Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-06-28
A BANDITS CAREER.
THE HISTORY OF A LawI,Ess
ARIZONA DESPERADO
fhc Most Lawiess and Dcspcro,c
Character Now nj Large on tho
Frontier - stories of His
Daring RObbcries.

I "DHtS Wy IpcODlc lHTOlirn thu
section Of Arizona in which the robbcr,
WAS committed, that noted outlaw
known ms McNcal was the man who had
planned and executed the robbery. A,
1t turns out there is nothing to implicnt,
McNcal in the affair, although Swift, ON,
oil the quartet of robbers captured il,
Utah, was riding one of McNcars horse,
when captured.
Speaking of McNcal, Deputy Sheriff
st. Clair, of Flagstaff. Arizona. said:
''llc is the nervicst and mos, dcspcr,,c
outlaw now at large IN he frontier region
| hi'd rather fight the whole ..:.nu that we
nave just captured singIc-lnn,lcd than Ia
tackle NcNcnl."
hcNc"i's mod,is opcran,ii in the bus.
ness of appropriating to his own use,
othcr peoples cash. goods and cl,attcls is
peculiar. He has never. so far - known
had amy confc,lcr,tcs. There are >us.
picionS, Of COURSE, that lr i, the head of
Il wcll-organizcd gang, and that the stolen
horses which found their WAY TO Il point
oil rendezvous ut Lees Ferry. on The line
between Utah and Arizona, pass through
his hands. So far as his public appear
ancc is concerned, however, he is ALWAYS
alone and single handed. He has pcr
i0rrncd some of the most daring robncric,;
on record. He first attracted public nj :
tcntion, or in other words, made his
debut in Arizona something over "A wear
ago What his first name is nobody seems
! to know; i'll fact, McNcal is ONLY one of
u number oil aliases, Johnson and Wallace
being professional names under which he.
has Travelled more or less. Where he had
been operating before hc came 10 Arizona
is question. although he had been heard
oi III one time and another in New Mexico
Texas and the Indinn Territory. lie is
described us II young man, not more than
twenty-five years nj age. TALL and rather
. slcnucr, wearing = dark mustachc and
short-croppcd hair. Whenever he has
had occasion 10 show himself To the p,,h-
lie, which has not been infrcgucnily, he
was carefully dressed and always wore -
Mexican straw somhrcro OF The riches,
and most expensive pattern.
When he came into Arizona hr first
engaged in the horse and cattle business.
ihat Is, he engaged III The business of
marketing: tue horses and cattle of the
Arizona ranchmcn without their knowl-
edge or consent tho Aztec Cattle Companv
being most frequently drawn upon 10
supply his demands So bold was he in
his operations that he would every now
and then ride into lIolhrook on one
oil the stolen horses. transact such bust
ness as he desired and disappear as quietly
and myStcriousiy us he came in.
One evening when he was mallin~ 4
periodical visit 10 lloibrool, it occurred To
him FIAT the little town ou,.h; 10 con.
tribute something to his revenues as well
as tn" surrounding country. He accord
ingiy called up one Of The Schustcr Bros
firm doing merchandising business in
llolhrook. and informed him that he was
IN need OF what money there MRS in the
store, and also Of various kinds Of wear
ing apparel and such other articles oil
value about the place rs could be con
vcniently carried away by man on
hoTscback Scliistcr, of course. de-
INJURED, but the gcntlcmanly manner in
which the request was made, backed by
the persuasive effect of 4i-calibrc run.
induced him to comply and he handed
over the cash first. While he WAS gather
ing up some other trinkcts for the bandit.
Schuster's brother made his appearance
with doublc-barrclcd shot gun, which he
was in the act of lcvcling ut McNcal,
when quick rs lightning the latter placed
the brother between himself and the shot
gun. As SchuSicr could not fire without
killing his brother. McNcal compelled
him Ia throw down his gun and ma.,c th.,
two brothers follow him outside with
''handS up lie then mounted his horse
and rode away.
Al another time Inc made an cycur-
sion To fhtrnlX, and in the evening. Just
at Il time when the bartcnders in one of
the large saloons were changing shifts.
he took Il notion to carry away with him
the contents of the safe and the proceeds
of the days business.
He entered the saloon at 4 .imc when
several gentlemen were taking an eve
ning nip, with IL gun in each hand. and
while one of them was brought 10 bear
on the bartender, the other was lcvclcd
mt the guests, who were requested TO mr.
range themselves in line ut the end of the
bar. They were informed at the same
time that the slightest hostile tlcmonstra
ton on their part would result in their
lights being instantly put out" While
NV pAi lSAoCl WuS III tilt HcI III nOnOrlnr
McNcal's drafts, two officers who were
looking for the robber, or at least had IL
notion that they wanted to find him,
stepped in. Being no respcctor of per
sons, McNenl ordered them to take their
places in the line of spectators, and
something about the fellow overawcd the
minions of the law to such an extent that
they obeyed the order without stopping
to argue the point. When his business
with the bartender had been transacted
McNeal backed out OF the saloon and made
his escape.
1t is said that these are but specimens
Of McNeal's style OF doing business in
Arizona, and that he had executed IL num-
Der of equally daring and successful rob
berries
AT one time when Sheriff Owen. of
Apache County. was in the east end OF
the county looking for him, they unc..
pectedly came together and stopped over
night at the same house. The Sheriff
did not know his man, and did not have