John Wesley Colvin, the second son of John and Eliza Colvin, was born in Brown County, Indiana, in March of 1851. He crossed the Oregon Trail with his family in 1865 when he was 14. About 1878, Wesley went to Marshland, Oregon, with his three brothers to work in the logging camps.
Wesley was a tall (about 6'3"), lanky man, and one day when they were grubbing stumps, he was injured and was unable to do much hard work after that. Card playing was the common pastime in the camps and Wes was good at it, so before long he started gambling for a living—first in the camps and then on to bigger towns like Portland, San Francisco, Tacoma and Seattle. He made a lot of money but also gambled a lot of it away, and when he was broke he always seemed to come back home.
Around 1912, Wesley lived with his brother Henry but soon packed his bags and returned to Marshland where he moved in with brother Walter and family. That lasted for about six months, then he went to Clatskanie and got a job at the Benson camp. He took care of the bunk houses, got the firewood, and of course at night he'd play cards. He worked there for about two years and then one day about 1914, he disappeared. "Wesley always wore a money belt around his waist and they found the body of a tall man wearing an empty money belt floating in the slough. When asked to identify the body, Henry Colvin was pretty positive it was Wesley."
Wesley was a tall (about 6'3"), lanky man, and one day when they were grubbing stumps, he was injured and was unable to do much hard work after that. Card playing was the common pastime in the camps and Wes was good at it, so before long he started gambling for a living—first in the camps and then on to bigger towns like Portland, San Francisco, Tacoma and Seattle. He made a lot of money but also gambled a lot of it away, and when he was broke he always seemed to come back home.
Around 1912, Wesley lived with his brother Henry but soon packed his bags and returned to Marshland where he moved in with brother Walter and family. That lasted for about six months, then he went to Clatskanie and got a job at the Benson camp. He took care of the bunk houses, got the firewood, and of course at night he'd play cards. He worked there for about two years and then one day about 1914, he disappeared. "Wesley always wore a money belt around his waist and they found the body of a tall man wearing an empty money belt floating in the slough. When asked to identify the body, Henry Colvin was pretty positive it was Wesley."
John Wesley Colvin, the second son of John and Eliza Colvin, was born in Brown County, Indiana, in March of 1851. He crossed the Oregon Trail with his family in 1865 when he was 14. About 1878, Wesley went to Marshland, Oregon, with his three brothers to work in the logging camps.
Wesley was a tall (about 6'3"), lanky man, and one day when they were grubbing stumps, he was injured and was unable to do much hard work after that. Card playing was the common pastime in the camps and Wes was good at it, so before long he started gambling for a living—first in the camps and then on to bigger towns like Portland, San Francisco, Tacoma and Seattle. He made a lot of money but also gambled a lot of it away, and when he was broke he always seemed to come back home.
Around 1912, Wesley lived with his brother Henry but soon packed his bags and returned to Marshland where he moved in with brother Walter and family. That lasted for about six months, then he went to Clatskanie and got a job at the Benson camp. He took care of the bunk houses, got the firewood, and of course at night he'd play cards. He worked there for about two years and then one day about 1914, he disappeared. "Wesley always wore a money belt around his waist and they found the body of a tall man wearing an empty money belt floating in the slough. When asked to identify the body, Henry Colvin was pretty positive it was Wesley."
Wesley was a tall (about 6'3"), lanky man, and one day when they were grubbing stumps, he was injured and was unable to do much hard work after that. Card playing was the common pastime in the camps and Wes was good at it, so before long he started gambling for a living—first in the camps and then on to bigger towns like Portland, San Francisco, Tacoma and Seattle. He made a lot of money but also gambled a lot of it away, and when he was broke he always seemed to come back home.
Around 1912, Wesley lived with his brother Henry but soon packed his bags and returned to Marshland where he moved in with brother Walter and family. That lasted for about six months, then he went to Clatskanie and got a job at the Benson camp. He took care of the bunk houses, got the firewood, and of course at night he'd play cards. He worked there for about two years and then one day about 1914, he disappeared. "Wesley always wore a money belt around his waist and they found the body of a tall man wearing an empty money belt floating in the slough. When asked to identify the body, Henry Colvin was pretty positive it was Wesley."
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