Charlie Siringo
Encyclopedia
Charles Angelo Siringo was an American lawman, detective, and agent for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency
during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
immigrant mother and an Italian
immigrant father from Piedmont
. He attended public school until reaching the age of 15, when he started working on local ranch
es as a cowboy
.
In March, April and May 1877, Siringo was in Dodge City, Kansas
during an alleged confrontation between Clay Allison
and Wyatt Earp
, Earp was a Deputy Marshal at the time. Earp later claimed, after Allison's death in 1887, that he and Bat Masterson
had forced Allison to back down from an impending confrontation. Siringo, however, later gave a written account of that incident which contradicted Earp's claim, stating that Earp never came into contact with Allison, and that two businessmen, cattleman Dick McNulty and the owner of the Long Branch Saloon
, Chalkley Beeson
, in Dodge City actually defused the situation.
After taking part in several cattle
drives, Siringo stopped herding to settle down, get married (1884), and open a merchant
business in Caldwell, Kansas
. He began writing a book, entitled A Texas Cowboy; Or Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony. A year later, it was published, to wide acclaim, and became one of the first true looks into life as a cowboy written by someone who had actually lived the life.
and joined the Pinkerton Detective Agency
. He used gunman Pat Garrett
's name as a reference to get the job, having met Garrett several years before.
He was immediately assigned several cases, which took him as far north as Alaska
, and as far south as Mexico City
. He began operating undercover
, a relatively new technique at the time, and infiltrated gangs of robbers
and rustlers, making over one hundred arrests.
With 2,000 active agents and 30,000 reserves, the forces of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency were larger than the nation’s standing army in the late-19th century. The Pinkertons provided services for management in labor disputes, including armed guards and secret operatives like Charles A. Siringo. A Texas native and former cowboy, Siringo moved to Chicago in 1886, where first-hand observation of the city’s labor conflict (which he attributed to foreign anarchism) moved him to join the Pinkertons.
In the early 1890s he found himself assigned to office work in the Denver
office of the agency, work which he greatly despised. During that time, he worked with noted Pinkerton agent, gunman, and later assassin
Tom Horn
. He greatly admired Horn's talents and skills in tracking down suspects, but reflected later that Horn had a dark side that could easily be accessed when need be.
In 1892, Siringo was assigned to a case in Idaho
, where he worked undercover
to get information against labor union officials. Despite his despising labor union officials, he later stood against a lynch mob to protect attorney
Clarence Darrow
from being hanged.
In the late 1890s, posing as "Charles L. Carter", an alleged gunman on the run from the law for a murder
, he infiltrated outlaw
Butch Cassidy
's Train Robbers Syndicate. For over a year, using information he would gather, he severely hampered the operations of Cassidy's Wild Bunch
gang, but without a large number of arrests. After they committed the now famous train robbery near Wilcox, Wyoming, in which they robbed a Union Pacific train, he again found himself assigned to capture the Wild Bunch. On that case, Siringo often coordinated with Tom Horn, who was by that time working for large cattle companies as a stock detective ("hired gun"), but who also was retained by the Pinkerton Agency on contract to assist in the robbery investigation. Horn was able to obtain vital information from explosives expert Bill Speck that revealed to investigators who the suspects were who had killed Sheriff Josiah Hazen, who had been shot and killed during the pursuit of the robbers.
Several members of the gang were captured as a result of information Siringo gathered, including the capture of Kid Curry, who escaped but was again cornered and killed during a shootout with law enforcement in Colorado
. It was Siringo's information that help track him down on both occasions. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid both fled to South America
, feeling their luck was running out in United States
. They were later allegedly killed by Bolivian police in a shootout there following a mine payroll robbery. During the work on the Wilcox Train Robbery, he first came into contact with lawman Joe Lefors
, who later would arrest Tom Horn for a murder that Horn has since been largely vindicated for. Siringo crossed paths with Lefors several years later while working other cases. Siringo found Lefors incompetent, at best, and greatly despised him.
Siringo retired in 1907, and began writing another book, entitled Pinkerton's Cowboy Detective. The Pinkerton Detective Agency held up publication for two years, feeling it violated their confidentiality agreement that Siringo had signed when he was hired and objecting to the use of their name. Siringo gave in, and deleted their name from the book title, instead writing two separate books, entitled A Cowboy Detective and Further Adventures of a Cowboy Detective.
