Ed Drew | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | August 22, 1865 |
| Died | May 15, 1911 (aged 45) |
| Cause of death | murder |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Deputy sheriff, rancher, miner |
Ed Drew (August 22, 1865 – May 15, 1911) was an Arizona rancher, miner, and lawman in the final years of the Old West. He is most remembered for his family of pioneers and his death during a shootout near Ray. [1] [2]
Edward Landers "Ed" Drew was born at Lander, Wyoming on August 22, 1865, while his parents, William Henry Harrison Drew and Georgiann Stuart Drew, were crossing the Great Plains to Montana. His twin brother, Edwin Drew, died at birth, but he had other siblings to grow up with.
By 1876, the Drew family had made their way down to Arizona Territory and settled along the San Pedro River near Contention City. There William Drew built a ranch and a stagecoach station, which later became known as Drew's Station. [3]
In his youth, both Drew and his younger sister, Cora, became skilled equestrians. They won several contests in Arizona and New Mexico Territory between the 1890s and the early 1900s. In 1888, at the age of sixteen, Cora was asked to perform in Buffalo Bill's Wild West by Buffalo Bill Cody himself. Her mother refused to allow it though, probably due to her age, but Cora did get to attend the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, Illinois. [3] [4] [5]
On March 15, 1881, Drew heard the sound of gunfire that killed Bud Philpot. Philpot, a stagecoach driver, was ambushed and robbed in one of the many incidents leading to the historic Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone. After mounting his horse, Drew rode towards the sound of the gunfire and found Philpot's body lying in a wash. He then rode to the house of a neighboring rancher, T. W. Ayles, who, coincidentally, was in the process of writing a letter to the Tombstone Epitaph concerning lawlessness in the territory. Ayles wrote: "Right here I am stopped by the entrance of a messenger who reports that down coach from Tombstone to-night, and which passed here a[t] 8:00 p.m., had been shot into and 'Bud', the driver is now lying on the roadside, dead, with his whip alongside of him. And just now Eddie Drew, a young son of the station keeper at Drew's Station, informs me that he saw the dead man and recognized him as 'Bud,' the driver of the coach." [3]
In 1884, after two years of working as a wagon teamster at the Johnson mine, Drew, two Mexican men, and a man named Melvin Jones went into the Sulphur Springs Valley to build a cattle ranch at Bass Canyon, bringing a herd along with them. However, when they were riding through the land of Glendy King, the old recluse refused to let them pass. Drew told King that he intended to go on with or without permission so the latter opened fire on Drew with a rifle, shooting the reins out of his hands. Melvin Jones then responded by pulling out his Winchester and shooting King, who died as result. Rumors that renegade Apaches killed King immediately began circulating.
Drew turned himself a little while later to the local sheriff and the true story was revealed. After being exonerated of shooting King, Drew and Melvin built their ranch. Drew went to Mexico to buy horses, leaving Melvin to manage things. When he returned with 1,000 head of horses three months later, Drew found that Melvin had not accomplished what they had agreed to so Drew ended the partnership. The ranch then became known as the Drew Ranch. [4] [5]
Between 1894 and 1910, Drew worked as a cowboy and foreman of the Sierra Bonita Ranch, which was owned by Colonel Henry Hooker. He married Marie Preston of West Virginia on March 20, 1898, and they went on to have three children. That same year, the Drew Ranch was sold to Sam and Johnny Boyett, the latter of whom would later gain notoriety for killing Warren Earp during a dispute at a saloon in Willcox. [3] [6]
According to newspapers from 1900, Drew bought a farm at Pima from a man named John Nash and settled there with his family, however, he continued working at the Sierra Bonita Ranch. The newspapers also say that Drew fractured one of his legs that year, after he accidentally rode off the edge of a cliff with his horse. [7]
By 1909, Drew had a mining claim in the Turquoise District. The local newspaper reported on February 12, 1909 that Drew sold his one-third interest in the Triangle No. 1 Mining Claim and that a Mrs. L. J. Lemion, who owned the other two-thirds, sold her share as well. Drew was to be paid $3,333,33 in installments over the next few years, but he was killed in Sonoratown on May 15, 1911. [7]
On February 11, 1911, Drew accepted an appointment from the Pinal County sheriff, James E. McGree, to become his deputy. He was, however, killed just a short time after being sworn in. On the night of May 15, 1911, shortly before 12:00 A.M., Drew was in a saloon at Sonoratown, a small mining town located just south of Ray, Arizona, when a bandit named Jack Monroe entered through the back door with a mask over his face and a revolver in his hand. [3] [7]
According to a May 17, 1911, edition of the Arizona Republican , Drew was immediately confronted by Monroe, who said: "Throw up your hands." There was a moment of hesitation though, because Drew was not going to give up without a fight. Monroe then stepped closer and slapped Drew in the face, saying: "Throw up your hands damned quick." But instead, Drew pulled out his revolver and was subsequently struck by a bullet from Monroe. According to the Arizona Republican, the shot did not incapacitate Drew, who then began firing and advancing on Monroe. Monroe retreated to behind the bar and the fighting continued for a few seconds until Drew fell over dead. He had been shot twice and it was later determined that Monroe was also badly wounded in the chest, but managed to escape town. [3] [7]
