Latest / The Mind of a Man / (1868_ New Mexico Territory) Wild West Macabre History _ The Mountain Man Who Served More Than Water

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(1868_ New Mexico Territory) Wild West Macabre History _ The Mountain Man Who Served More Than Water · The Mind of a Man

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to this journey of one of the most disturbing
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: cases in recorded history of the New Mexico Territory. Before
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: we begin, I invite you to leave a comment about
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  Speaker 1: where you're watching from and the exact time you heard
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: this story. We're interested in knowing where and at what
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: times of day or night these documented accounts arrive. In
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  Speaker 1: the rugged terrain of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where
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  Speaker 1: civilization barely clung to the edges of wilderness in 1868,
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  Speaker 1: there existed a man whose name would eventually be spoken
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  Speaker 1: in whispers across the New Mexico territory. This is the
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  Speaker 1: documented account of Ezekiel Thorne, known to weary travelers as
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  Speaker 1: the hospitable mountain man who offered shelter, food, and water
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  Speaker 1: to those crossing the treacherous mountain passes between Santa Fe
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  Speaker 1: and Taos. What few realized until it was too late
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  Speaker 1: was that Thorne's hospitality came with a price that no
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  Speaker 1: decent person would willingly pay. the New Mexico Territory, in 1868,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: was a place of striking contrasts and uncertain boundaries. Just
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  Speaker 1: 20 years after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had transferred
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  Speaker 1: the region from Mexico to the United States, it remained
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  Speaker 1: a frontier in every sense of the word. The Civil
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  Speaker 1: War had ended just three years prior, leaving the territory
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  Speaker 1: in a state of administrative limbo as federal attention focused
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  Speaker 1: on reconstruction in the South. law enforcement was scattered and
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  Speaker 1: often ineffective, particularly in the remote mountain regions where settlements
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  Speaker 1: were isolated by both geography and the harsh elements. The
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  Speaker 1: Sangre de Cristo Mountains, whose name translates to Blood of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: stretch from southern Colorado into northern New Mexico, their peaks
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  Speaker 1: reaching over 13,000 feet in places. In 1868, these mountains
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  Speaker 1: represented one of the most challenging obstacles for travelers in
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  Speaker 1: the region. The main route between Santa Fe and Taos,
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  Speaker 1: two of the territory's most established settlements, required crossing these
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  Speaker 1: mountains typically via the Old Spanish Trail or similar passes
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  Speaker 1: that had been used for centuries by indigenous peoples and
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  Speaker 1: later by Spanish colonizers. Travel through the mountains was hazardous year-round.
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  Speaker 1: Summer brought sudden thunderstorms that could transform dry arroyos into
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  Speaker 1: raging torrents within minutes. Autumn and spring were marked by
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  Speaker 1: unpredictable weather swings that might trap the unwary in unseasonable snow.
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  Speaker 1: And winter, winter in the Sangre de Cristos, was a
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  Speaker 1: force that commanded respect even from the most experienced frontiersmen.
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  Speaker 1: Temperatures could plummet to fatal levels, and snowdrifts might render
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  Speaker 1: trails completely impassable for weeks at a time. It was
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  Speaker 1: in this environment, beautiful but unforgiving, filled with opportunity but
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  Speaker 1: fraught with peril, that Ezekiel Thorne established his solitary domain.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: And it was into this domain that a merchant caravan
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  Speaker 1: wandered in April of 1868, setting in motion a chain
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  Speaker 1: of discoveries that would unveil one of the territory's most
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  Speaker 1: disturbing chapters. Our story begins properly on April 17, 1868,
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  Speaker 1: when a merchant caravan arrived at a trading post in Taos,
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  Speaker 1: with three fewer members than when they had departed Santa
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  Speaker 1: Fe just five days earlier. The remaining travelers appeared haggard
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  Speaker 1: beyond what even the difficult journey would explain, their eyes hollow,
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  Speaker 1: their voices reduced to whispers. When questioned by local authorities
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  Speaker 1: about their missing companions, they claimed ignorance, stating only that
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  Speaker 1: the terrain was dangerous and separations were common. However, one
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  Speaker 1: member of the party, a man named Thomas Wilcox, was
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  Speaker 1: observed writing frantically in his journal late into the night
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  Speaker 1: at the local saloon. Wilcox was not a merchant himself,
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  Speaker 1: but rather a correspondent for the St. Louis Dispatch, sent
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  Speaker 1: west to document the development of the territories for readers
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  Speaker 1: back east. Described by the saloon-keeper as a scholarly type,
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  Speaker 1: ill-suited for frontier hardships, but possessed of keen observation, Wilcox
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  Speaker 1: had apparently joined the merchant caravan in Santa Fe as
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  Speaker 1: a means of safely traversing the region while gathering material
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  Speaker 1: for his articles. The account that follows has been pieced
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  Speaker 1: together primarily from Wilcox's journal, which was discovered among his
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  Speaker 1: possessions after his death in 1869, as well as territorial records,
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  Speaker 1: newspaper clippings from the Santa Fe Gazette, and testimonies collected
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  Speaker 1: during the subsequent investigation in the autumn of that year.
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  Speaker 1: What emerges is a portrait of calculated malevolence hidden behind
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  Speaker 1: a mask of frontier hospitality, a predator who understood how
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  Speaker 1: to exploit the necessary trust that travelers in such regions
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  Speaker 1: must place in one another. The Wilcox Journal begins its
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  Speaker 1: relevant entries on April 3, 1868, describing his departure from
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  Speaker 1: Santa Fe with a group of six other travelers. The
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  Speaker 1: party included Edmund and Walter Caldwell, brothers who traded primarily
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  Speaker 1: in wool and hides, Jonathan Hollister, a surveyor working under
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  Speaker 1: contract with the territorial government, Martin Fletcher, a young man
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  Speaker 1: described as the Caldwell's assistant, and two hired men identified
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  Speaker 1: only as Williams and Reynolds, who were responsible for managing
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  Speaker 1: the pack animals. Their intention was to reach Taos within
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  Speaker 1: four to five days, a journey that, while demanding, was
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  Speaker 1: not uncommon for the time. The first day passed uneventfully,
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  Speaker 1: with the party making good progress along the well-established trail.