Angry with the agency after it sabotaged the publication of his cowboy memoirs, Siringo published Two Evil Isms: Pinkertonism and Anarchism, a revealing chronicle of Pinkerton methods and deception. Siringo wrote that he had been instructed to commit voter fraud in the re-election campaign of Colorado Governor James Peabody
. Siringo stated, "I voted eight times, as per [Pinkerton supervisor] McParland's
orders — three times before the same election judges". The election was unique due to fraud by Democrats and Republicans, resulting in Colorado having three different governors seated during the course of one day.
The Pinkerton Agency once again succeeded in suppressing the book. They attempted to have Siringo prosecuted for libel, requesting extradition from his ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico
to Chicago. However, the governor of New Mexico
denied the extradition request. Pinkerton operatives bought up all copies available at newsstands and obtained a court order confiscating the book’s plates. In the book, Siringo (who, even when alienated from the Pinkertons, never displayed any sympathy for the labor movement) described among other things, how he infiltrated and undermined miners' unions in northern Idaho during the 1892 Coeur d’Alene strike
.
In 1916, Siringo began working as a New Mexico Ranger to assist in the capture of numerous rustlers
causing problems in the area, holding that position until 1918. His health began to fail, and his ranch was failing due to his having been away for some time. He moved to Los Angeles
, where he became somewhat of a celebrity due to his well publicized exploits. He renewed his relationship with Wyatt Earp during this period. In 1927 he released another book, Riata and Spurs, a composite of his first two autobiographies. The Pinkerton Agency again halted publication, resulting in a whittled down and revised copy being released the following year, with many fictional accounts rather than the true accounts that Siringo had envisioned.
on October 18, 1928. He was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood California. His activities remain some of the first examples of the use of undercover work in the capture of fugitives.
Pinkerton National Detective Agency
The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, is a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton became famous when he claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired...
during the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Early life
Siringo was born in Matagorda County, Texas to an IrishIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
immigrant mother and an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
immigrant father from Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
. He attended public school until reaching the age of 15, when he started working on local ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
es as a cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
.
In March, April and May 1877, Siringo was in Dodge City, Kansas
Dodge City, Kansas
Dodge City is a city in, and the county seat of, Ford County, Kansas, United States. Named after nearby Fort Dodge, the city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,340.-History:The first settlement of...
during an alleged confrontation between Clay Allison
Clay Allison
Clay Allison was a Texas cattle rancher and gunfighter. He is one of the best known historic figures of the American Old West.-Early life:...
and Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
, Earp was a Deputy Marshal at the time. Earp later claimed, after Allison's death in 1887, that he and Bat Masterson
Bat Masterson
William Barclay "Bat" Masterson was a figure of the American Old West known as a buffalo hunter, U.S. Marshal and Army scout, avid fisherman, gambler, frontier lawman, and sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph...
had forced Allison to back down from an impending confrontation. Siringo, however, later gave a written account of that incident which contradicted Earp's claim, stating that Earp never came into contact with Allison, and that two businessmen, cattleman Dick McNulty and the owner of the Long Branch Saloon
Long Branch Saloon
The Long Branch Saloon is a famous saloon that existed during the Old West days of Dodge City, Kansas. It had numerous owners, most notably Chalk Beeson and gunfighter Luke Short...
, Chalkley Beeson
Chalkley Beeson
Chalkley McArtor "Chalk" Beeson was a well known businessman, lawman, cattleman, saloon owner, manager and keeper of the Old West, best known as being one of the many owners of the famous Long Branch Saloon in Dodge City, Kansas.-Biography:Originally from Salem, Ohio, Beeson was the seventh born...
, in Dodge City actually defused the situation.
After taking part in several cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
drives, Siringo stopped herding to settle down, get married (1884), and open a merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
business in Caldwell, Kansas
Caldwell, Kansas
Caldwell is a city in Sumner County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 1,068.-19th century:In 1887, the Chicago, Kansas and Nebraska Railway built a branch line north-south from Herington to Caldwell...
. He began writing a book, entitled A Texas Cowboy; Or Fifteen Years on the Hurricane Deck of a Spanish Pony. A year later, it was published, to wide acclaim, and became one of the first true looks into life as a cowboy written by someone who had actually lived the life.
Pinkerton service
In 1886, bored with the mundane life of a merchant, Siringo moved to ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and joined the Pinkerton Detective Agency
Pinkerton National Detective Agency
The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, usually shortened to the Pinkertons, is a private U.S. security guard and detective agency established by Allan Pinkerton in 1850. Pinkerton became famous when he claimed to have foiled a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln, who later hired...
. He used gunman Pat Garrett
Pat Garrett
Patrick Floyd "Pat" Garrett was an American Old West lawman, bartender, and customs agent who was best known for killing Billy the Kid...
