It was at this time that the guard towers and barbed wire fences were built. There were a few escape attempts before and after the incident in November 1942; the Germans "climbed fences, walked off work details, or dug tunnels", but all of the escapees were caught and returned to the camp. After a while, the Germans likely felt that escaping was futile because of the remoteness of the area. Apart from Mexico, which is over 100 miles south of the Fort Stanton, there was nowhere to escape to. Even still, four men attempted to make the journey. On the night of November 1, 1942, Bruno Dathe, Willy Michel, Hermann Runne, and Johannes Grantz, managed to sneak out of the camp, using the darkness as cover, and make their way south towards border. Their absence from the camp was soon discovered though, so a large manhunt conducted by the police in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico, began. The Germans did not get very far: On November 3, a rancher and member of a posse named Bob Boyce spotted the escapees while he was guarding Gabaldon Canyon. Boyce immediately sent word to the main body of the posse, which was under the command of Deputy Joe Nelson and consisted of about twenty-five men. After a little trailing, the posse found the Germans about fourteen miles south of the camp, on a hill inside the Lincoln National Forest. According to contemporary newspapers, the Germans were either bathing in a stream or sleeping on the grassy hill when the possemen rode up to them on horseback. One of the escapees was armed with an automatic pistol. There was a brief shootout, resulting in the wounding of one of the Germans, but all were detained and quickly taken back to Fort Stanton. The following was reported in the November 3, 1942 edition of the "Tucson Daily Citizen":  The following appeared in the November 4, 1942, edition of the "Montreal Gazette":