The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-08
ARIZONA'S LONE R0BBER.
BRAZLET0N'S SUCCESS IN SINGLE
HANDED HOLD-UPS.
Never Was Another Such Outlaw In the
Territory. Says an Expert Two Years
laundering of stage CoRches-Nins Men
Needed to Dispose OF Him Finally.


Los ANGELES, Cal, April Tive had a
heap Of ex perience with bandits along the south
west border" said cx.Shcrid Bently Of Globe.
Ari,, and ! say 1t deliberately, there never was,
In Arizona n, least, another such outlaw as lill
Bra2leton, II ever an outlaw ran things his
own way Braylc,on did In Pima. Cochise and
pinal counties Tor a few years. The fact Ia no
one wanted TO run up against 10 reckless and
formidable a man. and sherifrs and their posses
managed Ia keep ont Of his way.
"A dozen bandits in thu West have been credited
with inventinr the lone bandit style OF holding
up stage COACHES. but Brakl ton was tho orig
inator He was 4 marvellous shot, and ! have
s-en him perform ieats with the revolver that
are almost incredible Once al Yuma | saw him
throw a roll Of yucca Of thu size and SHAPE Of q
croque, ball Into the air and then whirl completely
about on his h'el and put two bullets through
IL before II reached the ground. | saw him sight
a six inch circle on a hoard ninety fee, away,
and then. when some one had suddenly blind
folded him. he raised his weapon and put a ball
into the circular mark. He was the quickest
eyed and s,eadiest-handed shooter I ever came
across. II seems that there was a long chapter
In his career before he came 10 Arizona in 1877.
He woe known a. Hunter al Abilene, Kan, from
where he was driven away for murder by q Wig
iiance COMMITTEES. We have heard that q man
Of his description barring the name OF Henderson
served . term at Fort Smith prison IN Arkansas
for the murder OF . soldier, In May. 1877, he
made his appearance In Arizona, This was
whan two unusually bold robbehes Of the Florence
and Yuma stage were committed by alone high
wayInAn. Each time the booty amounted TO
more Than 81 900. In July, 1877. another stage
was robbed By q lone Lighwayman near D,ming,
y. NJ, and two gold bricks were taken from the
express %coupany's troasurs box. For twos sub
sequen, wars this lone highwnymau committed
daring crimes with IMMUNITY.
The lone highwayman, AZ he came to be called.
was a magnificent specimen Of manhood lie
stood SIX fee, In his stockings; was handsome:
his black syc, wore bright; his coun,cnance open.
The method pursued was always the same. lie
always carried a brace VI T~eyulvers and u rifle.
Resting on his night hand by The side Of the trigger
VI his rife, was placed one OF tho revolver, 40 n At
In cas- e the cartridges in the rifle became exhausted
the revolver would be brought into play, lie
could fire with either hand or with both hands,
and could hi, q iye-cent piece In the air with a
revolver. As the stage advanced at full speed,
the lone highwayman would Jump from his hiding
place. cover the driver and guard With LIS rifle,
he would take the valuehles, order oil back into the
coach, warn them that al o'ltcry meant certain
death, mount ard hide avay as rapidly as his
splendid horse could carry him.
There was a prosperous little gold camp known
as Orc Elmo In the southern part Of Cochise county,
close on the border between Sonora, Mexico, ard
Ariaona, Some Of the hardest characters among
the NcNicans and half.brceds were there. Every
man In orc lino went armed, and there were
mary good shots there. Not one person In ten
thousand would think OF a hold up Of a gambling
game In such a community. IL seemed almost Ike
inviting sure death. But l}rhzeton was never
daurtcl by odds. Late one night, when the men In
camp who drank hard were the worse for the eve
ning's dissipation and the crowd had thinned out.
suddenly the door of the Bella Union saloon swung
open, and in walked BrazletOn with a revolver
in each hand. The men there told me %af,erward
,hS' s.n looked enormous Tn5" as mask he 'I sSs into Ss
vas dressed with uncommon care.
