Tombstone epitaph. (Tombstone, Ariz.) 1887-current, 1922-02-12
SOUTHWEST IN EARLY
DAYS NOT AS WILD AS POR-
TRAYED BY MOVIE HERO


southwest in the early days of the
gold rush was never as wild as it is
portrayed by the modern movie hero.
according to Major George H. Kelly,
publisher of the Douglas Daily Inter
ma .ional who has been a newspaper
ed tor continuously for SO years.
tn rty- four of which have been spent
in Arizona.
/ Major Kelly began his new spaper
ca 'eer at Popular Bluff. Mo. in July.
1853. when as a boy Of fifteen years
he started in as devil and within
tn zee years. through the help OF
friends. became editor and owner OF
the Black River News. upon which he
had served his apprenticeship.
With the exception OF the years of
I ISSS and 1889. when he worked on
newspaper at Tucson. Ariz. Major
Kelly has been newspaper proprie-
tor and editor.
/ His first exciting newspaper ex.
/ perience in the wilds of Arizona was
, in connection with the holdup and
/ robbery of Major Wham. an army pay
master. who. with his escort. was as
sailed by band of outlaws on the
road from Fort Grant 10 Fort Thomas
both in Graham county, Arizona. in
the spring of 1889.
The outlaws escaped with $4,000 in
gold, and Major Kelly. then a young
editor. Joined posse OF soldiers and
civil officers in q search for the ban
dts. 1t was trying search. marked
with numerous adventures and dan
gers. Nine men were captured and
held for the robbery. They were
tried in Tucson. Ariz., the trial last
ing several weeks.
Law and order marked the trial.
and the Major. in recounting the ear
ly days in the southwest, declares
that although he has had many des-
perate characters. known as bad
men" pointed out 10 him, he never
saw them in action. or any of his ex-
periences he has never seen one o.!
room full OF cut-throats as the mod.
ern movie hero does
II is the concensus OF opinion
among the old timers OF his acquain-
lance. he says. that when the young
tenderfoot from the east came west
and connected with one of the out
laws who in those days frequented
the saloons, he had his hands full
In 1880 Major Kelly bought the Ari-
IONA Bulletin. a weekly newspaper
published at Solomonville, Ariz., and
published it for thirteen years. being
sufficiently prosperous to give a col
lege education to his two children, W.
3. Kelly now editor OF the Clifton
tAriz.) Copper Era, and Mrs. c. L.
Rawlins. resident OF Globe, Arizona,
and the wife Of prominent lawyer
In 1903 he sold his newspaper in
Graham county and established the
Daily International at Douglas. where
he has since resided and is yet ac-
tive in editing and publishing this
paper.
According to the Major. the news
paper business is very different now
from wha; it was thirty years ago.
Then advertising was not regarded
as business proposition and those
who payed for advertising space usu-
ally carried the same copy for months
and in some cases no change would
be made in their advertisements for
a whole year. Running a newspaper
in this age. he says, is strictly bus
mess proposition. and because it has
been put on that basis publishers are
at last making a fair profit from the
capital invested.
In the early days in Arizona there
were many exciting accounts of train
robberies, holding up of messengers
bearing mine payrol!s and other big
sums of money but" declares the
Major. Il have never witnessed any
think like Bill Hart and other movie
stars depict On the screen as stories
ofsthe early southwest During my
"a years in Arizona l have never wit
messed even a fist fight and have
never seen a man killed in a gun bat
tel,