One Man Out of Many

During the 1850s, the Walkers (Joe and Joel)  purchased land at $10 an acre, eventually owning a ranch called Manzanita with 1500 deeded acres in northern California.  Walker then sold his own ranch near Gilroy in 1855 and moved to Manzanita further north and used this ranch for his base the rest of his life. 

During this time he started for Arizona on an expedition of unknown purpose.  On the west side of Colorado he ran into a bit of trouble with the Mojave Indians.  During one skirmish, a man named Lyon was seriously injured.  Walker returned to Los Angeles for medical attention where Lyon died, the only man ever killed while following Captain Walker.  The details are lost to time, and there is no record of what actually transpired, but to lose a man was no doubt something Captain Joe felt deeply.

Next time...Failing Eyes

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This Day in History:  On December 22, 1884,  a central player in the violent Lincoln County War of 1878-81, the cattleman John Chisum dies at Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  (if you don't know the story of Billy the Kid and his part in the Lincoln County Wars, stayed tuned...)