The Arizona sentinel., 1901-04-17
Death of B. F. Harflee

B. F. Hartlee died at Nogales on the
 3rd instant. His death was sudden and entirely unexpected, resulting from
 heart disease. Frank Hartlee, as he
 was best known by his old-time friends in Arizona, was one of the most noted characters on the Pacific coast. He was resident of Los Angeles in the early days, and was one of the leaders of posse that run down and captured 1 the notorious outlaw and desperado, Charves, whose deeds of robbery and murder are among the most daring and bloody in the criminal annals of Cali | fornia.
 Frank Hartlee was for many years an employe of the prison and resident of Yuma. He was man Of extraordinary coolness and wonderful nerve, which he always maintained under the most exciting and trying circumstances. At the time of his death he was peace officer at Nogales.
 The death of Frank Hartlee recalls the desperate attempt of eight convicts to escape from the territorial prison on October 27, 1887. The story of the af- fair, the most desperate and sanguinary in the history of the prison, is related in the Sentinel of October 29--two days later, About o'clock in the morning, as MT. Gates, the superintendent, was leaving the prison powerful Mexican convict suddenly leaped at him and pin tened his arms from behind, marching the superintendent through the gate, and using his body as shield from the bullets of the guards; seven other con- victs quickly followed their desperate leader, and one of them rushed into the office immediately opposite and secured a revolver from MT. Gates desk. Re appearing, he opened fire on Hartlee, who was on the tank station, but failed to hit him. The guards had not been idle in the meantime, and several of the convicts who attempted to reach the prison armory had been shot down. Hartlee called to the superintendent and asked if he should fire at the Mexi- can who still held Mir. Gates as in wise. The superintendent nodded his head in the affirmative. It was most exciting and critical moment. The desperate Mexican seeing there was no chance to escape was trying to kill the superintendent with butcher knife he had secured in some manner; Hartlee was impatlently but coolly waiting for a chance to shoot; the men struggled and shifted about until the Mexican's body presented fair target AS Hartlee with the greatest delibera- tiOn took careful aim and fired, the con- vict had the butcher knife raised and when the bullet from Hartlee's gun pierced his side, the Mexican plunged the blade into the superintendent's neck, and the blood spurted ina stream over both men, A second charge from Hartley's weapon went through the body of the desperado and he sank to the ground, and a moment later was dispatched by Riggs, trusty, who shot him through the head with revolver.
 Of the eight prisoners who made this desperate break for liberty, four were killed outright, one died from his wounds the next day, and not man got away.
 The knife wound received by Super intendent Gates was bad one, and though he lived for several years after ward he never fully recovered from it and the exciting experience attending the most desperate break ever attempt ed at the prison.