The Encyclopedia of Lawmen, Outlaws, and Gunfighters

by Leon Claire Metz

  After the visit, Tucker returned to California, where several who knew him in New Mexico reported that he later died of natural causes in the county hospital at San Bernardino.

  .see r19o; BURNS, JAMES; EL PASO SALT WAR; TETTENBORN, WILLIAM ROGERS

  TURKEY Creek Canyon, Battle of

  On the night of July 11, 1899, train robbers often known as the "Wild Bunch" stopped and robbed Train No. 1 of the Colorado and Southern Railroad at Twin Mountain, near Folsom in Union County, New Mexico. Desperadoes Sam Ketchum, Elza Lay, Will Carver, and "Red" Weaver blew open the safe and wrecked the express car. Before leaving, they paused to eat peaches and pears, washing them down with whiskey.

  The robbery alerted practically every lawman in the Southwest. Union County sheriff Saturino Pinard called together a posse of four men. Wells Fargo special agent John Thacker quickly arrived from San Francisco. The U.S. marshal for New Mexico, Creighton M. Foraker, put together a posse. Finally, William Henry Reno, special agent for the Colorado and Southern Railroad, organized a posse of 16 men and transported them to Folsom by special train.

  The posses picked up the outlaw trail and followed it for nearly 20 miles before a driving rain forced them to return to Folsom. At this point, most of the men from Colorado went home, but they had no sooner left than the others received information that Lay, Ketchum, and Carver were in Turkey Creek Canyon. So on the morning of July 16, an eight-man posse composed of U.S. Marshal Wilson Elliott, Sheriff Edward Farr, James Morgan, William Reno, Deputy Sheriffs F. H. Smith and Henry Love of Colfax County, and Perfecto Cordoba (or Cordova) and Santiago Serna (or Silva) all rode toward Turkey Creek Canyon. Serna dropped out along the way.

  Ella Lay (Robert G. McCubbin Collection)

  At about a quarter to five in the evening of July 16, the posse emerged from a patch of scrub oak, Elliott motioning for everyone to dismount. At a distance of about 250 yards, he had seen smoke curling skyward. Reno, Farr, and Smith moved off to the left, the others to the right.

  Suddenly a disheveled Elza Lay walked into view. Farr, Elliott, and Reno fired, hitting Lay in the shoulder and knocking him to the ground.

  Four outlaw horses stood near the fallen Lay, and Elliott shot one of them. The battle now became general, Sam Ketchum grabbing his rifle and firing at Farr. Elliott fired several times at Carver as Carver scurried hatless through the brush and up the slope to a rocky knoll, where he took a stand, firing now at Reno, Smith, and Farr who were at least 200 yards across the canyon.

  Farr and Smith both jumped behind a pine tree not large enough to cover one of them, let alone two. Carver then shot Smith, his bullet passing through the fleshy part of Smith's left leg, knocking him down and putting him out of the fight.

  Meanwhile, the wounded Lay crawled back to camp, found his rifle as well as some cover, and, he claimed later, fainted for about 10 minutes. All the while Ketchum kept firing at Cordoba and then at Farr, both of whom were about 150 yards distant. This caused Elliott, Love, and Cordoba to all start firing at Ketchum, Elliott's bullet finally breaking Ketchum's left arm just below the shoulder. Ketchum was now out of the fight.

  Meanwhile, Lay revived and resumed shooting at Farr, who was standing behind a small pine. Lay aimed at the center of the tree and fired; the bullet went through the trunk and through Farr's chest. Far fell dead across Smith's body. Lay then fainted again and took no further part in the battle.

  Carver, because of his position, now controlled the battlefield. He pinned down Reno who, at Smith's request, jumped up and left for Folsom to get help. As for Carver, he continued shooting, sending a bullet and fragments of a knife in his pocket into Love's thigh. The wound would eventually kill Love. Meanwhile, Elliott and the others waited for darkness and then abandoned the canyon.

  The outlaws propped Ketchum up on his horse, and with Lay on one side and Carver on the other, they slowly rode away. The battle of Turkey Creek Canyon was over.

  .3ee CARVER, WILLIAM RICHARD; KETCHUM, SAMUEL W.; LAY, WILLIAM ELLSWORTH; WILD BUNCH

  TURNOW, John (a.k.a. Wild Man) (?-?)

