John Ringo, King of the Cowboys: His Life and Times from the Hoo Doo War to Tombstone, Second Edition

Chapter 15. “as well known as Satan himself”

140 15 C H A P T E R “as well known as Satan himself” THE YEAR 1880 CLOSED in a cloud of political scandal. Those who would influence John Ringo’s life had all arrived in what became Cochise County. Few would escape the heated controversy surrounding the history of the region. It is now that John Ringo emerges, at least in folklore, as a “crime lord.”1 This transformation is central to the controversy surrounding Wyatt Earp. Writers dealing with this period (roughly from 1880 through 1882) generally oversimplify the situation, dividing the factions along party lines, Republicans versus Democrats. Despite the abundant contemporary accounts of Mexican bandits and Apache depredations, the so-called “Cowboy Curse” still dominates Tombstone and has all but obliterated those harsh realities from the historical record. Earp sympathizers cite the Republican Epitaph and a series of documents in the National Archives known as Record Group 60 as proof that the Cowboy Curse was real. More than one author has cited the journal of George W. Parsons, an early Tombstone diarist, John Clum, controversial editor of the Epitaph, Acting Governor John J. Gosper, and Clara Spalding Brown as unbiased witnesses while defaming, even criminalizing, those opposed to the Earps. Many contemporary writers “as well known as Satan himself” 141 suggest the existence of a gang of Cowboys (Anglo outlaws) ranging from 180 to 300 men. One historian who attempted to cast the history of the area in more balanced terms was the late Ed Bartholomew. The first to provide a biography of Wyatt Earp in less than flattering terms, he was attacked as a “debunker” or “Earp basher” when his two-volume biography first appeared in the 1960s. Bartholomew did not deny the presence of a gang or gangs of outlaws in Cochise County during the 1880s, but pointed out that Mexican bandits caused many of the problems and that the various newspapers of the time used the term “Cowboy” indiscriminately.2 Other historians concur. “The most unfortunate aspect of this Cowboy outbreak was that the newspapers failed to distinguish the common hardworking drovers from the outlaw ‘Cowboys.’”3 “The word ‘Cowboy’ had a sinister meaning. Republicans used it to label Democratic opponents whether or not they engaged in nefarious practices.”4 “To many townsfolk, those who chose to live outside the community, being from the south and a Democrat automatically made a man a cowboy and thus a rustler.”5 Chief among those charged with cattle theft, robbery, and mass murder were the Clanton family headed by Newman Clanton. Of Newman Clanton one noted historian laconically remarks that modern writers present a picture of a man who “was as well known as Satan himself.”6 Newman Haynes Clanton was born in Davidson County, Tennessee, in 1816 to Henry and Polly Hailey Clanton. He moved to Missouri and on January 5, 1840, married Mariah P. Kelso.The couple’s first three children were born there: John Wesley in 1841, Phineas Fay in 1845, and Joseph Isaac (Ike) in 1847. A daughter, Mary E., was born in Illinois in 1852. The Clantons moved to Texas in the early 1850s and settled near Dallas.There two more children, Hester and Alonzo, were born in 1854 and 1859 respectively.7 The family later moved to Hamilton County. Here, on June 15, 1861, Newman and John enlisted in Captain Wilbur F. Cotton’s company of Home Guards. John also enlisted 142 JOHN RINGO, KING OF THE COWBOYS on August 10, 1861, in the Freestone Boys, Fourth Regiment, Texas Cavalry.8 This was not unusual. Some companies were quickly formed and as quickly disbanded. John Wesley Clanton’s military records indicate that he was arrested for desertion in late 1861 and court-martialed in February 1862. He was found guilty, but due to extenuating circumstances, specifically his youth and ignorance of the Articles of War, received a relatively light sentence: pay stoppage from the time of desertion until the end of his enlistment and then a dishonorable discharge.9 The youngest Clanton, William Harrison, was born in Texas in 1862. Newman enlisted again on February 1, 1864, in the Company for the Second Frontier District. On June 28, 1864, he was detailed to drive cattle. One record lists him as absent without leave. The matter cannot have been serious as there is no record of any action being taken against him.10 After the war...