The West: Bringing In A Badman

Crafty, elusive, quick enough on the draw to gun down two Idaho game wardens who tried to arrest him for poaching in 1981, Claude Dallas Jr. was a surprisingly easy catch last week. Unarmed and toting a bag of groceries, Dallas, 37, was surrounded by FBI agents outside a convenience store in Riverside, Calif., ending a manhunt that began when he escaped from an Idaho prison last Easter.

The captive barely resembled the mountain man who had become something of a legend. His shaggy beard had been replaced by a trim mustache, and agents speculated that he had undergone facial surgery. Authorities found him by shadowing Danny Martinez, a cowhand pal. "We set up a net around Mr. Martinez, and Dallas walked into it," said an FBI agent. In Idaho, Dallas faces an additional five years for prison escape, tacked onto his 30-year sentence for manslaughter.