The McLaury Brother's Tombstone Story pt. II

Table of Contents A Busy Month for Wyatt Sultry Sadie vs. Tombstone Testosterone The Benson Stage Hold-up Let's Make a Diehl Skeleton & Guadalupe Canyon Massacres The Bisbee Stage Hold-up Bountiful Breakfast Before Blazing Bullets

HISTORY PAGES PROFILES

A Busy Month for Wyatt

January 1881 was an extremely busy month for Wyatt Earp. Jan. 4, elections were held for position in the soon to be County of Cochise. Both Wyatt Earp and John Behan were running for the County Sheriff's office. Apparently, Behan was the favorite, but Wyatt's reputation from the Kansas cowtowns and recent events carried weight. To help cement his position, Behan offered Wyatt the job of under-sheriff, the same type of job Earp had performed in Dodge, if he backed off and allow Behan unmnay contested access to the sheriff job. Wyatt agreed and back out of the race but, apparently, Behan reneged on the deal, because he wound up later appointing Democrat and editor of the Nugget, Harry Woods. Jan. 16, a tinhorn gambler named Johnny "Behind the Deuce" O'Roarke shot down a well-like mining engineer in Charleston. A mob of miners, led by millionaire and Tombstone co-founder Richard Gird, soon formed intent on exacting a little vigilante justice upon Johnny. In the meantime, the local constable high-tailed it with Johnny B the D to Tombstone. With the mob hot on their heels, the constable and Johnny allegedly came across Virgil Earp astride on of his prize racing horses. The frightened killer was transferred behind Virgil and they made a sprint to the law in Tombstone. According to the Jan. 17 Epitaph, the Charleston mobs, along with a considerable amount of Tombstone citizens by then, faced County Sheriff John Behan, City Marshal Ben Sippy, US Deputy Marshal Virgil Earp and "assisted by a strong posse well armed." The article went on to relate the "sound judgement" on the part of Marshal Sippy prevented the mob from rushing the lawmen and lynching Johnny Behind the Deuce. Eventually, the mob dispersed and Johnny B the D was taken to Tucson for trial. Unfortunately, Johnny escaped before judgement and was never heard from again. That's the documented, newspaper story (per Clum's Epitaph). Another account of the matter was attributed to George Parsons, not in his journal, but in a newspaper article twenty years later. In the article, Parsons claimed that after Virgil rode into town with O'Roarke, he delivered him to Wyatt. And it was Wyatt who almost single-handedly stood of the entire mob. As the blood-thirsty crowd edged forward, Wyatt stood his ground, picked out the leaders of the mob and said they would be shot down before he would be overtaken. At this threat, the leaders backed down and the mob lost its impetus.13 The rift further widened between the cowboys and Wyatt in mid January, because of a horse. The Earp's were known for their knowledge of horseflesh and owned several racing horses. Sometime in late 1880, one of Wyatt's prize horses, was stolen. About the first of the year, Wyatt was tipped off that his horse had been seen in Charleston, in the possession of Billy Clanton. Wyatt, with Doc Holliday, rode to Charleston to retrieve it. Also on the road to Charleston was Johnny Behan, on his way to deliver a summons to Ike Clanton (for the ballot box tampering in November). Behan claimed to have seen two riders speed past on the rode and that he had thought one to be Virgil (later he realized it was Wyatt). Earp and Holliday, arriving well ahead of Behan, found the pilfered pony in a stable and then confronted Billy Clanton. Harsh words were spoken. More than likely, Billy had his brother and several cowboys at his back. Allegedly, Wyatt warned the cowboys that County Sheriff Behan was riding to Charleston with a strong posse with him. Eventually, Wyatt recovered his horse and returned to Tombstone without making any charges against Clanton. When Behan finally made it to Charleston, the cowboys were all riled up. When he finally found Ike, he was told he came within a hair of being shot. According to Behan's testimony in the Earp - Holliday trial, this incident was the reason Behan chose not to give Wyatt the job of Under-Sheriff. In late January, Wyatt expanded his growing business ventures when he took over the faro game from a tinhorn gambler named John Tyler. The same Tyler that Holliday had gotten in a fight with earlier. Tyler was an abusive bully at the Oriental, running the faro game. Wyatt, seeing an opportunity, perhaps a little justification for Holliday at the same time, turned Tyler out on to the street and told him never to come back. With that, Wyatt bought into a quarter interest at the Oriental Saloon. With a slice of the Tombstone gambling racket, Wyatt needed people he could trust to manage his tables. And shortly after dispatches to Dodge City were sent, Luke Short and later, Bat Masterson arrived in Town. Wyatt had much of the old group that had worked so well in Dodge City and was on his way to gaining the political clout he required. Barring any misfortune, Tombstone was ripe for the picking.

