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Show . L . t tTHE : J rHE THE THJLSTOI STORY LJOFLA OF A FAMOUS FEUD t tJ \ : / B By ELMO SCOTT WATSONs WATSONPEAK WATSON WATSONPEAK s PEAK PE\K PE K PEKof PEAKof . \ of a feudand feud and one naturally thinks d11nks ofone of one of thosefierce thosefierce those thosefierce fierce family ' - \ . endettas that have made notorious notonous certa111 certain certa111sectIons certainsections certainsections sectIons of the mountain mounta111 country 111Vest in 111 \ West \Vest Vest Nest Virginia Vlrg1111a , Tenncssce Ten- Ten Tennessee Ten-incssce Ten incssce - - nessee ncssce or Kentucky . . Yet the soil sOli of the trans-MissounWest trans MissounWest trans-Mlssoun trans Mlssoun trans-Missouri Missouri transMlssounVcst transMissouriWcst - \Vcst Vcst Wcst \ ascll as " \ well "ell ell \\cll cll \ as that of the East in 111 times tuncs past lias has bcen been bcendyed beendyed beenradyed ? dyed red with w " ith some sonic of the bitterest feuds in m Amencan American Amencanhlstof Americanhistor American.whistoo Americanwhistoo . hlstof histor ) } In Tn , the theVest the West \Vest Vest 1Vcst \ most of these feud feuds w ww " "cre cre ere cre "range range " w \ ars-fights ars fights arsfightseen ars " - fights veen een Tneel eel ' t\\o t o h\o h tVo \ \ factions ior for coniroi control 01 of ucsirauie dcslrablc desirable grazing gIaz111g glazing countryIheir country countryheIr countryheir heIr herds or flocks-rather flocks rather flocks - rather than intcinecme internecine mtci necme family famtly conflIcts conflictsstanding . , * standmg standing standmgamong standingamong among them themere n \\ere ere \ \ ere the Lincoln County Countyar \ -\\ar ar - \ \ ar in 111 New Newico Newf'co NewIrco 1k 1 ico f'co fco ' in i " the early eighties , , and the Johnson County Countyuar \ -uar uar - ar , or orUed orailed k Ued lied " ? "Rustier Rustier "Rustler Rustler "Rustierar \ \\ar ar \ \ ar , " in iii lV Wyoming vVYOll11ng lVroining } roining in 111 1892 But to Ariz Anzona Anzonathe Arizonafethe ono liedthe the distinction dIstmctlOn of having a civil CIVIlconfhct civilconflict conflict confhct in m which titihich whichas 111ch"as titihichwas \ \ 111ch \\as as "as was \ " \ com-\A com A com- com cold comd ' - . - . \ d both wh a family vendetta as fierce as an ) e e\ e ecr eer \ cr er earnedon carriedon carried earned onng on i , ngever ng the mountameers inountairseers of the East and anda a "range range " range war " ? as bloody bloodyy bloodyever i Nesti y ever staged on oil the plams plains or 111 in the mountams mountains of thc the thc7 \\7 7 Nest \ 7est \ est , : iof of all phces pikes , thrs this feud \ was as carned carried on m in a locahty locality kno knowsn " n n.feasant I ' . hncant Valley Vallcy 1 ' : -you you - you have ever read Zanei Zane Zaner's i r's rs 's s 'g g ' "To To " the Last Man " orCoohdge's ort or t * Coohdge's Coohdges ' "The The " Man Klll- Klll Kill- Kill KlllI Killyou Kill-r Kill r - - I , ' you have caught ghmpses glimpses glimpsesie ghmpsese glimpsese | e Pleasant Valley war even evenh evenh evengh [ h neither nelther novel follows the thestn thel stn . in detail detall nor pretends toan to toan ' an historically accurate ac- ac act act ac-it ac it - - - t of it But the war has Its Itsorlan itsorian itswian orlan orian - Earle R Forrest Forreste , . -e e - e book "Arizona's Arizonas " ' Dark andy andy and andy y Ground , " published publ1shed re7 re- re re0 - - - _ ret rer r 7 ws wsf t : ' ' L a f r J qJ q i ia 1 a j N Nss ss ' : r + ' . \ } n na a # 9M 9Ms s , " r 1 , HA J I 'ti ti 'tii1 ' i1 11i . ' : : rid i ridi ; * 's s 'st ' w fri i t r rw 1 : fr 4 s 1 1s 1s s < to ; ; IMODORE Ml\IODORG Ml IODORG OMMODORIJ 0 \ P . . OWENSY OWENS OWINS : , t \ 3y Y by the Ca Caxton ton Prmters Printers Printerst Printersof Printersyof , . .rof rof . ! of Caldwell , Idaho , , is the"attcmpt theattempt tlie the attempt "attcmpt attcmpt " ; to tell the whole wholeof wholeof