ED COMBS
Arizona Republican Newspaper
August 6, 1890

From the Mohave Miner: A mail carrier on the route between 
Mineral Park and El Dorado Canyon was murdered on the night 
of July 20 in his cabin opposite the canyon. The account of 
the affair is given as follows:

The cabin and corral of the mail carrier is on the Arizona 
side of the Colorado River about a half-mile above the 
Southwestern Mining Company's mill.  In crossing the river 
to and from the corral the carrier uses a small boat.  
Circumstances indicate that the murder was committed about 
10 o'clock on the night of July 20 and that the Piute swam 
the river from the Nevada side and going to the carrier's 
cabin found him asleep in the bunk and struck him over the 
head with a short miner's steel drill, crushing the skull 
of his victim.  There was no evidence of a struggle.  After 
the committing the crime the Indian robbed the body, 
securing between $70 and $80 in money, a pistol and 
cartridge belt, dragged the body to the boat, rowed out 
to the middle of the river and then threw the body 
overboard.  He then returned, when he shoveled the 
blood into a pile, covered it with dirt and carried 
the bunk and bedding to the river and threw it in.  He 
then tied the boar and swam the river to the Nevada 
side.  He hung around the store at the Canyon a portion 
of the day and when asked about the large sum of money 
he had he suddenly left for the mountains.  He was 
captured on the twenty second at the Wall Street Mine 
but though the carelessness of the persons who had him 
in charge he escaped a few hours after his arrest.

The carrier had been gambling with the Indians and had won 
from them all the money they had.  He was a stranger in 
that section and came but recently from Casper Wyoming to 
Nevada.  He went under the name of Ed Combs and nothing 
is known of his friends or relatives.