Maybe we laughed too soon at the movie River Wild! Incredibly, the San Juan River became the sight of one of those Hollywood movies gone bad, the scene of a shootout and manhunt that could have been lifted from the script of the hokey, 1991 flop that undoubtably was Meryl Streep's worst movie. (Perhaps you can't recall the forgettable plot where three men commit robbery and use a wilderness river as an escape route—a sort of big city drama awkwardly plopped right down in the riparian bliss). But as the events of this past June 4 unfolded, the San Juan River literally came to resemble the all-too-real images that have been etched into our late-twentieth century consciousness and that go by the names of Waco and Ruby Ridge. It was serious-as-a-heart-attack, mainstream law enforcement vs. three young thugs who crossed over the line in a big way on one of our beloved rivers.
It all began on May 29 when the three men, Alan “Monte” Pilon of Dove Creek, and Jason McVean and Robert Mason of Durango, were pulled over on Montezuma County Road 27 by Officer Dale Claxton. They were driving a stolen water truck and promptly killed Officer Claxton in cold blood with eighteen rounds from a semi-automatic weapon. The three may have been involved earlier in two cash heists and were presumably contemplating their next job, the casino on the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation at Towaoc, Colorado. Just how the three may have used the truck and pulled this one off may have been worthy of a story itself! But there was no denying that the brutality of the slaying, especially under the “worry-free skies” of the Colorado Plateau, alerted everyone in the area what kind of dark reality they were dealing with.
On a relatively cool, late-spring day (June 4), Utah state social worker Steve Wilcox was having lunch by the banks of the river near the swinging bridge just upstream from the town of Bluff. A figure lying prone on the ground in camouflage clothing pointed a large caliber gun at Mr. Wilcox and as he screeched away from the scene in his state vehicle, bullets flew in his direction. Deputy Kelly Bradford responded to the call of shots being fired near the river and was himself hit by three bullets, injuring him seriously. That event was likened to throwing a grenade into a weapons cache as hundreds of officers from throughout the southwest converged on the sleepy town along the river. Everyone (well almost) was ordered evacuated from Bluff to other nearby communities.
Over five hundred officers, including swat units in full regalia from Phoenix and Los Angeles, got to test their skills in the real world of endless space and tortuous canyon country. Within one hour after Deputy Bradford was wounded at the swinging bridge, the San Juan River was closed indefinitely to all recreational use, including those already on the water. Officers had thought that the trio may try to use the river as an avenue of escape, since one of Pilon's friends had seen him stash an aluminum boat near the bridge a few weeks earlier. One of the most heavily manned areas away from Bluff was the bridge over the San Juan at Mexican Hat.
A Museum of Northern Arizona river trip, outfitted by Adventure Discovery, had just pulled into the San Juan Inn at Mexican Hat to resupply ice chests as news of the shooting got out. The blm river ranger, who was at the Inn ready to begin his multi-day river patrol, told the Museum group not to proceed. The Museum group then readied themselves for what was to become a 48-hour lay-over at Mark and Julie Swords's private boat ramp along the river just below the Mexican Hat bridge. The group entertained themselves during the ordeal by alternately talking to the ten or twelve heavily armed officers stationed at the bridge and watching the nba Finals between the hometown Jazz and “da Bulls”.
Many road blocks were set up at dozens of other locations all over the Four Corners country. From the Sand Island put-in to the town of Bluff (only four miles) five road blocks were established with the top line marksmen. Fifteen helicopters and hundreds of law enforcement vehicles made the scene too unreal for a town like Bluff. U.S. Customs helicopters swooped down upon two groups camping at the foot of of the Honaker Trail and black-helmetted “soldiers” made everyone raise their arms, while law enforcement's elite searched everyone's bags. At Clay Hills Crossing officers pointed weapons from both sides of the river from atop the cliffs of Cedar Mesa Sandstone that descend to the take-out. For those on the river who knew nothing of the incidents upstream, it was a most bizarre ending to an otherwise relaxing trip on the “ole San Juan.”
As it turned out, Robert Mason, probably acting alone, killed himself at the swinging bridge just hours after he shot Deputy Bradford. Monte Pilon and Jason McVean remain at large. The Navajo tribe meanwhile is reporting its largest ever expenditure from a single manhunt at $116,000. Figures for the entire episode surely will top one million dollars.
The mna trip was allowed to continue their seven-day journey downstream and benefited from the fact that canceled put-ins upstream meant they had the river all to themselves (with 7,000 cfs too!). Life is back to normal now in Bluff and on the “River Mild,” but it does make you wonder if Hollywood not only reflects and reports on the events in our world but perhaps they perceive them in advance. A scary thought but I just might invest the $1.49 at Hastings just to watch that stupid Meryl Streep film again.

Wayne Ranney