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  Speaker 1: They camped that night in a small valley that Wilcox
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  Speaker 1: described as pleasantly situated with a clear stream providing water
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  Speaker 1: for both men and animals. The weather had been favorable,
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  Speaker 1: with clear skies and temperatures mild for April. The second
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  Speaker 1: day began with similar promise, but as the party navigated
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  Speaker 1: the higher elevations by mid-afternoon, Wilcox noted a change in
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  Speaker 1: the atmosphere. There is a stillness in the air that
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  Speaker 1: Hollister finds concerning, he wrote. The birds have ceased their calls,
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  Speaker 1: and even the wind seems to have withdrawn its presence.
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  Speaker 1: The Caldwells insist we press on, claiming we can reach
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  Speaker 1: the summit pass before evening, but I observe Williams checking
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  Speaker 1: the sky with increasing frequency. By four o'clock, the stillness
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  Speaker 1: had given way to what Wilcox described as a wall
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  Speaker 1: of gray advancing from the north, consuming the mountain peaks
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  Speaker 1: one by one like some ravenous entity. An unseasonable storm
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  Speaker 1: descended upon them with remarkable speed and ferocity. Visibility reduced
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  Speaker 1: to mere feet, and the temperature plummeted. The trail, already
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  Speaker 1: narrow and precarious, became treacherously slick, with rapidly accumulating snow.
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  Speaker 1: Edmund Caldwell's certainty has evaporated, Wilcox recorded. He now speaks
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  Speaker 1: of finding shelter, any shelter, before nightfall renders our situation
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  Speaker 1: truly desperate. Williams suggests backtracking to a rock outcropping we
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  Speaker 1: passed some miles back, which might offer minimal protection from
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  Speaker 1: the wind, if not the cold. It is at this
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  Speaker 1: moment of collective indecision that Fletcher, who had reigned slightly
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  Speaker 1: ahead despite the conditions, returns to our huddled conference with
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  Speaker 1: news that changes our course entirely. Fletcher reported seeing a
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  Speaker 1: light in the distance, faint but distinct, swaying gently through
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  Speaker 1: the snow-laden air. Hollister expressed immediate skepticism, noting that no
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  Speaker 1: cabins or settlements should exist in that particular area according
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  Speaker 1: to his maps. There's nothing marked within five miles of
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  Speaker 1: this position, he allegedly stated, and that light appears to
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  Speaker 1: be due east, away from the main trail. But as
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  Speaker 1: the storm intensified and daylight waned, the promise of shelter
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  Speaker 1: overrode caution. We followed the light like moths, Wilcox wrote,
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  Speaker 1: grateful for any refuge from the punishing cold. The path
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  Speaker 1: Fletcher led us along was narrow and treacherous, forcing us
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  Speaker 1: to proceed in single file, each man keeping sight of
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  Speaker 1: the one before him, lest we become separated in the white-out.
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  Speaker 1: I recall Martin commenting that we were moving away from
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  Speaker 1: the main trail, but desperation has a way of silencing caution.
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  Speaker 1: The lantern, for that is what it proved to be,
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  Speaker 1: guided them to a substantial log cabin nestled in a
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  Speaker 1: clearing sheltered by towering pines. The structure appeared sturdy and well-maintained,
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  Speaker 1: with no obvious signs of disrepair despite its isolated location.
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  Speaker 1: Smoke curled invitingly from a stone chimney, promising warmth within.
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  Speaker 1: Standing in the doorway, lantern held aloft, was the man
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  Speaker 1: they would come to know as Ezekiel Thorne. Wilcox's description
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  Speaker 1: of their host is worth quoting in full, as it
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  Speaker 1: provides the first impression of the figure at the center
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  Speaker 1: of this account. He was a mountain of a man,
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  Speaker 1: with a beard like tangled wire that obscured much of
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  Speaker 1: his face, and eyes that appeared almost colorless in the
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  Speaker 1: lantern light, not blue or gray, but something less definable,
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  Speaker 1: like water running over stones. His clothing was of good quality,
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  Speaker 1: but showed the wear of frontier life, buckskin and wool,
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  Speaker 1: practical rather than decorative. He might have been forty or sixty,
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  Speaker 1: the elements age a man unpredictably in such places. What
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  Speaker 1: struck me most, however, was not his appearance but his manner.
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  Speaker 1: For a man living in such isolation, he showed neither
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  Speaker 1: surprise nor wariness at our sudden arrival. Indeed, he greeted
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  Speaker 1: us with the practice hospitality of someone who regularly receives guests,
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  Speaker 1: ushering us inside with broad gestures and assurances of welcome.
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  Speaker 1: Thorn welcomed them effusively, helping them stable their animals, in
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  Speaker 1: a lean-to, attached to the cabin's western wall, then ushering
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  Speaker 1: them inside to warm themselves by a fire, that had
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  Speaker 1: clearly been burning for hours. The cabin's interior was unexpectedly comfortable.
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  Speaker 1: Wilcox noted well-crafted furniture, ample furs for bedding, an array
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  Speaker 1: of preserved foods hanging from the rafters, and various tools
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  Speaker 1: of mountain living arranged with methodical precision. A stew simmered
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  Speaker 1: in a large iron pot suspended over the hearth, filling
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  Speaker 1: the single-room structure with a rich aroma that Wilcox described
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  Speaker 1: as intensely appealing to men who had resigned themselves to
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  Speaker 1: cold rations for the night. Once they had shed their
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  Speaker 1: snow-crusted outer garments and arranged themselves around the fire, Thorne
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  Speaker 1: formally introduced himself, explaining that he had been a trapper
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  Speaker 1: and hunter in the region for over fifteen years. He
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  Speaker 1: claimed to have come west from Pennsylvania in 1853, seeking
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  Speaker 1: fortune in furs and the solitude that civilization increasingly denied.
