Bolton Ford -- What REALLY happened there in 1961!

[Jim Hargrove]

The Bolton Ford Incident

On January 20, 1961, while Lee Harvey Oswald was in Minsk, two men visited the Bolton Ford dealership in New Orleans. They spoke with Assistant Manager Oscar Deslatte and said they were interested in purchasing 10 Ford Econoline Trucks. As one of the men discussed the purchase with Deslatte the other man, who identified himself as Joseph Moore, made a list of the equipment they desired on the trucks.

Deslatte went to his boss, truck manager Fred Sewell, and told him about the two men who wanted to purchase trucks and said they represented the "Free Democrats of Cuba or some such organization." Sewell told Deslatte to give the men a bid of $75 over their cost for the trucks. Deslatte and Sewell returned to Deslatte's desk and wrote out a bid form to Joseph Moore. As Deslatte was filling out the bid form, Joseph Moore and the other man began talking to both Deslatte and Sewell.

When Moore saw that Deslatte had written his name on the bid form he asked that the name be changed to "Friends of Democratic Cuba." Moore's friend looked· at the form and said, "By the way, you'd better put my name down there because I'm the man handling the money." When Deslatte asked, "What's your name?" the man replied, "Lee Oswald."

Sewell described Lee Oswald as, "5-foot-6 or 5-foot-7, thin, about 140 pounds, and thought he needed a meal and a haircut. He recalled that Oswald was clean but "wasn't well dressed and he wasn't shabby." Sewell described the second man, who identified himself as Joseph Moore as, "Kind of heavy-set ..... not overly, but well built ..... he was curly haired ..... he had a scar over his left eye ..... olive complexioned and seemed to be educated ..... he had a Cuban accent and looked like a Cuban."

Deslatte gave the original bid form to "Lee Oswald" and kept a copy for his files, which he gave to the FBI following the assassination.

The purchaser was listed as the "Friends of Democratic Cuba," 402 St. Charles Street, New Orleans, LA., phone number JA-5-0763.43 After talking with Deslate for over an hour the two men took the original bid form and left.

NOTE: The Friends of Democratic Cuba was incorporated on January 9, 1961 in
Louisiana. The address of 402 St. Charles Street was listed as vacant in the 1960, 1961
and 1962 New Orleans City directories.

Remarkable about the “Friends of Democratic Cuba” were the names of two of its officers. The image shown below is a composite scan from the beginning and the end of the Louisiana Articles of Incorporation for Friends of Democratic Cuba, Inc.

 

W. Guy Banister worked at the infamous 544 Camp Street address in New Orleans, made famous by the Jim Garrison investigation.

Gerard Tugague employed Oswald briefly in late 1955 and early 1956 at the 300 Sanlin Building in New Orleans.

On our website John Armstrong wrote, “This well-known incident was cited in Warren Commission Document 75 p. 677 and the House Select Committee on Assassinations Vol. X; FBI 67-39565-66. For years some JFK researchers believed that an impostor was using Oswald's name while the alleged future assassin was in Russia. As more and more examples surfaced it became clear that another man, using the name "Lee Harvey Oswald," was associating with anti-Castro Cubans and CIA operatives in the southern United States during the very years the Warren Commission placed him in the Soviet Union. This man was southern born LEE Oswald, and is a clear indication that both Oswalds were active in American intelligence operations.”There are other examples of LEE Oswald operating in the U.S. while HARVEY Oswald was in Russia. For an overview, see THIS PAGE on HarveyandLee.net.

Below is a copy of the FBI report covering this incident. Compare it to the Garrison interview excerpted above.  For more information about why the FBI report is misleading, see below.

As we’ll see immediately below, by 12/19/63 the FBI had already confirmed through a third source that “Lee Harvey Oswald” said he “was trying to get trucks for Cuba” and that Oswald had contacted Bolton Ford assistant truck manager Oscar W. Deslatte, who worked directly below truck manager Fred Sewell.  The FBI apparently tried to bury the Bolton Ford incident, but none of its members, including J. Edgar Hoover, could have predicted that Fred Sewell would be interviewed by James Alcock and Jim Garrison on May 2, 1967.

