Game Warden Lyman O. Hill

Lyman O. Hill

Game Warden Lyman Hill and Deputy Warden Charles Niles were shot and killed while attempting to arrest two poachers on the Machias River.

Deputy Warden Niles and Warden Hill had been tracking the poachers, who had been using dogs to run deer, for about ten days. When they finally approached the men, an argument broke out. As Deputy Warden Niles took off his coat in order to take hold of the poachers' dog, one of the poachers pulled out a double-barrel shotgun and opened fire. Deputy Warden Niles and Warden Hill were both killed instantly.

The poachers escaped after the incident, but a posse was formed to find and arrest them. Their killer was later apprehended in California, returned to Maine, and charged with two counts of murder. He was sentenced to life but released in 1906.

Deputy Warden Niles was survived by his wife and four children. He was a Civil War Veteran who served as a private with the 9th Maine Infantry, Company H. He was released from duty on November 25, 1863, after he lost an arm at the Battle of Chattanooga. His Epitaph read "He gave his arm for his country and his life for his state".