Desert No Longer Route for Horse Thieves

After Sheriff Smith's capture of the Harris brothers and Peter Sprague, and with a large number of the gang behind bars -- McBride, Hawley, Emerson and the others -- the incidents involving Mormons came to a halt. Those of the gang who managed to elude the sheriff, had departed for Utah. A total of eighteen men from San Bernardino County had been convicted of grand larceny and "provided with comfortable quarters" in the state prison.

There continued to be outbreaks of raids by horse thieves, but their destination was no longer Utah. The mines of New Mexico were thought to be the new locale for the disposition of horses stolen from California.

This had the effect of shifting the hot spot of crime away from Lane's Crossing, or at least diversifying it, since a sizable percentage of thieves would be more apt to use San Gorgonio Pass, or the route through Warner's stage stop in San Diego County, to escape the state. The turmoil on the desert had abated considerably, but nevertheless, the Mojave River settlers still had some exciting times in store for them.

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