Cochise County: Home of Outlaws and Vigilantes

If you have lived in Coshise County for any amount of time, you are probably no stranger to stories about outlaws and gunslingers. But what if I told you there are dozens of stories about bandits, cowboys, raiders, and civilians with a vengeance that most people simply skim over. Here are my top 3 local Wild West stories you may or may not have heard before!

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John Heath and the Bisbee Massacre

It was a chilly day in December 1883 when 6 outlaws entered a general store in Bisbee. These outlaws left this store with roughly $600 dollars, only after killing several men and a pregnant woman named Mrs. Roberts. Civilians were rightfully outraged, and the hunt began for the culprits.

According to the book Tombstone (Images of America) by Jane Eppinga, five of the raiders were found and pointed law enforcement toward John Heath, claiming he was the one in charge. John Heath was arrested at his saloon by Sheriff Billy Daniel and given a life sentence in jail. The other five robbers were hanged. But this wasn't enough justice for the people of Bisbee.

On February 22nd, 1884, a group of vigilantes broke into the county jail, tied up the sheriff, guard, and jailer, and dragged John Heath out. They then hung John from a telephone pole with a note saying, "John Heath was hanged to this pole by the citizens of Cochise County, for participation as a known accessory in the Bisbee Massacre at 8:20 a.m., February 22, 1884."  John's gravestone can be found in the Boot Hill Cemetery in Tombstone, alongside the epitaphs of many other murderers and outlaws.

The Famous Epitaph of Lester Moore

"Here Lies Lester Moore, 4 slugs from a .44, no Les, no More."

Lester Moore's epitaph is very well known due to its poetry-like style and its use as an opener in Johnny Cash's famous song, "The Ballad of Boot Hill." The gravestone tells us how he died, but not why he died.

Lester Moore wasn't exactly an outlaw or a gunslinger, as you'd expect; he worked for Wells Fargo as a stage agent in Naco, Arizona. He was a simple man who died over an argument about a damaged package.

According to an article by the Tombstone Chamber of Commerce, Lester Moore was working one day when a customer named Hank Dunston arrived to pick up a package. An argument broke out when Dunston noticed the package was damaged. This argument then became a standoff. Lester Moore took 4 bullets from Duston's gun, killing him. But Moore didn't die before unloading a single, fatal bullet into Duston.

Both parties died, but Lester Moore's legacy lived on through his very famous epitaph. No one knows where Hank Duston's body ended up, and maybe that's for the better.

John Blair, the Cowboy who Died of Smallpox

Not much is known of John Blair. Not his birthday nor his death day, but his story has been recorded and stored inside the history books.

John Blair was a cattle rustler, and according to the Tombstone Chamber of Commerce, that's what ended up killing him. After a day of rustling, Blair contracted smallpox. His friends quarantined him in a small shack they found.

His cohorts then found a Mexican woman who had survived smallpox not long before and had immunity to the illness. After about a week in her care, she announced Blair's death. One of his friends rode to Tombstone and dug him a grave at Boot Hill Cemetery. While one friend dug his grave, the other one made a plan to get his body there.

He stood in the doorway of the shack Blair was in and began trying to throw a lasso over Blair's feet. Once secured, his friend got on his horse, tied the rope to the saddle, and dragged John Blair's infected body all the way to Boot Hill. Upon arriving at the grave, they used the rope to ungracefully lower Blair's body into the hole.

Having not untied the rope from John's feet in fear of contracting smallpox, his friends later joked about how he was going to be able to stand before God on his day of judgment.