On a wintry February day in 1896, sheepherder Ted Severe was riding through the Idaho wilderness near Deep Creek to the camp of two fellow sheepherders, Daniel Cummings and John Wilson, when his eyes fell upon "a sight to chill the blood of even the bravest man."
There were no signs of life at the shepherds’ camp except for two weak, emaciated dogs tied to a wagon wheel. The dogs had been forced to chew on a leather harness for sustenance. Inside the wagon, Severe saw the reason for the dogs’ distress: the bodies of Cummings and Wilson lay lifeless in a pile of bedding surrounded by blood.
Investigators later found that Cummings had been shot once in the stomach, while Wilson had been shot once in the face and again in the back. The coroner's report later estimated that the two died on February 4 or 5.
Before dying, Cummings was able to scratch out a note reading, “If I die bury me F care Jerome and Ruthy,” referring to his brother and sister. He also drew a strange diamond-shaped symbol in blood on a sheet of magazine paper. The coroner's inquest later estimated the time of death as February 4 or 5
But who murdered the two young men? An unpopular drifter and cowboy known as “Diamondfield Jack" came under quick suspicion, but he would eventually walk free.
Read more about the case involving, cattle, sheep and range wars on the Western frontier on A&E Crime + Investigation.
