Frank Stilwell
Encyclopedia
Frank C. Stilwell was an outlaw
Cowboy
who murdered at least two men in Cochise County
during 1877-1882. For four months he was a deputy sheriff in Tombstone
, Arizona Territory
for Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan
. Stilwell owned interests in several mines and various businesses, including a saloon, a wholesale liquor business, a stage line, and at his death livery
stables in Charleston
and Bisbee
. He was also a partner in a Bisbee area saloon with fellow outlaw Pete Spence
.
He was closely involved in the events leading up to and following the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
on October 26, 1881, and was suspected in the murder of Morgan Earp
on March 18, 1882. Two days after Morgan's death, Frank Stilwell was killed in retribution by Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp
in a Tucson train yard. Arrest warrants were immediately issued for Earp and four others in his posse suspected of murdering Stilwell. Earp left Arizona Territory for Colorado and was never extradited. Wyatt Earp admitted late in his life to killing Stilwell at close range with a shotgun.
, Kansas Territory
, on the Santa Fe Trail
. In 1863 William and Charlotte divorced and William left with the three boys, Jack, Millard and Frank. Charlotte took the girls Elizabeth and Mary. Frank's father was a Private in the Union Army
with Company B, 18th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, under General William Tecumseh Sherman
and took part in Sherman's March to the Sea
.
His brother Simpson "Comanche Jack" Stilwell
was an Indian fighter, scout, Deputy U.S. Marshal, police judge, and U.S. Commissioner.
, Indian Territory
to Prescott, Arizona
, Arizona Territory
in 1877.
.
When Frank's brother Simpson left Arizona for Fort Davis, Texas
Frank remained in Arizona. He worked as a teamster for C.H. "Ham" Light. Frank later staked a claim and worked a mine in Mojave County and on November 9, 1879, got into an argument over claim-jumping with Col. John Van Houten. Van Houten was brutally beaten in the face with a rock and died. Frank Stilwell and James Cassidy were charged with his murder but escaped a grand jury indictment for lack of evidence.
In the 1880 census he listed himself as 24 years old, and living in Charleston, occupation "keeping livery," and reported that he had been been born in Texas.
by Cochise County
Sheriff Johnny Behan
in April, 1881. Four months later, Behan fired him for "accounting irregularities".
was robbed. The masked bandits robbed all of the passengers of their valuables and the strongbox
of about $2,500. During the robbery, the driver heard one of the robbers describe the money as "sugar", a phrase known to be used by Frank. Wyatt and Virgil Earp rode with the sheriff's posse attempting to track the robbers. At the scene of the holdup, Wells, Fargo & Co.
undercover agent Fred Dodge discovered an unusual boot print left by someone wearing a custom-repaired boot heel. The Earps checked a shoe repair shop in Bisbee known to provide widened boot heels and were able to link the boot print to Frank Stilwell.
When Stilwell arrived in Bisbee with his livery stable partner, Pete Spence
, Tombstone Marshal Virgil Earp, Special Police Officer Wyatt Earp, and Cochise County Deputy Sheriff Billy Breakenridge
arrested them for the robbery. Stilwell and Spence were arraigned before Judge Wells Spicer
and posted $7,000 bond, paid by C.H. "Ham" Light. At the preliminary hearing, Stilwell and Spence were able to provide several witnesses who supported their alibi
s. The distinctive boot print and the use of the word "sugar" to describe money was not enough to convict Stilwell, and Judge Spicer dropped the charges for insufficient evidence just as he had done for Doc Holiday earlier in the year.
On October 13, two weeks after Frank was acquitted on the state charges, Virgil in his role as Deputy U.S. Marshal filed new federal charges against Stilwell for the federal crime of interfering with a mail carrier
. Virgil took Frank to Tucson for arraignment where he was held at the territorial jail. While Virgil was in Tucson, he deputized Wyatt to act in his place as assistant city marshal in Tombstone. The Cowboys saw the new arrest as further evidence they were being unfairly harassed and targeted by the Earps. They let the Earps know they could expect retaliation.
