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134 CHAPTER 15 Arizona Rampage T he Pinkerton’s Denver office sent detective Frank Murray to Alma in about early March to in vestigate some Wilcox money that had been deposited in the Silver City bank by the storekeeper in Alma. Murray, who was later promoted to the assistant superintendent of the Denver office, came to the WS and questioned William French concerning Jim Lowe. When he showed French a photograph of a group of men, he recognized the only man that was sitting down as Jim Lowe. Murray then asked him if he knew that Lowe was also known as Butch Cassidy. French replied that he did not, and in retur n, asked the detective if he was going to try to arrest him. Murray said he was not foolish enough to attempt to arrest Cassidy in that neighborhood without the backup of “a regiment of cavalry.” He was more interested in tracing the stolen money than running down Cassidy.1 The Alma storekeeper had told the detective earlier that aWS cowboy named Johnny Ward had spent the bills. To French’s surprise it turned out to be Little Johnn y Ward instead of Big Johnn y Ward, the latter he knew to be a member of the Wild Bunch. Little Johnny said he got the bills from a for mer WS cowboy named “McGonigal” in pa yment for two horses. This was Clay McGonagill, who had worked with Cassidy and Elzy Lay at the Erie Cattle Company in Arizona previous to the WS. Murray was determined to track him down, not knowing that McGonagill had gone back to Arizona.2 Cassidy and Tom Capehart were aware of the Pinkerton’s presence in the area, even buying him a drink when he returned to Alma, and alerted their friends and associates. As a result, five men, whose identities will be discussed presently, quickly prepared to leave for the north. According to Charlie Siringo, the men fully intended to kill Murray before they left. Cassidy is said to have saved the detective’s life by hustling him out Arizona Rampage 135 of town in the night. Although French had no intention of fi ring Butch, he quit the ranch about mid-March, or a little later, and headed north in the company of Red Weaver. On the w ay they stole the horse herd of one N. M. Ashby, a ranching neighbor who had been rustling WS cattle.3 On March 25, 1900, the citizenry of Springerville, Arizona, regarded five heavily armed men with suspicion as the y rode into to wn. They stayed just long enough to post a letter and purchase some supplies. The townspeople became anxious when two more rough looking men arrived in the village the next day leading eight horses. The two strangers were Butch Cassidy and Red Weaver, still in possession of the herd stolen from Ashby. They went directly to the post office and picked up the letter which the earlier riders had left for them.The five men had left town that morning in the direction of St. Johns, and w ere seen near a freshly butchered cow by a local rancher. The cattlemen in the area had been troubled by a rash of cattle killings and horse thefts of late. At Springerville the rancher reported what he saw to Apache County Sheriff Edward Beeler. After the necessary warrants were obtained and a posse rounded up, the sheriff set out for St. Johns.4 Upon reaching St. Johns, about twenty-five miles from Springerville, Beeler learned that his quar ry had been in to wn purchasing more supplies . A mail driver informed him that he had passed the fi ve men in camp outside of town about dusk. Beeler and his men set of f in pursuit, leaving word for his deputy to follow with another posse. Early the next morning, March 27, they caught up with the outla ws and there was an exchange of gunfire. The outlaws were put to flight, but the posse’s tired horses could not k eep after them. The second posse soon joined with Beeler’s, and it w as decided to for m into smaller g roups for a better chance of entrapping the gang.5 Late in the after noon, Andrew Augustus “Gus” Gibbons and F rank LeSueur, two prominent Mor mons from St. Johns, w ere following the outlaws’ trail along a steep hillside. As they approached a group of...

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