In a story which Dr. John Baker once told me that, one of the Cockrill family members lost their ranch and land to the railroad in Tulare county around the time of the Mussel Slough Tragedy. A couple of agents were sent down by a well-to-do buyer who lived in Sacramento to run the ranch, after he obtained it by auction after the Southern Pacific Railroad foreclosure. Shortly after, however, these two agents went out hunting, and had a "hunting accident" where they were mysteriously dispatched by parties unknown, though it was generally understood that this Cockrill family member had something to do with it.

On further questioning, Dr. Baker told me that he had first heard this story from Jeanne Miller, rather than one of his other family sources. Jeanne gotten this story from The Mussel Slough Tragedy, by J. L. Brown (USA, J. L. Brown, 1958), pp. 113-115:

Marshal Drew came to Hanford toward the end of November, 1883, for the purpose of ejecting settlers from railroad lands. A news report stated that he brought with him on the train teams of wagons and several men to assist him. After he had called in the evening at the home of John W. Cockrell, two miles west of Hanford, and found no one at home, he made a second call early the next morning, still failing to find Mr. Cockrell, two miles west of Hanford, and found no one at home, he made a second call early the next morning, still failing to find Mr. Cockrell. He gave out the information that in order to avoid trouble he was prepared to buy some fowl and hay that were on the place, but the owner, not wishing to sell, made no effort to see him. The ejectment was said to have been in favor of one Knox, a lumber dealer of Sacramento; and two men, J. H. Riley and Edwin H. McAuliffe, had come with the marshal to take formal possession for Knox. Cockrell had held the land since 1875, having purchased from John Morrow a claim that was said to antedate the grant to the railroad company. He had sought and been refused the privilege of filing on it in the Land Office branch in Visalia.

Riley and McAuliffe established themselves in the house. Local citizens were reported to be very much stirred up over the new and peculiar eviction and to fear a recurrence of violence similar to that of May 11 [Mussel Slough Tragedy], three and half years earlier. The reasons for the unusual anxiety are not fully clear, but the possibility that it was based upon threatening talk suggests itself. The two men had visitors at the house, including at separate times Major McQuiddy and J. J. Doyle [of the Settlers' Land League], who was described in the news report as "the agitator." The visitors asked questions but gave no orders and made no threats, though they let it be known that they did not approve what was going on. On Sunday, after the men had been in the house for several days, a Mexican came, acted strangely, Riley said, and tried to enter the house.

A short time before sundown one evening McAuliffe went out with a shotgun to shoot doves -- against the advice of Riley. Remaining at the house, Riley heard several shots. When his companion failed to return, he thought it unsafe to go out to look for him after dark. Next morning he went to the home of a neighbor, William Clough, and asked that a search be made for the missing man. Soon the lifeless body of Edwin McAuliffe of San Francisco was found near a willows at the slough, where he had been shot. Riley said he had heard two shotgun shots, then three rifle shots, and a little later two more shots. He thought the first three rifle shots had been fired by three different men, but he did not explain why he thought so. Three bullets had passed through the body of the unfortunate McAuliffe.

The settlers were greatly concerned over the murder, for which some among them might be blamed, though it could not possibly have done them any good. They stood ready to render any possible aid in finding the guilty persons. The coming of the Mexican to the house was at first considered a clue; but nothing came of the clue, and the visit, remaining unexplained, could not be shown to have any connection with the crime. All efforts to find the culprit or culprits were fruitless.

Newspaper coverage of the John W. Cockrell eviction in the San Francisco Call:

October 31, 1883

November 2, 1883

November 8, 1883

November 9, 1883

November 10, 1883

In the 1880 Census for Mussel Slough Township, Tulare Co., a 34 year old farmer, John W. Cockerell, born in Indiana (mother born in Ohio, father born in Indiana) is enumerated in dwelling #222, along with his 24 year old sister, Mary A.

It was Dr. Baker's understanding that this Mussel Slough family also had a connection with a family by the name of Fretwell. There is also a story about a Fretwell family in The Mussel Slough Tragedy, pp. 112-113:

Reference [pp. 47-48] has been made to the controversy between J. B. Fretwell and Perry C. Phillips over possession of a piece of land on which Fretwell had settled and Phillips had subsequently purchased from the railroad company, a dispute that continued for years. The Delta of January 3, 1879, had reported: "Another plowing match was held on the Fretwell place a few days ago. This time by Perry C. Phillips and his friends. This is the same piece of ground plowed up by the League a few weeks ago. The glove seems to be first on one hand and then on the other."

Fretwell seems to have been in possession of the land until November 1882, when he and his family, including a wife and seven children, were removed without resistance by United States Marshal Drew, who professed to find to find the task a disagreeable one. A dispatch to the Call related that the accumulations of nine years of residence on the quarter-section were removed from the place. Mr. Phillips was placed in possession, and his teams and hired men were used in removing Fretwell's goods. After the marshall's departure Phillips had his men tear down the house and place the materials on his adjoining land. Fretwell had Phillips arrested on charge of felony. Neighbors brought new lumber, erected the frame of a new house on adjoining land, hauled it to the spot where the old house had stood, and soon had the new house ready for occupancy. Phillips had five men arrested on charges of misdemeanor. He directed his men to tear down the new house and ordered the lumber left on the ground under guard. When a reported from the Delta drove to the place, he saw a group of six or seven men and recognized "the portly form of Phillips in the midst." To his question whether that was the Fretwell place he received a negative answer.

In examining the sources cited by J. L. Brown for the above incidents, it was noticed that Fretwell is listed as the "brother-in-law" to John W. Cockrell. There is a listing in Sonoma County Marriages 1847-1902, for a James B. Fretwell marrying a Maria Cockrill on 20 Sep 1868 (there is another listing for James B. Fretwell married to a Jennie English on 25 Jul 1864). At this time, who this Maria Cockrill is or how she may be related to the other Sonoma County Cockrills is unknown. Records for a Cockrell family living in Sonoma County at this time have not been found either. In the 1870 Census for Santa Rosa, Sonoma Co., a Jas. B. Fretwell is listed in dwelling #106, as a 31 year old farmer born in Virgina. Enumerated with him as a family, is a 24 year old Maria who was born in Indiana, and was keeping house, along with a 10 month old Chas born in California. In the 1880 Census for Mussel Slough Township, Tulare Co., a 49 year old James B. Fretwell born in Virgina (as well as both parents) is listed in dwelling #77 enumerated with Maria J. (a. 28, bp. Indiana, both parents born in Kentucky), Charles (a. 10, bp. CA), Alice (a. 9, CA), Edward (a. 7, bp. CA), Belle (a. 5, bp. CA), Florence (a. 4, bp. CA), and Lawrence (a. 1 bp. CA). One can assume (even though the ages are a bit off) that the 1880 James B. and the 1870 Jas. B. are the same person who married the Maria Cockrill in Sonoma, and this Maria Cockrill is also probably the sister of John W. and Mary A. Cockrell who lived in Mussel Slough Township in 1880. However, with the birth place being listed as Indiana for all three Cockrills/Cockrells, it is unlikely that they are closely related to the Sonoma County Cockrills in any way. From the newspaper coverage, it also appears the James Fretwell had passed away in the summer of 1883, before the eviction of John W. Cockrell.