On the night of his murder, Billy Simpson had been seen going into The Chico Branch, a clothing store on Second Street, with two other Indians, The proprietor, C.N. Howard, said that one of the men, it might have been Simpson, he wasn’t sure, had bought a hat.

A few minutes after the visit to The Branch, Simpson was seen outside the Bank of Chico. He then stopped in briefly at a coffee-house on Broadway, near the Bidwell office, and then started for home. The time was about 8:45 p.m.

The walk would have taken him through Bidwell’s nursery and over the footbridge toward Bidwell Mansion. A few minutes later, J. A. McFeely left his store and started for home on the same route across the footbridge. As he was crossing the bridge he heard Charles Cunningham’s dogs making a ruckus behind the mansion.

Sheriff Sylvester H. Wilson and Marshal James Chubbuck fixed their suspicions on the Indians at the rancheria. They went through the names of the men, and the name Steve Thompson stood out to them, although exactly why is not clear. Possibly he was unemployed, perhaps he had been in trouble before. He had not been in Chico for long.

Sheriff Wilson and Marshal Chubbuck last evening arrested Steve Thompson, an Indian boy at the Rancheria, on suspicion. He was closely questioned regarding his whereabouts Tuesday evening and proved himself capable of lying in nearly every statement he made. He was locked up in the City Jail but no charge will be placed against him until further evidence is gained.

Chico Record 1 March 1900

They also found Johnny Richards, who had been seen with Thompson on the night of the murder. Both men were young; Richards was only eighteen. As Marshal Chubbuck questioned Richards at his place of work, “he rested his head on the wheel of the buggy and began to cry.” (Chico Record, 2 March 1900) The marshal was sure that, given a little time, Richards would confess.

Sheriff Wilson and Marshal Chubbock searched the cabin where Thompson and Richards lived. They found a pair of blood-stained overalls, further confirming their suspicions of the two men.

Later that same day they arrested Richards, who soon admitted that he was with Steve Thompson on the night of the murder, and that Thompson did the killing, bludgeoning Billy Simpson with an iron pipe. He told the officers where they had hidden the murder weapon.

He directed the officers to a spot between the Sperry Flour Mills and the cemetery bridge for the club, and upon going there the officers found a piece of gas pipe, which bears evidence of having been used in the murderous work.

The piece of gas pipe is covered with blood and is bent by the blows rained upon the head of Simpson. It is about four feet long and two inches in diameter.

Chico Weekly Enterprise 2 March 1900

If you know where Northern Star Mills is, and where the Camellia Street bridge crosses Big Chico Creek, then you have an idea of the location where the culprits threw the murder weapon. That bridge and street once led directly to the cemetery entrance behind Chico Junior High School.

Next: The Confession