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  Speaker 1: He spoke with the ease of someone accustomed to periodic company,
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  Speaker 1: referencing recent events in Santa Fe with surprising familiarity for
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  Speaker 1: a man living so remotely. When Walter Caldwell remarked on this,
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  Speaker 1: Thorne explained that he made the journey to Santa Fe
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  Speaker 1: three or four times yearly to trade furs and purchase supplies.
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  Speaker 1: I time my visits to coincide with the arrival of
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  Speaker 1: new sheets from back east, he said, according to Wilcox's account.
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  Speaker 1: A man must keep abreast of the wider world, even
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  Speaker 1: if he chooses not to dwell within it. Thorne further
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  Speaker 1: explained that he regularly offered shelter to travelers caught in
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  Speaker 1: the mountain's unpredictable weather. His cabin was not on any
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  Speaker 1: formal map or trail, he admitted, but local guides knew
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  Speaker 1: of its existence, and occasionally directed parties his way when
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  Speaker 1: conditions warranted. Consider it my Christian duty, he reportedly said,
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  Speaker 1: to provide for those in need. The mountains claim enough
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  Speaker 1: souls without adding those who might have been saved by
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  Speaker 1: a warm hearth and a full belly. That night, the
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  Speaker 1: seven travelers slept in the main room of the cabin,
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  Speaker 1: using their own bedrolls, supplemented by furs that Thorne generously provided.
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  Speaker 1: Their host retired to a small adjoining chamber, separated from
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  Speaker 1: the main room by a sturdy door. Despite his exhaustion,
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  Speaker 1: Wilcox recorded that sleep came fitfully. There was a stillness
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  Speaker 1: to the place that seemed unnatural, he wrote, as though
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  Speaker 1: the very air was holding its breath, and beneath that
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  Speaker 1: stillness a sound I couldn't identify, rhythmic, like the beating
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  Speaker 1: of a distant drum. At first I attributed it to
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  Speaker 1: the settling of logs in the structure, or perhaps the
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  Speaker 1: wind finding some crevice to whistle through. Yet it maintained
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  Speaker 1: a regularity that suggested purpose rather than chance. It was
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  Speaker 1: near dawn when Wilcox was awakened by movement within the cabin.
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  Speaker 1: Through half-closed eyes he observed Thorn moving silently among the
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  Speaker 1: sleeping travelers, pausing briefly by each person. He appeared to
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  Speaker 1: be studying them, Wilcox recorded, like a man might inspect
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  Speaker 1: livestock before purchase. There was nothing overtly threatening in his manner.
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  Speaker 1: He touched no one, disturbed nothing. Yet something in his
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  Speaker 1: methodical progress and intent gaze suggested evaluation rather than concern
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  Speaker 1: for his guest's comfort. Thorne lingered longest beside Martin Fletcher,
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  Speaker 1: the youngest of their group at perhaps twenty years of age.
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  Speaker 1: According to Wilcox, Thorne knelt beside the sleeping young man
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  Speaker 1: for several minutes, his expression unreadable, in the dim light
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  Speaker 1: cast by the banked fire. Eventually he rose and returned
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  Speaker 1: to his chamber, closing the door silently behind him. Wilcox
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  Speaker 1: did not mention this incident to his companions when they woke.'
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: I had no concrete cause for alarm,' he later explained
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  Speaker 1: in his journal. and frontier etiquette discourages casting aspersions on
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  Speaker 1: those who have offered hospitality. Yet the memory lingered, coloring
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  Speaker 1: my perception of our host in ways I could not
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  Speaker 1: fully articulate even to myself. The morning revealed that the
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  Speaker 1: storm had indeed passed, leaving behind a transformed landscape buried
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  Speaker 1: under nearly two feet of fresh snow. Sunlight reflected blindingly
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  Speaker 1: off the white expanse. and the air held the pristine
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  Speaker 1: clarity that often follows mountain storms. Thorne had risen before
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  Speaker 1: any of his guests and prepared a substantial breakfast of
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  Speaker 1: cornmeal mush, dried berries, and smoked meat that he identified
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  Speaker 1: as venison. While they ate, Thorne suggested that the party
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  Speaker 1: remain another day to rest their animals and themselves. The
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  Speaker 1: main trail, he explained, would be treacherous until the snow
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: had time to compact or partially melt. No shame in prudence,
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: he told them, according to Wilcox, the mountains reward patience
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  Speaker 1: and punish haste with equal measure. Most agreed readily with
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: this assessment, but Wilcox noted that Jonathan Hollister, the surveyor,
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: seemed uneasy with the proposal. There's something not right about
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: this place, Hollister allegedly whispered to Wilcox while Thorne was
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: occupied outside checking on the animals. Did you notice how
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: he watches us? Not with eyes that see people, but
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: with eyes that see something else. and his knowledge of
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  Speaker 1: the region's trails is inconsistent. He described a route to
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: Taos yesterday that contradicts the territorial office's most recent surveys.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: Hollister's concerns were dismissed by the Caldwell brothers, who were
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: grateful for the unexpected comfort and saw no reason to
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  Speaker 1: rush back into potentially dangerous conditions. Thorne proved to be
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  Speaker 1: an engaging host throughout the day, regaling them with tales
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  Speaker 1: of his encounters with wildlife, indigenous tribes, and the harsh elements.
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  Speaker 1: He prepared more substantial meals than might have been expected
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  Speaker 1: from a solitary mountain dweller's stores, explaining that he had
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: recently returned from one of his supply trips to Santa Fe.