While Wyatt and Virgil were in Tucson for the federal hearing on the charges against Spence and Stilwell, Cowboy Frank McLaury confronted Morgan Earp; Spence and Stilwell being friends of McLaury and his brother Tom. He told Morgan that the McLaurys would kill the Earps if they tried to arrest Spence, Stilwell, or the McLaurys again. The Tombstone Epitaph reported "that since the arrest of Spence and Stilwell, veiled threats [are] being made that the friends of the accused will 'get the Earps.'" The newspapers reported Stilwell and Spence had been arrested for a different stage robbery that occurred on October 8 near Contention City
.
's assassination, Coroner
Dr. H. M. Mathews held an inquest in which Pete Spence
's wife, Marietta Duarte, stated that her husband and Frank Stilwell, Indian Charlie, Frederick Bode and an unnamed half-breed had returned home only one hour after the shooting, and that her husband had threatened her with violence if she told what she knew. Witnesses said they saw former Cochise County Sheriff's Deputy Frank Stilwell running from the scene. The Coroner's jury concluded that Spence, Stilwell, Frederick Bode, a man named Fries, and Florentino "Indian Charlie" were suspected in Morgan Earp's assassination. Spence immediately turned himself in so that he would be protected in Behan's jail. Wyatt Earp felt he could not rely on the court system and decided to take matters into his own hands. He concluded that the only way to deal with Virgil and Morgan's attackers was to kill them.
, Hank Swilling, and another cowboy were watching the passenger trains in Tucson intending to kill Virgil Earp. Wyatt and his assistant deputies Warren Earp
, Doc Holliday
, "Turkey Creek" Jack Johnson, and Sherman McMaster accompanied Virgil and Allie to the rail head in Benson. Fearing another attack, they decided to stay with Virgil and his wife aboard the train to Tucson, armed with pistols, rifles and shotguns. McMaster wore two belts of cartridges. Virgil said later that he had Allie wear his pistol belt where he could easily have access to the weapon if he should need it. Virgil and Allie were scheduled to catch a train in Tucson for Colton, California
, where the Earp's parents lived.
Upon their arrival in Tucson, the Earp posse spotted Stilwell and other Cowboys. "Almost the first men we met on the platform there were Stilwell and his friends, armed to the teeth", Virgil later told the San Francisco Examiner. "They fell back into the crowd as soon as they saw I had an escort, and the boys took me to the hotel to supper." Watched over by the well-armed Wyatt and his posse, Virgil and Allie had dinner in Tucson at Porter's Hotel, then reboarded the train.
As the train pulled away from the station, gunfire was heard. Witnesses said they saw men running with weapons but could not identify anyone. Wyatt later told his biographers that he saw Frank Stilwell, and another man he believed to be Ike Clanton, armed with shotguns lying on a flatcar
. When Wyatt and his men approached, the two men ran. Stilwell stumbled, allowing Wyatt to catch him. Wyatt later said he shot Stilwell as he attempted to push the barrel of Earp's shotgun away. Stilwell's body was found the next day alongside the tracks riddled with two rounds of buckshot, one in his leg and the other in his chest marked with powder burns, along with four other bullet wounds. His own pistol had not been fired. George Hand, who saw the body, said Stilwell was "the worst shot up man I ever saw."
In a 1926 interview with biographer John H. Flood, Wyatt said that they spotted Stilwell and Clanton armed on a flatcar
in the train yard, apparently waiting to ambush the Earps. Both men ran after being confronted by the armed Earp party. Stilwell dropped his weapon and stumbled as he ran in the dark train yard, and Wyatt caught up to him and killed him with a point-blank shotgun blast under the ribs as Stilwell tried to fend off Earp's weapon. Wyatt reported that Stilwell's last words were "Morg! Morg!", probably referring to Morgan Earp.
In a March 1882 interview with the Arizona Daily Star, Virgil Earp told the reporter "Before Stillwell died he confessed that he killed Morg and gave the names of those who were implicated with him. When my brothers were leaving Arizona they got dispatches from Tucson saying that Stillwell and a party of friends were watching all the railroad trains passing that way, and they were going through them in search of all Earps and their friends, carrying shotguns under their overcoats and promising to kill on sight. Our boys were bound to look out for themselves, and when they got near Tucson were very cautious. They found StilIwell near the track and killed him."