  This wild man turned outlaw grew up in the forests of the Olympic Peninsula of western Washington, specifically along the Wynooche River in Gray Harbor County. Evidently a lot of people knew him, perhaps pitied him, but also feared him. A man with few if any friends, he stood about six feet five and weighed around 250 pounds. He reportedly broke jail in 1909, spent time in the Oregon insane asylum, and broke out of there too. Then he returned to his peninsula woods.

  In 1910, he killed two men for unknown reasons, leaving their bodies in the forest. By March 1911, his hideout had been pinpointed along the Satsop River near Oxbow. Sheriff Colin McKenzie and Deputy A. V. Elmer went in after him, and within a couple weeks their bodies turned up too. The state now placed a $5,000 reward on Turnow's head.

  In April 1912, the manhunt ended when Deputy Sheriff Giles Quimbly and loggers Charles Lathrop and Louis Blair took deep breaths, loaded their rifles, and went in after him. During the resultant gunfight, Turnow killed both loggers. Deputy Quimbly ducked behind some brush, hugged the ground, waited until he got a look at his man, and emptied his rifle. Then he raced for civilization, returning later with a larger posse. They found Turnow lying on his back, dead, still clutching his rifle, his ragged beard and ragged clothes soaked with blood.

  UNDERWOOD, Henry (1846-?)

  This desperado was born in Indiana, served in the Union army, moved to Kansas, and by 1871 had reached Denton County, Texas, where he rode with the Sam Bass gang. He allegedly shot a couple of men in Texas; later he was indicted, but not prosecuted, for burning a church. On Christmas Day the Denton, Texas, authorities arrested him on a Kearney, Nebraska, charge that he had participated with Bass in a railroad holdup. Underwood escaped from jail,

  however, and returned to Texas, rejoining the Sam Bass gang in late March 1878. On April 10, he participated in a Sam Bass train robbery near Dallas, but he was wounded in the arm during a skirmish with lawmen near Denton on June 9. Four days later he participated in the Salt Creek fight with lawmen, and afterward simply rode away. Some legends say he moved to Kansas, to Illinois, and to Mexico. Whatever and wherever, he vanished from sight.

  .S6e BASS, SAM; TEXAS RANGERS

  VASQUEZ,Tiburcio (1835-1875)

  Tiburcio was probably born in Montgomery County, California, where he became a legendary social bandit, an outlaw coming of age after the Mexican War, a man blaming Americans for his troubles, accusing them of coveting Hispanic women and detesting Mexican men. He requested and received his mother's blessing to become an outlaw. Beginning in 1856, he rustled cattle and horses primarily to satisfy his own lusts for women and gambling. He spent time in and out of San Quentin, led a murderous raid on Tres Pintos, California, and was finally arrested in 1874 when he seduced one of his friends' wives, and the friend betrayed him to the authorities. He was executed at Los Angeles in March 1875.

  Tiburcio Vasquez (Robert G. McCubbin Collection)

  VENARD, Stephen (1823-1891)

  Steve Venard, like so many of his contemporaries, headed toward the setting sun, seeking his fortune in the California mining camps during the early 1850s. Although he failed to fill his pot with tons of gold, he never considered returning to Lebanon, Ohio. At Nevada City, Steve engaged in mercantile and freighting enterprises, eventually accepting a position as town marshal in 1864, a part-time job but one to his liking.

  California was awash in stagecoach robberies during this period, and Nevada City was not an exception. On May 15, 1866, just a few miles from town, three highwaymen forced a Wells Fargo & Co. coach to a caterwauling halt, then leaving with $8,000 in gold dust. The pursuing posse, of which Venard was a member, didn't know it at the time, but the bandits were Robert Finn, George Moore, and George Shanks. Cutting for sign (looking for clues), Venard became separated from his fellow possemen, but he doggedly stuck to the trail. With Steve's fearless reputation for bravery, and his widely known marksmanship with his repeating H
enry carbine, other posse members were not overly concerned. Single-handedly, Steve Venard caught up with the outlaws; after an ensuing battle, three robbers lay sprawled dead in the dirt.

  Three years later (1869), Steve Venard, by now holding a deputy sheriff's commission, arrested David "Little Jakey" Jacobs, a charter member of a notorious gang working the area. After that, Steve Venard Joined Wells Fargo, first as a guard and then as a detective. He worked his cases often in conjunction with the company's chief of detectives, James B. Hume. Never marrying, Venard devoted his life to the pursuit of outlaws. He died of kidney failure on May 20, 1891, at Nevada City, California.