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  Speaker 1: His curiosity might be nothing more than the natural interest
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: of a man starved for company, Wilcox wrote, yet there
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: is a systematic quality to his inquiries that suggests a
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: purpose beyond mere sociability. That evening, as they again gathered
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: around the fire, after the day's surprisingly abundant meal, Thorne
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: produced a jug of liquor that he claimed was genuine
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: Kentucky bourbon, procured at considerable expense from a trader with
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: connections to river commerce. The spirits were potent and readily
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: accepted by most of the party, though Wilcox noted that
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Hollister abstained and that he himself limited his consumption to
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: a single small cup. Wilcox observed that Thorne seemed particularly
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: interested in their own backgrounds, asking probing questions about their families,
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: their destinations, and whether anyone was expecting them in Taos.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: As the evening progressed and tongues loosened with alcohol, the
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: conversation turned to the dangers of mountain travel. Thorne recounted
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: various tragedies he had witnessed or heard about over his
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: years in the region, travelers lost to exposure, swept away
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: by flash floods, or fallen from treacherous paths. The mountains
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: keep their secrets, he remarked, according to Wilcox. Many who
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: enter never emerge, and of those many are never found.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Nature reclaims its own with remarkable efficiency. The Caldwells contributed
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: tales they had heard from other merchants, stories of entire
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: parties vanishing without trace, of mysterious light seen in remote
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: places that led travelers astray, of strange sounds echoing through
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: canyons on moonless nights. Williams, who had previously been taciturn,
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: revealed that he had served as a guide for various
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: expeditions before taking his current position with the Caldwells. He
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: spoke of indigenous warnings about certain areas of the mountains,
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: places the native peoples avoided, for reasons they would not
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: fully explain to white men. Throughout this exchange, Wilcox observed
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: that Thorne listened with particular intensity, especially to William's accounts.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: There was a hunger in his attention, Wilcox wrote, a
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: leaning forward, a narrowing of those pale eyes, when discussion
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: turned to places where people might vanish, without question, being raised.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: That second night, Wilcox was awakened from uneasy slumber by
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: what he described as a stifled sound, like a man
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: trying to scream through a thick cloth. He lay motionless,
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: straining to hear in the darkness that was nearly absolute,
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: the fire having burned down to mere embers. The sound
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: did not repeat, but after several minutes of tense listening,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: Wilcox became aware of soft footsteps crossing the wooden floor,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: followed by the cabin door opening and closing, with deliberate quietness.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Unable to master his growing unease, he rose silently and
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: made his way to the small window, its oiled paper
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: covering admitting just enough moonlight to navigate by. Peering out,
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: he could discern two figures moving across the snow-covered clearing
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: toward the tree-line. One appeared to be Thorn, distinctive even
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: in silhouette due to his height and broad shoulders. The
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: other was smaller and moved with an odd stumbling gait.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: The pair disappeared into the darkness of the forest, before
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: Wilcox could determine the identity of Thorne's companion. Wilcox debated
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: waking the others but decided against it, reasoning that he
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: had no concrete evidence of wrongdoing and that Thorne might
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: simply be showing one of the party something nearby. He
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: returned to his bedroll but remained awake, until gray light
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: began to filter through the window. Neither Thorn nor the
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: unidentified second person had returned by the time Wilcox finally
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: succumbed to exhaustion. When morning came in earnest, Hollister was
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: nowhere to be found. His bedroll remained, but his personal effects,
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: a leather satchel containing surveying documents, a brass compass, and
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: a small daguerreotype that Wilcox had observed him consulting privately,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: were gone. Thorne, who emerged from his chamber appearing well-rested
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: despite his nocturnal excursion, seemed unsurprised by the surveyor's absence.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: Upon being questioned, he suggested that Hollister had decided to
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: continue ahead alone. Some men can't abide idleness, Thorne offered,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: by way of explanation. He came to my room before dawn,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: said he'd rather make progress than sit around another day.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: The snow on the main trail should be passable for
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: a single determined traveller. The explanation seemed plausible enough, if
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: somewhat inconsiderate, on Hollister's part, and the group accepted it
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: without much question. Only Wilcox, who had witnessed the nocturnal departure,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: but could not be certain it was Hollister, with Thorne,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: harbored significant doubts. The timing aligns with what I observed,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: he wrote, yet something in Thorne's account rings false. Hollister
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: had expressed specific concerns about our host, Would he then
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: seek him out privately? And would he depart without a
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: word to the rest of us, particularly after his expressed misgivings?
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: That day Thorne invited the remaining travelers to join him
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: in checking his trap lines, explaining that he needed to
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: ensure they hadn't been damaged or buried by the recent snowfall.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: Martin Fletcher immediately volunteered, apparently eager to observe the practical
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: aspects of mountain living. Edmund Caldwell, the elder of the
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Merchant Brothers, also agreed to accompany Thorne, expressing interest in
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: the quality of furs that might be obtained in the region.
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: Walter Caldwell, Williams, Reynolds, and Wilcox elected to remain at
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: the cabin. Thorne provided them with a haunch of smoked
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: meat and instructions for preparing a stew, should the trap-line
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: inspection take longer than anticipated. The four men departed after breakfast,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Thorne leading the way with a rifle slung across his back,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: and several tools hanging from his belt. Hours passed with
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: no sign of their return. Wilcox used the time to
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: write in his journal and to study a crude map
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: of the territory that Walter Caldwell carried. According to this map,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: they were indeed some distance from the main trail between
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: Santa Fe and Taos, perhaps three or four miles east
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: of the established route. No settlements or cabins were marked
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: in this area. As dusk approached, Wilcox describes a growing
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: sense of disquiet among those who waited. Green paced restlessly
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: by the window, Wilcox wrote, using an apparent error in
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: naming that appears occasionally in his journal. Green is not
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: identified elsewhere, and appears to be Wilcox's mistaken reference to
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Walter Caldwell. He jumped at every creek and groan of
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: the settling logs, his usual mercantile composure thoroughly disturbed. Williams
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: maintained a stoic façade but his hand never strayed far
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: from the knife at his belt. As for myself, I
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: found my attention drawn repeatedly to a particular floorboard near
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: the hearth, one that seemed slightly raised above its fellows,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: as though it had been recently disturbed. The waiting men
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: discussed their concerns in hushed tones. Walter Caldwell was particularly
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: agitated about his brother's prolonged absence. Edmund is no outdoorsman,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: he told Wilcox. He would not willingly remain in the
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: forest after nightfall. He fears the dark, as since we
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: were boys. Williams shared his own misgivings about their host.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: I've guided in these mountains for eight years, he said,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: according to Wilcox's account, and never heard tell of a
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: trapper named Thorn, nor of any cabin in this particular valley.
