Murder at Marble Canyon

Little is known about George Wilson except that he was born in England, had migrated to Nova Scotia, then came west about forty years before and became a United States citizen. He worked as a carpenter in Hollywood studios for about twenty-six years before he and Milt Winn became involved with Charley Spencer. Wilson remained as an unpaid "caretaker" when the promotion failed, but he went to work for Buck Lowrey at the beginning of 1934 when Spencer didn't pay him. At age sixty-five, he slept in the back of the (service) station, ate with the Lowreys, and fought to protect their resources.

It was about 10:30 p.m. at Lowrey's on Sunday, June 23, and Wilson intended to close the service station as soon as a customer left. A car carrying three men pulled in from the south and stopped at the pump. After the first car left, they purchased gasoline and soda pop and requested that air be put in a tire. George told them to drive to the hose while he got a flashlight. As he reached under the counter, the customer pulled a gun and announced it was a holdup. George knew there was only about twenty dollars in the till but insted of putting up his hands, he hit the robber with the flashlight. The bandit shot him, hitting him low in the abdomen. Wilson didn't fall but staggered into the back room to get a gun from under his pillow. The thief fired again, missed, and ran to the car, and the trio headed toward Buckskin Mountain in a cloud of dust. George got off one shot before they left.

It was decided quickly that Florence and Virginia Lowrey would drive the wounded man to Flagstaff. Merle "Peaches" Beard, the cook, and young Bonner Blanton would care for the lodge while Buck and David armed themselves and pursued the desperados. They failed to catch up with them. At Jacob Lake they telephoned Deputy Tom Jensen in Fredonia, who notified Sheriff Vandevier, who gathered a posse and drove toward Buckskin Mountain fom the west. The bandits were intercepted about halfway to the mountain, but during an exchange of shots, they made a U-turn and headed back the way they had come. While out of sight of their pursuers, they turned off on Ryan road, temporarily eluding the posse. The posse figured out what happened, blocked the road, and waited for daylight. Shortly after dawn, they caught up with the bandits near Pine Flat. Their rifles were superior to the single .32 -caliber pistol of the bandits. The getaway car was hit, one man was wounded, two fled in one direction, and the third ran in another.

The pair of fugitives caught a range horse that night, allowing the wounded man to ride while his partner led. They were captured without resistance at a water hole in the Big Siwash Canyon on Tuesday afternoon. The men were Albert White, age nineteen, and his wounded borther, Carl, seventeen, of Provo, Utah. Forest rangers took Carl Cox, age twenty-nine, of Seymore, Indiana into custody near the sawmill at Three Lakes at about the same time. The suspects were taken to Flagstaff and brought to Wilson's bedside in the hospital. George identified Albert White as the man who shot him. They were jailed without bond. Ironically, Buck had met the White brothers a few years before when they were touring and had run out of funds. He had fed and housed them and provided enough money for them to return home.

Wilson died Wednesday night, with Buck Lowrey at his side. A coroner's jury brought in a verdict of culpable homicide against the trio, ruling that Wilson died of a gunshot wound inflicted by Albert White. They were indicted for burglary, robbery, and first degree murder. Three weeks later, Albert broke out of jail and started across country, keeping to the woods. He stole a car at the state highway camp in Doney Park and drove north. Tourists brought word of the escape to Marble Canyon, and one who dropped in for an early breakfast told of a lone man who had run out of gas north of Cedar Ridge and tried to trade his spare tire for fuel. Buck thought this man probably was the fugitive. Peaches and Bonner stopped all southbound traffic while Buck and David, each with a rifle, drove south to meet him.

Seeing a dust cloud near Bitter Springs, they parked by the road and assumed positions on opposite sides. The car was coming fast; the driver ignored the effort to flag him to a stop and tried to run Buck down, but the Lowreys shattered the windshield with a shot and Buck leaped aside. As the car went by, both fired again, Buck emptying his rifle. David turned his vehicle around to pursue. The fleeing car veered from side to side and finally swerved off the road and into a wash. White had been hit three times and was dead. Dave drove the stolen car a couple of miles, but the tie rod was bent and steering was difficult. Buck's car pushed it the rest of the way to Marble Canyon. They sent word by tourists going in both dirctions to notify the sherrif. The getaway car with its dead driver was towed behind the sheriff's car to Flagstaff the same day, where a coroner's jury came up with the following verdict: "Albert White, on July 21, 1935, came to his death by gun shots inflicted by D. C. Lowrey and David Lowrey, that his death was justifiable and we wish to commend said D. C. Lowrey and David Lowrey for having performed a real service to Coconino County and the state at large."

White's hat, with a bullet hole through the crown, hung on a nail in the gas station for a long time. As David later explained to Nora Cundell, they weren't proud of it but they wanted to warn other potential bandits should they get the same idea to hold up the place.