Sultry Sadie vs. Tombstone Testosterone

About the only thing this true-life horse opera needed now was some sexual tension. And Josephine "Sadie" Marcus was more than able to provide that. A young San Francisco beauty in her late teens or early twenties, Josephine had caught the eye of John Behan on her first visit to Tombstone around 1879. So much so, that Behan went back to San Francisco and convinced Josephine to come back with him to Tombstone and marry him. For a few months in the Spring of 1881, Josephine shared John's house and went by the title, Mrs. Behan. But apparently, with no marriage in sight, and rumors of Johnny's philandering ways about town, Josephine left Behan's house and had to fend for herself. One account supposedly mentioned by Stuart Lake to a book editor, that Josephine did a stint as a "sporting lady" (colloquial at the time for "prostitute") at this time to support herself. It was around this time, Summer 1881, that Josephine caught the eye of Wyatt Earp. Wyatt, with his wife Mattie Blaylock sitting at home, was obviously smitten with the young Josephine and began courting her. In the aftermath of Morgan's assassination, Mattie, who may or may not actually been Wyatt's wife legally, left for California with the rest of the Earp family. But, it's believed that she already knew she had lost Wyatt to another woman. Josephine was noted to have returned to San Francisco before or about the same time. Perhaps it was intentional on Josephines part, to attract the attentions of a political rival of Johnny in order to exact a little vengeance. That alone could cause thoughts of murder between men. Regardless of how the two met, three things are certain; this love-triangle was a major element contributing to the heightened emotions that eventually culminated in bloodshed, Wyatt's previous wife, Mattie, died alone from an apparent suicide, and Wyatt and Josephine would spend the next four decades together.

The Benson Stage Hold-up

On March 15, 1881, a botched stagecoach robbery wound up with the murder of two innocent citizens. The Kinnear Stage lines was making its routine trip to Benson with experience driver, Bud Philpot at the reigns and Bob Paul (still awaiting the recount of the Pima County Sheriff position) riding as shotgun messenger. According to testimonies, Philpot asked to switched positions with Paul due to some intestinal discomfort. A few miles out of Contention, armed and masked highwaymen stepped out of shadows and commanded the stage to stop. Philpot spurred the horses into a gallop as Paul and the robbers began shooting. In the melee, Philpot was shot and pitched forward, carrying the reigns with him. It took Bob Paul another mile to get the reigns and get the frightened horses under control. When he finally stopped, he discovered a passenger, Peter Roerig had been mortally wounded also. Paul high-tailed it to Benson, but Roerig succumbed to his injuries, regardless. Paul sent dispatches to the law in Tombstone and immediately returned to the crime scene, himself. Back in Tombstone, a posse made up of Cochise County Sheriff Behan, US Deputy Marshal Virgil Earp, Wells Fargo Agent Marshal Williams, Wyatt, Morgan and Bat Masterson, was quickly formed to go after the murderers. Meeting Bob Paul at the scene of the crime, the posse followed the robbers trail to a local ranch. There, they found a man named Luther King hiding from them. They were able to coerce a confession from King that he had only been there to hold the horses and that the other three men, Billy Leonard, Jim Crane and Harry Head, had done the shooting. The posse split up, with Behan and Williams escorting King back to Tombstone, and the rest resumed the chase. After nine days in pursuit, Virgil telegraphed Behan for fresh mounts. But Behan, along with Billy Breakenridge, Buckskin Frank Leslie and Ed Gorman, arrived too late for Wyatt and Bat. Their horses gave out and the two were forced walk 18 miles back to Tombstone. The refreshed posse continued their chase. The trail led them over the New Mexico border but the stagecoach killers were able to elude them. After almost three weeks on the trail, the posse was spent. Unable to replace their horses, they had reached a desperate condition in the desert and were forced to give up. Many of the horses had given out and things began to get desperate. With fresher mounts, Behan, Breakenridge and Leslie headed on to a ranch some hundred miles away and immediately sent back provisions to the rest of the posse. The posse then tried to secure fresh horses at Galeyville, but were unsuccessful. They were finally forced to give and head back to Tombstone, empty-handed. While the posse was still out, emotions in Tombstone were at a fevered pitch. Four days after Behan placed Luther King in custody, he escaped. The new Under-sheriff, Harry Woods, claimed that someone had deliberately unlocked a secured back door to the jail. And while Woods was in the front of the building, King walked out the back, where a friend was waiting with a horse. After such despicable murders, followed by the only suspect escaping, the townsfolk were in an uproar. Every cowboy and man with a reputation in town was a suspect. Rumors of necktie parties sponsored by the Tombstone Vigilance Committee were floating through the streets. One rumor rose above the others, that Doc Holliday had been involved. And with his name, the Earps were mentioned. About a month later, a drunken Big Nose Kate, Holliday's on again - off again lover, implicated Doc in the robbery and killing of Bud Philpot. She later recanted, claiming she had been drunk and coerced, and the charges against Holliday were dropped. Virgil Earp and John Behan may or may not have known, as they led the posse back into Tombstone, just how much the rift had widened between their two factions.