Ike Clanton escaped. Afterward, he gave interviews to the newspapers in which he claimed that he and Stilwell had been in Tucson to respond to federal charges of interfering with a U.S. mail carrier, stemming from Stilwell's alleged participation in robbing the Bisbee stage on September 8, 1881. According to Ike, Stilwell disappeared from the hotel before he was found shot dead by the tracks several blocks away.
Frank's brother "Comanche Jack" Stilwell
soon heard of his brother's death and went west with hopes of avenging him, but he never reached Tombstone and soon went back without doing so.
(who was clearly too weak and crippled to have participated in the shooting) and his wife. Warrants were issued for Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Jack Johnson (posseman), and Sherman McMasters
. The Earps claimed in news interviews while in Colorado that Stillwell had resisted arrest. They resisted extradition to Arizona Territory, and in the end Colorado refused to extradite them, so they were never tried for the killing.
Stilwell was originally buried in the old Tucson City cemetery, but when the cemetery was moved, most of the residents were reburied in a mass grave in the Evergreen Cemetery in Tucson.
.
" in which he was played by Tomas Arana
He was portrayed by John Dennis Johnston in the 1994 film "Wyatt Earp
"
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...
Cowboy
The Cowboys (Cochise County)
The Cowboys were a loosely associated group of outlaw cowboys in Pima and Cochise County, Arizona Territory in the late 19th century. They were cattle rustlers and robbers who rode across the border into Mexico and rounded up cattle that they then sold in the United States...
who murdered at least two men in Cochise County
Cochise County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*78.5% White*4.2% Black*1.2% Native American*1.9% Asian*0.3% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*4.0% Two or more races*9.6% Other races*32.4% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
during 1877-1882. For four months he was a deputy sheriff in Tombstone
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
, Arizona Territory
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state....
for Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan
Johnny Behan
John Harris Behan was from April, 1881 to November, 1882 sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona Territory. Behan was appointed the first sheriff of the newly-created county in February, 1881. The mining boomtown of Tombstone was the new county seat and Behan's headquarters...
. Stilwell owned interests in several mines and various businesses, including a saloon, a wholesale liquor business, a stage line, and at his death livery
Livery
A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...
stables in Charleston
Charleston, Arizona
Charleston is a ghost town in Cochise County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It was occupied from the late-1870s through the late-1880s, and was located in what was then known as the Arizona Territory...
and Bisbee
Bisbee, Arizona
Bisbee is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, 82 miles southeast of Tucson. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 6,177...
. He was also a partner in a Bisbee area saloon with fellow outlaw Pete Spence
Pete Spence
Pete Spence , suspected of robbery in 1878 in Goliad County, Texas, changed his name from Elliot Larkin Ferguson. He was later a suspect in a stagecoach robbery outside Bisbee, Arizona and was known for his association with outlaw Cowboys Frank and Tom McLaury and Ike and Billy Clanton of...
.
He was closely involved in the events leading up to and following the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States. Outlaw Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed, but Ike's brother...
on October 26, 1881, and was suspected in the murder of Morgan Earp
Morgan Earp
Morgan Seth Earp was the younger brother of Deputy U.S. Marshals Virgil and Wyatt Earp. Morgan was a deputy of Virgil's and all three men were the target of repeated death threats made by outlaw Cowboys who were upset by the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. This conflict eventually...
on March 18, 1882. Two days after Morgan's death, Frank Stilwell was killed in retribution by Deputy U.S. Marshal 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...
in a Tucson train yard. Arrest warrants were immediately issued for Earp and four others in his posse suspected of murdering Stilwell. Earp left Arizona Territory for Colorado and was never extradited. Wyatt Earp admitted late in his life to killing Stilwell at close range with a shotgun.
Early life
Frank was the son of William “Henry” Stilwell and Charlotte B. "Sarah" Winfrey. Frank was born in Texas in 1856. His family moved shortly afterward near PalmyraBaldwin City, Kansas
Baldwin City is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, United States about south of Lawrence and west of Gardner. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,515. It is part of the Lawrence, Kansas Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, Kansas Territory
Kansas Territory
The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Kansas....
, on the Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1822 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880...
