. He was the eighth child born to them, with five older brothers and one older sister. Another brother was born when Dallas was three, and a sister had died ten years before he was born. Dallas’ father was a carpenter and farmer who had been raised in the Midwest and served in the Union army during the Civil War.
When Dallas was only five years old, his father died at the young age of 47, leaving Dallas’ mother to raise their eight children alone. All the boys, including Dallas, worked as day laborers while they lived with their mother. Over the following ten years, his older siblings married and moved out to start their own families. By 1900, only five of the boys remained at home and continued to support their family by working the limited jobs available to them.
Mary Louise Eby and her children, Sam, Etta, Dallas, Will, Ida, Charlie & wife Delia, Ray, Fred and Jesse - Taken about 1900 |
The story was passed down in our family that our
great-grandfather Dallas stole a horse because it was being abused by its
owner. This endearing tale likely began to appease the guilt of family members
having to admit their ancestor was guilty of grand larceny. However, the
documented facts indicate that while they were aware they were breaking the
law, it was done by young men whose families were in financial straits, making
it understandable albeit misguided.
Walla Walla Washington State Prison Identification Record for Burt Paget, Dallas Eby and Jesse Eby 22 Jun 1903 |
Jess served his two-year sentence as prisoner #3099 from June 22, 1903, until February 16, 1905. He was described as a 21-year-old male standing 5 feet 10 inches with light brown hair and light gray eyes. He had two vaccination marks on his left upper arm and a plain cut scar on the back of his left index finger.
Burt Paget, prisoner #3097, was 23 years old, raising suspicion that he was the mastermind behind their horse-stealing plans. He was also sentenced to two years of hard labor.
What was “hard labor” like in a penitentiary in 1903? In some regions, such as Walla Walla, prisoners were sent to work in mines extracting coal or other minerals. Many prisoners worked on prison farms or provided labor for the construction of roads or other infrastructure. Whatever the task, it was under strict supervision and often harsh conditions, with the goal of breaking the prisoners’ spirits and enforcing discipline.
One might wonder how one or two years of hard labor would affect the three would-be horse thieves. There is no information on what happened to Burt, but it is evident that the experience of prison reformed Jess and Dallas. Jesse married a local girl, Grace Stevenson, three years later. They lived on their own farm in the town of Waha, Idaho, where they had two daughters, Etta Mae and Mary Lucile. Mary died less than a month after her birth of inanition, or failure to thrive, but Etta Mae grew up, married, and moved to Montana, where she raised four children of her own. Jesse’s wife, Grace, died of a ruptured thyroid just a few days after giving birth to Mary Lucile. Jesse remarried a local widow named Gladys Miller, who had two children from her previous marriage. They moved to Miles City, Montana, where Jesse died at the age of 41 from liver cancer.
Dallas and Cora Eby - 1921 |
Cora, Eugene, Luella, Dallas, Ruth and Zelma Eby in their 1921 Studebaker |
While great-grandmother Cora is remembered as being quite strict and matter-of-fact, great-grandfather Dallas is remembered as a kind, gentle, generous man with a quick wit and a sense of humor. He died at the age of 50 in Keizer of kidney cancer and was buried in City View Cemetery in Salem. Cora lived on to the age of 74 and is buried near her husband. All their children grew up with strong work and moral ethics, which they passed on to their own families. While Dallas and Jesse’s prison experience could have caused them to be bitter, it instead instilled in them a tenacity to do better by their families, something that brings Dallas’ great-granddaughter a source of immeasurable pride.
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