Guy Bradley - Aftermath

Aftermath

Smith set sail to Key West and turned himself in to the authorities the next day. Despite evidence found by the prosecution—paid for by the Florida Audubon Society—that Bradley had not fired his weapon, Smith claimed self-defense. He maintained that the warden had fired first, but missed, hitting Smith's boat. Those who knew Bradley, however, insisted that he had been an excellent shot, and would not have missed his target had he, in fact, shot first. Smith later was found not guilty of murder, when the jury decided there was insufficient evidence to convict; he served only five months in jail, unable to pay $5,000 for bail. While he was incarcerated, Bradley's two brothers-in-law burned down Smith's Flamingo home.

Bradley's death and Smith's acquittal made national headlines; detailed stories ran in the New York Times, the New York Herald, the Philadelphia North American, and Forest and Stream. The warden's wife and two young children were given a home in Key West, paid for by donations secured by the Florida Audubon Society. The Society, however, made no effort to replace Bradley, and his job as warden went unfilled. Bradley's obituary, written by William Dutcher and published in August 1905's edition of Bird Lore, characterized him as "fearless and brave." Dutcher eulogized Bradley by saying, "A faithful and devoted warden, who was a young and sturdy man, cut off in a moment, for what? That a few more plume birds might be secured to adorn heartless women's bonnets. Heretofore the price has been the life of the birds, now is added human blood. Every great movement must have its martyrs, and Guy M. Bradley is the first martyr in bird protection."

With no one to replace Bradley, lawlessness continued in the Everglades and rookeries were devastated for several more years. Frank Chapman remarked that "There is no community sufficiently law-abiding to leave a bank vault unmolested if it were left unprotected. We have given up. We can't protect it, and the rookery will have to go." In November 1908, game warden and deputy sheriff of DeSoto County, Columbus G. McLeod, went missing near Charlotte Harbor. A month later, his boat was found weighted down and sunk; inside, police found the warden's bloodstained hat, long gashes cut into the crown with what appeared to be an axe. It was suspected that he was killed by poachers. His body was never found and the perpetrators were not caught. Later that year, an employee of the South Carolina Audubon Society, Pressly Reeves, was shot and killed during an ambush by unknown assailants.