. In 1863 William and Charlotte divorced and William left with the three boys, Jack, Millard and Frank. Charlotte took the girls Elizabeth and Mary. Frank's father was a Private in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
with Company B, 18th Missouri Volunteer Infantry, under General William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
and took part in Sherman's March to the Sea
Sherman's March to the Sea
Sherman's March to the Sea is the name commonly given to the Savannah Campaign conducted around Georgia from November 15, 1864 to December 21, 1864 by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army in the American Civil War...
.
His brother Simpson "Comanche Jack" Stilwell
Simpson E. Stilwell
Simpson Edwin Stilwell was a United States Army Scout, Deputy U.S. Marshal, police judge, and U.S. Commissioner in Oklahoma during the American Old West. He served in Major George A...
was an Indian fighter, scout, Deputy U.S. Marshal, police judge, and U.S. Commissioner.
Arrival in Arizona
Frank and his brother Simpson traveled from AnadarkoAnadarko, Oklahoma
Anadarko is a city in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 6,645 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Caddo County.-Early History:Anadarko got its name when its post office was established in 1873...
, Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
to Prescott, Arizona
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
, Arizona Territory
Arizona Territory
The Territory of Arizona was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863 until February 14, 1912, when it was admitted to the Union as the 48th state....
in 1877.
Acquitted for two murders
While in Prescott, Frank worked at Miller's Ranch outside of Prescott. On October 18, 1877, newly hired cook Jesus Bega brought Frank tea instead of coffee, and after an argument Frank shot Bega through the lung, killing him. Frank was later acquitted on the grounds of self-defenseSelf-defense
Self-defense, self-defence or private defense is a countermeasure that involves defending oneself, one's property or the well-being of another from physical harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in times of danger is available in many...
.
When Frank's brother Simpson left Arizona for Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis, Texas
Fort Davis is a census-designated place in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,050 at the 2000 census and 1,041 according to a 2007 estimate. It is the county seat of Jeff Davis County...
Frank remained in Arizona. He worked as a teamster for C.H. "Ham" Light. Frank later staked a claim and worked a mine in Mojave County and on November 9, 1879, got into an argument over claim-jumping with Col. John Van Houten. Van Houten was brutally beaten in the face with a rock and died. Frank Stilwell and James Cassidy were charged with his murder but escaped a grand jury indictment for lack of evidence.
In the 1880 census he listed himself as 24 years old, and living in Charleston, occupation "keeping livery," and reported that he had been been born in Texas.
Named deputy sheriff
Stilwell was hired as an assistant deputy sheriffSheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
by Cochise County
Cochise County, Arizona
-2010:Whereas according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau:*78.5% White*4.2% Black*1.2% Native American*1.9% Asian*0.3% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander*4.0% Two or more races*9.6% Other races*32.4% Hispanic or Latino -2000:...
Sheriff Johnny Behan
Johnny Behan
John Harris Behan was from April, 1881 to November, 1882 sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona Territory. Behan was appointed the first sheriff of the newly-created county in February, 1881. The mining boomtown of Tombstone was the new county seat and Behan's headquarters...
in April, 1881. Four months later, Behan fired him for "accounting irregularities".
Arrested and acquitted for robbery
On September 8, 1881, a passenger stage on the 'Sandy Bob Line' in the Tombstone area bound for Bisbee, ArizonaBisbee, Arizona
Bisbee is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, 82 miles southeast of Tucson. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 6,177...
was robbed. The masked bandits robbed all of the passengers of their valuables and the strongbox
Safe
A safe is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or damage. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face removable or hinged to form a door. The body and door may be cast from metal or formed out of plastic through blow molding...
of about $2,500. During the robbery, the driver heard one of the robbers describe the money as "sugar", a phrase known to be used by Frank. Wyatt and Virgil Earp rode with the sheriff's posse attempting to track the robbers. At the scene of the holdup, Wells, Fargo & Co.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
undercover agent Fred Dodge discovered an unusual boot print left by someone wearing a custom-repaired boot heel. The Earps checked a shoe repair shop in Bisbee known to provide widened boot heels and were able to link the boot print to Frank Stilwell.