's name as a reference to get the job, having met Garrett several years before.
He was immediately assigned several cases, which took him as far north as Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, and as far south as Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. He began operating undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
, a relatively new technique at the time, and infiltrated gangs of robbers
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
and rustlers, making over one hundred arrests.
With 2,000 active agents and 30,000 reserves, the forces of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency were larger than the nation’s standing army in the late-19th century. The Pinkertons provided services for management in labor disputes, including armed guards and secret operatives like Charles A. Siringo. A Texas native and former cowboy, Siringo moved to Chicago in 1886, where first-hand observation of the city’s labor conflict (which he attributed to foreign anarchism) moved him to join the Pinkertons.
In the early 1890s he found himself assigned to office work in the Denver
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
office of the agency, work which he greatly despised. During that time, he worked with noted Pinkerton agent, gunman, and later assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
Tom Horn
Tom Horn
Thomas "Tom" Horn, Jr. was an American Old West lawman, scout, soldier, hired gunman, detective, outlaw and assassin. On the day before his 43rd birthday, he was hanged in Cheyenne, Wyoming, for the murder of Willie Nickell.-Early life:Born to Thomas S. Horn, Sr...
. He greatly admired Horn's talents and skills in tracking down suspects, but reflected later that Horn had a dark side that could easily be accessed when need be.
In 1892, Siringo was assigned to a case in Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, where he worked undercover
Labor spies
Labor spies are persons recruited or employed for the purpose of gathering intelligence, committing sabotage, sowing dissent, or engaging in other similar activities, typically within the context of an employer/labor organization relationship....
to get information against labor union officials. Despite his despising labor union officials, he later stood against a lynch mob to protect attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Darrow
Clarence Seward Darrow was an American lawyer and leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, best known for defending teenage thrill killers Leopold and Loeb in their trial for murdering 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks and defending John T...
from being hanged.
In the late 1890s, posing as "Charles L. Carter", an alleged gunman on the run from the law for a murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, he infiltrated outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
Butch Cassidy
Butch Cassidy
Robert LeRoy Parker , better known as Butch Cassidy, was a notorious American train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang in the American Old West...
's Train Robbers Syndicate. For over a year, using information he would gather, he severely hampered the operations of Cassidy's Wild Bunch
Wild Bunch
The Wild Bunch, also known as the Doolin–Dalton Gang or the Oklahombres, was a gang of outlaws based in the Indian Territory that terrorized Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma Territory during the 1890s—robbing banks and stores, holding up trains, and killing lawmen. They were...
gang, but without a large number of arrests. After they committed the now famous train robbery near Wilcox, Wyoming, in which they robbed a Union Pacific train, he again found himself assigned to capture the Wild Bunch. On that case, Siringo often coordinated with Tom Horn, who was by that time working for large cattle companies as a stock detective ("hired gun"), but who also was retained by the Pinkerton Agency on contract to assist in the robbery investigation. Horn was able to obtain vital information from explosives expert Bill Speck that revealed to investigators who the suspects were who had killed Sheriff Josiah Hazen, who had been shot and killed during the pursuit of the robbers.
Several members of the gang were captured as a result of information Siringo gathered, including the capture of Kid Curry, who escaped but was again cornered and killed during a shootout with law enforcement in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. It was Siringo's information that help track him down on both occasions. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid both fled to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, feeling their luck was running out in United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. They were later allegedly killed by Bolivian police in a shootout there following a mine payroll robbery. During the work on the Wilcox Train Robbery, he first came into contact with lawman Joe Lefors
Joe Lefors
Joe Lefors was a lawman in the closing years of the Old West. He is best known for the arrest of gunman Tom Horn in 1903 for the alleged murder of 14 year old sheepherder Willie Nickell, which has since come into question, and it has long been believed that Lefors falsified evidence helping...
, who later would arrest Tom Horn for a murder that Horn has since been largely vindicated for. Siringo crossed paths with Lefors several years later while working other cases. Siringo found Lefors incompetent, at best, and greatly despised him.
Siringo retired in 1907, and began writing another book, entitled Pinkerton's Cowboy Detective. The Pinkerton Detective Agency held up publication for two years, feeling it violated their confidentiality agreement that Siringo had signed when he was hired and objecting to the use of their name. Siringo gave in, and deleted their name from the book title, instead writing two separate books, entitled A Cowboy Detective and Further Adventures of a Cowboy Detective.
