On September 10, 1879, two men approached Reuben Hayward at his ranch west of Golden. They asked him to drive them to the Rooney valley. Hayward obliged, hitching his team of mules to his wagon. Sometime during that drive, Mr. Hayward disappeared. His family reported his absence and the state's newspapers tracked the case with increasing concern.
At first, they said Mr. Hayward was "missing" before moving on to "probably murdered." Still, several weeks went by with no sign of a body. The October 11, 1879 Golden Weekly Globe reported that Mr. Hayward had at last been found.
There can be no doubt of the body being that of R. B. Hayward and the way it was discovered by Jackson was accidental. He was walking to Denver and came to a little stream. He stooped down to the water to bathe his head, having the headache, when his attention was attracted by a human hand he saw sticking up under the culvert upon which the road crossed the ditch. He examined it more closely and found it to be a human being lying all cramped up and covered with mud.
Golden Weekly Globe - October 11, 1879
Mr. Hayward was last seen, along with the two men, at the Mt. Vernon toll gate (near today’s Buffalo Overlook). It was later determined that the men had killed Mr. Hayward somewhere between that point and Golden. They stuffed his body in a culvert, then stole his wagon and team.
Detectives were dispatched to track down the two suspects. The governor offered a $1,000 reward for their capture. They were found, brought to Golden, and jailed in the basement of the Jefferson County courthouse.
To be continued....
