Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1918-05-16
ARIZONA RANGER TO
BECOME AN OFFICER
Captain" Harry Wheeler Has
Had Wide Experience With
Outlaws.

Tombstone. Ariz.-Two silver bars
on his shoulder straps will add nothing
to Harry Wheeler's title in Cochise
county and Arizona for he has been
days he rode the lonesome trail along
the border as captain Of the Arizona
territorial ranger force.
AT present Wheeler is sheriff Of this
county, but is expected to resign to ac-
p a commission as captain in the
unlted states cavalry, a branch of the
service In Which he saw service as an
enlisted man in the days when the
Apaches and not Francisco Villa were
making 1T necessary to keep a force OF
troops along h frontier. He was dis
charged from the cavalry because of
injuries received when his cavalry
horse kicked him. He located in
souther Arizona and soon joined the
territorial rangers which We're formed
to protect the border from the raids
or indian and lawless elements on
both sides of the international line.
AS captain of these rangers Sheriff
Wheeler established his reputation as
a peace officer. He arrested many out
laws, tracked them to their hiding
places in the mountains and fought
many battles with bandits in the Hua-
chuca, the Whetstones and the Chiri-
chua mountains. We was wounded
several times in these engagements and
MS NOollNtS SiuSGu IlIfl 10 De re-"
Jected by. medical officers when he APP
piled for enlistment as a private SOL
der at the outbreak Of the war,
one OF Captain Wheeler's most IA
nous feats was the killing of a ma on
n station platform at Benson, Ariz.,
after he had been shot and was ON
the ground. Wheeler went to the train
to arrest the man who was wanted by
the anger captain on a criminal
charge. AS soon as the wanted man
saw Wheeler he started firing and shot
the anger through h body. Raising
himself from the platform on his ell
bow, Wheeler shot the man three
times, killing him almost instantly.
Sheriff Wheeler's most recent ex-
p%erience was in rounding up and de-
porting 1,2Q0 miners from Bisbee on
July IL, 1917. This deportation cre-
ated a sensation throughout the coun-
try and vas the cause of calling the
OF the cast to the i. w. w.
menace in the west and southwest.
Sheriff Wheeler transferred his office
temporarily to Bisbee, where he or
gained the roundup of the men listed
as un~desirables by the committee in
charge OF the deportation. On the
morning OF July IL the deputized citi-
zens started rounding up the men on
these lists. They We're loaded into
cattle ears and sent to Columbus, N.
M, where they We're held in camp for
several weeks.
But two men We're killed during this
roundup although it was expected that
at least 100 YOU be killed during
the day, Sheriff Wheeler said. An in
vestigation was made of his part in the
affair but no legal action was ever
taken. After the deportation the
sheriff established picket camps and
had all of the roads entering Bisbee
patrolled to prevent n of the unde-
sirables returning. Those who did re-
turn were given 10 hours to leave
camp and all complied with his order.
More recently Sheriff Wheeler lead
the man hun after the Powers Sis
son gang of outlaws who killed the
sheriff II two deputy sheriffs in Gra-
ham county and started for Mexico.
Wheeler rode the trails in the noun
tains night and day and finally To-
Gated the trail which lead to Mexico,
where the three outlaws were captured
by United States cavalry troops.
Wheeler is a small mar with a soft
voice and a quick trigger finger. He
was a Canadian and has made re-
peated efforts to enlist in the Canadian
regiments going to France. Through
his friends he succeeded in obtaining q
commission as captain Of cavalry and
will join his command at Douglas,
Ariz., which is near the scene of so
many of his border adventures.