  .S+'+' aISO: HUME, JAMES B; WELLS FARGO

  VERMILLION, Jack (a.k.a. Texas Jack) (?-?)

  Vermillion was one of those wandering desperadoes who seem to have been everywhere, but not much is known about his life. During the 1870s, Vermillion focused his activities in Kansas; by 1878 he had reached Leadville, Colorado. In Las Vegas, New Mexico, he teamed up with, or at least tagged along with, Doc Holliday and the Earps. He and the Earps reached Tombstone, Arizona, around 1880. He left Tombstone with the Earps a year or two later. He participated during the Earp murders of Frank Stillwell and Florentino Cruz. Not long after that he became a confidence man in Denver, but by 1889 he

  was in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Following that he dropped from sight.

  .366 490: EARP, WYATT BERRY STAPP; HOLLIDAY, JOHN HENRY; TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA

  VIGILANCE Committees (a.k.a. Vigilantes)

  At certain times and at certain places in the American West, especially in mining towns, isolated areas where for a variety of reasons the law had not arrived or was ineffective, some sort of discipline had to arise. In the absence of suitable jails or paid, responsible lawmen, without courts and court officials, vigilance committees arose to suppress violent crime. In these instances justice might not have always been served, but the community reaction to crime was quick, sudden, and to the point.

  Vigilantes operated in practically every western state, although they seem to have been the most active in California, Montana, Nevada, and to a lesser extent, New Mexico and Texas. The vigilantes ordinarily held a prior, brief court (meeting) of their own, most of their subsequent actions being by consensus. In California, these gatherings were generally called "miners courts" and could involve anywhere from a half-dozen to 100 or so men. After hearing the evidence, usually verbal, the group decided on punishments, usually from among four and five possibilities: nothing, warnings, banishment, the lash, or execution. While death could be by rifle fire, it generally came by hanging. Most hangings were from trees, but telegraph poles, ladders, windmills, rafters, and even doorknobs served the purpose.

  California and Montana seem to have had the most active vigilantes. California was unique in that its vigilante movement, which began in the mining camps, soon overflowed into more populated areas and larger towns, such as San Francisco.

  cO; FORT GRIFFIN, TEXAS, VIGILANTES; PLUMMER, WILLIAM HENRY; SAN FRANCISCO VIGILANTES

  WAGNER, John (a.k.a. Dutch John) (?-1864)

  This German-born outlaw with a heavy accent joined the Henry Plummer gang in Montana and was, by some accounts, "a murderer and a highwayman for years." In late 1863, he and others bungled an attempt to rob a train of wagons and pack animals bound from Montana to Salt Lake City. A man named Neil Howie captured Wagner and handed him over to the vigilantes in Bannack. Wagner wrote his mother saying his execution would be just. He is buried in Bannack.

  VIGILANCE COMMITTEES

  WALKER Colt

  Samuel Hamilton Walker, a noted Texas Ranger, was born in Maryland but fought in Alabama's Creek Indian campaign. He took part in the so-called Adrian Woll invasion and the Somervell and Mier expeditions against Mexico. In 1844, he joined John Hays's company of Texas Rangers, later fighting in practically every major battle of the Mexican War, including the battle of Monterrey in September 1846. At this point, Walker went to Washington, D.C., as a recruiter, and while in this position he visited Samuel Colt and suggested changes to the Colt revolver. Out of their discussions arose a four-pound dragoon pistol of .44 caliber with a nine-inch barrel. It had a stationary, or rigid, trigger, plus trigger guard. The inscription on the right side said "U.S.

  1847." This was the first Colt six-shooter, a weapon to become famous as the "Walker Colt." It possessed additional firepower, was easier to load, and was much more sturdy than previous models.

  Walker returned to the Mexican War, where he primarily battled guerrillas operating in the countryside. He was killed in action on October 9, 1847, and was buried at Hacienda Tamaris, Mexico. His remains were moved to San Antonio in 1948.

