T5: Transition: Tulare Co to
San Francisco

Theory

Overview of Transition 5

This transition attempts to prove that John H. Pyle fled to San Francisco from his home in Tulare Co, CA after he stabbed and killed a man on Sept 3, 1870.

Importance of Transition 5

This transition is critical in the proof that John H. Pyle and John J. Poill were the same person. This transition lays the foundation for John H. Pyle arriving in San Francisco and changing his identity to John J. Poill (discussed in Transition 6).

Summary

John H. Pyle, his wife Amanda Barnes and their children lived in Tulare Co, CA by 1867. Recall that the family had moved back to California from Oregon in about 1862. The central event that occurred to cause this transition for John H. Pyle was that he stabbed and killed a man on Sept 3, 1870 then fled to San Francisco disserting his family and children.

Proof of Transition 5

1. Tulare Co, CA

Proposed:

John H. Pyle and Amanda Barnes were living in Tulare Co, CA at least from 1867.

Proof:

See T4: Transition: OR to Tulare Co, CA.

Proposed:

John H. Pyle stabbed and killed a man on Sept 3, 1870 and fled.

Proof:

According to Amanda’s divorce deposition, John H. Pyle “...killed a man. He left home [on Sept 4, 1870]...and from that time to present I have not seen him.” Also the deposition of J. C. Barnes in the divorce states “...he killed a man and had to flee the county for his own safety”

2. Tulare Co, CA to San Francisco, CA

Proposed:

It would have been very feasible for John H. Pyle to flee from Tulare Co, CA to San Francisco in 1870 to make his escape.

Proof:

In the 1870 census, John H. Pyle and family lived in Tule River (post office) which was directly on the Butterfield Trail. The Butterfield Trail was the route that the stage couches of the Butterfield Overland Mail company traveled from St. Louis to San Francisco. In particular, the California part of the stage route ran through Tule River right up to San Francisco (about 450 miles). Thus John H. Pyle could have made the journey easily on a good road.

Also, John H. Pyle had already made the trip from Southern California to northern California. In Amanda Barne’s 1874 divorce deposition from John H. Pyle, she stated that they had migrated from El Monte, CA to Oregon in the 1860 to 1862 timeframe. Notice that El Monte, CA is also directly on the Butterfield Trail.

Conclusion:

· John H. Pyle showed that he was a violent person by stabbing and killing a person in 1870. Notice that this incident is similar to the assault and battery incident in 1853 in which John H. Pyle stabbed a man in Shelby Co, AL.

· While the above does not actually prove that when John H. Pyle fled after committing murder in 1870 that it was to San Francisco, but it at least shows that it fits the story very well.