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: The mountain men form a small community. They know each other,
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: if not always by sight, then by reputation and territory.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: A stranger is noted and discussed. Reynolds suggested they should
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: search for the others if they hadn't returned by full dark,
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: but Williams countered that attempting to follow tracks in failing
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: light would likely result in their own becoming lost. We
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: wait until morning, he insisted. If they haven't returned by then,
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: we follow their trail while we can still see it clearly.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: It was nearly nine o'clock, by Wilcox's estimation, when Thorne
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: finally returned with Edmund Caldwell. There was no sign of
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: Martin Fletcher. Walter immediately embraced his brother, who responded with
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: what Wilcox described as mechanical gestures, his gaze fixed and distant.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: When questioned about Fletcher's absence, Thorne provided an explanation. Martin
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: had twisted his ankle on the trail and was resting
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: at another shelter Thorne maintained further up the mountain, a
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: line cabin he used during the height of trapping season.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: He would bring him back the following day, he assured them,
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: once the young man's injury had subsided enough for comfortable travel.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Edmund Caldwell corroborated the story in a flat, affectless voice,
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: stating that Fletcher's injury had occurred when he stepped into
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: a snow-covered hole while examining one of Thorne's traps. Wilcox
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: noted that the merchant spoke mechanically, his gaze fixed on
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: some middle distance, and as though he were reciting words
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: learned by rote rather than recounting events he had witnessed.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Throughout the remainder of the evening, Edmund's behavior remained peculiar.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: He ate little of the stew that had been prepared,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: responded to his brother's questions with monosyllabic answers, and retired
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: to his bedroll unusually early. Walter attributed this to exhaustion
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: from the day's activities, but Wilcox observed that Edmund did
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: not appear to sleep. He lay with eyes open, Wilcox recorded,
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: blinking at measured intervals, but otherwise motionless, like a man
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: who has retreated deep within himself. That night Wilcox pretended
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: to sleep, but remained vigilant. Shortly after midnight, according to
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: his journal, he observed Thorne emerge from his chamber and
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: approach Edmund Caldwell's seemingly wakeful but unresponsive form. Leaning down,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: Thorne whispered something in the merchant's ear. words too soft
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: for Wilcox to discern. Without hesitation or question, Edmund rose
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: from his bedroll and followed Thorne outside. Neither returned before Wilcox,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: overcome by exhaustion despite his determination to maintain watch, finally
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: succumbed to sleep. The morning brought another absence. Edmund Caldwell
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: had vanished, supposedly having decided to check on Martin Fletcher. Thorne,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: who was already preparing breakfast when the others awoke, explained
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: that Edmund had been concerned about the young man and
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: had left at first light to bring supplies to the
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: line cabin. They should both return by midday, Thorne assured
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: the increasingly uneasy group. The trail is well marked, and
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: Edmund seemed determined. Walter Caldwell's concern had now escalated to
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: genuine alarm. My brother would never leave without informing me,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: he insisted. We have traveled together for fifteen years and
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: never separated without clear agreement on when— and where to reunite.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Thorne's response, as recorded by Wilcox, was solicitous but firm.
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: Your brother is a grown man who made his own decision,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: he said. Perhaps he wished to avoid conflict, knowing you
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: might object to his going alone. In any case, the
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: line cabin is less than two hours' walk for someone
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: familiar with the path. I expect they'll return before you've
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: finished digesting breakfast. As the morning advanced with no sign
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: of the missing men, Tensions within the cabin increased dramatically.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Walter Caldwell became openly accusatory, demanding to know exactly where
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: this line cabin was located and why Thorne had not
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: mentioned its existence earlier. Williams supported these demands, his previously
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: taciturn manner giving way to direct confrontation. Only Reynolds remained
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: somewhat neutral, suggesting there might still be an innocent explanation
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: for the troubling situation. Thorne's reaction was described by Wilcox
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: as a momentary fracturing of his affable mask, something cold
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: and calculating, showing through the cracks before he composed himself.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: The mountain man agreed to lead Walter Caldwell to the
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: supposed shelter to see the missing men for himself.' It
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: seems I've been a poor host if my word is
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: held in such low esteem,' he remarked, with apparent regret.'
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: I' ll take you there myself, and you can see that
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: all is well.' Preparations were made for the expedition. Thorne
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: suggested they take supplies, as the weather appeared to be
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: changing again. Clouds were building over the western peaks. Walter
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: insisted they depart immediately, a position Wilcox noted was unusual
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: for the normally cautious merchant. Thorne and Walter Caldwell departed mid-morning,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: leaving Wilcox, Williams, and Reynolds alone in the cabin. It
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: was then that Wilcox suggested they investigate the raised floorboard
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: that had been drawing his attention since their first night
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: in the cabin. His companions readily agreed, all pretense of
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: respecting their host's privacy having evaporated with the mounting evidence
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: of something amiss. With considerable effort, they pried the floorboard loose,
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: revealing a narrow space beneath. What they found was not
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: the missing men, as they had perhaps feared or hoped,
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: but rather a collection of personal effects— watches, wedding bands, daguerreotypes
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: of families, letters, and various other items that travelers might carry.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: Most disturbing was a small, leather-bound ledger which contained what
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: appeared to be a meticulous inventory of individuals who had
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: passed through Thorne's cabin over the course of several years—
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Names were recorded alongside brief descriptions and, most chillingly, assessments
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: of their quality and utility. The most recent entries included J.H.,
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Survey Maps Valuable, himself less so, Disposed, and M.F., Young, Strong,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: Suitable for Extended Use. We realized then the true nature
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: of our host, Wilcox wrote, and the probable fate of
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: our companions— Whatever Thorne's purpose in separating individuals from the group,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: it could not be benevolent, and it appeared to follow
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: a pattern established over years rather than arising from some
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: sudden madness. The three men hastily gathered their belongings, intending
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: to flee before Thorne's return. As they prepared to depart,
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: Reynolds discovered a concealed door in the rear of Thorne's
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: private chamber. Despite William's warning that they should focus on escape,
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: rather than further investigation, Reynolds insisted on learning what lay
