Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-12-11
Cowboys.
Prescott Demoerat.I


 ! affairs in Tombstone and vicinity:
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, November l5, loSlI THE HONORABLE WAYNE MCNHAeH, ! Attorney-General: Sir-I have the honor | to enclose herewith, for your inform o. ton, a letter from the Acting GoveTnor
 of Arizona Territory, of Sept 5Oth last | relative to the existence of deplo1able state of lawlessness on the bofder, | which, it appears, the Territorial author | ities are unable entirely to reslst. I | have, therefore, to request that the neef | essary orders may be at once issued tp | the Federal authorities m that quarteh
 urgently directing their cooperation n every proper manner with the Ierf't I | rial authorities, to the end that, If pd dssit ble, the present condition of aflalrs may
 be considerably improved and the guilty
 properly and speedily punished. The Secretary of the Interior and or War have each been furnished with a copy of MT. Gosper's letter, and have been asked to take all possible measures ln the premises.
 have the honor to be,
 Sir, Your obedient ser'vt, TSirnedi JAMES c. BLAINE. Extract from letter bearing date of September 80, 1881, from the Governor of Arizona to the Secretary of State: At Galeyville, San Simon and other points isolated fIom large places, the cowboy element at times very fully predominates, and the officers of the law are at times either unable or unwilling to control this class of out laws, sometimes being governed by fear, at other times by hope of reward. At Tombstone, the county seat of COchise county, I conferred with the Sheriff of said county upon the subject of break ing up these bands of outlaws, and ] am sorry to say he gave but little hope of being able, in his department, to cope with the power of the cowboys. He represented to me that the Deputy '. 5. Marshal, resident of Tombstone, and the City Marshal for the same, and those who aided him (the Deputy Marshall seemed unwilling L. heartily cooperate with him (the Sheriff in capturing and bringing to justice these outlaws. In conversation with Deputy |. $. Marshal, MT. Earp, l found precisely the same spirit of complaint existing against Mr. Behan (the Sheriff and hls deputies. And, back of this unfortunate fact, rival ry between the civil authorities or an unwillingness to work together In full accord in keeping the peace, Hound two daily newspapers published in the city, taking sides with the Deputy Marshal and Sheriff, respectively, each paper backing its civil clique and backing the other; and, still back Of all this, the unfortunate fact that many of the very best law abiding and peace loving citi- Zens have no confidence in the willing ness Of the civil officers to pursue and bring to justice that element or outlaw " so largely disturbing the sense of se- curity, and so often committing highway robbery and smaller thefts. Respect fully your Obedient servant,
 JOIN J. GosPER.
 GALEYvILLE, 4. T., Sept. r, 1881. To HIs EXCELLESCY THE HON JoHY J. GosPER, Acting Governor Arlzon4 TerntOry-Dear Sir: In reply to yOut inquiry concerning the cowboys who are reported to have been. and still are, raiding along the line of Sonora and Arizona, I will say: The gang who are known as "cowEoys" are enpgred in stock raising iu the valleys Of San Si- mon and Cloverdale, in the southeast ern portion of Arizona. and from good
 
 and sheep now controlled by said cow boys had been stolen from the citizens of Sonora, Arizona and New Mexico. They are reported to have about three hundred head Of cattle at or near Gran ite Gap, in New Mexico, and close to the line Of Arizona. It IS d well known fact that they are in the habit of making raids along the border. Until recently + and cattle in Arizona and drive them into Sonora for sale, and on the return trip steal stock in Sonora and drive them into Arizona and New Mexico for sale; consequently quite a traffic was kept up. lhIs practice has abated some what lately, on account Of the killing of four cowboys at Fronteras ID, think, June last. The circumstance, Us hear es can be 2seeTtained, are these: Last spring George Turner and NJ. McAllister, two well known cowboys, obtained the contract at Fort Bowie for furnishing beef for the command. They and two assistants went to Sonora tO either buy or steal beef cattle They succeeded in driving a large herd as far as Fronteras, l where they were attacked by the Mexi- | can citizens. They (the cowbOys) were l all killed, and one Mexican citizen was killed. Upon the bodies of Turner and McAllister was found the money which l it is supposed they ostensibly took | to purchase cattle. which amount | compared with what they were known to | Lave started from here with proved that l the cattle they were driving had not l been paid for. This affair has caused | bad blood between the cowboys and the | citizens Of Sonora; each party taking re- | venge upon the other whenever OppOr- | tunity occurs; consequently 1t Is unsafe | for any person to travel across the bOr- l deE About a month ago the cowboys | went across the border into Sonora, and | seeing a good sized pack train in charge | of Mexicans, laid in ambush and at the | word Of command made a dash and sue | ceeded m capturing the whole OuCfit. | consisting Of about S4,O00 in Mexican | coin, silver bullion, mescal, horses and | cattle. One of the cowboys, in relating | to me the circumstances, said It was the | d-st lot of truck he ever saw. He | showed me q piece of the bullion: I | should judge it to be one-half gold. Up- on my telling him that trouble would likely arise from this, he replied that it was a smuggling train and they would | not dare say much. There were three Mexicans killed in the aifray. 4 notori- ous cowboy known as John E. offers to sell all the mutton the town can consume at tne rate of Sl per head. No secrecy is observed in this kind of transactions. As regards the local officers Of the law, 1 canuot do better than refer you to the clipping from the Arizona Star, of Sept. 10. 1881, which is hereto attached:
 "EDuOR STAR: Permit me to give you a brief history of trial before d border Justice of the Peace, known as G. ". David Estes was one of two men who robbed a game of about four hundred dollars in cash at the mid night hour in the town of Galeyyille, as follows: Estes entered the front door of the saloon in which the game was being played, armed with a Winchester and a six shooter; his "par' passing in at the rear Of the house, armed Tn similar manner. They ordered the players to throw up ther hands and surrender all their cash This accomplished, Estes proceeded to the corral of Babcock < Co. and extracted and confiscated a valuable horse, making the total cleanup about five hundred dollars. Estes was subse- luently arrested by Deputy Sheriff Goodman and tried before said Filing wood, and discharged. His honor ruled in the examination of the witnesses that they could not testify to the taking Of money (ordered by the bandits to be left on the table) unless they of their own knowledge knew to whom a particular parcel Of money belonged. This could lot be proven, as all the occupants of he room were commanded Co absquatu- ate instantly, leaving Estes and his pard 70 take and divide. Thus you see sin gle pair in Galeyville wins five hundred lollars. Under the ruling of this astute