Johnny Ringo
Encyclopedia
John Peters "Johnny" Ringo (May 3, 1850 – July 13, 1882) was an outlaw
Cowboy
of the American Old West
who was affiliated with Ike Clanton
and Frank Stilwell
in Cochise County
, Arizona Territory
during 1881-1882.
ancestry. His family moved to Liberty, Missouri
in 1856. He was a contemporary of Frank
and Jesse James
, who lived nearby in Kearney, Missouri
, and became a cousin of the Younger brothers through marriage when his aunt, Augusta Peters Inskip, married Coleman P. Younger, uncle of the outlaws.
In 1858 the family moved to Gallatin, Missouri
where they rented property from the father of John W. Sheets (who became the first "official" victim of the James-Younger gang
when they robbed the Daviess County Savings & Loan Association in 1869).
On July 30, 1864, while the Ringo family was traveling through Wyoming
on their way to California
, his father Martin Ringo stepped out of his wagon holding a shotgun which accidentally discharged. The buckshot round entered the right side of his face, exiting the top of his head. The 14 year-old John Ringo and the rest of his family buried him on a hillside alongside the trail.
to Mason County, Texas
. Here he befriended an ex-Texas Ranger
named Scott Cooley, who was the adopted son of a local rancher named Tim Williamson.
Trouble started when two American rustlers, Elijah and Pete Backus, were dragged from the Mason jail and lynched
by a predominantly German mob. Full-blown war began on May 13, 1875, when Tim Williamson was arrested by a hostile posse and murdered by a German farmer named Peter Bader. Cooley and his friends, including Johnny Ringo, conducted a terror campaign against their rivals. Officially called the "Mason County War
", locally it was called the "Hoodoo War". Cooley retaliated by killing the local German ex-deputy sheriff, John Worley, shooting him, scalping
him, and tossing his body down a well on August 10, 1875.
Cooley already had a reputation as a dangerous man, and was respected as a Texas Ranger. He killed several others during the "war". After Cooley supporter Moses Baird was killed, Ringo committed his first murder on September 25, 1875 when he and a friend named Bill Williams rode up in front of the house of James Cheyney, the man who led Baird into the ambush. As Cheyney came out, unarmed, invited them in and began washing his face on the porch, both Ringo and Williams shot and killed him. The two then rode to the house of Dave Doole, and called him outside, but when he came out with a gun, they fled back into town.
Some time later, Scott Cooley and Johnny Ringo mistook Charley Bader for his brother Pete and killed him. After that both men were jailed in Burnet, Texas
by Sheriff
A. J. Strickland. Both Ringo and Cooley were broken out of jail by their friends shortly thereafter, and parted company to evade the law.
By November 1876, the Mason County War had petered out after costing a dozen or so lives, Scott Cooley was believed dead, and Johnny Ringo and his pal George Gladden were locked up once again. One of Ringo's cellmates was the notorious killer John Wesley Hardin
. While Gladden was sentenced to 99 years, Ringo appears to have been acquitted
. Two years later, Ringo was noted as being a constable in Loyal Valley, Texas
. Soon after this, he appeared in Arizona for the first time.
wrote that he had found nothing in Old West history to commend John Ringo as a particularly noteworthy "badman". According to L'Amour, Ringo was a surly, bad-tempered man who was worse when he was drinking, and that his main claim to fame was shooting the unarmed Louis Hancock in an Arizona territory saloon in 1879 for ordering beer after Ringo told him to order whiskey. L'Amour wrote that he did not understand how Ringo earned such a strong reputation as a "bad man" in legend. Other authors have concluded that perhaps Ringo's memorable name, coupled with his confrontations with the canonically "good" Earp brothers
contributed to his latter-day reputation.
, Arizona Territory
in 1879 along with Joseph Graves Olney
(alias "Joe Hill"), a friend from the Mason County War. In December 1879, a drunk Ringo shot unarmed Louis Hancock in a Safford, Arizona
saloon when Hancock refused a complimentary drink of whiskey, stating he preferred beer. Hancock survived his wound. He did not take part in the shoot out at the O.K Corral. He was occasionally erroneously referred to as "Ringgold" by the newspapers of the day.
On January 17, 1882, Ringo and Doc Holliday
traded threats and seemed to be headed into a gunfight. Both men were arrested by Tombstone's new chief of police, James Flynn, and hauled before a judge for carrying weapons in town. Both were fined. Judge William H. Stilwell followed up on charges outstanding against Ringo for a robbery in Galeyville and Ringo was re-arrested and jailed on January 20 for the weekend.
Around Tombstone, Arizona
, he had a reputation as having a bad-temper. He may have participated in robberies and killings with the Cowboys
. Two months later, Ringo was suspected by the Earps of taking part in the murder of Morgan Earp
on March 18, 1882.
After Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp
and his posse killed Frank Stilwell
in Tucson on March 20, 1881, warrants were issued for their arrest. Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan
deputized Ringo and 19 other men, many of them Cowboys
and friends of Frank Stilwell. Ringo joined the county posse that pursued but never found the federal posse.
Pete Spence
's wife, Marietta Duarte, testified that her husband, Frank Stilwell, "Indian Charlie" Cruz, Frederick Bode, and a half-breed named Fries had killed Morgan Earp. The Earp posse searched for Pete Spence
at his wood camp in the South Pass in the Dragoon Mountains
and found Florentino "Indian Charlie" Cruz.
One of Ringo's closest friends, "Curly Bill" Brocius, was killed by Wyatt Earp in a gunfight at Iron Springs (later Mescal Springs) about 20 miles (32.2 km) from Tombstone. Earp told his biographer Lake that he got Cruz to confess to being the lookout, and that he identified Johnny Ringo, Frank Stilwell, Hank Swilling, and Curly Bill as Morgan's killers.
On July 14, 1882, Johnny Ringo was found dead in the crotch of a large tree in West Turkey Creek Valley, near Chiricahua Peak
, with a bullet hole in his right temple and an exit wound at the back of his head.
A single shot had been heard by a neighbor late in the evening the day before on July 13. The property owner found Ringo sitting on the low-leaning trunk and fork of a large tree by the river (a fallen trunk next to which Ringo is now buried). Ringo's revolver had one round expended and was found hanging by one finger in his hand. His feet were wrapped in pieces of his undershirt. His horse was found two weeks later, Ringo's boots tied to the saddle of his horse, a common method to keep scorpions out of boots. After an inquest, the coroner found that death had been caused by a single shot through the head, and Ringo's death was officially ruled a suicide.
Johnny Ringo is buried close to where his body was found in West Turkey Creek Canyon (31°51′49"N 109°20′16"W) at the base of the tree in which he was found, which fell around 2010. The grave is located on private land and is not publicly accessible.
, Doc Holliday
, O'Rourke
, and Buckskin Frank Leslie
.
The book, I Married Wyatt Earp
, supposedly written by Josephine Marcus Earp
, reported that Wyatt Earp and Holliday returned to Arizona to find and kill Ringo. Edited by Glen Boyer, the book claims that Holliday killed Ringo with a rifle shot at a distance, contradicting the coroner's ruling that Ringo's death was a suicide. However, Boyer's book has been discredited as a fraud and a hoax that cannot be relied on. In response to criticism about the book's authenticity, Boyer said the book was not really a first-person account, that he had interpreted Wyatt Earp in Josephine's voice, and admitted that he couldn't produce any documents to vindicate his methods.
Holliday was fighting a court case in Colorado at the time of Ringo's death. Official records of the District Court of Pueblo County, Colorado
indicate that both Doc and his attorney appeared in court there on July 11, 14, and 18, 1882, which, if true, would make it impossible for Holliday to have killed Ringo. Author Karen Holliday Tanner, in Doc Holliday, A Family Portrait, speculated that Doc may not have been in Pueblo at the time of the court date, citing a writ of habeas corpus issued for him in court on July 11. She believes that only his attorney may have appeared on his behalf that day, in spite of the wording of a court record that indicated he may have appeared in person—“in propera persona” or “in his own proper person”. She cites this as standard legal filler text that does necessarily prove the person was present. There is no doubt that Holliday arrived in Salida, Colorado
on July 7 as reported in a town newspaper. This is 500 miles (804.7 km) from the site of Ringo's death, six days before the shooting.
One theory that supports the coroner's finding that Ringo committed suicide
is that a few weeks before Ringo's death, a large fire in Tombstone had wiped out most of the downtown area. The silver
mines were producing less, and demand for beef was down. Many of Ringo's friends were gone, while his way of life was quickly becoming a thing of the past. Ringo was depressed
after being rejected by his remaining family members in California
and the recent deaths of his outlaw friends. Stoked by a period of binge drinking, Ringo was preparing to camp in an isolated spot, far from the city. He tied his boots to his saddle, a common practice in Arizona to keep scorpion
s out of them, but the horse got loose from his picket and ran off. Ringo tied pieces of his undershirt to his feet to protect them (these were found on his body and noted by the inquest
), and crawled into the fork of a large tree to spend the night. As evening came on, despondent over his overall state, Ringo shot himself.
