CONTEXT:

In 1909 the “Willie Boy Manhunt,” portrayed in news media of the time as the story of a drunken murder of a young girl’s father, a kidnapping, the abuse and murder of a young girl as well as attacks against a posse that tried to hunt the man down. Newspapers connected the man to the “Ghost Dance” phenomena which was described as an armed insurrection by Indians to start a holy war against whites. The so-called murder started in Banning, in Riverside County. At the time, President Howard Taft was to come visit the Mission Inn in Riverside. Media speculated that Indians may murder Taft or at least stage some violence. The Willy Boy murder was linked to a vast conspiracy (President William McKinley, eight years earlier had been shot and killed by an anarchist), even though the fatality was another Indian. The death of     Carlota during the hunt was described as a wanton murder and sexual assault. “Willy Boy” took his own life in the Ruby Mountains because he was surrounded by a posse.

“Willy Boy’s” legendary skills as a runner were well known. The role of Carlota was always described as being a victim. She was helpless and hapless. Some research has shown that Carlota and Will (as the artist calls them) were in love and that the murder of the father was likely an accident. The death of Carlota is in fact attributed to a distant rifle shot by a posse member. Will took his own life because of the announcement of the death of his beloved, not because he was trapped with nowhere to go. It was clear in the aftermath that he could have easily run from the posse.

This version is to counter the anti-Indian media of the time and the rather male-centric versions of the story in novel and motion picture form.

Exhibition created for Sand to Stone project that incorporates work from other artists: Gerald R. Clarke (Cahuilla) and Cara Romero (Chemehuevi). http://www.sandtostone.org/artist-lewis-desoto.htm