early 1900s men on motorcycles

Outlaws and Lawmen

The Sheriffs Project 2018-19

In 2019-20, five 8th grade classes in four schools– Dixieland, Eastin-Arcola, Howard, and Lavina– researched the history of criminal activity in Madera County. Under the direction of their teachers, the students from all four schools collaborated on a project, which was named Outlaws and Lawmen: Crimes of the Century and The Madera County Sheriffs Who Solved Them. The following criminal cases were chosen: The U. S. Cavalry Murdered Ben Ducker; The Masked Vigilantes and Madera County’s Whipping Tree; The Massacre of Mountain Man Jim Bethel Shot in Cold Blood; Who killed F.A. Silveria; The Girl Lied and the Priest was Arrested; The Bullets Flew Wild at Lucca’s Hotel; The Mineshaft Murder of the One-legged man; The Madera Lynch Mob and Officer Pickett’s Killers; Death Row Couldn’t Kill the North Fork Indian; and The Exorcism That Whipped the Devil out of the Girl.

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