Fred Dodge, a Wells, Fargo & Co.
undercover agent, attributed Ringo's killing to Mike O'Rourke
. A gambler, O'Rourke had been arrested for murdering Henry Schneider. Curly Bill Brocius
and John Ringo encouraged talk of a lynching and led other men who pursued the wagon carrying O'Rourke. McKelvey got to the outskirts of Tombstone and the Last Chance Saloon just ahead of the mob where he was met by Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp
, and was escorted to jail in Tucson, where escaped. He held onto a burning rage toward Ringo and Curly Bill, and according to a conversation Dodge had with Frank Leslie, O'Rourke learned in July, 1882 that Ringo and Buckskin Frank Leslie were camping in the Turkey Creek Canyon area. O'Rourke knew that Ringo had been drinking heavily for the last week and made camp in the same area. On July 14 allegedly found Ringo sleeping off his liquor and killed him, arranging the body to look like a suicide. The story had enough credibility that many believed, including Ringo's close friend Pony Diehl
, it to be true. O'Rourke was killed shortly after being caught cheating at cards.
Others believe Buckskin Frank Leslie
killed Ringo. Leslie found Ringo drunk and asleep at a tree. Hoping to curry favor with Earp supporters in office, he shot Ringo through the head. Billy Claiborne believed Leslie killed Ringo, and it was said that his fatal shootout with Leslie was due to this fact. However, in reality Claiborne was demanding that Leslie refer to him as "Billy the Kid", and when Leslie refused Claiborne challenged him. Claiborne was shot through the right side, the bullet exiting out his back, and died hours later. His last words were supposedly "Frank Leslie killed John Ringo. I saw him do it", another claim that has no evidence to support it.
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...
of the American Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
who was affiliated with Ike Clanton
Ike 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...
and Frank Stilwell
Frank Stilwell
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...
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:...
, 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....
during 1881-1882.
Early life
Ringo was born in Greensfork, Indiana, of distant DutchDutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
ancestry. His family moved to Liberty, Missouri
Liberty, Missouri
Liberty is a city in Clay County, Missouri and is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. At the 2007 population estimate, the city population was 29,993...
in 1856. He was a contemporary of Frank
Frank James
Alexander Franklin "Frank" James was a famous American outlaw. He was the older brother of outlaw Jesse James.-Childhood:...
and Jesse James
Jesse James
Jesse Woodson James was an American outlaw, gang leader, bank robber, train robber, and murderer from the state of Missouri and the most famous member of the James-Younger Gang. He also faked his own death and was known as J.M James. Already a celebrity when he was alive, he became a legendary...
, who lived nearby in Kearney, Missouri
Kearney, Missouri
Kearney is a city in Clay County, Missouri, United States. The population was estimated to be 8,599 in 2008. It is most famous for being the birthplace of Jesse James, and there is an annual festival in the third weekend of September to recognize the notorious outlaw.Kearney was unofficially...
, and became a cousin of the Younger brothers through marriage when his aunt, Augusta Peters Inskip, married Coleman P. Younger, uncle of the outlaws.
In 1858 the family moved to Gallatin, Missouri
Gallatin, Missouri
Gallatin is a city in Daviess County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,789 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Daviess County.-History:...
where they rented property from the father of John W. Sheets (who became the first "official" victim of the James-Younger gang
James-Younger gang
The James-Younger Gang was a notable 19th-century gang of American outlaws that included Jesse James.The gang was centered in the state of Missouri. Membership fluctuated from robbery to robbery, as the outlaws' raids were usually separated by many months...
when they robbed the Daviess County Savings & Loan Association in 1869).
On July 30, 1864, while the Ringo family was traveling through Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
on their way to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, his father Martin Ringo stepped out of his wagon holding a shotgun which accidentally discharged. The buckshot round entered the right side of his face, exiting the top of his head. The 14 year-old John Ringo and the rest of his family buried him on a hillside alongside the trail.
Mason County War
By the mid-1870s, Ringo had migrated from San Jose, CaliforniaSan Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
to Mason County, Texas
Mason County, Texas
Mason County is a county located on the Edwards Plateau in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 4, 012. Its county seat is Mason...
. Here he befriended an ex-Texas Ranger
Texas Ranger Division
The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...
named Scott Cooley, who was the adopted son of a local rancher named Tim Williamson.
Trouble started when two American rustlers, Elijah and Pete Backus, were dragged from the Mason jail and lynched
Lynching in the United States
Lynching, the practice of killing people by extrajudicial mob action, occurred in the United States chiefly from the late 18th century through the 1960s. Lynchings took place most frequently in the South from 1890 to the 1920s, with a peak in the annual toll in 1892.It is associated with...
by a predominantly German mob. Full-blown war began on May 13, 1875, when Tim Williamson was arrested by a hostile posse and murdered by a German farmer named Peter Bader. Cooley and his friends, including Johnny Ringo, conducted a terror campaign against their rivals. Officially called the "Mason County War
Mason County War
The Mason County War, also called the Hoodoo War was a cattle rustling dispute between German-American settlers and the non-German ranchers in Mason County, Texas.-Background:...
