Mary Kawich

ON THE MORNING OF FEBRUARY 19, 1908, two Paiute Indians, Frank Kawich and Mike Clifford, went to acting Coroner Judge Brissell’s office to report that Mary—Frank’s wife and Mike’s sister— had frozen to death the night before at their camp located northeast of Tonopah. They sought to make arrangements for her burial.

Judge Brissell’s wife was in his office at the time with their dog. After sniffing Frank, the dog started barking furiously. Mrs. Brissell then noticed that Frank’s clothing was covered in blood and brought this to the judge’s attention. Judge Brissell immediately began questioning Kawich, who claimed he had carried Mary’s body from a nearby gulch to their tent and that the blood must have been transferred to his clothing during that process.

The judge went personally to investigate the scene. Upon arriving at the camp, he opened the door and found the tent filled with smoke. It was then discovered that the mattress was smoldering, although the body of Mary was not burned. Examination revealed she had been severely beaten over the head, which was later determined to be the cause of her death. Frank and Mike stated they carried Mary to the tent from another location and led the judge to that spot. There, numerous blood stains were found, along with several bottles—some of them broken. It was believed that these bottles had been used in the killing.

At an inquest held later that afternoon, Frank’s testimony was far from reassuring. His face was bruised and cut, and both eyes were blackened. He claimed these injuries were the result of a fall. When Mike Clifford—who was considered “educated” because he had attended the Stewart Indian School in Carson City—took the stand, Frank began speaking to him in the Paiute language, urging him not to reveal too much.

District Attorney Patrick McCarran then questioned Mike, who, in an apparent effort to protect Frank, stated he knew nothing of the murder beyond what he had been told. It was entered into the record that although Frank’s clothes were covered with blood, Mike’s were clean. It was also noted that Frank was intoxicated. In the opinion of the authorities, the murder was the result “of a drunken debauch.”

Frank ultimately confessed to killing Mary, although he claimed it was in self-defense. He stated Mary had been heavily intoxicated and that during an argument she pulled his hair and dragged him backward to the ground. He said he then picked up a bottle from which she had been drinking and, using it as a club, struck her on the head.

A Grand Jury indicted Frank for Mary’s murder on March 6, and his trial was set for the following week. Frank entered a plea of “not guilty.” During the trial he took the stand in his own defense and testified that the confession he had given to Chief of Police Ed Malley had been obtained through torture. He claimed that Chief Malley starved him for nearly a week and tied a rope around his neck one night and threatened to hang him unless he confessed.

After deliberating for just one hour, the jury returned a verdict finding Frank guilty of manslaughter, accompanied by a recommendation for mercy, which was signed by ten of the twelve jurors. He was subsequently sentenced to five years in the state prison at Carson City. Frank applied for a commutation of his sentence in January 1910, but the request was denied and he served the full term.

Mary’s grave is one of only two known Native American burials in the Old Tonopah Cemetery. The other, Indian Joe, lies in an unmarked grave. Although their Indigenous names cannot be determined, “Kawich” was almost certainly derived from the Kawich Range, located just south of Hot Creek. Likewise, “Clifford” likely indicates that Mike was born and raised on or near the Clifford Ranch, also situated in the Kawich Range area.