On the western side of Rio Blanco County, there is a roadside monument. It is little hard to miss. It’s made of cobblestone, concrete and a 12-foot cedar cross. It stands as a sad reminder to hunters that life is fragile. Clyde Dillon died of exposure not far from the car he abandoned. He was trying to return to his buddies at their hunting camp near Cathedral Bluffs.
The remote parts of northwest Colorado demand respect. Weather can change in moments. Even experienced hunters get lost every year and often without gear for overnight temperature drops. Clyde Dillon’s family paid to have this memorial built. It reads: “IN MEMORY OF CLYDE W. DILLON OF HUTCHINSON, KAN. WHO LOVED TO HUNT IN THESE MOUNTAINS — AND WHO LOST HIS LIFE ON THIS RIDGE IN A STORM THE NIGHT OF OCT. 5, 1941.” I have been asked by two people to tell his story.
Although Clyde had hunted this area for 10 years, he was a Kansas native. His father, John Dillon, had started a grocery and dry goods store in Hutchinson, Kansas. It was remarkable for its time because it was a “cash and carry” business. Grocery businesses in 1913 normally extended credit to regular customers for purchases and often delivered products. This way of doing business led to high overhead due to bookkeeping, interest, and write-offs for bad debt. John’s new business model was slow to catch on but customers soon realized how much cheaper his products cost. John’s way of doing business was carried on after two of his sons returned from WWI, serving in France. Ray and Clyde expanded and soon had 23 stores featuring Dad’s original concepts of clean, courteous stores with public restrooms and off-street parking. Today, the name Dillon is still on many stores, although the company was eventually gobbled up by the Kroger chain.
In October 1941, Clyde Dillon was vice president of the J. S. Dillon and Sons company. Clyde was a wealthy man on vacation from Hutchinson, Kansas. A man confident in his abilities. Clyde Dillon was part of two groups of hunters. On Sunday, Oct. 5, 1941, Clyde left the Stake Springs camp alone in his car and was trying to get to the Cathedral Bluffs camp, some five miles distant. A storm was already starting and intensified as he drove.
It snowed about 15 inches Sunday night. The car became stuck. There was evidence that he had spent considerable effort in placing brush under the tires for traction. The car was out of gas and the car battery was dead. At some point, he set out on foot to reach the camp. Clyde was not immediately missed. The Stake Springs group had assumed he had reached the bluffs and the other camp did not know that he was coming. It was not until Monday night that his friends compared notes and discovered him missing. They came into Meeker on Monday night and notified Sheriff Chester Mead.
Dillon’s car was found in a hole about three miles from camp. A search was started on Tuesday with undersheriff Roy Harper, local hunters and 50 boys from the Civilian Conservation Corps (C.C.C) camp near Meeker. Clyde’s brothers from Kansas posted a $100 reward. Brothers Ray and John, along with Clyde’s 15-year-old son, Paul, helped in the search throughout the week. Colorado Governor Ralph L. Carr had taken an active interest in the search. The United Press reported on Oct. 14 that Carr had left for an Arizona trip after spending three days personally directing the search. The governor was quoted as saying, “The search is to continue until the man or his body is found.” The missing person story competed with news about the war in Europe and local draft boards. At that time, there were 250 tired searchers on their ninth day in the field. Hope of finding him alive was waning quickly.
To be continued after Thanksgiving.
By ED PECK