When Stilwell arrived in Bisbee with his livery stable partner, Pete Spence
Pete Spence
Pete Spence , suspected of robbery in 1878 in Goliad County, Texas, changed his name from Elliot Larkin Ferguson. He was later a suspect in a stagecoach robbery outside Bisbee, Arizona and was known for his association with outlaw Cowboys Frank and Tom McLaury and Ike and Billy Clanton of...
, Tombstone Marshal Virgil Earp, Special Police Officer Wyatt Earp, and Cochise County Deputy Sheriff Billy Breakenridge
Billy Breakenridge
William Milton "Billy" Breakenridge was an American lawman, teamster, railroader, soldier and author. He was assistant Tombstone City Marshal in the Arizona Territory when the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral took place....
arrested them for the robbery. Stilwell and Spence were arraigned before Judge Wells Spicer
Wells Spicer
Wells W. Spicer was an American journalist, prospector, politician, lawyer and judge whose legal career immersed him in two significant events in frontier history: the Mountain Meadows massacre in the Utah Territory in 1857; and the 1881 shootout commonly known as the Gunfight at the O.K...
and posted $7,000 bond, paid by C.H. "Ham" Light. At the preliminary hearing, Stilwell and Spence were able to provide several witnesses who supported their alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
s. The distinctive boot print and the use of the word "sugar" to describe money was not enough to convict Stilwell, and Judge Spicer dropped the charges for insufficient evidence just as he had done for Doc Holiday earlier in the year.
On October 13, two weeks after Frank was acquitted on the state charges, Virgil in his role as Deputy U.S. Marshal filed new federal charges against Stilwell for the federal crime of interfering with a mail carrier
Mail carrier
A mail carrier, mailman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman , postman/postwoman , letter carrier or postie is an employee of the post office or postal service, who delivers mail and parcel post to residences and businesses...
. Virgil took Frank to Tucson for arraignment where he was held at the territorial jail. While Virgil was in Tucson, he deputized Wyatt to act in his place as assistant city marshal in Tombstone. The Cowboys saw the new arrest as further evidence they were being unfairly harassed and targeted by the Earps. They let the Earps know they could expect retaliation.
While Wyatt and Virgil were in Tucson for the federal hearing on the charges against Spence and Stilwell, Cowboy Frank McLaury confronted Morgan Earp; Spence and Stilwell being friends of McLaury and his brother Tom. He told Morgan that the McLaurys would kill the Earps if they tried to arrest Spence, Stilwell, or the McLaurys again. The Tombstone Epitaph reported "that since the arrest of Spence and Stilwell, veiled threats [are] being made that the friends of the accused will 'get the Earps.'" The newspapers reported Stilwell and Spence had been arrested for a different stage robbery that occurred on October 8 near Contention City
Contention City, Arizona
Contention City or Contention is a ghost mining town in Cochise County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It was occupied from the early-1880s through the late-1880s in what was then known as the Arizona Territory...
.
Murder of Morgan Earp
The day after Morgan EarpMorgan Earp
Morgan Seth Earp was the younger brother of Deputy U.S. Marshals Virgil and Wyatt Earp. Morgan was a deputy of Virgil's and all three men were the target of repeated death threats made by outlaw Cowboys who were upset by the Earps' interference in their illegal activities. This conflict eventually...
's assassination, Coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
Dr. H. M. Mathews held an inquest in which Pete Spence
Pete Spence
Pete Spence , suspected of robbery in 1878 in Goliad County, Texas, changed his name from Elliot Larkin Ferguson. He was later a suspect in a stagecoach robbery outside Bisbee, Arizona and was known for his association with outlaw Cowboys Frank and Tom McLaury and Ike and Billy Clanton of...
's wife, Marietta Duarte, stated that her husband and Frank Stilwell, Indian Charlie, Frederick Bode and an unnamed half-breed had returned home only one hour after the shooting, and that her husband had threatened her with violence if she told what she knew. Witnesses said they saw former Cochise County Sheriff's Deputy Frank Stilwell running from the scene. The Coroner's jury concluded that Spence, Stilwell, Frederick Bode, a man named Fries, and Florentino "Indian Charlie" were suspected in Morgan Earp's assassination. Spence immediately turned himself in so that he would be protected in Behan's jail. Wyatt Earp felt he could not rely on the court system and decided to take matters into his own hands. He concluded that the only way to deal with Virgil and Morgan's attackers was to kill them.