Let's Make a Diehl

Spring turned to summer and the murderers of Philpot and Roerig were still at large. Wyatt, thinking ahead to the November elections for the Cochise County Sheriff job, claimed he devised a plan to capture the three bandits. One day Wyatt arranged to meet with Ike Clanton, Frank McLaury and fellow rancher Joe Hill in the back yard of the Oriental Saloon. There, Wyatt told his guests of his designs on the Sheriff job and what the capture of Head, Crane and Leonard would do for that aim. He offered Ike, Frank and Hill the reward money, $1200.00 for each bandit, if they could find and arrange for Wyatt to capture them. According to Earp, Clanton first wanted assurances that they would get the reward money whether or not the bandits were captured dead or alive. Wyatt said he didn't know the answer and would find out, then get back with them. Wyatt went to Wells Fargo agent Marshal Williams and requested he send for confirmation on the conditions of the reward. In June, 1881, Williams received a telegram from Wells Fargo that the reward would be paid, dead or alive. Earp met again with Clanton and the deal was set. Hill would ride out to where Head, Crane and Leonard were holed up and lure them near the McLaury ranch on a fake tip of a stage carrying a bundle of cash. There, Wyatt would surprise the robbers and take them in. But no sooner was the plot set, then it began to unravel. On June 10, Head and Leonard were killed by the Haslet brothers while trying to rustle their cows. The Haslet Brothers, themselves were killed in a shootout. It was suspected that the third member of the Benson Stage robbery, Jim Crane, along with some friends were the ones who killed the Haslets. To further aggravate, the situation, a drunken Marshal Williams would point a finger at Ike in the involvement of the plan, sending Clanton into a panicked rage towards Earp. It was also during this time the Earps secured a much-desired position. On June 6, City Marshal Ben Sippy took a two-week leave of absence, putting Virgil Earp in charge. Sippy was never to be heard of again. Talk that Sippy had embezzled city funds and was running from creditors as the reason for his departure. Virgil was appointed acting City Marshal. A vital section of the town's power was now firmly in Earp hands. June ended in flames when Tombstones first fire erupted at the Arcade Saloon. By the time the fire had run it's course, most of the business district, up to $300,000 worth of property, had been destroyed. Virgil Earp was noted (by Clum's Epitaph) with preventing any lot jumping in the aftermath and on June 28th, he was rewarded with the City Marshal position, receiving unanimous endorsement from the City Council.