Sewell told Garrison and Alcock that he believed that one of the two men who visited the Bolton dealership in 1961 had used the name “Lee Oswald.”  Sewell then described what happened immediately after the assassination of JFK: “So when the President was assassinated and the name came out, OSCAR come in either the next morning or the morning after and said, ‘Say, Fred, do you remember those two guys who was in here from Cuba trying to get some buses cheap?’ and I said, ‘Yes.’  He said, ‘I think that one of those men was the one who killed the President.’ I said, ‘Aw your kidding’ and he said ‘We’ve got a piece of paper around here somewhere with a bid on it.’ He went and hauled that piece of paper out and the[n] OSCAR called the FBI.”

Sewell went on to describe how two young FBI agents came to the dealership and collected the bid that contained the name “Oswald” and “Friends of Democratic Cuba.”  “They took two pieces of plastic and they scooped it up between it and they said have you touched this and we said, well, I guess so.”   Sewell said repeatedly they they weren’t shown any pictures of Oswald by the FBI agents, but that the agents informed them that “OSWALD wasn’t even in the country at that time.  He couldn’t be.”

Sewell went on to say that the Oswald he saw at the Bolton dealership “appears to be the same man” he saw on television after the President was shot.

By Dec. 19, 1963, the SAC in New Orleans was already confirming directly to J. Edgar Hoover himself that a man named Charles Pearson, who was office manager at Graham Paper Company, had stated that his friend Oscar W. Deslatte, assistant manager of truck sales at Bolton Ford, had been contacted by Oswald about buying trucks.  Worse yet, the whole process of investigating the incident was prompted by a phone call from none other than Carlos Bringieur, the man who pretended to fight and then debate on the radio with “Lee Harvey Oswald” in August 1963 in New Orleans.

Above material quoted or adapted from Harvey and Lee by John Armstrong and includes document reproductions from the John Armstrong Collection at Baylor University.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Jim Hargrove
Better graphics

[Steve Thomas]

14 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

The Bolton Ford Incident

 

 

 

 

 

By Dec. 19, 1963, the SAC in New Orleans was already confirming directly to J. Edgar Hoover himself that a man named Charles Pearson, who was office manager at Graham Paper Company, had stated that his friend Oscar W. Deslatte, assistant manager of truck sales at Bolton Ford, had been contacted by Oswald about buying trucks.  Worse yet, the whole process of investigating the incident was prompted by a phone call from none other than Carlos Bringieur, the man who pretended to fight and then debate on the radio with “Lee Harvey Oswald” in August 1963 in New Orleans.

Above material quoted or adapted from Harvey and Lee by John Armstrong and includes document reproductions from the John Armstrong Collection at Baylor University.

Jim,

Just to round things out a little, Mary Cusco was the wife of Jose Manuel Cusco Delpi, the only MDC delegate to New Orleans.

FBI 105-82555 Oswald HQ File, Section 40

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=57719#relPageId=88&search=Cusco

NARA Record Number: 124-10219-10113

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=129491#relPageId=23&search=Cusco

It's interesting that that FBI file 105-82555 says that the truck dealers turned him down

Steve Thomas

Edited January 24, 2022 by Steve Thomas

[John Butler]

A confirmation that an Oswald was trying to buy trucks at Bolton Ford.

[Jim Hargrove]

6 hours ago, Steve Thomas said:

Jim,

It's interesting that that FBI file 105-82555 says that the truck dealers turned him down

Steve Thomas

I think the FBI just wanted this whole thing to go away.  In that 1967 interview with Alcock and Garrison, Sewell said, “There wasn’t any money being transacted, there was just a bid.  If there had been money transacted or if they had given us an order, we would have made them sign it, then we would have had their signatures.  But I don’t believe they touched it.”

Then Sewell said the FBI didn’t show him or Deslatte any pictures of Oswald or anyone else.  I’ll believe Fred Sewell over that FBI report in a heartbeat.

2 hours ago, John Butler said:

A confirmation that an Oswald was trying to buy trucks at Bolton Ford.

What makes these 1961 sightings of LHO in the U.S. while another was in Russia so believable, at least to me, is that they were all in direct contrast to the pro-Castro persona being created for Oswald immediately after the assassination.  Strange that they suggest Oswald was working against Castro at the very time all those pro-Castro stories were being told, eh?

[Steve Thomas]

13 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Strange that they suggest Oswald was working against Castro at the very time all those pro-Castro stories were being told, eh?

Jim,

Strangest thing I've ever seen.

One day he's going down to Alabama to give a talk to a Jesuit College, and the next day he shows up at Carlos Bringuier's offering to help train the exiles.