Frank's murder in Tucson
On March 20, Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp received information that Frank Stilwell, Ike ClantonIke Clanton
Joseph Isaac Clanton was born in Callaway County, Missouri. He is best known for being a member of group of outlaw Cowboys that had ongoing conflicts with lawmen Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan Earp and Wyatt's friend Doc Holliday. The Clantons repeatedly threatened the Earps because they interfered with...
, Hank Swilling, and another cowboy were watching the passenger trains in Tucson intending to kill Virgil Earp. Wyatt and his assistant deputies Warren Earp
Warren Earp
Baxter Warren Earp was the youngest brother of Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil, James, and Newton Earp. He was not present during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. After Virgil was maimed in an ambush, he joined Wyatt and was in town when Morgan was assassinated. He helped Wyatt in the hunt for the outlaw...
, Doc Holliday
Doc Holliday
John Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
, "Turkey Creek" Jack Johnson, and Sherman McMaster accompanied Virgil and Allie to the rail head in Benson. Fearing another attack, they decided to stay with Virgil and his wife aboard the train to Tucson, armed with pistols, rifles and shotguns. McMaster wore two belts of cartridges. Virgil said later that he had Allie wear his pistol belt where he could easily have access to the weapon if he should need it. Virgil and Allie were scheduled to catch a train in Tucson for Colton, California
Colton, California
Colton is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The city is located in the Inland Empire region of the state and is approximately 57 miles east of Los Angeles. The population of Colton is 52,154 according to the 2010 census, up from 47,662 at the 2000 census.Colton is the...
, where the Earp's parents lived.
Upon their arrival in Tucson, the Earp posse spotted Stilwell and other Cowboys. "Almost the first men we met on the platform there were Stilwell and his friends, armed to the teeth", Virgil later told the San Francisco Examiner. "They fell back into the crowd as soon as they saw I had an escort, and the boys took me to the hotel to supper." Watched over by the well-armed Wyatt and his posse, Virgil and Allie had dinner in Tucson at Porter's Hotel, then reboarded the train.
As the train pulled away from the station, gunfire was heard. Witnesses said they saw men running with weapons but could not identify anyone. Wyatt later told his biographers that he saw Frank Stilwell, and another man he believed to be Ike Clanton, armed with shotguns lying on a flatcar
Flatcar
A flatcar is a piece of railroad or railway rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck on four or six wheels or a pair of trucks or bogies . The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads...
. When Wyatt and his men approached, the two men ran. Stilwell stumbled, allowing Wyatt to catch him. Wyatt later said he shot Stilwell as he attempted to push the barrel of Earp's shotgun away. Stilwell's body was found the next day alongside the tracks riddled with two rounds of buckshot, one in his leg and the other in his chest marked with powder burns, along with four other bullet wounds. His own pistol had not been fired. George Hand, who saw the body, said Stilwell was "the worst shot up man I ever saw."
In a 1926 interview with biographer John H. Flood, Wyatt said that they spotted Stilwell and Clanton armed on a flatcar
Flatcar
A flatcar is a piece of railroad or railway rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck on four or six wheels or a pair of trucks or bogies . The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads...
in the train yard, apparently waiting to ambush the Earps. Both men ran after being confronted by the armed Earp party. Stilwell dropped his weapon and stumbled as he ran in the dark train yard, and Wyatt caught up to him and killed him with a point-blank shotgun blast under the ribs as Stilwell tried to fend off Earp's weapon. Wyatt reported that Stilwell's last words were "Morg! Morg!", probably referring to Morgan Earp.
In a March 1882 interview with the Arizona Daily Star, Virgil Earp told the reporter "Before Stillwell died he confessed that he killed Morg and gave the names of those who were implicated with him. When my brothers were leaving Arizona they got dispatches from Tucson saying that Stillwell and a party of friends were watching all the railroad trains passing that way, and they were going through them in search of all Earps and their friends, carrying shotguns under their overcoats and promising to kill on sight. Our boys were bound to look out for themselves, and when they got near Tucson were very cautious. They found StilIwell near the track and killed him."
