Assassination Trivia

[RJNorton]

Sorry, Anita and Susan, but neither answer is correct. I think I shall just give the answer.

I really cannot think of a clue that would not give it away. I actually find the answer quite strange. On this forum we have debated whether Booth broke his fibula in his leap at Ford's or when his horse stumbled and fell on him.

As with the previous question, I used the April 1957 edition of Lincoln Lore. The April 17, 1865, Indiana State Sentinel contains an article entitled "Booth Captured."

"It is reported that Booth was captured this morning. The story is that his horse threw him and injured him so severely that he was obliged to seek relief in a house on the Seventh Street road (Washington)."

Although the story is false in that Booth was not captured on April 17th, I thought it strange when a horse-related injury was mentioned as early as April 17th.

Does anyone know when it first became public knowledge that Booth's horse may have taken a bad step and injured the rider? Isn't April 17th too early for this information to have been in a newspaper?