His great mus,ache was wsxed TO
fine points, and an immense %sombcro was on
his head pushed back from his forehead. Several
men who were gaming In the saloon when lie
entered have said that his co~nsnnmate coolnoss,
his extraordinary daring and his impressive
mien all had powerful effect, like hypnotism upon
them, and while they would have ins'inctively
reached for their weapons had any other outlaw
come IN rob them, they sat there and simply gaped
at Bill while lie picked up some 500 in gold o! tho
faro dca'ers money.
Hands up. boys he called as he crossed tho
threshold. Keep your mouths shut and hands
up fn .,i yna T s,"of "a a ..c 9S1d ' a, ,Ea door to max.
sure that he took In the whole scene and that
no one was behind 10 shoot him Then he strobe
furNdri 10 the faro table, Nlila a masked con
federate appeared from ont Of doors and stood
upunths threshold 20 keep watch upon every one
there willie Bill Bra7leton played The important
role.
Tho faro dealer made a feir, =, reaching down
under h table for hi pistol, hut Bill called out
Hands up, you dealer. One more move and III
shoot you as fun u holes as n si4ve No one
made an objection by word or act 10 Bill as, still
keeping his black yes uyon The little assemblage,
and having his cooked pistol IN his right hand, he
calmly. picked up. with his lcft hand. several
l. .-l - A
yiaces and drorred them into n hunting bag he
carried at bis side Twice H. stopped. and for a
second or two with a PISTOL IN zach hand surveyed
IA" crowd as y debating whether 10 shoot Lis
victims TO death then or wait
Now. cents, don't he foolish and coax your
death. Mind what | say and youn be gla!
I'm Bill BIa,le,on and never miss my shots:
Keep ypur hands in sight, he said as b. moved
slowly backward toward the open door. where
his contNufraie held guard.
ths doorl.e stopped and CAV" another sweep
ing gianca over the gambling saloon. Thin,
with his big weapon still upon the mute assem-
blage. he walked backward into the darkness and
di-apr-ared. Some cnnfed, rate had held his
horse ready for him. The whols robbery did not
occupy more than two and a half minutes. A
poSS' Of men tried 10 follow and capture the ban.
Dit, but he disappeared in the Dragon Mountains,
and was next heard Of zoo miles away months
later
"Th" most remorseless, cold -blooded men I
ever knew have had unusually tender spots In
their hearts, which they tried 10 conceal az fit
were q griayOus fault Once whcl n dance hall
al Globe burned down and "A baby was burned.
jack Herring, the meauest fellow In the whole
camp, was Affected to tears whenevar the burning
Of that baby was mentioned for weeks after. bin
BfaZlrton wa the same way, He held up the
Benson and ID ming stage in a narrow cut among
the foothills onon, and when he saw a woman
Whose new black Garb showed sh. was a recent
widow he said,
Well, n atanl. who are you9'
II an the widow Of So and SO
"llOw long has he been dead" asked the robber
as he stood With n revolver in each hand.
= Three weeks, was the reply.
Well, ! need money mighty bad, but I'd die
before Ia touch q widow Now, gents, you
Just chucA out 10 me what chang you can spare,
and | II ,allit square. It's worth som.tllng 10 be-
held up by Bill Brazil ton. iouil haN something
To brag about the rest Of your lives.
With that there were some silver and gold
pieces handed out Of th" stag window. ana the
robb"r told the driver to 70 ahead,
In 1879 there occurred the most startling rob
berry that had yet taken place. II was committed
at o point not far from Prescott There was
1000 or $50, 900 in tLo possession Of the guards,
whose number rad been increased. As the staso
was being driven along 1t Vas noticed that n hiE
brown nOrs" was utd tp d cactus tree at the road
side Afew yards further on d man via n gunny
sack over his face spran 6 into the road. Throw
up your hands and throw out the box, was the
order prrrIngtorlly given The llfst man VITO
m yes III kIl him I'm a dead shot Al the
SANG tlu. he covered the driver with two rrvpi.
his gun Then he ordered all tn stand back
from tn IT arms. Next he commanded the box
u be broken open His orlcrs wer oheyed,
the money was taken and tho lone highway
man rpie away
Next there was a robbery committed on the
stage b-tv aen Silver city, y. NJ, and Fl Paso,
Tex Again il was done by The lone hiChv ny
man Seven MeNiCans followed him. Tie
The way he Killed them, he a~itcr"hri explained,
WAS this lto lay dUNu O0 the desert to rest,