", locally it was called the "Hoodoo War". Cooley retaliated by killing the local German ex-deputy sheriff, John Worley, shooting him, scalping
Scalping
Scalping is the act of removing another person's scalp or a portion of their scalp, either from a dead body or from a living person. The initial purpose of scalping was to provide a trophy of battle or portable proof of a combatant's prowess in war...
him, and tossing his body down a well on August 10, 1875.
Cooley already had a reputation as a dangerous man, and was respected as a Texas Ranger. He killed several others during the "war". After Cooley supporter Moses Baird was killed, Ringo committed his first murder on September 25, 1875 when he and a friend named Bill Williams rode up in front of the house of James Cheyney, the man who led Baird into the ambush. As Cheyney came out, unarmed, invited them in and began washing his face on the porch, both Ringo and Williams shot and killed him. The two then rode to the house of Dave Doole, and called him outside, but when he came out with a gun, they fled back into town.
Some time later, Scott Cooley and Johnny Ringo mistook Charley Bader for his brother Pete and killed him. After that both men were jailed in Burnet, Texas
Burnet, Texas
Burnet is a city in and the county seat of Burnet County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,735 at the 2000 census.Both the city and the county were named for David Gouverneur Burnet, the first president of the Republic of Texas. He also served as Vice President during the...
by Sheriff
Sheriff
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....
A. J. Strickland. Both Ringo and Cooley were broken out of jail by their friends shortly thereafter, and parted company to evade the law.
By November 1876, the Mason County War had petered out after costing a dozen or so lives, Scott Cooley was believed dead, and Johnny Ringo and his pal George Gladden were locked up once again. One of Ringo's cellmates was the notorious killer John Wesley Hardin
John Wesley Hardin
John Wesley Hardin was an American outlaw, gunfighter, and controversial folk hero of the Old West. He was born in Bonham, Texas. Hardin found himself in trouble with the law at an early age, and spent the majority of his life being pursued by both local lawmen and federal troops of the...
. While Gladden was sentenced to 99 years, Ringo appears to have been acquitted
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
. Two years later, Ringo was noted as being a constable in Loyal Valley, Texas
Loyal Valley, Texas
Loyal Valley is an unincorporated farming and ranching community, established in 1858, and is north of Cherry Spring in the southeastern corner of Mason County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The community is located near Cold Spring Creek, which runs east for to its mouth on Marschall Creek in...
. Soon after this, he appeared in Arizona for the first time.
Reputation
Louis L'AmourLouis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American author. His books consisted primarily of Western fiction novels , however he also wrote historical fiction , science fiction , nonfiction , as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into movies...
wrote that he had found nothing in Old West history to commend John Ringo as a particularly noteworthy "badman". According to L'Amour, Ringo was a surly, bad-tempered man who was worse when he was drinking, and that his main claim to fame was shooting the unarmed Louis Hancock in an Arizona territory saloon in 1879 for ordering beer after Ringo told him to order whiskey. L'Amour wrote that he did not understand how Ringo earned such a strong reputation as a "bad man" in legend. Other authors have concluded that perhaps Ringo's memorable name, coupled with his confrontations with the canonically "good" Earp brothers
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...
contributed to his latter-day reputation.
Tombstone
Ringo first turned up in Cochise CountyCochise 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:...
, 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 1879 along with Joseph Graves Olney
Joseph Graves Olney
Joseph Graves Olney was a rancher and cattleman in what is now Cochise County, Arizona. He arrived there around 1877 and set up a ranch in the San Simon Valley. Olney moved from Texas under circumstances which were notorious.- Early life :...
(alias "Joe Hill"), a friend from the Mason County War. In December 1879, a drunk Ringo shot unarmed Louis Hancock in a Safford, Arizona
Safford, Arizona
- History :Safford was founded by Joshua Eaton Bailey, Hiram Kennedy and Edward Tuttle, who came from Gila Bend, in southwestern Arizona. They left Gila Bend in the winter of 1873-74; their work on canals and dams having been destroyed by high water the previous summer...
saloon when Hancock refused a complimentary drink of whiskey, stating he preferred beer. Hancock survived his wound. He did not take part in the shoot out at the O.K Corral. He was occasionally erroneously referred to as "Ringgold" by the newspapers of the day.
On January 17, 1882, Ringo and 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...
traded threats and seemed to be headed into a gunfight. Both men were arrested by Tombstone's new chief of police, James Flynn, and hauled before a judge for carrying weapons in town. Both were fined. Judge William H. Stilwell followed up on charges outstanding against Ringo for a robbery in Galeyville and Ringo was re-arrested and jailed on January 20 for the weekend.
Around Tombstone, Arizona
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...
