Which beating are you refering to Katrina, I am aware of several. Gary was "Un hombre malo".The one I witnessed was on Bowen Ranch road near my place. I never said this beating was justified. Remember,I dont condone violent behavior such as assault or shooting at people,waving guns at people ect.....ect by anyone. I do believe that people may defend themselves if their life is in immediate grave danger within the limits of the law.
William was evicted by the BLM due to the fact he never engaged in any productive mining activity at the site that he claimed as a mill. The term "Moss Mill" is a farce. The building was very old and the kitchen was falling into the basement. William may have had a mining claim in the area but he never activly worked that either. The sole purpose of that mill site claim was a pretext fot the occupation of public lands for private use. It was an armed encampment for years and I quit visiting because of the endless rant against the Bowen Ranch.
I would hang out over at the Bowen Ranch with Cote when Gary would split. We had fun and nobody was forced to pay. Most people wanted to party a little and that was OK in my book. Whenever Gary would show back up, I would go find something else to do as he wasnt much fun to hang out with. Cote would give him a few bucks and he would split too. Gary didnt really care about the $ that much when he wasnt around. He was more concerned about vandalism. I was more interested in drinking like a dog and chasing cats!