yelled back, “No, I saw his mouth move! He’s trying to talk. We’ve got to get some help!”
Not wanting to upset her further, Branchwater asked, “Are your keys in the Bronco?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Stay here, I’ll take your truck to get some help.”
Branchwater ran up the trail to the top of the low ridge to the Bronco, started it, and headed out to the road to find help. He went south down the trail to where he knew there were some other hunting camps set up. He saw a truck and flagged it down. The driver was a man named George Wright from Arkansas and he had a cell phone. Branchwater quickly told Wright about the shooting victim, emphasizing the fact that he could not find the injured man’s pulse. Wright immediately dialed 911.
“911. What is the nature of your emergency?” the operator asked.
In a heavy Arkansas accent Wright said, “I’m off the Divide Road, at the Brushy Ridge Trail. A man’s been shot up here.”
“Today?”
“Yeah. A while ago.”
“There was a man shot up there?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you at, sir?”
“I just told you,” Wright said with obvious impatience. “Off the Divide Road on the Brushy Ridge Trail.”
“Just a minute.” There was a pause. “What’s your name, sir?”
“George Wright, W-R-I-G-H-T.”
“Are you in Montrose or Delta County?”
“I don’t know. Probably Delta.”
“Okay. We have quite a few Divide Roads. Is this twenty-five Mesa Road?”
“It’s up on top of the Uncompahgre.”
“That would be twenty-five Mesa Road, I’m thinking... probably…There’s a couple of Divide Roads up there.”
Wright’s face grew red at the operator’s confusion, but he kept at it. “Okay. Do you know where the Cold Springs ranger station is?”
“Coal Springs ranger station?”
“Okay. We’re past that. Go down to the Dominguez Trail; turn on that left; go up to the Brushy Ridge Trail, and…”
“The Brushy Ridge Trail?”
“Yes.”
“Boy, I’m not sure if you’re in Delta or Montrose County. There was a guy who was shot up there?”
“Yes.”
“When did this happen, sir?”
“I don’t know.” Wright said. “I’m just up here and a guy came driving up here in a Bronco and said down in his camp there’s someone…a guy…was shot through the chest.”
“Like suicide?”
“We don’t know. The guy said there was two spent rounds beside the man who’s shot and his wife’s there and she’s going crazy.”
“Okay. Where did you go from? Did you go from Delta or did you go from Montrose?”
“We came from Grand Junction.”
“And to get up on the Divide Road, did you go from...?”
“141,” Wright replied with a heavy sigh.
“141. Did you go up between Delta and Grand Junction and go up Debeque Canyon?”
“Yes.”
“Off Highway 50 you went up Debeque Canyon. Okay, sir, I’m going to get my map out. Uh, but what’s the number you’re calling from?”
“I’m on my cell phone, 208-555-7242.”
“Okay, I think I’m getting another call on this shooting. Hold on just a minute. Okay, so he is dead then?”
“I don’t know for sure. I’m talking to a guy here who says he’s a policeman from Texas. Says he was down there at the camp with the lady. We were hunting up above. He is just trying to find some help.”
“Sir, gosh. The other dispatcher’s getting a call on it. She’s getting more directions.”
“Well, I’m gonna sign off then,” Wright said thinking he’d finally gotten through to her.
“No,” the dispatcher’s voice rose. “I’d like to keep you on the line, because I need to get the information from you.”
Wright had had enough. “Well, let me let you talk to the guy that was down there.”
The Delta County operator’s sigh was heavier than Wright’s had been. “Okay. That would be great.”
A discouraged George Wright handed the phone to Captain Branchwater. It is hard to describe how to get to a place in the middle of nowhere. Just trying to determine what county the shot man was in was a substantial hurdle. The call would have been potentially tragic, but for the fact that it seemed clear Bruce would not have benefited from more timely medical assistance.
While it is probably unfair to expect the dispatcher in Delta County to be familiar with every dirt road in Mesa County, it is easy to see how Mr. Wright soon wished he had not become involved in this situation. Part of the problem was the dispatcher suggesting that Wright had driven up Debeque Canyon when he actually came up Unaweep Canyon, a far different part of the county. Brent Branchwater now attempted to communicate their location and get some help.
“Hello, ma’am,” Branchwater said in his thick East Texas accent.
“Just a minute.” Pause. “Okay.”
“My name is Brent Branchwater. These people were camped behind us. And I was cleaning a deer when I heard a woman screaming. I went to see what was happening and the woman came running up telling me her husband was shot.”
“Do you have a name of the victim or the wife?”
“I’m in her truck. I’m in her Bronco.”
“Can you give me the license off that vehicle, sir?”
“Edward George Victor 0-8-2, Colorado. Is there somebody on the way up? I could meet them down on Divide Road at the Dominguez Trail.”
“Sir, right now we’re kinda trying to find out what jurisdiction you’re in…if you’re in Mesa County or if you’re in Delta County. The other guy we talked to went up Debeque Canyon to get there. So it kinda sounds like you must be in Mesa County. Okay, so she come runnin’ up and she said he was dead?”
“I heard her screamin’ down there and she came runnin’ up hollerin’