Ike Clanton escaped. Afterward, he gave interviews to the newspapers in which he claimed that he and Stilwell had been in Tucson to respond to federal charges of interfering with a U.S. mail carrier, stemming from Stilwell's alleged participation in robbing the Bisbee stage on September 8, 1881. According to Ike, Stilwell disappeared from the hotel before he was found shot dead by the tracks several blocks away.
Frank's brother "Comanche Jack" Stilwell
Simpson E. Stilwell
Simpson Edwin Stilwell was a United States Army Scout, Deputy U.S. Marshal, police judge, and U.S. Commissioner in Oklahoma during the American Old West. He served in Major George A...
soon heard of his brother's death and went west with hopes of avenging him, but he never reached Tombstone and soon went back without doing so.
Aftermath and burial
Arrest warrants were immediately issued for the four men in the Earp party that had not proceeded on the train from Tucson with Virgil EarpVirgil Earp
Virgil Walter Earp fought in the Civil War. He was U.S. Deputy Marshal for south-eastern Arizona and Tombstone City Marshal at the time of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in the Arizona Territory. Two months after the shootout in Tombstone, outlaw Cowboys ambushed Virgil on the streets of...
(who was clearly too weak and crippled to have participated in the shooting) and his wife. Warrants were issued for Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Jack Johnson (posseman), and Sherman McMasters
Sherman McMasters
Sherman McMaster was an outlaw turned lawman, who was one of the six men involved in the Earp vendetta ride.-Early life:Sherman W. McMaster was born in 1853 in Rock Island, Illinois, the son of Sylvester W. McMaster. Not much is known of his life before heading out west, but he was believed to...
. The Earps claimed in news interviews while in Colorado that Stillwell had resisted arrest. They resisted extradition to Arizona Territory, and in the end Colorado refused to extradite them, so they were never tried for the killing.
Stilwell was originally buried in the old Tucson City cemetery, but when the cemetery was moved, most of the residents were reburied in a mass grave in the Evergreen Cemetery in Tucson.
Memorial statue at Tucson train station
Life sized statues of both Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday stand at the approximate site of Stilwell's shooting, at the Tucson Arizona train station which is now the Southern Arizona Transportation MuseumSouthern Arizona Transportation Museum
The Southern Arizona Transportation Museum is a railroad museum in Tucson, Arizona.The museum does not charge for admission. Guided tours of the facility are available for a small fee, by appointment only...
.
Film and Television References
The Death of Stilwell is prominently featured in the 1993 film "TombstoneTombstone (film)
Tombstone is a 1993 American action film set in the Old West directed by George P. Cosmatos, along with uncredited directorial efforts by actor Kurt Russell and writer Kevin Jarre. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Jarre....
" in which he was played by Tomas Arana
He was portrayed by John Dennis Johnston in the 1994 film "Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp (film)
Wyatt Earp is a 1994 American semi-biographical Western film, written by Dan Gordon and Lawrence Kasdan and directed by Kasdan. It stars Kevin Costner in the title role as lawman Wyatt Earp, and features an ensemble cast that includes Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, Isabella Rossellini, Mark Harmon,...
"
See also
- Earp Vendetta RideEarp vendetta rideThe Earp Vendetta Ride, lasting from March 20 to April 15, 1882, was a manhunt for outlaw Cowboys led by newly appointed Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp. He was searching for men he held responsible for maiming his brother Virgil, the Tombstone Marshal and Deputy U.S. Marshal, and assassinating his...
- Pete SpencePete SpencePete Spence , suspected of robbery in 1878 in Goliad County, Texas, changed his name from Elliot Larkin Ferguson. He was later a suspect in a stagecoach robbery outside Bisbee, Arizona and was known for his association with outlaw Cowboys Frank and Tom McLaury and Ike and Billy Clanton of...
- Gunfight at the O.K. CorralGunfight at the O.K. CorralThe Gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a roughly 30-second gunfight that took place at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Cochise County, Arizona Territory, of the United States. Outlaw Cowboys Ike Clanton and Billy Claiborne ran from the fight, unharmed, but Ike's brother...