Profile picture
Mark Pitcavage @egavactip
, 5 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
1. Extremist #FlashbackFriday. On this day 20 yrs ago, anti-gov't extremist & fugitive Alan Pilon was spotted by a couple of Navajo kids in the Four Corners area. He, Jason McVean and Robert Mason had stolen a water truck (for reasons that remain unknown) and killed a police
2. officer who had spotted them. They escaped into the wilderness, sparking one of the largest manhunts in the west. At some point they apparently split up. Authorities found Mason, who shot and wounded a deputy before killing himself as the law closed in. The others vanished.
3. When the kids spotted Pilon, he had been on the run in the wilderness for two months, eluding hundreds of searchers. Navajo trackers tried to trail him but rain eventually washed away his tracks. However, 17 months later, deer hunters came across Pilon's skeleton. He had died
4. in the wilderness. Many years later, in 2007, about two miles from where they found Pilon's body, a rancher came across McVean's skeleton, along with an AK-47 and a backpack with pipe bombs. The "Four Corners Patriots" had killed one police officer and wounded three others,
5. but none of them lived to tell the tale themselves. What their original plans were remain in dispute. Some theorize they wanted to make a large vehicular bomb out of the truck, others say they wanted to crash it into a casino to rob it.
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Mark Pitcavage
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member and get exclusive features!

Premium member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year)

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!