Captain Harry Wheeler, Arizona Lawman (review)

226Southwestern Historical QuarterlyOctober Frazer Johnson. For the authors, such knowledge should "not detract from his accomplishments" (p. xxi). Perhaps, but one can argue that Riggs's accomplishments should not serve as cover for his violent outbursts. Indeed, given diat the authors want us to celebrate Riggs's gun battles, understanding his other violent outbursts might provide insight into his general motivation. Moreover, the book's descriptions of people and circumstances surrounding Riggs are mostly one-dimensional. Too often, the authors describe Riggs's enemies simply as "evil." Similarly, in the often volatile communities where Riggs lived, people frequently clashed over ideas about race, gender, and national identity . Yet, there is little discussion of these in Riggs's life. The authors provide a rousing image of Riggs and it is clear diat the book was a labor of love. They seem to have searched for every piece of information diey could find and took care to reproduce several rare documents. Moreover, they take both amateur and professional historians to task for previously sloppy research on Riggs. Still, the book's lack of adequate citations and its apologist tone will cause most professional historians to discount its value. Only the most avid readers of Western history or those with a very specific interest in the history ofYuma or Pecos, will likely purchase this book. Texas A&M UniversityAnthony P. Mora Captain Harry Wheeler, Arizona Lawman. By Bill O'Neal. (Austin: Eakin Press, 2003. Illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 1-57168-064-0. $26.95, paper.) Bill O'Neal's portrait of the life of Harry Wheeler and his description of the military and societal conditions in Texas and Arizona of the time is full of accurate and vivid detail. Wheeler, the child of a military family, spent his first 27 years living on nine Army posts. Some of these in Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, and Montana were strategically located for the purpose of killing Indians and were used as bases to support troop incursions deeper into Indian lands. As each outpost was no longer needed, the family was transferred to a different one. During the time that Wheeler's father (by then a lieutenant in the U.S. Army) served at Fort Clark, Texas, the Fourth Cavalry participated in a "retaliatory" raid into Mexico. Many years later, Harry Wheeler would do the same as an Arizona Ranger. After Harry Wheeler's initial discharge, his dedication to the military and later to die Arizona Rangers kept him in Arizona. He seems to have been obsessive in his beliefs of right and wrong, rarely brooking a middle ground. O'Neal's straightforward description of Wheeler's quick rise from the military to the Arizona Rangers and ultimately to the position of Sheriff of Cochise County leaves little doubt about his character. Wheeler was a well-known crack shot who attended many local shooting contests. Yet O'Neal finds that he had few connections to the conUoversies or gunfights usually depicted in books about this era, although he did, of course, shoot a bad guy once in awhile in the course of his duties. Wheeler's patriotism and drive to assume an active role in the Great War cer- 2??8Book Reviews227 tainly played a part in his one questionable act as Sheriff. What came to be called the "Bisbee Deportation" was, according to O'Neal, similar to a precise military strike against an enemy. Mine owners in the area of Bisbee, Arizona conspired to rid themselves of 400 mine workers they identified as agitators and union troublemakers . Bisbee city officials asked Sheriff Wheeler to allow them to deputize other men to deal with the union members. Wheeler refused. Bisbee leaders then appealed to Wheeler's patriotism, saying that the union strikes were being conducted to slow down the copper industry and thereby slow the U.S. entry into die Great War. This time Wheeler caved in to city demands, put together a posse of at least 2,000 men armed widi machine guns and rounded up 2,000 people (including one woman) believed to be agitators. Eventually 1,186 men were shipped to New Mexico in cattle cars. There was public outcry across...