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: behind the hidden entrance. The door led to a crude cellar,
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: dug into the earth beneath the cabin. What they found there,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: Wilcox declined to describe in detail, noting only that the
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: space spoke of methodical depravity, a butcher's workshop where the
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: butcher took particular pleasure in his task. He did record
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: that among the implements and stains that defied innocent interpretation,
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: they discovered several items belonging to Hollister, including the brass
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: compass he had carried. They had just emerged from this
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: grim discovery when the cabin door opened. Thorne stood framed
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: in the doorway, alone. His gaze traveled from their faces
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: to the exposed cellar entrance, to the disturbed floorboard, and
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: scattered personal effects. According to Wilcox, Thorne's expression did not change.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: There was no anger, no concern, merely a slight adjustment
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: in his calculation.' I see you've been making yourselves at home,'
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: Thorne reportedly said, his voice as calm as if commenting
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: on the weather.' Found my collection, did you?'' Every man
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: needs his hobbies in a place this remote.' Walter Caldwell
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: was conspicuously absent. When Williams demanded to know his whereabouts,
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Thorne shrugged with casual indifference. He decided to wait at
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: the line cabin with the others, he said. Or perhaps
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: I should say, he joined the others in a more
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: permanent arrangement. As you will, too, now that necessity has
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: forced my hand somewhat earlier than I'd planned. What followed
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: was described by Wilcox as a conversation between predator and prey,
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: where the predator still believed he held all advantages. Thorne
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: made no attempt to deny what they had discovered. but
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: seemed to regard their horror as a curiosity, an overreaction
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: to what he apparently considered a natural order. He spoke
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: with clinical detachment about his arrangements with isolated travelers over
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: the years, how he had perfected his methods of selection
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: and separation. You wouldn't believe how many pass through these mountains,
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: Thorne told them, with no one keeping precise count. Nature
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: claims many. I simply help myself to a few. Thorne
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: went on to explain, with disturbing pride, how he had
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: discovered that travelers were most vulnerable not on the main trails,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: where their disappearance might be noted, but when they had
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: already deviated from established routes, whether due to weather, as
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: in the case of Wilcox's party, or through deliberate misdirection.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: The storm was fortunate, he said, but not necessary. I
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: have other methods of drawing suitable travelers to my door
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: when the weather proves uncooperative. A light in the darkness
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: rarely fails to attract those who fear being lost. Reynolds,
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: apparently overcome with revulsion or fear, made a sudden move
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: toward the door. Thorne's reaction was swift and practiced. A
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: hunting knife produced from his belt found its mark in
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: Reynolds's chest. The man collapsed, gasping, as Thorne turned his
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: attention to Wilcox and Williams. What happened next is recounted
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: with remarkable clarity in Wilcox's journals. Williams, a former soldier
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: who had fought in the Civil War, had positioned himself
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: behind Thorne during the confrontation. As Thorne advanced on Wilcox,
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: Williams seized a heavy iron poker from beside the hearth
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: and brought it down on the back of Thorne's skull
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: with a sound like an axe embedding in wet wood.
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: The blow did not kill Thorne immediately, but it incapacitated
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: him long enough for Williams and Wilcox to bind him
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: securely with leather straps found hanging in the cellar. Reynolds
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: was beyond help, his life ebbing quickly. His last words,
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: according to Wilcox, were a request that they make certain
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: of Thorne that the world be rid of him completely.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: The two survivors faced a grim calculation. They could not
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: safely transport Reynolds' body or the wounded but still dangerous
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: Thorne through the mountain terrain. Leaving Thorne alive and restrained
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: was not an option they considered viable. given the mounting
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: evidence of his long-standing predation on travelers. The isolation that
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: had served his purposes would now serve justice, however rough.
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: Wilcox's account of their solution is dispassionate, noting only that
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: they ensured Thorne would claim no more victims, and that
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: they committed the results to the same seller that had
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: witnessed his own depredations. He does not specify their exact actions,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: but the implication is clear enough for those who can
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: read between the lines. Before departing, they conducted a more
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: thorough search of the cabin, hoping to find some trace
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: of the missing members of their party. While they discovered
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: no living survivors, they gathered what evidence they could carry—
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: the ledger containing Thorne's records, several identifiable personal effects from
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: presumed victims, and a crude map found among Thorne's papers
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: that marked the location of the cabin— and several other
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: sites in the surrounding mountains with small X's. Wilcox and
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: Williams departed, leaving Reynolds' body covered respectfully near the trail
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: where they hoped it might later be recovered. Using the
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: main trail that they were able to locate with Williams' woodcraft,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: they made their way toward Taos. The journey was arduous,
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: but uneventful, taking slightly over two days due to the
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: lingering snow and their own exhausted condition. Upon arrival in Taos,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: On April 17th, they presented their evidence to local authorities,
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: specifically to Territorial Marshal James Conklin, who maintained an office there.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Initial skepticism gave way to concern as the ledger was examined,
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: and the significance of the items they had recovered became apparent. Here,
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: Wilcox's journal entries regarding the Thorne incident end, with a
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: final note, I have provided Marshal Conklin with a full
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: account of our ordeal, as well as the location of
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: the cabin, as best Williams and I could determine it
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: on his maps. He has promised a thorough investigation, though
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: he cautions that the territorial government's resources are limited, and
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: that verification of Thorne's demise and recovery of any remains
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: will take time to arrange. I find myself both eager
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: for confirmation that the nightmare has truly ended, and reluctant
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: to contemplate returning to that place, even in the company
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: of lawmen. Some shadows are best left undisturbed, though justice
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: demands we cast light into them, regardless of our personal comfort.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: Territorial records indicate that an expedition was indeed dispatched to
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: locate Thorne's cabin based on the directions provided by Wilcox
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: and Williams. This party, led by Deputy Marshal Thomas Hargrove
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: and comprising four armed men, departed Taos on April 23, 1868.