, he had a reputation as having a bad-temper. He may have participated in robberies and killings with the Cowboys
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...
. Two months later, Ringo was suspected by the Earps of taking part 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.
After 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...
and his posse killed Frank Stilwell
Frank Stilwell
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...
in Tucson on March 20, 1881, warrants were issued for their arrest. 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...
deputized Ringo and 19 other men, many of them Cowboys
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...
and friends of Frank Stilwell. Ringo joined the county posse that pursued but never found the federal posse.
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, testified that her husband, Frank Stilwell, "Indian Charlie" Cruz, Frederick Bode, and a half-breed named Fries had killed Morgan Earp. The Earp posse searched for 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...
at his wood camp in the South Pass in the Dragoon Mountains
Dragoon Mountains
Dragoon Mountains are a range of mountains located in Cochise County, Arizona. The range is about 25 mi long, running on an axis extending south-south east through Willcox.- Geography :...
and found Florentino "Indian Charlie" Cruz.
One of Ringo's closest friends, "Curly Bill" Brocius, was killed by Wyatt Earp in a gunfight at Iron Springs (later Mescal Springs) about 20 miles (32.2 km) from Tombstone. Earp told his biographer Lake that he got Cruz to confess to being the lookout, and that he identified Johnny Ringo, Frank Stilwell, Hank Swilling, and Curly Bill as Morgan's killers.
Death in Turkey Creek Canyon
Chiricahua Peak
Chiricahua Peak is the name of a peak located in southeastern Arizona, located just north of the United States–Mexico border. It is the highest summit in the Chiricahua Mountains and the highest point in Cochise County....
, with a bullet hole in his right temple and an exit wound at the back of his head.
A single shot had been heard by a neighbor late in the evening the day before on July 13. The property owner found Ringo sitting on the low-leaning trunk and fork of a large tree by the river (a fallen trunk next to which Ringo is now buried). Ringo's revolver had one round expended and was found hanging by one finger in his hand. His feet were wrapped in pieces of his undershirt. His horse was found two weeks later, Ringo's boots tied to the saddle of his horse, a common method to keep scorpions out of boots. After an inquest, the coroner found that death had been caused by a single shot through the head, and Ringo's death was officially ruled a suicide.
Johnny Ringo is buried close to where his body was found in West Turkey Creek Canyon (31°51′49"N 109°20′16"W) at the base of the tree in which he was found, which fell around 2010. The grave is located on private land and is not publicly accessible.
Theories of Ringo's death
Many people have been put forth as Ringo's murderer, including Wyatt EarpWyatt 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...
, 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...
, O'Rourke
Mike O'Rourke
Michael "Mike" O'Rourke , aka "Johnny O'Rourke" or "Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce", was a professional gambler of the Old West, whose notoriety is mainly due to Old West lawman and legend Wyatt Earp's having saving him from being lynched in Tombstone, Arizona Territory in 1881.-Life in Tombstone:O'Rourke...
, and Buckskin Frank Leslie
Franklin Leslie
Nashville Franklin [Franklyn] Leslie was an lawman, U.S. Army scout, gambler, and an outlaw. He was known for his fringed buckskin jacket and his twin revolvers. He became famous in Tombstone, Arizona for killing two men in self-defense before he killed one of his wives while drunk and in a fit of...
.
The book, I Married Wyatt Earp
I Married Wyatt Earp
The book I Married Wyatt Earp: The Recollections of Josephine Sarah Marcus, first published by the University of Arizona Press in 1976, was sold as a memoir of Josephine Earp, the widow of western Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp. It was regarded for many years as a factual account that shed...
, supposedly written by Josephine Marcus Earp
Josephine Earp
Josephine Sarah Marcus Earp was an American part time actress and dancer who was best known as the wife of famed Old West lawman and gambler Wyatt Earp. Known as "Sadie" to the public in 1881, she met Wyatt in the frontier boom town Tombstone, Arizona Territory when she was living with Cochise...
, reported that Wyatt Earp and Holliday returned to Arizona to find and kill Ringo. Edited by Glen Boyer, the book claims that Holliday killed Ringo with a rifle shot at a distance, contradicting the coroner's ruling that Ringo's death was a suicide. However, Boyer's book has been discredited as a fraud and a hoax that cannot be relied on. In response to criticism about the book's authenticity, Boyer said the book was not really a first-person account, that he had interpreted Wyatt Earp in Josephine's voice, and admitted that he couldn't produce any documents to vindicate his methods.
