During the dry desert autumn of 1909, a troublesome Paiute Indian named Willie shot the father of the Indian girl he wanted to marry. Willie was not a criminal according to Paiute custom; under tribal law, the theft of a girl constituted marriage. What followed, however, had nothing at all to do with custom.
Willie and the girl, Lolita, lit out for the Mohave Desert. He could normally have hidden on tiny reservations until the trouble blew over, since Indian killing was a matter of little concern to the white community. But at that...
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