wholer of that dark daJk ; page in m the thes tlieIs s of the Southwest In the thece thece tlieace ce Mr . Forrest says sayse saysie e Pleasant Valley vemlethswept vendetti vemleth vendetta vendettiswept . swept through the Tontoin Tontom Tonto Tontoin m in countr country ) in ill Central ArI- ArI An- An ArIdurmg Anduring An-a An a - during durmg the latter 1880.sone 1880'sone 1880's 1880s 1880.s 1880'sone ' . one of the most san- san sanary san-nary san nary - ary any and bitter bltter range ranges rangeis s the old West lVcst eve e everpw v e r rw rw w . Its ferocity and hatredsye hatredse hatreds e rivaled only by the-bloody the bloody the.bloodv thebloodv thebloodyties the.bloodvties tha-bloodvttles tha bloodvttles - - . ties and ass assissmations ass1.ssmahons ass1ssmahons . tssinations of ofLmcoln ofLincoln ofF Lincoln Lmcoln count county } ) war in 10 Newxico New Newco Newco co ten years before , but butdoubtful butdoubtful buts doubtful , even with all Its Itsorlsm itsorism itswsm orlsm orism , , it If the number ofid of ofd ofd d there equaled the casu- casu casuIn casuin casu-es casu es - - in Pleasant Valley . Both Both'e Bothe ' e born oorn of blood feuds , andb and andwere andwere were fought in m defiance of oflaw oflaw of\la.vf ofla.vf of la.vf lavf \ law . of the land until unhl they theyed theyed theyncd ed them themselves elves out afterst after aftert t of the pal paiticipautL participant bClpalltr . , had hader hader hadicr er been killed klllei kille3 : or had grown grownr grownry growniry r ry ) ' of strife . E\ E E\cn E cn Een Even \ en the weIl- weIl well- well weIlwn wellwn wcll-wn wcll wn - feudI feudt wn Hatfield - \ McCoy l\IcCoy l IcCoy feud t held the West Nest Virginia Vlrgmia and andtucky andtacky anducky tucky tacky mountains mountllDS : under a aof aof an of terror for almost twen-years twen years twen- twen twenyears - thelong years did not surpass the theong theong ong hatreds born of the theasant theasant theasant asant Valley war . " ie e famdy family element in m this tlis feud feucfurnished feudfurrushed feudfurnished furrushed furnished Tewksburysthe by the Tewksbury Tewksburys ; the Grahams , the chief ChICf op-nts op nts op- op opnts opnts - - - nts in the war But'others Butothers Butoothers Butoothersdrawn But'othersdrawn Buf * ' btheris byce drawn into mto it , some by b ; ce and some by force of cirstances Clr4 clr- clr - tances Clr4tances clrtances treyno theyno over which trey they the ; no control For in m thlS this thlSct thisct thiiict ct there were no neu neu- neunong neuong neu- neu neuong - - nong ong the others who were wereged wereged wenged ged voluntarilyup voluntarilyu into mto it or voluntarily u up arms were several men meiidy dy mendy noted , or soon to be no- no nous nous - - us nous . , in m the annals of the WIld Picketthad Wilet WIldThere There was Tom PIckett , had been aIIwaruor a "warnor warnor IIwaruor "warrior warrior " " witl wIth wIththe LlOCOlnty LincolntY , the Kid in the Lincoh LlOCOln Lincoln Lincohy 1 ty buwas butWas y war in New Mexico but thiBUS theous theus Was then a cov/boy cov boy cowboy / for tor the 2 ous us Hash Kn Knife e outfit . . There 2 TherCharley ThereCharley Charley Duchet , frontiers fronbers- fronbers frontiers- fronbersand frontiersand - wiL-B wiL B ' anda and a gunfighter in m the w wild wildof d dof - of Dodge City , . Kan . . M there v/as v as was / the famous Tor Tom To m " theche thehe , . , scout and packer m in the th th"e e stoeWve che ehe "e e " campaigns , later a stock stockve stoc stocye k s ve ye on the Wyoming Wyommg rangedestined rangesdestined ranges range s destined to be the central 1 centrzFe centrale e inone in one of the most baffimg baffling [ der bafflmfler t g ; listorye historye mysteries in m the listory history historpe e West . . A Wild Wlld West Sheriff ShenJI . whP f ong the law onicers officers who wh 0 thPwas theWas thwas whounsUccessfully whunsuccessfully unsuccessfully to quell the th 0e e Was the famous