Southern Oregon’s rugged backcountry gave fugitives places to hide. Staying on the run also meant relying on people nearby, historian Laura Ahearn said — sometimes with their willing help, sometimes without it.
Ahearn, president of the McKee Bridge Historical Society, said the region was “prime ground for folks to hide out and go on the lam.”
In the cases she studied, wilderness skills alone weren’t enough to sustain a fugitive’s prolonged stay.
“In every one of these cases for the prolonged stays of outlaws, you do see some usually voluntary but sometimes unvoluntary forms of support that they relied on from other people in the area,” Ahearn said.
Her research brought together cases she had initially encountered separately, revealing recurring themes and connections among local people.
“I started to realize, oh, there's so many cases I've learned about and they share common themes,” Ahearn said. “Or there's one item that relates to another case that puts them together like a daisy chain.”
Those connections reach into families whose names remain familiar in the region.
“There are a lot of recognizable names which are still recognizable in our community today,” she said.
That history is the focus of her presentation, “The Biggest Manhunt in the Siskiyous,” part of the Windows in Time series jointly sponsored by the Southern Oregon Historical Society and Jackson County Library Services.
Guest
- Laura Ahearn, president, McKee Bridge Historical Society