Holliday was fighting a court case in Colorado at the time of Ringo's death. Official records of the District Court of Pueblo County, Colorado
Pueblo County, Colorado
Pueblo County is the tenth most populous of the 64 counties of the state of Colorado of the United States. The county was named for the historic city of Pueblo which took its name from the Spanish language word meaning "town" or "village". The United States Census Bureau estimates that the...
indicate that both Doc and his attorney appeared in court there on July 11, 14, and 18, 1882, which, if true, would make it impossible for Holliday to have killed Ringo. Author Karen Holliday Tanner, in Doc Holliday, A Family Portrait, speculated that Doc may not have been in Pueblo at the time of the court date, citing a writ of habeas corpus issued for him in court on July 11. She believes that only his attorney may have appeared on his behalf that day, in spite of the wording of a court record that indicated he may have appeared in person—“in propera persona” or “in his own proper person”. She cites this as standard legal filler text that does necessarily prove the person was present. There is no doubt that Holliday arrived in Salida, Colorado
Salida, Colorado
The City of Salida is a Statutory City that is the county seat and most populous city of Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The population was 5,504 at the U.S. Census 2000.-History:800px|thumb|left| Panoramic View of Salida, 1910...
on July 7 as reported in a town newspaper. This is 500 miles (804.7 km) from the site of Ringo's death, six days before the shooting.
One theory that supports the coroner's finding that Ringo committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
is that a few weeks before Ringo's death, a large fire in Tombstone had wiped out most of the downtown area. The silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
mines were producing less, and demand for beef was down. Many of Ringo's friends were gone, while his way of life was quickly becoming a thing of the past. Ringo was depressed
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
after being rejected by his remaining family members in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and the recent deaths of his outlaw friends. Stoked by a period of binge drinking, Ringo was preparing to camp in an isolated spot, far from the city. He tied his boots to his saddle, a common practice in Arizona to keep scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
s out of them, but the horse got loose from his picket and ran off. Ringo tied pieces of his undershirt to his feet to protect them (these were found on his body and noted by the inquest
Inquest
Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden and unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove"...
), and crawled into the fork of a large tree to spend the night. As evening came on, despondent over his overall state, Ringo shot himself.
Fred Dodge, a 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, attributed Ringo's killing to Mike O'Rourke
Mike O'Rourke
Michael "Mike" O'Rourke , aka "Johnny O'Rourke" or "Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce", was a professional gambler of the Old West, whose notoriety is mainly due to Old West lawman and legend Wyatt Earp's having saving him from being lynched in Tombstone, Arizona Territory in 1881.-Life in Tombstone:O'Rourke...
. A gambler, O'Rourke had been arrested for murdering Henry Schneider. Curly Bill Brocius
William Brocius
William "Curly Bill" Brocius was a gunman, rustler and an outlaw Cowboy in the Cochise County area of Arizona Territory during the early 1880s. He had a number of conflicts with the lawmen of the Earp family, and he was named as one of the individuals who participated Morgan Earp's assassination....
and John Ringo encouraged talk of a lynching and led other men who pursued the wagon carrying O'Rourke. McKelvey got to the outskirts of Tombstone and the Last Chance Saloon just ahead of the mob where he was met by Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp
Virgil 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...
, and was escorted to jail in Tucson, where escaped. He held onto a burning rage toward Ringo and Curly Bill, and according to a conversation Dodge had with Frank Leslie, O'Rourke learned in July, 1882 that Ringo and Buckskin Frank Leslie were camping in the Turkey Creek Canyon area. O'Rourke knew that Ringo had been drinking heavily for the last week and made camp in the same area. On July 14 allegedly found Ringo sleeping off his liquor and killed him, arranging the body to look like a suicide. The story had enough credibility that many believed, including Ringo's close friend Pony Diehl
Pony Diehl
Charles "Pony" Diehl was an Old West outlaw who crossed paths and associated with some of the most famous western characters in American history. His origins are unknown, although he is believed to have been part Cherokee....
, it to be true. O'Rourke was killed shortly after being caught cheating at cards.
Others believe Buckskin Frank Leslie
Franklin Leslie
Nashville Franklin [Franklyn] Leslie was an lawman, U.S. Army scout, gambler, and an outlaw. He was known for his fringed buckskin jacket and his twin revolvers. He became famous in Tombstone, Arizona for killing two men in self-defense before he killed one of his wives while drunk and in a fit of...
killed Ringo. Leslie found Ringo drunk and asleep at a tree. Hoping to curry favor with Earp supporters in office, he shot Ringo through the head. Billy Claiborne believed Leslie killed Ringo, and it was said that his fatal shootout with Leslie was due to this fact. However, in reality Claiborne was demanding that Leslie refer to him as "Billy the Kid", and when Leslie refused Claiborne challenged him. Claiborne was shot through the right side, the bullet exiting out his back, and died hours later. His last words were supposedly "Frank Leslie killed John Ringo. I saw him do it", another claim that has no evidence to support it.