Skeleton and Guadelupe Canyon Massacres

In the aftermath of Leonard and Head being killed, the alleged deal between Wyatt and Clanton seemed to have fizzled. About a month later a series of events occurred that both killed off the last fugitive of the Benson Stage murders and add fire to the growing feud between the Earps and the Clantons. As the news of the bonanza in Tombstone grew, so too did the population. With the good people arriving daily came also the dregs of the West. Criminal activities had become widespread. While the highwaymen activities were of major concern, rustling, for the most part, was still considered a Mexican problem and largely over-looked by the Arizonians. But the "cowboy depredations", as they came to be called, grew in both ferocity and frequency. In late July, 1881, a group of Mexican smugglers with a mule train loaded merchandise and profit, were making their way through one of the many canyon smuggler paths between Arizona and Mexico. As they were making their way through Skeleton Canyon, they were ambushed by a large group of bandits. Many of the smugglers were killed as the bandits made off with their booty. The remaining smugglers were able to escape and returned to their home and made complaints to the local military commandant. Shortly, word spread all the way to Mexican Governor who wrote official complaints to the U.S. and Arizona Territory. Political pressure at the highest government levels were now being focused on Chochise County. Back in Tombstone, reports were filtering in, implicating many cowboys in the massacre. Wyatt Earp would state at the Earp / Holliday trial that the Clantons, Frank and Tom were involved. Legend has it that the cowboys spent their booty on liquor, ladies and poker in a matter of days. Mexico was looking for justification. They found it not two weeks after the Skeleton Canyon massacre along another smuggler path through Guadelupe Canyon. On August 13, group of ranchers and cowboys were bedded down for the night in Guadelupe Canyon with a herd they were taking to Tombstone. The herd was reportedly owned by rancher Billy Lang, with Charley Snow and Billy Byers as herders. Along with the with the Lang outfit was Old Man Clanton, Dixie Lee "Dick" Gray (son of Tombstone Townlot Co. owner, Mike Gray), Harry Ernshaw and Benson stage murder suspect Jim Crane. According to the account given by John P. Gray, his brother, Dixie Lee, had come in separately and invited to bed down in the camp, Ernshaw had been on a milk cow buying trip and Crane was on his way to Tombstone turn himself in.14 Just before daybreak one of the cowboys noticed the herd was unsettled and, thinking a bear was skulking in the bushes, went to investigate. He instead found men setting up an ambush on the camp and was shot down. Old Man Clanton, who had been up getting breakfast ready, was shot and fell into the fire and Lang was shot where he stood, but was able to return fire briefly. Dick Gray and Jim Crane were shot dead before they were able to get out of their bedrolls. At the first of the fight Harry Ernshaw high-tailed out of the camp as fast as he could run. The last member of the party, Billy Byers, was the only other to survive. He had taken a gutshot but, was able to move himself out of sight for a time. He watched as the ambushers, Mexican soldiers, were stripping the dead of all of their clothes and was able to remove his before being spotted. As the soldiers passed, Byers played dead and they let him be, thinking the body had already been fleeced. With a bad stomach wound, he set out looking for help. Ernshaw was able to find the John P. Gray's ranch and, with the help of some local miners, set out to the canyon to retrieve the dead. Miraculously, they came across a delirious Billy Byers staggering across the desert. Byers would eventually recover from his wounds. In the aftermath of the two massacres, rumors spread across the region of armies of cowboys being banded to exact retribution across the border. In response, the Mexican government increased their troops on the border. This effectively choked off the thriving rustling business, forcing the criminal element to try to continue their living by increasing cattle theft from the Arizonian ranchers. The Guadelupe Canyon massacre also had a large impact on the growing fued between Ike and Wyatt. With the death of his father, Ike Clanton found himself head of the Clanton enterprises. As the deal between he and Wyatt unraveled, he grew concerned that his pals would hear of his betrayal. And with the death of Crane, Wyatt had lost his chance for using the Benson stagecoach murderers capture as a platform for launching his bid for sheriff.

The Bisbee Stage Hold-up

On the night of September 8, the Sandy Bob Stage en route from Tombstone to Bisbee, was held up by two masked desperadoes. As the bandits were fleecing stage and passengers, the driver some overheard distinctive slang from one, calling the cash in the Wells Fargo strongbox as "sugar". The next day a posse left Tombstone consisting of Deputy County Sheriffs Billy Breakenridge and Dave Neagle, Wyatt and Morgan, Wells Fargo Agents Marshal Williams and W.F.&Co. undercover agent Fred Dodge. From the slang used by one bandit at the stage hold-up, the main suspect was Frank Stillwell, former deputy sherrif to Behan. At the scene of the crime, they came across a bootheel. The posse followed the trial to Bisbee, and upon investigation discovered that Frank Stilwell just had the local shoemaker replace the heels of his boots, and that the heel taken off matched the one found at the scene of the crime. They also discovered that Stillwell had ridden into town with his livery stable partner, Pete Spencer. The two were apprehended and escorted back to Tombstone. Members of the posse would later claim that Stillwell and Spence vowed revenge. In Tombstone, they went before Judge Wells Spicer. The defendants were able to provide alibis and charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. It was about this time that Frank McLaury had a verbal confrontation with Virgil Earp. One account has the reason for the argument that the arrest of Stillwell and Spence was some sort of insult to the cowboys, to which Frank took offense. Virgil himself, would place the blame of the confrontation due to a notice in the paper of the formation of a vigilance committee to hunt down and lynch the cowboy element. Frank accused Virgil of being part of it. Virgil denied the accusation and asked who had told him this and Frank said it had been Johnny Behan. Frank then allegedly told Virgil, "I'll tell you, it makes no difference what I do, I never will surrender my arms to you. I'd rather die fighting than be strangled."15 After the confrontation with Frank Mclaury, Virgil had occasion to warn Billy Breakenridge of the threat made to him and the others in the posse. According to Breakenridge, Virgil advised him to shoot the Mclaury's on sight. Breakenridge laughed this off and went on to recount his next meeting with one of the Mclaury brothers. "A few days later I met Tom McLaury in town and, in conversation with him, told him I was going to start for Galeyville that afternoon. He invited me to ride out with him and spend the night at his ranch. I did so, and in talking about the arrest of the cowboys, he said he was sorry for them, but it was none of his fight and he would have nothing to do with it, as he had troubles of his own. As long as I was in the sheriff's office I never knew of any warrant being issued for any of the McLaurys or Clantons. If there had been I would have known, as I served most of the warrants outside of Tombstone."19

