Bishop - Parcher's plots re-telling of 1908 murder mystery

The death certificate of Fanny Snyder, a husband and mother of four who was murdered Aug. 2, 1908 in Bishop Creek Canyon. Shortly after her death, her husband was charged with the murder. Photo courtesy Todd Swain

7-31-2008

Nearly 100 years ago Bishop Creek was the scene of “an atrocious murder.” And though Mono County’s Convict Lake bears the name of its notorious violent history, few Bishop residents know the story of the murder of Fanny Snyder.
That’s why, 100 years to the day of the homicide, local history buffs Todd and Donette Swain will be hosting a PowerPoint presentation recounting the dramatic murder mystery this Saturday at 8 p.m. at Parcher’s Resort in Bishop Creek Canyon.
The presentation, which begins with the story of a deadly ambush in Bishop Creek and follows a sensational murder trial that made national headlines – is free and part of Parcher’s weekly campfire social gathering.

“We have a very strong interest at Parcher’s about the history of the canyon,” said resort proprietor Steve Smith. “We have a weekly barbecue and a campfire program, and being the anniversary of the murder, we thought it would be a great program for visitors in the canyon and Bishop residents.”
The Swains, who live part-time in Bishop and the other part of the year in Joshua Tree, will be releasing a book on the Fanny Snyder murder killing entitled, “An Atrocious Murder.” They took the title from the headline of an Aug. 6, 1908 article printed in The Inyo Register: “An Atrocious Murder: Woman Victim of Assassin – her husband and another man charged as guilty.” The story of Snyder’s death made national headlines, and Todd has completed much of his research through newspaper stories covering the murder and investigation.
The book and Saturday’s PowerPoint presentation begins with Fanny Craven as a widow and mother of four residing in Wichita, Kan. when she meets Peter Snyder, a Greek immigrant, in 1906. According to Todd Swain, Snyder was well educated and versed in several European languages, including Latin, French and Italian.
He immigrated to America via Boston, Mass. in the early 1900s, meeting Fanny in Kansas. There the two were married and owned and operated a grocery store until Peter began showing symptoms of tuburculosis, prompting a move to warmer, dryer climates.

The trail leading up Bishop Creek Canyon towards Hillside Lake (now South Lake) as it looked in the early 1900s. This is the area where Fanny Snyder was shot in 1908. Photo courtesy Todd Swain

By June 1908, Peter found work with a construction crew building a dam on Hillside Lake, now known as South Lake. Shortly after Peter Snyder gained employment, Fanny enrolled her four children into an Illinois boarding school and made the trek out West.
“In July Fanny Snyder showed up in Bishop, and shortly after that she was dead,” Swain said.
According to the Aug. 6, 1908 report in The Inyo Register, Peter claimed that he and his wife left Andrew’s Camp (now Four Jefferies Campground) on horseback in the Bishop Creek area at about 4 p.m. the afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 2 to pay the construction crew working on the dam at Hillside Lake. As the two rode back down the trail to Andrew’s Camp about a mile and a half from the camp of the construction crew, shots rang out from the surrounding woods.
“Snyder was rolling a cigarette and laid the reins on the horses neck when the shot came out, the animal jumped and threw him off,” states the initial newspaper report, relaying Mr. Snyder’s account of the evening’s shooting. “The second shot came and Mrs. Snyder got off and sat on a rock beside the road. She was still alive enough to make her way over to a rock, sat down and said she was dying. Two or three more shots were fired. The man (Peter) drew his revolver, a .32 Colt, and emptied it at two men who were approaching. Snyder went running at them firing and kept on going back to the camp, and then men returned with him to take Mrs. Snyder on a litter, and they carried her to Andrew’s Camp.”
Fanny died shortly after arriving at the camp and Justice Shannon was called into the area along with a posse in search of the shooters.
But as the investigation into Fanny’s death unfolded, authorities found evidence that would lead to indictments against her husband.
Fanny inherited real estate from her first husband that, by 1908 standards, made her an upper-middle class citizen. It was believed that Peter Snyder hired someone to murder his wife, or committed the crime himself in hopes of taking control of her assets.
On or around Aug. 12, 1908 Peter Snyder and his brother were taken into custody for Fanny’s murder.
“There were quite extensive preliminary hearings and there were lots of twists and turns in the story as Snyder spent time in Inyo County Jail,” said Swain. “Ultimately he was let out on $20,000 bail, which wasn’t a small amount in 1908, and it was prominent folks of the community who put the money up.”
In fact, the Wattersons of Inyo County Bank (now home to Mountain Light Gallery on the corner of Main and Line streets) provided $14,000 of bail amount. The Wattersons would spend time in prison later in their lives for embezzling.
After being released on bond from Inyo County Jail, Snyder returned to work on the Hillside Lake dam project and eventually received substantial excavation contracts for the Owens Valley Canal in the Chalfant area.
When Fanny’s will was uncovered in October of 1908, authorities discovered that $100 was to be given to her husband, but the remainder of her estate was to be divided between her four children.
Peter, while awaiting trial, declined to accept the inheritance, a move Swain speculates the accused murderer used to discredit the claim that he killed his wife for financial gain.
“There are a bunch of other twists and turns in trying to convict him,” Swain said. “The sheriff employed Greeks to infiltrate the Greek community and acquire evidence against Snyder. District Attorney Dehy, who later became judge and who Dehy Park in Independence is named after, started the case, but when he became judge he excused himself from the proceedings and the governor had to select a new judge.”
Swain will complete the tale and discuss all the details about the Snyder murder and the trial that ensued during Saturday’s presentation.
“The whole thing is really an interesting snapshot into history 100 years ago,” said Snyder, who has been researching the incident for more than a year and has found reports from publications such as the Inyo Independent, Big Pine Herald, Owens Valley herald, San Francisco Call, Ogden Standard Examiner and the Erie Register in Utah among many others.
Saturday’s presentation will follow the weekly tri-tip and chicken barbecue dinner at Parcher’s Resort on the South Fork of Bishop Creek. Everyone is invited to attend the free presentation.
“This is a little different than anything we’ve ever done before, but there is a great amount of interest in the history of the canyon,” Smith said. “There are hundreds of great stories that we have from residents and visitors who are in their 80s that have been coming here for years and we have historical photos.” He noted that Parcher’s Resort will be looking at continuing with the historical theme at its weekly campfire events.