The Legend of Queho

Posted: 11.01.2025 | Updated: 11.01.2025

The Legend of Queho is a rollercoaster story about Nevada’s alleged first serial killer. Active for three decades, Queho was accused of murdering nearly two dozen people. However, his story is much more complex than it appears on the surface. 

As a Native American at the beginning of the 20th century, many believed that Queho was a scapegoat for murders that couldn’t be solved. With many questions left unanswered, Queho has become an integral part of Nevada folklore and true crime.

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Who Was Queho?

Known during his lifetime as “The Last Renegade Indian,” Queho (pronounced “Key-ho”) was a Native American man accused of murdering 23 people between 1897 and 1919. Despite years of searching and a hefty reward for his capture, law enforcement never apprehended Queho.

He never stood trial or was convicted of the charges lodged against him. There isn’t even testimony as to why Queho committed the murders or if he pleaded innocence. Shrouded in mystery, the story of Queho is one of the most intriguing true crime cases of the Wild West.

History of Queho

Like most of his story, Queho’s early years are something of a mystery. He is believed to have been born around 1880 on Cottonwood Island near Nelson, Nevada. His mother, a member of the Cocopah tribe, died after giving birth to her son. 

As for Queho’s father, his identity remains unknown to this day. He may have been a white soldier from Fort Mohave, a miner from Mexico, or a member of the neighboring Paiute tribe. Regardless of who the father was, Queho was cruelly branded a “half breed” and ostracized from his community. 

Depending on the source, Queho was either born with a club foot or had a broken leg in childhood that never healed properly. His distinctive gait and footprint would become defining features for law enforcement as they searched the Nevada deserts for him years later.

As Queho grew up, he worked on a Las Vegas reservation as a ranch laborer and gathered wood for the local mines. Known for his hot temper and bursts of rage, Queho committed his first murder when he was still a teenager.

The Murders Begin

In 1897, Queho was accused of murdering a Native American man named Harry Bismark during an argument. Needing to flee town, Queho proceeded to kill two more men and steal their horses. 

He then went to get supplies when he assaulted shopkeeper Hy Von. Queho allegedly broke both of Von’s arms and fractured his skull. In one day, Queho had murdered three men and gravely injured a fourth.

What’s important to note is that the stories of these murders can only be traced back to newspaper articles from 1910. It was at this time that Queho became widely known as a thief and murderer. There is speculation that these stories were embellished to make Queho seem more like a cold-blooded killer. 

Afterward, Queho fled to Eldorado Canyon, where the killings continued. Queho is said to have murdered a woodcutter named J.M. Woodworth by beating him to death with a piece of wood. They apparently had an argument over Queho’s wages that turned deadly. 

At the Gold Bug mine, a security officer named L.W. “Doc” Gilbert was found dead from a gunshot wound to the back. Law enforcement noted that Gilbert’s deputy badge had been stolen. It was at this time that Deputy Sheriff Howe began the first extensive search for Queho. 

The Search for Queho

Deputy Sheriff Howe and his team tracked Queho to the Colorado River, but lost his trail. By that time, Howe had searched a 200-mile area but came up empty-handed. 

In the meantime, unexplained thefts, missing cattle, and brutal murders were reported up and down the Colorado River. In February 1911, Nevada State Police Sergeant Newgard stepped in to take over the search.

By the early 1910s, Queho had become public enemy number one in Nevada. In 1913, he was accused of murdering a Native American man known in El Dorado Canyon as Canyon Charlie. Charlie was 100 years old and blind. 

The crime seemed especially cruel, and those who knew Queho insisted that the two men were friends. However, that still left the question as to who killed Canyon Charlie.

A Reward is Posted

A $2,000 reward was posted for Queho, which was later increased to $3,000. In both cases, law enforcement said that they would take Queho dead or alive. By the time the reward was posted, two miners had been found shot in the back at Jenny Springs, and a Native American woman had been murdered. 

After 1913, there was a lull in the killing in and around El Dorado Canyon. That ended abruptly on January 21, 1919, when a woman named Maude Douglas was shot in the chest in her home.

Law enforcement claimed that Queho’s footprints were found near the home, and Douglas’s husband insisted that Queho had murdered her. At the same time, a four-year-old boy living with the couple stated that Douglas’s husband had murdered her.

More deaths were blamed on Queho, and a grueling two-month search ensued. As the killings subsided again, Queho began to fade from memory. He was last seen alive by a police officer walking down Fremont Street in Las Vegas in February 1930. Queho vanished after the officer called for backup.

The Death and Afterlife of Queho

On February 18, 1940, miners Charles Kenyon and Art Schroeder found a mummified corpse in a hidden cave in El Dorado Canyon. Among the possessions found in the cave was Doc Gilbert’s badge, which was stolen back in 1910. The two miners took the body to police, believing it was the remains of Queho.

Queho had likely been dead for six months when his body was discovered. Kenyon believed he was entitled to the $3,000 reward, and a battle with police ensued. Kenyon said he would drop the case if he could have Queho’s body. 

In a stunningly tasteless turn of events, Queho’s body was displayed at the Las Vegas Elks Club. It even appeared in annual “Helldorado” parades. It was briefly on display at the Museum of Natural History at the University of Nevada in the 1950s, but later disappeared. Queho’s body was eventually found in a local landfill. 

Queho’s remains eventually came into the possession of former Clark County District Attorney Wiley Pahrump. A service for Queho was held at Pahrump’s ranch on November 6, 1975, more than 35 years after Queho’s death. The grave marker Pahrump had made for Queho reads, “He survived alone.”

Haunted Las Vegas

The Legend of Queho remains a captivating tale because it is one that can never be truly solved. It also begs the question of how a legend comes into being when the legend in question can’t speak for himself. 

Instead, those in power crafted a story that was likely at least partly untrue. Now at rest, Queho’s story continues to be reexamined by historians working to give him a voice.

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Sources:

• https://news3lv.com/features/video-vault/video-vault-finding-the-truth-in-the-legend-of-nevada-outlaw-queho

• https://www.8newsnow.com/investigators/the-legend-of-nevadas-first-serial-killer-continued-long-after-his-mysterious-death/

• https://www.legendsofamerica.com/nv-queho/