One day he's writing to the FPFCC, and the next day, somebody calling himself Oswald shows up on a dock in Miami trying to join a raiding party.

One day he shows up at Sylvia Odio's, and the next day, her uncle tells her, "Don't trust him, he's FBI".

Strangest thing I've ever seen.

Steve Thomas

[Jim Hargrove]

9 hours ago, Steve Thomas said:

Jim,

Strangest thing I've ever seen.

One day he's going down to Alabama to give a talk to a Jesuit College, and the next day he shows up at Carlos Bringuier's offering to help train the exiles.

One day he's writing to the FPFCC, and the next day, somebody calling himself Oswald shows up on a dock in Miami trying to join a raiding party.

One day he shows up at Sylvia Odio's, and the next day, her uncle tells her, "Don't trust him, he's FBI".

Strangest thing I've ever seen.

Steve Thomas

Ignoring the issue of multiple Oswalds (and/or deliberate impersonations), at least some of this can be explained by viewing “Oswald” as a U.S. intel operative who sometimes openly supported anti-Castro efforts and sometimes infiltrated leftist organizations by claiming commie sympathies.  All in a day’s work for a spy.

The full scope of the Oswald issues goes far beyond this, though.

[Denny Zartman]

On 1/23/2022 at 8:25 PM, Jim Hargrove said:

Sewell described the second man, who identified himself as Joseph Moore as, "Kind of heavy-set ..... not overly, but well built ..... he was curly haired .....

Doesn't this sound similar to the description of one of the men Acquilla Clemons reported seeing at the scene of J.D. Tippit's killing?

[Stu Wexler]

I do not have time at the moment to go into it, but I have presented on this before. The "Oswald" in the Bolton Ford incident was very likely Charles Waters a hanger-on with anti-Castro militants. He is a very interesting character. That said this does not have to be some elaborate plot. My guess:  Tujague got pissed that a former employee went to the commies and those in his circle were not opposed to using it as some sort of inside joke. I do think it could have become something else by 63, including involving Waters.

[Jim Hargrove]

14 hours ago, Denny Zartman said:

Doesn't this sound similar to the description of one of the men Acquilla Clemons reported seeing at the scene of J.D. Tippit's killing?

It's a pretty generalized description, and the Tippit witnesses were simply all over the place in their descriptions.  Anything else to go on?

13 hours ago, Stu Wexler said:

I do not have time at the moment to go into it, but I have presented on this before. The "Oswald" in the Bolton Ford incident was very likely Charles Waters a hanger-on with anti-Castro militants. He is a very interesting character. That said this does not have to be some elaborate plot. My guess:  Tujague got pissed that a former employee went to the commies and those in his circle were not opposed to using it as some sort of inside joke. I do think it could have become something else by 63, including involving Waters.

Are you referring to the Charles A. Waters who was a Marine guard at the U.S. Embassy in Uruguay at the time E. Howard Hunt was there?  Seems hard to believe that this was all a Tujague joke.  Do you have evidence to support that?  Both Deslatte and Sewell apparently believed the man they met at Bolton Ford resembled LHO and he clearly used the name “Lee Oswald.” 

[Jim Hargrove]

Mr. Wexler,

Here are both pages of the most complete report I’m aware of, declassified by the CIA in 1997, about Charles A. Waters.  If you know about another report, I'd love to see it!

Perhaps you can find a few minutes to once again remake your case that Charles A. Waters was the “Lee Oswald” at Bolton Ford in New Orleans in 1961.  I’d REALLY appreciate it!!
 

[Sandy Larsen]

On 1/23/2022 at 6:25 PM, Jim Hargrove said:

Gerard Tugague employed Oswald briefly in late 1955 and early 1956 at the 300 Sanlin Building in New Orleans.

FYI Jim, Tugague is spelled "Tujauge" in John's book.

[Sandy Larsen]

On 1/23/2022 at 6:25 PM, Jim Hargrove said:

Sewell described the second man, who identified himself as Joseph Moore as, "Kind of heavy-set ..... not overly, but well built ..... he was curly haired ..... he had a scar over his left eye ..... olive complexioned and seemed to be educated ..... he had a Cuban accent and looked like a Cuban."