  .366 490: COLT REVOLVER; HAYS, JOHN COFFEE; TEXAS RANGERS

  WALTERS, William (a.k.a. Bronco Bill) (1860-1921)

  Bronco Bill was probably born in Austin and worked as a New Mexico/Texas cowboy until 1877. He apparently participated in the Horrell-Higgins feud, but by 1888 he had been arrested in Separ, New Mexico, for horse theft. He broke out of the Silver City, New Mexico, jail on April 20, 1892. During the next few years he attempted a few botched robberies and broke out of the Socorro, New Mexico, jail. In 1896, he attempted to hold up the Atlantic & Pacific passenger train west of Albuquerque, and one of his comrades was killed. He later tried to rob stagecoaches, and since that wasn't particularly successful, he switched back to trains in an abortive holdup near Stein's Pass, New Mexico, on December 9, 1897. The following March 29 he hit a train near Grants, New Mexico, following that on May 24 with another train strike near Belen. There he reportedly walked away with $20,000. Within a brief time, several lawmen ambushed Walters and his companions; although the outlaws turned things around and killed three of the officers. On July 29, 1898, Walters and one of his gang members, Kid Johnson, were severely wounded by lawmen Jeff Milton and George Scarborough. Walters was indicted for three killings and went immediately to the Santa Fe Penitentiary. On April 16, 1911, he escaped, but he was caught, returned, and (incredibly) pardoned by the governor on April 17, 1917. Following that, he went to work as a cowboy on the Diamond A Ranch near Hachita, New Mexico, dying three years later when he fell off a windmill. William Walters had bad luck practically all his life. The only successful thing he seems to have done was break out of jail.

  HORRELL-HIGGINS FEUD; MILTON, JEFFERSON DAVIS

  WARE, Richard Clayton (1851-1902)

  Nineteen-year-old R. C. "Dick" Ware migrated with his parents from Floyd County, Georgia, to the Lone Star State in 1870. Settling at Dallas the family prospered, but after six years something still seemed to be missing in Ware's life. He enlisted in the Texas Rangers on April 1, 1876.

  During his ranger years Ware saw exhilarating service, but one event propelled him onto the historical stage more than any other. Ware and his rangers were dispatched to Round Rock, Texas, in July 1878. Their mission was to remain incognito, and, if they found their intelligence accurate, to capture or kill the notorious Sam Bass and his gang before or when it attempted to rob the Williamson County Bank.

  With lawmen spread out in discreet locations throughout the town, Ware opted to take advantage of an unusual surveillance site. He climbed into Henry Burkhardt's barber chair and was glancing out the window while being shaved when the outlaws nonchalantly rode into town, dismounted, and entered a store.

  Noticing that the new arrivals were carrying arms, Maurice B. Moore, an out-of-town deputy assisting the rangers, and Williamson County deputy and exranger Ahijah W. "High" Grimes entered the store behind the trio. The outlaws recognized their danger

  and drew their six-shooters, firing a hailstorm of bullets into the lawmen. Grimes died instantly. Before he wilted to the floor, a seriously wounded Moore shot two fingers off Bass's right hand. Amid the noise, blue smoke from black powder, and utter confusion, the murderers fled to the street. Ware, upon hearing the gunfire, with lather still on his face, jumped from the barber chair, rushed outside, recognized what was happening, and engaged the outlaws i
n battle. Other rangers as well as citizens opened fire.

  The battle continued. A bullet punched through Sam Bass's kidney. Deliberately and with precision Dick Ware sighted in on Seaborn Barnes's left ear and dropped him dead on the spot.

  Somehow Bass and Frank Jackson escaped from the lawmen's withering fusillade. Outside Round Rock, the critically wounded Sam Bass dismounted and awaited the posse's arrival. Jackson continued in flight while the dying Bass was discovered and brought into town. At five minutes to four the afternoon of July 21, 1878, the 27-year-old Sam Bass expired.

  "Dick" Ware usually is credited with firing the shot that led to Bass's demise. However, an inquest determined that Ware had dealt the death shot to Barnes; ranger George Harold had killed Bass.

  Ware subsequently became the first elected sheriff of Mitchell County; he consequently tendered his resignation to the Texas Rangers on February 1, 1881. The county reelected him for five more cycles, and Ware participated in numerous adventures. On one occasion, he assisted his fellow brother of the badge, George Scarborough, sheriff of neighboring Jones County, in a search for and ultimate capture of desperadoes A. B. "Add" Cannon and Joe Brown. On another occasion in 1889, Ware, who was temporarily filling in as postmaster of the newly formed Crosby County, was robbed at gunpoint by George Spencer and John Harvey. Ware gave chase, captured the holdup men, and ultimately sent them to the state prison at Huntsville.

  After Ware's fifth term as Mitchell County sheriff, President Grover Cleveland on April 25, 1893, appointed him as the U.S. marshal for the Western District of Texas. He retained that position until political changes forced his resignation in January of 1898.