Angry with the agency after it sabotaged the publication of his cowboy memoirs, Siringo published Two Evil Isms: Pinkertonism and Anarchism, a revealing chronicle of Pinkerton methods and deception. Siringo wrote that he had been instructed to commit voter fraud in the re-election campaign of Colorado Governor James Peabody
James Hamilton Peabody
James Hamilton Peabody was the 13th and 15th Governor of Colorado, and is noted for his public service in Cañon City.-Family background:...
. Siringo stated, "I voted eight times, as per [Pinkerton supervisor] McParland's
James McParland
James McParland,There are various spellings of James McParland's name. His stenographer, Morris Friedman, wrote a book about him — as "McParland." The Pinkerton Labor Spy, New York, Wilshire Book Co., 1907). also known as James McParlan,The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor...
orders — three times before the same election judges". The election was unique due to fraud by Democrats and Republicans, resulting in Colorado having three different governors seated during the course of one day.
The Pinkerton Agency once again succeeded in suppressing the book. They attempted to have Siringo prosecuted for libel, requesting extradition from his ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
to Chicago. However, the governor of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
denied the extradition request. Pinkerton operatives bought up all copies available at newsstands and obtained a court order confiscating the book’s plates. In the book, Siringo (who, even when alienated from the Pinkertons, never displayed any sympathy for the labor movement) described among other things, how he infiltrated and undermined miners' unions in northern Idaho during the 1892 Coeur d’Alene strike
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor strike of 1892
There were two related incidents between miners and mine owners in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho: the labor strike of 1892, and the labor confrontation of 1899....
.
In 1916, Siringo began working as a New Mexico Ranger to assist in the capture of numerous rustlers
Cattle raiding
Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle.In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the person as a duffer...
causing problems in the area, holding that position until 1918. His health began to fail, and his ranch was failing due to his having been away for some time. He moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, where he became somewhat of a celebrity due to his well publicized exploits. He renewed his relationship with Wyatt Earp during this period. In 1927 he released another book, Riata and Spurs, a composite of his first two autobiographies. The Pinkerton Agency again halted publication, resulting in a whittled down and revised copy being released the following year, with many fictional accounts rather than the true accounts that Siringo had envisioned.
Death
Siringo died in Altadena, CaliforniaAltadena, California
Altadena is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately from the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center, and directly north of the city of Pasadena, California...
on October 18, 1928. He was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood California. His activities remain some of the first examples of the use of undercover work in the capture of fugitives.
In popular culture
- In Sergio SollimaSergio SollimaSergio Sollima is an Italian former film director and script writer.Like many Italian cult directors, Sollima started his career by directing mostly sword and sandal movies that were very popular in the early 1960s. After the genre's popularity quickly died out, Sollima was among the first ones to...
's Faccia a facciaFaccia a facciaFaccia a faccia is a 1967 Italian spaghetti western film written and directed by Sergio Sollima...
(1967) (a fictionalized) Siringo is portrayed by William Berger. - Charles Siringo also appears as a character in Leif Enger's So Brave, Young, and Handsome (2008; ISBN 9780871139856).
- Siringo Road, a major thoroughfare on the south side of the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is named for the former detective and writer.
- Mike Blakely's original composition and song titled, "Charlie Siringo", was about the life of Charlie Siringo.
- Actor Brad JohnsonBrad JohnsonBrad Johnson may refer to:* Brad Johnson , American actor, former Marlboro Man* Brad Johnson , American actor* Brad Johnson , former quarterback* Brad Johnson...
portrayed Siringo in a 1994 made-for-TV fim, "Siringo". - Actor Dennis FarinaDennis FarinaDennis Farina is an American actor of film and television and former Chicago police officer. He is a character actor, often typecast as a mobster or police officer. His most known film roles are those of mobster Jimmy Serrano in the comedy Midnight Run and Ray "Bones" Barboni in Get Shorty...
portrayed Siringo in a 1995 made-for-TV film, Bonanza: Under AttackBonanza: Under AttackBonanza: Under Attack is a 1995 TV-movie sequel to the 1959-1973 television series Bonanza and television films Bonanza: The Next Generation and Bonanza: The Return...
. - In the LeverageLeverage (TV series)Leverage is an American television drama series on TNT that premiered in December 2008. The series is produced by director/executive producer Dean Devlin's production company Electric Television...
episode "The 10 Li'l Grifters Job", the character Eliot Spencer (played by Christian KaneChristian KaneChristian Kane is an American actor and singer/songwriter of Native American descent. He currently stars as Eliot Spencer on the TNT series Leverage. He is best known for his roles in the television shows Angel and Into the West, and the movies Just Married and Secondhand Lions.He is the lead...
) dresses up as Siringo for a murder mystery costume party.