4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL APRIL 11, 2018
O PINION
Offbeat Oregon History: Murderers wandered McKenzie
In Charles Maturin’s
classic
1820 Gothic
For The Sentinel
horror novel Melmoth
the Wanderer, a sinister
scholar named Melmoth, having sold his soul to
the devil in return for an extra 150 years of life
and suffering from the worst kind of buyer’s re-
morse, wanders the Earth in search of someone
who will, essentially, take over payments for him.
If he can fi nd someone to buy out his contract, as
it were, he can die in peace and go to heaven —
or, at least, not automatically be sent to hell.
In the summer of 1898, two young Oregon
men found themselves in a similar situation. They
had murdered a wealthy rancher on a trip across
the Cascades, then belatedly realized how bad it
would look to show up at the end of the trip with-
out him. So they searched with increasing desper-
ation for someone to lie under oath for them by
swearing they had seen the three of them arriving
in the valley together.
It didn’t work — for them or for Melmoth.
The story started in March 1898, when 22-year-
old Courtland Green moved to Condon to work.
He had a friend there, another 22-year-old named
Clarence Branton. Both Green and Branton had
sweethearts in the McKenzie River valley, but
weren’t in a fi nancial position to get married.
Both were on the lookout for ways to make lots
of money really fast. And Branton had a plan to
do just that.
Branton’s plan involved a local rancher named
John Linn, who was rumored to carry a purse
with $1,000 in gold (worth $30,000 in 2018 cur-
rency) as walking-around money. Branton had
sweet-talked Linn into partnering up with him on
some horses. Soon it would be time to bring those
horses over the pass to the McKenzie River valley
to market. It was easy: they’d murder Linn in the
most remote part of the trip. Between the $1,000
By Finn JD John
and the proceeds of the sale of the horses, they’d
both have all the money they needed to set up
housekeeping, and be right there in the McKenzie
valley ready to pop The Question. One wonders if
they made plans to be Best Man in one another’s
wedding.
That night they made camp around 9 p.m. at
a place called Isham’s Corral, one or two dozen
miles west of the pass near Alder Springs. Linn
had spread his bedroll near the fi re and was peace-
fully sleeping; it was now or never. Branton had
brought along a cheap fi ve-shot Iver Johnson
American Bulldog revolver — probably a .32,
although the newspaper accounts don’t specify —
and he now got that out and, after a whispered
conference with Green (who apparently was get-
ting cold feet) walked over to Linn with it and
shot him several times.
Of course, the fi rst thing the two of them want-
ed to do was fi nd the $1,000 Linn reportedly car-
ried. In that, they got a disappointing shock: all
they found in his purse was $65 and an I.O.U. for
$800. Linn had lent almost all his walking-around
money to a friend before leaving on the trip.
But the short summer night was no longer
young, and they had a body to get rid of before
dawn. Branton and Green gathered wood and ex-
panded the campfi re into a massive funeral pyre.
They tended it all night, trying to completely de-
stroy Linn’s corpse, which they chopped up with
an ax to encourage better burning; and the next
morning it was still smoking prodigiously, draw-
ing a good deal of attention from nervous resi-
dents miles away, who feared it was a forest fi re
breaking out.
Leaving the bloody ax there beside the
still-burning fi re, the two of them then drove the
horses down toward the valley, where they hoped
to sell them. Along the way they met several peo-
ple, who commented on the smoke and wondered
if they knew about it. It was fi nally beginning to
dawn on them that, when Linn’s disappearance
was remarked, they would be the prime suspects,
having been seen leaving Condon with him and
arriving in the McKenzie valley without him.
What to do?
The two of them decided what they needed was
to fi nd some rustic sucker willing to perjure him-
self by swearing that he had seen the three of them
together, bringing the horses down.
And so commenced Branton and Green’s Mel-
moth-like wanderings through the McKenzie Val-
ley, horses in tow, looking for friends old and new
who would be willing to perjure themselves in
exchange for the pick of the herd.
Branton even made a fake beard so that he
could pretend to be Linn at one spot. This didn’t
work, though, because the rancher he was trying
to fool recognized his voice.
The two of them tried several times to sell the
horses, too, but no one would take them because
Linn wasn’t there to sign the bill of sale.
Eventually it dawned on Branton that they
were basically doomed, and his best shot was to
cut and run. So the partners split up. Branton end-
ed up in Kansas with the $65; Green, however,
stayed in Eugene.
It may have been their plan all along for Green
to fi nger Branton if the heat came on, and Branton
to be gone on the lam. In any case, that’s how it
went down. Green, whose psychological state had
deteriorated badly and whose alcohol consump-
tion rate had skyrocketed, fi nally couldn’t stand it
any more and confessed to a friend, Lane County
Sheriff’s Deputy John Day. Day took his friend
directly to the district attorney, and the jig was of-
fi cially up.
Branton had underestimated the diffi culty of
life on the lam, and perhaps the fact that he and
Green had spent weeks wandering around bug-
ging people to perjure themselves about having
seen a missing man without anyone apparently
getting wise had led him to an underestimation of
the intelligence of his fellow man. In any case, a
month or two later he paid a visit in Eugene and
was nabbed on the spot.