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: They returned on April 29th, their findings largely corroborating the
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: account provided by the survivors. The official report, filed by
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: Deputy Hargrove and preserved in territorial records, states, We located
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: the cabin at approximately the position indicated. The structure had
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: been partially burned. Whether by accident or design is unclear.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: The remains of an adult male, identified by documents as
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: 1 Aaron Reynolds, were recovered from a position indicated approximately
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: one-half mile from the site, and have been returned to
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: Taos for proper burial. The cellar beneath the cabin remained
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: largely intact despite the fire above. Its contents necessitate further
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: investigation by properly constituted authorities as evidence suggests numerous travelers
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: met with foul play at this location over an extended period.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: The Santa Fe Gazette of May 17, 1868 carried a
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: brief article regarding the discovery, noting only that authorities are
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: investigating disturbing findings at a remote cabin site in the
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: Sangre de Cristo range. Evidence suggests numerous travelers met with
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: foul play at the hands of a solitary mountain dweller
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: over the course of several years. Territorial Marshal Conklin assures
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: the public that the individual responsible poses no further threat,
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: having apparently met with fatal injury prior to the authority's arrival.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: A more thorough investigation was launched in June, with Marshal
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: Conklin personally leading a larger expedition to the site. This
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: group included a physician from Santa Fe and several men
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: with experience in tracking and wilderness survival. Their objective? was
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: to locate any additional sites marked on the map recovered
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: from Thorne's cabin and to collect evidence that might help
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: identify victims. The most complete record of this phase comes
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: from the Territorial Marshal's official report, which was not made
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: public at the time, but was archived in Santa Fe.
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: It documented the identification of at least 17 individuals who
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: had likely fallen victim to Thorne over a period of
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: approximately five years based on personal effects recovered, and entries
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: in the ledger. The report noted that, given the transient
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: nature of much of the territory's population and the hazards
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: of mountain travel, a complete accounting may never be possible.
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: The expedition located three additional sites marked on Thorne's map.
• 41:06
  Speaker 1: Two proved to be small-line cabins similar to the one
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: described to Walter Caldwell in though no trace of Caldwell,
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: his brother, Fletcher, or Hollister was found at either location.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: The third site, marked with a different symbol than the others,
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: led investigators to a remote canyon where they discovered what
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: appeared to be a makeshift charnel pit containing numerous human
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: remains in various states of decomposition. Of particular interest was
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: a passage in the Marshall's conclusions suggesting that Thorne's activities
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: included may have extended beyond simple murder. Several witnesses from
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: settlements near the mountains reported purchasing smoked meat from a peddler,
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: matching Thorne's description, in the winters of 1866 and 1867.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: The Marshal's speculation regarding the true nature of this meat
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: was relegated to a sealed addendum, with a note that
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: such matters are better left unconfirmed in official records lest
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: they inspire unwholesome fascination and or cast a pall over
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: legitimate commerce in the region. The investigation also attempted to
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: verify Thorne's claimed origins in Pennsylvania. No record of an
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel Thorne from that state could be located in any
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: census or church register from the period. However, a territorial
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: official noted similarities between the description of Thorne and one
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: Elijah Thornton, who had been sought for questioning in connection
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: with several disappearances near Denver In 1862, Thornton had vanished
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: before authorities could apprehend him, and no confirmed sighting had
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: been reported since. By August of 1868, the Thorne investigation
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: was officially concluded. Remains that could be identified were returned
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: to families or given proper burial in the territorial cemetery.
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: Personal effects lacking clear ownership were catalogued and stored in
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: the territorial marshal's office. with notices placed in newspapers as
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: far east as St. Louis inviting inquiries from those who
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: might have lost contact with travelers in the New Mexico
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: Territory between 1863 and 1868. Thomas Wilcox never fully recovered
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: from his ordeal. His journal entries following the Thorne incident
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: became increasingly fragmented and paranoid. He abandoned his position with
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: the St. Louis Dispatch, informing his editors that that he
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: could no longer, in good conscience, provide accounts that might
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: encourage further settlement in regions where civilization remains a veneer
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: thinner than paper over unfathomable darkness. He relocated to Denver
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: in early 1869, where he died under unclear circumstances several
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: months later. The coroner's report listed the cause as nervous
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: exhaustion leading to heart failure, a common diagnosis for deaths
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: that defied simple explanation or that families preferred to keep private.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: James Williams, the former soldier who struck the blow that
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: incapacitated Thorne, fared somewhat better. Territorial records indicate he provided
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: formal testimony during the investigation, but declined to settle in
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: the region afterward. A letter from Williams to Marshal Conklin,
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: dated 1871, and preserved in the territorial archives, mentioned his
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: relocation to California. where he hoped the sound of the
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: ocean might finally drown out certain memories of the mountains.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: The letter continued with a passage that historians of the
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: region have occasionally cited when discussing the psychological impact of
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: frontier violence. I do not regret our actions regarding Thorne. Justice,
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: rough though it was, found him in that remote place
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: where law could not readily reach. What haunts me is
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: not what we did, but how easily his mask of
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: hospitality deceived us initially. I find myself studying the faces
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: of those I meet, wondering what might lurk beneath their
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: expressions of ordinary humanity. The frontier strips away many of
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: civilization's constraints. Some men, I fear, merely await such an
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: opportunity to reveal their true nature. The case of Ezekiel
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: Thorne faded gradually from public consciousness, overshadowed by the territory's
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: many other challenges and tragedies. By the time New Mexico
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: achieved statehood in 1912, it had become little more than
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: a footnote in regional history, the kind of tale shared
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: around campfires to unsettled listeners before being dismissed as exaggeration.
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: Yet certain facts remain irrefutable. Between 1863 and 1868, an
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: unusual number of travelers were recorded as having departed Santa
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: Fe for points north, but never arrived at their destinations.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: The remains recovered from Thorn's property, while never publicly enumerated,
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: required multiple burial plots in the territorial cemetery. And in
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: the decades that followed, travelers in the Sangre de Cristo
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: range reported an unusual reluctance among local guides to follow
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: certain trails after dark, particularly those leading to isolated clearings
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: that might once have held cabins. Perhaps most telling, is
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: an entry in the personal diary of Marshal James Conklin,
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: who led the investigation. Dated December 18, 1868, it reads simply,
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: The cabin site itself was deliberately obscured following the investigation.
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: Maps from the period show the trail rerouted to avoid
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: the clearing entirely. When the Sangre de Cristo range was
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: formally surveyed in the 1880s, the location was marked with
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: a simple notation, unsuitable for development. No further explanation was provided.
