In the late autumn of 1908, the life of White / Caucasian male, Seymore Legrande Clark, a 37-year-old Chief Deputy for Weber County, Utah, came to an abrupt and violent end. On the evening of November 27th, Deputy Clark and his partner, Deputy John Murphy, were in the small town of Uintah on official business. They had responded to a call about a stranger who was trespassing in a family's barn and refusing to leave.
The two deputies took the man into custody and were transporting him by horse and buggy to the Uintah train station.
As they approached the station, the deputies noticed another man engaged in the act of stealing from a railroad car. Deputy Clark, ever vigilant in his duties, confronted the man, asking him what he was doing. The thief's response was hostile, telling the deputies to "Drive on." Clark, identifying himself and his partner as officers of the law, attempted to de-escalate the situation, telling the man not to get excited. However, the situation quickly spiraled out of control. The man unexpectedly drew a weapon and began firing at the deputies.
In the ensuing chaos, Deputy Clark was struck by four bullets. The sound of the gunfire spooked the horse, which bolted and overturned the buggy, throwing Deputy Murphy and the stranger they were transporting to the ground. Murphy sustained a gunshot wound to his hand, and the stranger was also wounded. Despite his own injuries, Murphy crawled to his fallen partner's side and held him in his arms. Clark, knowing his wounds were fatal, uttered his last words to his friend and colleague: "John, I'm dying." He succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter.
The shooter vanished into the darkness, making his escape along the Weber River. In the aftermath of the shooting, a large posse was formed, and the community joined in a desperate search for the man who had murdered Deputy Clark. Despite their exhaustive efforts, the killer was never found. At one point, a man who was reportedly "high on opium" confessed to the crime, but he later recanted his statement, and no charges were ever filed against him. The murder of Chief Deputy Seymore Legrande Clark remains the only unsolved killing of a police officer in Utah's history, a lingering mystery from a bygone era.
