Blood Feud in the Kern River Country

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On March 19, 1892, William Gibson, for reasons unexplained, filed a mine location claim in his own name with Andrew Brown, a Kernville resident who apparently was connected to the Kern County recorder’s office in Bakersfield. Brown was supposed to send the notice to that office, but Gibson had not marked the claim boundaries nor had he posted a notice on the property as was required by law. In the meantime, the Burton brothers continued to work the claim without the Gibson brothers’ involvement.

A quarrel then developed between the Gibsons and the Burtons over the mine’s ownership, and each side made public threats against the other. In order to secure the mine for themselves, the Burton brothers took possession of a nearby abandoned cabin, with Fletcher Burton occupying it to keep close watch on the claim.

As time went by, the quarrel over the mine became more strained. One day, Luther Burton, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Beverly Robinson, started for Bakersfield in a horse-drawn vehicle. Burton intended to record the work done on the mine and to seek legal counsel about steps he should take to preserve his title. While he was en route on the Hot Springs Valley road, Burton and the Robinsons met William and Charles Gibson, who were riding in a buggy and were armed with rifles. Both parties stopped, and angry words followed between the Gibson brothers and Burton. As the argument grew more heated, Mrs. Robinson began to cry. Ignoring her, one of the Gibson brothers said to Burton: “Here are two guns. Let the lady drive on. You take one gun and I will take the other and we will fight it out and settle the whole thing right here.” Luther Burton rejected the challenge and drove on. The Gibson brothers overtook the buggy and told him they were going “to put Fletcher Burton off of that mine.” The Gibsons then went their way, and Luther Burton and the Robinsons continued on to Bakersfield.

During the evening of November 20, 1892, William and Charles Gibson visited the Walker family home. Later that same night, James Burton stood at the bar in Cesario Leon’s Kernville saloon when a shot from outside a window tore into Burton’s right arm. The bullet plowed around Burton’s back and exited his body from the left side. While his assailant escaped in the dark, Burton writhed on the saloon floor in pain and gasped, “Bill Gibson must’ve shot me.” Although Burton’s wound was thought to be fatal at first, he soon recovered.

Officers investigated the shooting. Justice of the Peace J.W. Sumner of Kernville suggested that the assault might have had something to do with the quarrel over the mine, in which case somebody might have tried to shoot Fletcher Burton, too. Sumner dispatched local miner John Manning to the mine, to see about Fletcher. On his way, Manning stopped at the Walker house, where he told those inside what had happened to James Burton that night and of his current mission. The Gibson brothers, realizing that they would be suspects in the shooting of James Burton, left the Walker house and disappeared.

Manning found Fletcher Burton’s body in the cabin by the mine and immediately returned to Kernville, where he reported to Justice Sumner that Fletcher Burton was “shot to pieces.” Because the Gibson brothers had threatened the Burton boys, the Gibsons were the prime suspects. Although a manhunt was launched, the Gibsons slipped through it and went to Bakersfield, where they surrendered to sheriff’s deputies. They were held in jail pending investigation for murder.

The evidence against the Gibson brothers was circumstantial but compelling — their threats against the Burton boys and a fired rifle shell found at the murder scene a week after investigating officers and the coroner’s jury inspected the ground. Although they were the prime suspects for the wounding of James Burton and the killing of Fletcher Burton, William and Charles Gibson were not the only ones considered for the crimes.

Officers and others recalled how John Spratt had threatened in January 1884 to kill the Burtons for testifying against him in his robbery trial. Spratt had been discharged from prison on July 20, 1890, and James and Fletcher Burton had become uneasy upon learning that Spratt had returned to Kern County. Spratt, though, had not contacted them. Spratt became a stronger suspect when James Walker and John Gibson told officers that they saw the ex-con near Fletcher Burton’s cabin on the day Fletcher was shot. Lawmen interviewed Spratt, who admitted being in the area but denied the shootings. He was not arrested, for lack of evidence.

Another suspect for the shootings was James Walker’s younger brother Benjamin. Several days before Fletcher Burton was killed and James Burton wounded, Ben Walker had had a dispute with the brothers and had threatened to kill them all. Further, witnesses reported seeing Ben Walker, armed with a rifle, riding his horse near Fletcher Burton’s cabin on the day Fletcher was shot. After the Gibson brothers were arrested, Walker had left the area, and his whereabouts were unknown.

The authorities filed murder charges against the Gibsons. The brothers pleaded not guilty to the charges in all phases of the court proceedings. Their joint trial was long and hard-fought by the attorneys on both sides, but on May 12, 1893, the Gibsons were found guilty and sentenced to life in San Quentin. William and Charles Gibson entered the prison on April 27, 1895, after losing their case’s appeal.

In the meantime, Edgar Allison, a Gibson partisan, was certain the convicted brothers were innocent and had been framed for the murder of Fletcher Burton. He voiced his views loud and often in the Kern River country, which led him into several arguments with James Burton, who insisted the Gibsons were guilty of murdering his brother.

Shortly after 5 p.m. on May 13, 1893, Allison and James Burton inadvertently met on a trail near Kernville. According to Allison, as the men passed each other Burton shifted his rifle toward Allison, who grabbed the gun. As the men wrestled for possession of the rifle, each drew his six-shooter. Allison fired three shots into Burton’s body, killing the man quickly. After walking to Kernville, Allison surrendered to Justice of the Peace Sumner.

James Burton’s six-shooter was found drawn from its holster, which supported the shooter’s version of the shooting, but Allison was still arrested and charged with murder. The prosecutor argued that Allison had run into Burton on the trail and had shot without warning. Allison pleaded not guilty. During Allison’s Superior Court trial, John Burke testified that he saw the two men meet on the trail and wrestle before the shooting, though he hadn’t known their names at the time. Other witnesses testified that they heard Burton and Allison make death threats against each other. Allison told the court that he shot Burton in self-defense, and the jury believed him, voting for acquittal. Allison left the courtroom a free man and returned to the Kern River country.

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