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: In 1963, during construction of what would eventually become the
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, workers uncovered what appeared to be
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: the stone foundation of a substantial structure near Carson National Forest.
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: Work was temporarily halted while archaeologists examined the site. Their
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: findings were documented in a brief report that noted evidence
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: of fire damage and what might have been a subterranean chamber.
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: Shortly thereafter, the planned route was adjusted by several hundred
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: yards due to unstable soil conditions. The artifacts recovered were
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: catalogued and stored at the University of New Mexico. but
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: were reportedly lost during a facility reorganization in 1967. Dr.
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: Eleanor Vasquez, who participated in the 1963 excavation as a
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: graduate student, published a paper in the Journal of Southwestern
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: Archaeology in 1968 titled, Material Evidence of Isolated Frontier Violence,
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: a Case Study from Northern New Mexico. Without explicitly connecting
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: the site to the historical Thorne case, Vasquez documented several
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: unusual findings, including a stone foundation that had been deliberately
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: filled with rocks and soil after the structure above had burned,
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: as though to ensure nothing could emerge from below. Most
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: intriguing was Vasquez's documentation of unusual markings found on several
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: of the foundation's stones, crude symbols that she suggested might
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: have had ritual significance to the inhabitant. These symbols, reproduced
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: in her paper, bear striking resemblance to markings recorded in
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: Marshall Conklin's inventory of items found in Thorne's ledger. Vasquez's
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: academic career was cut short when she accepted a position
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: with the Bureau of Land Management in 1969, and she
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: published no further research on the site. And so the
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: full truth of Ezekiel Thorne and his mountain hospitality remains
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: somewhat obscured, preserved primarily in fragmented records and the fading
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: memory of a territory that has since transformed into a
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: state with different concerns and legends. Yet for those who
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: study the history of the region's darker chapters, certain patterns
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: emerge that suggest Thorne may not have been entirely unique,
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: merely the one who was discovered. The mountains of New
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: Mexico have witnessed countless journeys, countless lives passing through their
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: unforgiving terrain. Most travelers find their way safely to their destinations.
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: Some fall victim to the natural hazards of altitude, weather,
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: and isolation. And perhaps a few over the centuries have
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: encountered hosts whose hospitality concealed motives that civilized society prefers
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: not to contemplate. In the words of James Williams' final
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: communication with the territorial authorities, before he disappeared into his
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: new California life, what troubles me most is not what
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: Thorne did, nor even why he might have done it.
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: It's how easily we accepted his explanations, how readily we
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: dismissed our own unease. The true danger was not that
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: he existed, but that he understood human nature well enough
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: to move among us undetected for so long. I wonder
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: how many others might be out there still, serving travelers
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: something more than water, secure in the knowledge that we
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: would rather believe comforting lies than confront unbearable truth. The
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: Sangre de Cristo range stands today much as it did
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: in Thorne's time, beautiful, imposing, and indifferent to human concerns.
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: Tourists and hikers traverse its trails, unaware of the history
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: beneath their feet, the mountains like the past. keep their
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: secrets close. But occasionally, in certain remote clearings, long-time residents
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: claim the soil remains curiously barren, as though the earth
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: itself remembers what took place there and refuses to nurture
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: new life. As for Thorne himself, his origins before appearing
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: in the New Mexico territory remain unknown. The man who
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: offered shelter and sustenance to weary travelers appears to have
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: emerged from nowhere, and in the end left nothing behind
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: but questions and unmarked graves. Some secrets are perhaps better
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: left buried in the high mountain soil, their details lost
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: to time and deliberate obscurity. But the lesson remains relevant
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: even today. Hospitality offered in the wilderness may come with
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: a price not measured in coin, and some shelters, no
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: matter how welcoming they appear to the cold and weary traveler,
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: are best left unentered. For those who travel the scenic
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: byways of northern New Mexico today, passing through the same
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: mountain ranges that Wilcox and his companions traversed, the views
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: are spectacular, the air clear and bracing. Modern roads have
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: tamed much of the terrain's danger. Yet local historians note
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: that certain areas remain strangely undeveloped, passed over by progress
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: for reasons no contemporary planner can quite articulate. In these places,
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: where the forest grows thick and shadows gather early in
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: the mountain afternoons, perhaps something of Ezekiel Thorne's legacy lingers,
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: not as a presence, but as an absence, a void
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: in the landscape that nature and humanity alike instinctively avoid.
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: The next time you find yourself on a mountain road
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: as dusk approaches and see lights twinkling invitingly through the trees,
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: promising rest and comfort, perhaps you'll recall this account. Most
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: such lights lead to genuine safety, to the hospitality of
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: good people. But perhaps, as you accept their welcome, you
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: might take a moment to study your host's eyes, to
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: note how they watch you, to question whether the interest
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: they show is entirely benevolent. After all, in the words
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: of Thomas Wilcox's final journal entry, written shortly before his
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: death in Denver, civilization is but a thin veneer, laid
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: over older appetites. In the wilderness, where eyes are few
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: and witnesses fewer, that veneer sometimes slips. I have seen
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: what lies beneath and now can never unsee it. I
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: look into the faces of those around me, the banker,
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: the shopkeeper, the physician, and wonder, if circumstances were different,
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: if accountability were removed, what hungers might they, too, indulge?
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: We are not so far removed from the wilderness as
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: we pretend. The case of the mountain man who served
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: more than water remains officially closed. The territorial records were sealed,
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: the physical evidence lost or destroyed, the location deliberately obscured.
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: But the account persists, passed down through generations of local
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: historians and archivists, a reminder of the territory's unvarnished past
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: and the dangers that once lurked in its remote places,
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: dangers wearing human faces and offering human comforts. to the
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: unwary traveler. The mountains remain, the trails remain, and somewhere
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: in the collective memory of the place, Ezekiel Thorne remains
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: as well, not as a man, but as a caution.
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: Be careful where you seek shelter, be mindful of what
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: you consume, and always, always trust the unease that prickles
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: at the back of your neck when a stranger's hospitality
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: seems too readily offered in places where no one keeps
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: count of those who pass through.