Commodol Commodore Commodor & f fof if haircif ! Owens CommodoreOwens CommodorOwens "y y "yhe " of , the he . long long-hairc long hairc - haIred hairc d e , . ' Apache . .rtycu.ne rtycu.ne rtycune county count countrre rre WWtty , a figure who might hay have ' ha\ped ha ped haveped hayout ped \ e pedout outHof out of the pages of a ofe ofnovel anovel Hof " novel "thriller thriller thriller " i whng whog and who wh , feudi feudthe ng the ofthefeun- ofthefeun g , - the course of the _ feud : , i survIvor of ofone one of the th e t tthe t.amarmg tamarmg ofthefeuny . . . .ama71ng ama71ng gunfights in the th e - thery inry theth thOld " y ry of the the-Old the Old Old West West"S WestS . : . i antagorusts antagonists ofantagorusts these 036 Were only a few at of o f m in a war waged wage id c d wItha with a ferocity and ruthlessnessalmost ruthlessness ruthlessnessalmost ruthlessnessalmost almost unparalleled in m the his history hIS4 his- his hIS4tory history - tory of the West Before it was wasended wasended wasended ended endedone one fam family y , the Grahams Grahamswas , was completely wiped out and oltheir of oftheIr oftheir theIr allies , , the Blevans , there therewas therewas therewas thefather was only one survivor among the father and fi\ fi fh fit fie \ e a sons Of the three Te\\ Te Teksbury Tewksbury threeTewksbury threeTe \ \ ksbury brothers , , . one was waskilled kIlled during durrng the war , , one dled died dieda dleda a natural death and the tlurd third thirdwho , who stood trial for the murder of ofthe ofthe ofthe the tobecome last Graham , , lived hved on to become known as the hero of ofZane Zane Grey's Greys ' ' novel and the "last last "lastman "lastman "lastman lastman " man of the Pleasant Valley war . " Three Half-Breed Half Breed - Sons . The fierceness of the vendetta vendettamay vendettamay vendettamay may be attributed in 10 part to the thecharacter thecharacter thecharacter character of one of the familiesinvolved famlhes families famlhesI famlhesInvolved familiesinvolved I Involved m in it For the Tewks- Tewks TewksI Tesvks- Tesvks Tewksburys Tesvksburys Tewks-burys Tewks burys - I burys were half white and half- half halfIndIan halfIndian half-Indian half Indian - - IndIan , the sons of John D DTewksbury DTewksbury DTewksbury Tewksbury , . Sr , , a native nabve of Boston Bos Bos- Boston Boston - - ton \ who wsho \ ho went to Cal California orma in the thedays thedays days thedays of the gold rushes , , settled settledin settledm m in Humboldt county and there theremarried theremarried , marrIed marrIedan an Indian woman She SheI Shebecame Shebecame I became Shebecame the mother of three sons sonsJohn , I John , , James and Edwin Edwrn , "ho ho ssho sshohad " whohad i had grown to young manhood manhoodwhen manhoodwhen I Iwhen when the elder Tewksbury Tewksmry Tesvksiury : set- set settled settled set settled - tled in m Pleasant Valley m in 1880 1880As 1880As As for the other proponents rn m rnthls mthis inthis thls this bloody conflict , , . Tom and andJohn andJohn andJohn John Graham , they theyere were \\ere ere \ \ born on ona ona ora a farm near Boone , , Iowa , , . wentto went wentto wentto to California Cahforma in m the seventies sevenbes and andm andin andin m in 1882 located in m Pleasant Valley Val Valley Valley ley "Tom Tom " was the oldest and andbecause andbecause andbecause enmitythat because of the personal enmity that later developed between theGrahams the theGrahams theGrahams Te\\ksburyshe Te ksburyshe Grahams and the Teksburys Tewksburys Te\\ Te \ \ ksburys , , acknowledgedleader acknowledcedleader he became the acknowledced acknowledged leader around whom wham the cattle cattle- cattlemen cattlemen cattlemen - men rallied when sheep 111vaded invaded 111vadedthe invadedthe invadedthe the valley Tom Graham is pic pic- PIC- PIC - tured pictured in m fiction of the vendetteas vendettaas vendetta as the leader of the rustlers that thatswarmed thatswarmed thaiswarmed swarmed through the moun