Bountiful Breakfast Before Blazing Bullets

As September gave way to October, an interesting event took place at the McLaury ranch. In a strange quirk of fate, the Earps would break bread at the McLaury ranch in sort of a "Last Breakfast", just 20 days before the gunfight on Fremont Street. While the Tombstone teapot was still brewing, things at the San Carlo Reservation had boiled over. On October 1, 1881, some 150 White Mountain and Chiricahua Apache warriors and 250 women and children were led off the reservation by their leaders, Juh, George, Bonito, Geronimo and Cochise's son, Naiche, bound for the Mexican border. Soon, dispatches were coming into Tombstone from the north with reports of theft, running fights and massacres. At Henry C. Hooker's Sierra Bonita ranch, 135 horses were stolen and 12 more butchered for food. The Tombstone Daily Nugget, Oct. 4 paper ran side-by-side articles of the apparent reason for the reservation Apache outbreak and ensuing attacks on white settlers. In the first article, the Nugget accused San Carlos Indian agent Col. J.C. Tiffany of working with the Southern Pacific Railroad to provoke the Apaches to go on the war path in order to take reservation land for their own profit. "The fact of the matter is, Agent Tiffany and the military have determined from the beginning to make the Indians fight. Every movement on their strength to our conviction that both are in the nefarious 'job' with the Southern Pacific railroad, to force the Indians into a state of insurrection, drive them from the Reservation, if possible, through the aid of the Government from the Territory, and thereby gain the immense coal beds located on Indian lands."16 Tiffany would later be found guilty of forcing Apaches into slave labor for the benefit of himself and the railroad, but the damage had already been done. The desparate Apache, mostly women and children, made good their escape into Cochise County, with the McLaury ranch between them and freedom. Beside the Nugget article's harsh ridicule of the petty greed of the railroad and Government agents was a running account (courtesy of the Arizona Daily Star) of the Apaches flight and bloody aftermath. Tucson, October 3. "Indians numbering 75 to 100 attacked (freight-train driver Mariano) Samaniego's train about one mile east of Cedar Springs, between 8 and 9 o'clock a.m., killing Barlow, Samaniego and five teamsters." Tucson, October 3. "Two messengers from Lieutenant Overton's command arrived here about one hour ago, and reported that they had found two soldiers and a citizen dead about twelve miles from here on the road to Cedar. While they were examining the bodies, the Indians, who were concealed in the brush, commenced firing on them." "This afternoon at 1 o'clock a courier came from Hudson's Springs with intelligence that a large band of Indians had attacked the ranch. There were but six men there, it was feared all killed."16 Panic struck Tombstone as reports filtered out of and pitched battle between the Apaches and the military at Dragoon Pass. George Parsons recorded on October 5th that the band had come close by Turquoise before turning back into the Sulphur Spring Valley. With the threat to the township averted, a large band of townsmen, including the Earps, Behan, Clum, Breakenridge and George Parsons, geared up and rode out to give aid to the Valley ranchers lying in the fleeing Apaches path. Soon after the band left Tombstone, they were beset with a heavy rainstorm. Parsons wrote, "...it seemed to me as though it never rained harder, and such a continuous heavy rain I never knew before in Arizona." As night came on, the soggy sortie made it to the Frink ranch, where the Apaches had made off with a good part of his horses. "Major" Edwin Frink claimed that the Apaches had his stock about 20 miles away in Horseshoe Canyon in the Swisshelm Mountains. The men were forced to cram themselves into Frinks small house and waited out the storm. In the early hours of October 6, the band set out for Horseshoe Canyon, but found nothing but fresh markings. Despite Frinks protests, the bedraggled band decided not to follow the tracks and head for home. It's interesting to note that Clum did not add this in his memoirs, for as the 20 or so saddle-sore bravadoes retired from their mission seeking respite, Frink single-handedly did the work for them: "After a feed for man and beast, we re-crossed the Sulphur Spring Valley to the McLorings (sic - Frank and Tom McLaury's ranch) under a hot sun and over a boggy valley, leaving Frink behind, who shortly after our arrival, came in on a run with several head. While he was hunting up some stock, the Indians opened fire on him, but he escaped unhurt, so the red devils saw us all the time and we didn't see them"17 And so comes one of the strangest events in the lore of the Gunfight at Ok Corral: the Earp Brothers enjoying breakfast at the home of two men they would gun down later in the month, and sitting elbow to elbow with Curly Bill Brocius, King of the Cowboys. It was never noted if Frank and Tom were both at their ranch to serve the Earps and the rest of the band, but more than likely, there was at least one present. They had also lost a number of horses to the raiding Apaches the night before and may have been out trying to secure the rest of their stock. The McLaury's were known to never turn hungry travelers away, and the townsmen took advantage of this. If there were any tension at all between the Earps and the Mclaurys, it was never mentioned as Frank and Tom shared beef, bread and coffee with them. Parson did speak of Virgil being in a good mood during there stay. Curly Bill, still recovering from a bullet wound to the neck during a brawl in Galeyville, was there to greet the weary band. According to Parsons, the present City Marshal was very friendly toward the murderer of a previous City Marshal, "At McL's (McLaury's) was Arizona's most famous outlaw at the present time, 'Curly Bill,' with two followers. He killed one of our former Marshals, and to show how we do things in Arizona, I will say our present Marshal (Virgil Earp) and said 'C Bill' shook each other warmly by the hand and hobnobbed together some time, when said 'CB' mounted his horse and with two satellites rode off - first though stealing a pair of spurs belonging to our party, as they couldn't be found after their departure." Parsons even went on to comment on the demeanor of Arizona's most famous bandit at the time, "'CB' was polite and considerate enough though to sharply wheel his horse to one side of my bridle which I had accidentally dropped. He's not a bad looking man, but looks very determined and is not fully recovered from his Galeyville wound. It is amusing to me to see with what marked deference his two young followers acted towards their chief, and how they regarded us, affecting a devil-may-care, braggadocio sort of manner." After the gallant Tombstone Indian-fighters had their fill of Mclaury hospitality, part of the group headed straight for home, while rest made for Soldier's Hole, where a military contingent had ridden out the storm, including a few companies of Buffalo Soldiers from the famed 10th Cavalry. The detachment seemed in like mind of the Tombstoners about pursuing the Apaches and remained at Soldiers Hole yet another night. The next morning, the Army finally resumed their hunt for the renegade Apaches (who surely had crossed the border by then) and the men of Tombstone headed for home. Without one shot being fired in anger or protection, nor any trophies to show, the remaining protectors of Indian insurrection had to content themselves with ridding the land of pesky prairie dogs, with the fearless John Clum in the forefront. "I halted my horse, and, without dismounting, slipped my rifle from the sling, straightened myself in the saddle, drew a bead on the prairie dog, and fired. With a crack, the prairie dog disappeared in his hole. None went to see whether or not the little animal had been hit. That was not necessary, for the bullet had plowed its way through both edges of the circular mound on a direct line with the former position of the prairie dogs head. I had scored a perfect shot."18 With the end of the Apache exodus to Mexico, things in Tombstone settled back to normal for a little while. Geronimo would cross the border on small raids from time to time for the next few years, before finally submitting to White man's rule. But despite Clum's deadly sharpshooting, the pestiferous prairie dog problem still pops up occasionally to this day.

The Tombstone McLaury Website's Early McLaury History and The McLaury Brother's Tombstone Story by Clay Parker

copyright by cp1237@cp1237.com unless otherwise noted.