On the evening of Feb. 20, 1928, Placer County Sheriff Elmer Gum, Deputy Frank Dependener (Big Dip), Constable A.A. Pilliard and Operative Wallace Polson were returning from a liquor raid with a suspect, Joe Poeta, when the car, driven by Gum, side-swiped a car driven by Frank Manes on the Lincoln Highway near the Wise Power Plant about 1 mile west of Auburn.
Deputy Dependener was thrown from the vehicle and was killed instantly. Sheriff Gum suffered broken ribs, Joe Poeta a broken arm, and Pilliard and Wallace suffered minor injuries. Frank Manes escaped injury, but his wife suffered lacerations.
Deputy Dependener was one of the most renowned, respected lawmen in the county. He was hired as a Placer County Sheriff’s deputy by Sheriff Conroy in the early 1890s and served every subsequent sheriff until his untimely death.
He was famously wounded in a shootout at the courthouse in 1916 with the Cox brothers.
He played a significant role in the investigation of Adolph Weber, who murdered his entire family in 1904, and in the pursuit of Tanko and Hall, who had escaped from San Quentin Prison in 1918.
He was also known for his size, standing at around 6’7”, hence the nickname “Big Dip.” Dependener was an old school deputy who preferred riding on horses or in wagons and purposely never learned how to drive a car.
“You never can tell what’s going to happen on one of these automobile trips,” he once said.
Dependener was buried in the Old Auburn Cemetery on Feb. 23 and is featured in the Old Auburn Cemetery Tour and the Old Auburn Ghost Tours.
Photo: Deputy Frank “Big Dip” Dependener, c. 1925
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