In Popular Culture
- In the 1939 film Stagecoach, John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
plays a character by the name of the Ringo Kid. - In the 1950 film The GunfighterThe GunfighterThe Gunfighter is a 1950 western film starring Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell and Karl Malden . This film was directed by Henry King...
, the title character, played by Gregory PeckGregory PeckEldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
, is named Jimmy Ringo, undoubtedly a reference to the famous outlaw. In the film, Ringo is sympathetically depicted as a man constantly trying to put his notorious past behind him. - In a 1954 episode of the syndicatedTelevision syndicationIn broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
western series Stories of the CenturyStories of the CenturyStories of the Century is a Western television series that ran in syndication through Republic Pictures between January 23, 1954, and March 11, 1955.-Synopsis:...
Ringo was played by Donald Curtis as "John B. Ringgold". Emlen Davies played his spinster sister, Helen, who tries in vain to convince him to turn away from lawlessness. Stories of the Century was the first western to win an Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
. - Ringo is played by John IrelandJohn Ireland (actor)John Benjamin Ireland was an actor and film director.-Biography:Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he was raised in New York City from the age of 18. He started out in minor stage roles on Broadway...
in the 1957 film Gunfight at the O.K. CorralGunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957 film)The film was based on a real event which took place on October 26, 1881. It was directed by John Sturges and featuring a screenplay written by novelist Leon Uris, and the movie's supporting cast included Rhonda Fleming, John Ireland, Jo Van Fleet, Martin Milner, Dennis Hopper, Jack Elam, Lee Van...
. In this version the animosity between Ringo and Doc Holliday is caused when Big Nose KateBig Nose KateMary Katherine Horony Cummings , known as Big Nose Kate, was the Hungarian-born long-time companion and common-law wife of fabled gambler and gunfighter Doc Holliday in the American Old West....
(called "Kate Fisher" here) leaves Doc to become Ringo's lover. This is non-historical, although in Kate's letters she does note that Ringo visited her when Holliday was in jail briefly in November 1881 in connection with the O.K. Corral Spicer hearing, and it is quite possible that Holliday grew jealous. The movie portrays Ringo as a participant in the titular gunfight, when in fact he was not present. The film depicts Holliday lecturing a wounded Ringo about the triumph of good over evil before he shoots Ringo dead. - "Johnny Ringo's Last Ride" is an episode of the ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
western series Tombstone TerritoryTombstone TerritoryTombstone Territory is an American Western series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The series' first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959...
, which aired on February 19, 1958, with Myron HealeyMyron HealeyMyron Daniel Healey was an American actor. He began his Hollywood, California, career during the early 1940s in bit parts and minor supporting roles at various studios.-Early years:...
in the role of Ringo. The series starred Pat ConwayPat ConwayPatrick Douglas Conway, known as Pat Conway , was an American actor best known for his role as young but tough Sheriff Clay Hollister on the ABC and then syndicated western television series Tombstone Territory . He was a maternal grandson of silent film star Francis X...
and Richard EasthamRichard EasthamRichard Eastham, born as Dickinson Swift Eastham , was an American actor of stage, film, and television and a concert singer known for his deep baritone voice.-Tombstone Territory:...
. - A 1959–1960 CBS televisionTelevisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show used Ringo's name, but had little to do with his actual life (the real Ringo probably never wore a badge, unless as a town constable). Johnny RingoJohnny Ringo (TV series)Johnny Ringo is a Western television series starring Don Durant that aired on CBS from October 1, 1959, until June 30, 1960. It was loosely based on the life of the notorious gunfighter Johnny Ringo, who tangled with Wyatt Earp, John "Doc" Holliday, and "Buckskin" Franklin Leslie.This fictional...
aired for one season (38 episodes). Ringo was played by Don DurantDon DurantDon Durant was an American actor and singer, best known for his role as the gunslinger-turned- sheriff in the CBS Western series Johnny Ringo, which ran on Thursdays from October 1, 1959 - June 30, 1960....
and carried a LeMat revolverLeMat RevolverThe LeMat revolver was a .42 or .36 caliber cap & ball black powder revolver invented by Dr. Jean Alexandre LeMat of New Orleans, which featured a rather unusual secondary 16 gauge smoothbore barrel capable of firing buckshot, and saw service with the armed forces of the Confederate States of...
(A Confederate nine shot revolver with a second barrel designed to fire a shotgun shell). - Ringo is the inspiration for the historically inaccurate, but highly popular song "RingoRingo (song)"Ringo" was a hit single for the Canadian-born actor, Lorne Greene, in 1964.The song's actual sung lyrics are limited to the title word alone, performed by an unidentified male chorus. Throughout the rest of the performance, Greene talks about the legendary gunfighter...