Green, brought to trial, shocked the court by
pleading guilty despite the strong probability that
it meant the gallows. He lucked out, though: the
charge, when it was made, was second-degree
murder, meaning a life sentence rather than death.
He served 10 years of that sentence in the Oregon
State Penitentiary before being conditionally par-
doned by the governor.
But Branton — with the help of Green’s testi-
mony — knew very well he couldn’t even hope
for a break like that. And sure enough, when the
verdict came in, it was “guilty of fi rst-degree mur-
der,” and the sentence was hanging.
Branton was kept in the county jail until the
sentence could be carried out, and it was immedi-
ately clear he was a desperate man. When he was
brought back to his cell, the instant the handcuffs
were off him he leaped on Deputy Day, grabbing
for his revolver. The two of them fought over the
gun for a second or two; then the sheriff arrived
and grabbed Branton by the throat, choking him
until he let go.
Later Branton made a fake gun, carved out of
pieces of food, and tried to bluff his way out of
the joint by pointing it at Sheriff Withers. With-
ers, having good reason to know Branton wasn’t
armed, said, “Oh, come off it,” and Branton
passed it off as a joke.
Finally, on May 12, 1899, Claude Branton’s
sentence was carried out. His wanderings were
fi nally over; but, unlike Melmoth, he wasn’t ex-
pecting damnation to follow. He’d been baptized
in prison, and spent the morning of his execution
in Bible study.
Dr. Fuhrman: Animal protein and colon cancer
Most people are aware of the connections be-
tween red and processed meats and cancer – that
there is convincing evidence that these dangerous
foods are a cause of colon cancer. In addition,
cooking any meat at high temperatures (for exam-
ple, grilled or fried chicken) forms carcinogenic
compounds such as heterocyclic amines, which
contribute to cancer risk.3 However, animal
foods such as non-fat dairy products, egg whites
and fi sh are considered healthful by most people.
It not yet widely recognized that foods such as
these, since they are so high in animal protein, can
also contribute to increased cancer risk.
When we consume animal protein, the body in-
creases its production of a hormone called IGF-1,
(insulin-like growth factor 1). IGF-1 is one of the
body’s important growth promoters during fetal
and childhood growth, but later in life IGF-1 pro-
motes the aging process. Reduced IGF-1 signal-
ing in adulthood is associated with reduced oxi-
dative stress, decreased infl ammation, enhanced
insulin sensitivity and longer lifespan. In contrast,
IGF-1 has been shown to promote the growth,
proliferation and spread of cancer cells, and el-
evated IGF-1 levels are linked to increased risk
of several cancers, colon cancer included. Sever-
al observational studies have suggested that high
circulating IGF-1 may translate into promotion
of tumor growth in the colon. For example, one
study in men and one another in women found
that those with higher levels of IGF-1 had double
the risk of colorectal cancers compared to those
with lower levels.
Which foods raise IGF-1? Since the primary
dietary factor that determines IGF-1 levels is an-
imal protein, the excessive meat, fowl, seafood,
and dairy intake common in our society elevates
circulating IGF-1. Refi ned carbohydrates, like
white fl our, white rice, and sugars can also raise
IGF-1 levels, because they cause rapid increases
in insulin levels, leading to increases in IGF-1 sig-
naling. In fact, IGF-1 signaling is thought to be a
major factor in the connection between diabetes
and cancer.
It is the amino acid distribution of animal pro-
tein that sparks IGF-1 production. For this reason,
isolated soy protein, found in protein powders
and meat substitutes, may also be problematic
because the protein is unnaturally concentrated
and its amino acid profi le is very similar to that
of animal protein.
How can we keep IGF-1 in a safe range? Re-
ducing IGF-1 levels by dietary methods is now
considered by many scientists to be an effec-
tive cancer prevention measure. Minimizing or
avoiding animal protein, isolated soy protein and
refi ned carbohydrates can help to keep our IGF-1
levels in a safe range. Green vegetables, beans and
other legumes and seeds are rich in plant protein
and they have cancer-preventive, not cancer-pro-
moting properties. For optimal cancer protection,
vegetables, beans, fruits, nuts and seeds should
comprise the vast majority of our calories.
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IN BRIEF MARCH 11-MARCH 25
The Family Relief Nursery is holding its annual
fundraiser event on April 20. "Let's Make Magic
Happen" will be held at the Cottage Grove Armory
from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.and will feature a profes-
sional mentalist, drinks, mingling and a presentation
by the incoming director. To reserve free tickets, call
(541) 942-4835.
At the next meeting of the Cottage Grove 912 Proj-
ect on April 16, we will hear about Freedom Works'
Regulatory Action Center, which fi ghts against
bureaucratic power-grabs and repeals burdensome,
job-killing regulations. The meeting will be held at
6:30 p.m. at Stacy's Covered Bridge Restaurant, 401
E Main. This meeting is open to the public.
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