mountains mountainsa tams , a ruffian and killer klller of the WOI worst worsttype wois1type st sttype type Nothing Nothmg could be further furtherfrom furtherfrom furthelfrom from the truth , for he W9.S W9S was wasa W9.SI W9.Sa wa . ; ' I a quiet , peaceful man and honest honestin honestin . I IIn In all his lis dealings dealmgs Even after afterthe afterthe aftelthe the invasion mvaSIOn 01 or sheep made war warcertain waicertain ! certam certain he refused to take human humanhfe humanlife humarlife hfe life ; and his restraining restrammg hancheld hand handheld handheld held his follo\\ follo followers folloers \ \ ers in m check unbl until unblthe untilthe untithe the first blood spilled by the theTewksbury theTewksbury th thTewksbury < Tewksbury forces made furthel further furthelMRS . , - - - - ' : J C / s fsr S : , y k kS kC 1 K , > } d t fJ1f } ! i 1 r-1 r 1 ? - . ' 4 ; i ' " 4 ae ' 3 4 1 t tY tacr ) | " ! f Y ' acr , l I rf rfJ , J r rs rMRS s | { \ MRS l\IRS l IRS . THOMAS TIIOl\lAS TIIOl lAS \ H . GRAHAMrestraint GRAHAM GRAllAl\l GRAllAl l \ restraint restramt impossible But he ha habeen has hasbeen s been held hcld responsible responslble all nll thes these thesy e y ) cars ears for the acts of others " A "Short Short " Trigger Trlggcr Man . . " * . Chief among these others were werethe wer werthe e the allies of the Grahams , the theBlevans thBlevans th thBlevans e Blevans , who was known m in ArI- ArI An ArIzona Ar - zona as Andy Cooper , main mamly mamlybccause ] Y because bccause a sheriff backin back in m Texa Texas Texaswhere ; ' , I " where "here here the Blevans came from * , was looking lookmg for him . . Cooper Coopcr , , or orBlevans o < r Blevans , , was noted as aUshort a Ushort "shor shor UshorttrIgger "sho sho " : : t trigger man , , " a Q . killer by In- In Instmct in instmct - stmct , and he hc soon became bccame tlleader the theleader th thleader ' e leader of the rustlers who preyed preyedupon preye preyeupon preyeupon d upon the cattle herds m in that part partof par parof t of Arizona . . The origins orig.ns origns orlg . Ls of the feud are arewrapped ar < s wrapped in mystery . . Vanou Vanous Various Vanousreasons Variousreasons ; reasons have been given for forthe the hatred which existed be- be between - tween the Tcwksburys Tewksburys and the theGraham Grahams Graham & but none of them ean can canbe eanbe be fully substantiated substanbated . . One Onestory Onestory story says that a woman was wasat at the bottom of it , that the theattenhons attentions attenhons of a man in m one ofthe othe of ofthe f the factions for the wife wile of a aman ; man in ill the other factio faction factionstarted ; started it . Another says tha that err-v.N'4ui/V.t errvN4uiV.t err v.N'4ui vN4ui V.t Vt - . ' / . ' - ' wn nW.w.e.nvnfarrrwY9V nWwe.nvnfarrrwY9V nWwenvnfarrrwY9V . . . + V g9VMYiJineCwT.q g9VMYiJineCwTq , ' . . A.u Au - . . . . . ' . 1 _ , _ _ , 'ar ar 'ara 'arti ' a ti . ' ] r ri Y i [ 'zS zS 'zSw . ' w \ i ' 7 kSA kSAra ra A Xa ( fa"a faa " . " e es . .1 1 . . ' . . . . . . . , . . s .w w . .ww w . . . . , . - - - a- a a.a . . - . . . - . .a a . .w w . _ _ _ _ . . . waw . nmast nmastSonic . , .sJ sJ . . . . , > Some Sonic of the Hash Kmfe Knife Cowboys Who Took Part 10 in the Feud . the Grahams and the Tcwks Tewks- Tewks Tcwksburys Tewksburys Tewksburys - burys were p pirtners putners irtners m in rustImg rustling rustlingoperations rustImgoperahons rustlingoperations operahons operations , , then fell out 0er otter otterthe 0\ 0 o\erthe o erthe \ er erthe the division of the thc spoils . There Theremay Theremay Theremay may be some element clement of truthin truth truthm truthin m in both stories stoncs but the fact remains re- re remams re remains - mains mams that the hostility hoshl1ty be- be betwecn be between - . tween twecn the two factions fachons whlch which whlchslowly whichslowly whichslowly slowly developed might not notha nothave nothave ha have ve burst into mto the flame of ofopen ofopen ofopen |