 

I believe that "Joseph Moore" is the same person Jim Garrison referred to as "Shepherd" in his notes. Here is how Richard Billings summarizes what Garrison said about Shepherd and Oswald:

Garrison says Oswald almost definitely can be placed in the Carousel . . .Check statement of Harvey [sic] Wade (Vol. XXV, CE 2370) . . . Wade says Oswald was sitting with a white male, 30 to 32, stocky, dark, 200 pounds, etc. . . . The Spanish trace continued . . . Wade made his statement on Nov. 26 . . . Said he saw Oswald in club Nov. 10 . . . Furthermore, the mind reading MC, Bill de Mar . . . Also in CE 2370 . . . He says a photographer snapped picture of table, whereupon Ruby grabbed film and tore it up . . .

More on Spanish trace . . . Giant says the shepherd has a one-inch scar on left eyebrow . . . He was also seen by Bringuier and Miguel Cruz at Maison Blanche when Oswald passing out leaflets . . . He was wearing a coat and tie and sunglasses . . . He was taking pictures of Oswald . . . And was this not the guy driving the tan station wagon?

You can actually see Shepherd (his back side) in a film of Oswald handing out leaflets.

I believe that "Joseph Moore" and "Shepherd" are none other than David Sanchez Morales.

 

 

You can even make out a scar over his left eye, though I'm sure it was more noticeable in person.

 

See Harvey Wade's Testimony, CE 2370:

http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh25/pages/WC_Vol25_0190a.gif

Edited January 27, 2022 by Sandy Larsen

[Jim Hargrove]

18 hours ago, Sandy Larsen said:

 

I believe that "Joseph Moore" is the same person Jim Garrison referred to as "Shepherd" in his notes. Here is how Richard Billings summarizes what Garrison said about Shepherd and Oswald:

Garrison says Oswald almost definitely can be placed in the Carousel . . .Check statement of Harvey [sic] Wade (Vol. XXV, CE 2370) . . . Wade says Oswald was sitting with a white male, 30 to 32, stocky, dark, 200 pounds, etc. . . . The Spanish trace continued . . . Wade made his statement on Nov. 26 . . . Said he saw Oswald in club Nov. 10 . . . Furthermore, the mind reading MC, Bill de Mar . . . Also in CE 2370 . . . He says a photographer snapped picture of table, whereupon Ruby grabbed film and tore it up . . .

More on Spanish trace . . . Giant says the shepherd has a one-inch scar on left eyebrow . . . He was also seen by Bringuier and Miguel Cruz at Maison Blanche when Oswald passing out leaflets . . . He was wearing a coat and tie and sunglasses . . . He was taking pictures of Oswald . . . And was this not the guy driving the tan station wagon?

You can actually see Shepherd (his back side) in a film of Oswald handing out leaflets.

I believe that "Joseph Moore" and "Shepherd" are none other than David Sanchez Morales.

 

 

You can even make out a scar over his left eye, though I'm sure it was more noticeable in person.

 

See Harvey Wade's Testimony, CE 2370:

http://www.aarclibrary.org/publib/jfk/wc/wcvols/wh25/pages/WC_Vol25_0190a.gif

Fascinating post!  Megathanks! The FBI report you linked above on Wade’s recollection sure makes it sound like Morales was one of two men who accompanied Oswald at the Carousel Club.

“The number two man is described as a white male, 30-32 years old, 200 pounds, 5 feet 10 inches, stocky build, long black hair, dark complexion, oval face, and Mexican or Spanish in appearance.  He had numerous bumps on his face and was believed to have a one-inch scar in the eyebrow of his left eye.”

Again, that sure sounds like Morales.  It would be remarkable if this Agency assassin was actually present with an Oswald at Bolton Ford, an Oswald at Shaw’s NOLA International Trade Mart, AND an Oswald the Carousel Club. More ties of the Oswald project to the Agency, especially David Phillips, and an indication that Morales worked with both Oswalds.

And, of course, this adds to the evidence that while one LHO was in Russia, another was active in the U.S. in Florida, Louisiana, and even New York City.

Some researchers disagree, but I still think this photo shows LEE Harvey Oswald at Ruby’s club.

[Jonathan Cohen]

3 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Some researchers disagree, but I still think this photo shows LEE Harvey Oswald at Ruby’s club.

That person looks nothing like Lee Harvey Oswald.

[Jim Hargrove]

3 hours ago, Jonathan Cohen said:

That person looks nothing like Lee Harvey Oswald.

He looks quite a bit like LEE Harvey Oswald: