The Shootout at Sites (Colusa County)

Walker pointing at the hole in his car.

March 6, 1948-

In northwestern Colusa County, in a small little hamlet called Sites, three officers responded about 8:45 a.m. to a small ran down shack to serve a warrant.

In the group were Deputy John Shearin of Colusa, UnderSheriff Allyn Walker, and Deputy Sheriff Neil Evans. They were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on 69-year-old goat herder, William "Bill" Carrier, for shooting at the father of Deputy Shearin as they attempted to repossess some horses that Bill was thought to be holding.

The man had run up the road firing wildly at the older Shearin. 

When police could not locate Bill, they started to leave. While they were driving, three shots rang out in the ravine. Carrier opened fire on the officers with a .30-.30 caliber rifle from behind an adjoining goat shed.

The car was driven by  Walker, while Shearin was in the front seat, Evans in the rear. The first bullet struck the hood of the car on the left side, went through the radiator, hit the air cleaner, deflected through the cowling and glove box, and exploded.  The bullet split in half. One part tore through Officer Shearin's pants leg, into his right groin, and the portion tore through his leather jacket.

A second shot missed the car.

All three officers left back to Maxwell, which was closest to report to Sheriff Houx and to get Shearin to a Hospital.  

9:45 a.m., after getting another car, they arrived in Colusa. Grinning, with a story to tell, Shearin sported a hole in his leather jacket and a limp. He was treated at Colusa Memorial Hospital, where the partial slug was removed from his leg.

Houx returned later that day with a posse and the intentions of ending this once and for all.

Who was Bill Carrier, and why did he shoot at these officers?

Neighbors in the area said they feared Bill. The hermit was known to have driven other ranchers out of the area because he was "dangerous". The sheriff explained, "Carrier always acted kind of crazy, but we never had anything enough on him that is enough to commit him."

For the longest time, he made threats towards anyone who came near his property but never fired a shot. 

Bill was said to live alone. He had 5 or 6 children with an ex-wife, and he had a wife that lived in Colusa. The sheriff said, "One of the boys used to live with him but he left and hasn't been heard from since."

Bill Carrier

"Carrier had given us a lot of trouble during 20 years he lived here. Once we had him in jail for 60 days on a peace disturbing charge. He was always threatening somebody."

In an article I read about the incident, the Sheriff points to a pair of fences, eight feet apart. "Spite fences." he proclaims, "One man built a fence and he didn't like it so he built another one."

Carrier's ranch was in the foothills of the coastal range about 5 miles south of the Grapevine road. His cabin was located centrally in a box canyon. Bill had a vantage point of seeing any car that comes over the top of the grade leading down to his place. This gave him a clear opportunity to take a shot any anyone coming in.

The reporter notes several buildings on the property like the one shown above. They were fashioned out of boards and tin. One of these buildings included the 1 bedroom "cabin" that Bill lived in.


In his cabin, officers found guns, a plethora of dirty dishes and soiled laundry. His furniture was as crude as the buildings themselves. He had no electricity and illuminated his cabin with a kerosene lamp.

On the property were as many as 30 goats and a dog who sat on one of the slopes and watched the events of this day unfold.

According to police, the man had gone berserk. Called "half-mad" no one knew what had gotten into Carrier, aside from the fact he was now equipped with a high powered rifle. That made him extremely dangerous.

About 1:30 p.m. later that day, Sheriff Houx returned with a posse including Highway Patrol and Colusa County officers. This posse included Sheriff Deputy Shearin who had been injured earlier in the day. After brief treatment at Colusa Memorial Hospital, he returned to the scene.




Other who attended were Captain E. J. Bradley of the Highway Patrol, Officers Charles Woods of Arbuckle, Highway Patrolman Arch Matzka of Williams, city Patrolman Leonard Buffet, Constable Jack Forsythe of Williams, Deputies Shearin, and Evans, Undersheriff Walker, and volunteers from Maxwell who were familiar with the terrain.

A plane was brought in, accompanied by Shearin and Evans. From this trip over the ranch, a map of the area was created and used in the search.

Hearing of the distressing situation, agencies from Yuba, Sutter, Glenn, and Yolo counties offered assistance. Sheriff Houx thanked them all but felt he had adequate resources to track the old hermit down.

"We didn't see anyone at the cabin where Carrier lived", said the Sheriff, "so we went down to the goat shed". That's when Carrier shot at officers again, striking another patrol car.

Sheriff Houx began to organize a team to close in on the reclusive man.




Officer Woods went up a hillside to cover the officers down in the ravine. Carrier popped off three more shots at officers from behind the goat shed.

Two officers drove to the cabin shouting commands for anyone inside to surrender. Four more shots were fired.

Woods fired a warning shot for Carrier to surrender and throw down his weapon. He had Bill in his sight.

He fired again and from a distance of approximately 400 yards, Officer Woods took a solid aim at Carrier and fired, striking him.

Matzka turned to Captain Bradley and said, "You know, we're in a hell of a fix aren't we?"

Officers realized that Carrier had been hit, but they still didn't know to what extent. They were still unsure of the danger that he posed.

Only moments of the man going down, about 12 more men arrived.

1:45 p.m. Unsure of Carrier's condition, they called for Coroner Tim Sullivan. This to some indicated that a death had occurred.

2:40 p.m. the Sheriff office radio received a request for a doctor to be sent from one of the patrol cars. Bill was still alive.

The crew went in to check on Bill's condition and they realized Carrier had been seriously injured. The bullet had entered the right side of his head, tearing his face away partially.

He passed away at 3:09, shortly after the Coroner had arrived.

When officers began to clear off the property, an officer stayed to tend to the animals.





 Coverage of the incident-