" sung by then-BonanzaBonanzaBonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
TV-cowboy Lorne GreeneLorne GreeneLorne Greene , was the stage name of Lyon Himan Green, OC, a Canadian actor.His television roles include Ben Cartwright on the western Bonanza, and Commander Adama in the science fiction movie and subsequent TV Series Battlestar Galactica...
, which topped the pop charts at #1 in late 1964 (replacing The Shangri-LasThe Shangri-LasThe Shangri-Las were an American pop girl group of the 1960s. Between 1964 and 1966 they charted with often heartbreaking teen melodramas, and remain best known for "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember ".- Early career :...
' "Leader of the Pack"). - In the 1986 television remake of Stagecoach the Ringo Kid is played by Kris KristoffersonKris KristoffersonKristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
. The character of the gambler Hatfield is changed for Doc Holliday (Holliday is probably the inspiration for both Doc Boone and the gambler Hatfield in the original). In the remake, Holliday is played in name by Willie NelsonWillie NelsonWillie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
and Holliday and the Ringo Kid are allies, which is ironic given their relationship in real life. - In 1993's Tombstone, Ringo is played by Michael BiehnMichael BiehnMichael Connell Biehn is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in James Cameron's science fiction action films The Terminator as Kyle Reese, Aliens as Cpl. Dwayne Hicks, and The Abyss as Lt. Coffey. He has also acted in such films as Tombstone, The Rock, and Planet Terror...
. In this version, he is second in command of The CowboysThe 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...
. He is characterized as a violent sociopathAntisocial personality disorderAntisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
who aspires to humiliate and destroy Doc Holliday. He is also characterized as highly educated, at one point trading LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
taunts with Holliday. - In the 1994 film Wyatt EarpWyatt 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,...
, Ringo is played by Norman Howell. In this film, Curly Bill Brocius is the major antagonist. - Johnny Ringo is the protagonist of a novel entitled Confessions of Johnny Ringo (ISBN 0451159888) by Geoff Aggeler. In the novel, Ringo's real name is Ringgold, and he is depicted as a young man studying the law who is driven to become an outlaw during the Civil War when his sweetheart is killed by Union troops in Missouri. He is killed by Wyatt Earp, who frees his spirit to reunite with the sweetheart.
- Ringo is an antagonist in the Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
story The GunfightersThe GunfightersThe Gunfighters is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, set in 19th Century America on the days leading up to the famous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
, in which he is inaccurately portrayed as not only being present at the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral but as one of its casualties. In the novelisation, he is depicted as a classicist and intends to spend his wages on an encyclopedia of classical biography. - In the episode "Dead Man's Hill" of the television series The Lost WorldThe Lost World (TV series)Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World is a syndicated television series loosely based on the 1912 novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World...
, Johnny Ringo is played by David OrthDavid OrthDavid Orth is a Canadian actor.Orth was born and raised in Kitchener, Ontario. His most notable role was as Edward 'Ned' Malone in the TV series The Lost World, which was shot in Australia. He played this part from 1999 until 2002. During the shooting of The Lost World, he purchased a home in...
as an outlaw in cahoots with the ruthless sheriff Jack Challenger, who have framed an innocent man for the murder of another woman's husband. - Johnny Ringo is depicted in the Mister Blueberry arc of the FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
Blueberry as a psychotic and delusionDelusionA delusion is a false belief held with absolute conviction despite superior evidence. Unlike hallucinations, delusions are always pathological...
al gunslingerGunslingerGunfighter, also gunslinger , is a 20th century word, used in cinema or literature, referring to men in the American Old West who had gained a reputation as being dangerous with a gun...
and scalpScalpingScalping is the act of removing another person's scalp or a portion of their scalp, either from a dead body or from a living person. The initial purpose of scalping was to provide a trophy of battle or portable proof of a combatant's prowess in war...
hunter who sacrifices women to a mystical entity known as "Red Dragon". - Johnny Ringo was depicted on the television series, The High Chaparral, twice in 1969. In one episode, Ringo was portrayed by veteran television and film character actor, Robert Viharo. In another episode, Ringo was portrayed by veteran actor, Luke AskewLuke AskewLuke Askew is an American actor best known for his role in the 1969 film Easy Rider.Askew was born in Macon, Georgia. He made his film debut in Otto Preminger's Hurry Sundown , but was first noticed as an actor for his role in the 1967 film Cool Hand Luke...
. The premise of both episodes was that Ringo was a misunderstood outlaw and longtime friend of Manolito Montoya (Henry DarrowHenry DarrowHenry Darrow is a prolific Puerto Rican-American character actor of stage and film. Darrow is probably best remembered for his role as Big John Cannon's teasing brother-in-law, and Buck Cannon's favorite ranch hand, and best friend, Manolito Montoya, in the 1960s television series The High...
).