The May 17, 1911, edition of the Arizona Republican says the following:
E.L. Drew of Ray, a deputy of Pinal county, was shot and killed by an unknown masked man [Jack Monroe] in a saloon in Sonoratown, a suburb of Ray, a few minutes before 12 o'clock, Monday night. Whether the shooting was an incident of a planned hold-up for the purpose of robbery, or whether it was planned as a murder for revenge, seems not to be a settled point in Ray. The murderer made no effort to rob the saloon thereafter, and so far as know[n] Drew had no personal enemies, being universally liked as an officer. Glen Hartford was seated in a chair nearby and Jack Russell, the bartender, was close to the other two men and in between them. The masked man, whose nationality even has not been learned here, entered with a revolver in his hand and gave the order "Throw up your hands." Russell and Hartfort obeyed at once. Drew hesitated in his course of action until the second command came to "Throw up your hands damned quick." As Drew still reclined the stranger stepped up and slapped him, whereupon Drew pulled his revolver and before he could use it his assailant fired. It seemed as though Drew was waiting to get the drop on his assailant, or at least an even break with him, before reaching for his gun. When the masked man fired Drew faltered for a moment as thought [though] the shot had been effective, but quickly recovering he advanced upon on his adversary, who he forced to the rear of the barroom while bullets were flying, the intruder [Monroe] taking refuge behind the bar until Drew fell, mortally wounded with two bullet holes th[r]ough him. It has not definitely established, according to the [Arizona] Republican's information, whether Drew ever fired a shot or not, or whether the other man was injured in the battle. No bullet holes were found in the room that seemed to have come from his [Drew] direction, however, and the murderer was able to make a hasty departure as soon as his victim fell. Drew is spoken of as a man well liked in the community, and no incident is recalled in which he participated that would be likely to have left a spirit of revenge strong enough to stimulate a man to murder. In fact the only person that seem[s] might have borne him revenge is a Mexican whom he arrested a short time ago for beating his wife, but so far as learned here there is no certainty that the murderer was a Mexican. The only other incentive suggested is the proposed robbery of the saloon, and if that was planned the murderer gave it up after he killed Drew, evidently believing that time was more valuable that [than] money at that juncture. The officers are following every possible clew [clue], according to report, but at this time will not admit that they have any definite suspicions as to the identity of the culprit. Drew went to Ray [Sonoratown] from Pearce, a mining camp in Cochise county, it is understood, and his was body was brought fro[m] Ray yesterday afternoon, as far as Tempe, and from there sent to Pearce on last night's train. (sic) [3] [7]
The murderer, Jack Monroe, was captured a few days later at his camp outside of Ray and dealt with accordingly. Drew's body was taken to Pearce by his brother, Charles, and he was buried in the Pearce Cemetery next to his mother, Georgiann, who died in 1906. Presently, Drew's tombstone mistakenly says that he died on May 11, 1911, instead of May 15. [3]
The following was written in a Courtland, Arizona newspaper on May 20, 1911:
Monday night, at about midnight, E.L. Drew, a deputy sheriff of Pinal county, was killed in Sonoratown, a suburb of Ray, while resisting a holdup in one of the saloons. Mr. Drew was well known in Courtland, where he held a commission as deputy sheriff for a considerable time and was very generally liked, and probably as well known throughout the valley and surrounding country as any man in the territory, having been a resident of this section for many years. The body was brought to Pearce by a brother, Charles, who was also employed at Ray and the funeral took place Wednesday afternoon. A large attendance was at band and beautiful floral pieces evidenced the esteem in which he was held. Mrs. Drew with her three pretty children, one girl 12 years old, another 10 and a boy of 7 years, through poor train connections, was compelled to drive from Cochise [County], making five o'clock the hour of the services. Dr. Pestal and Judge [William] Monmonier conducted the services in an able manner. Mr. Drew was born on the [Great] Plains, August 22, 1864 [1865], when his parents were crossing to Montana and is survived by a wife and three children. three brothers, and one sister, G. [George] H. Drew of Pearce, Chas. [Charles] Drew at Pearce, D. [David] S. Drew, who moved last week from Courtland to California and Mrs. R. [Cora] J. Reynolds in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Aside from a house and lot in Courtland and 1000 shares of Gold Queen [mine] stock, which was in the names of the children, a $3,500 insurance policy also payable to the children was left by the murdered man. Mrs. Drew and the children have been living at Pima, Graham county and had just about completed arrangements for moving to Ray, where the family could be reunited, when this terrible affair happened. Manager E. H. McFall of the Palace Stables, Hal Mattingly, W. A. Lewis and John Perkins drove to Pearce to attend the funeral, and several others would have been present had they been advised in time to have been there. A report reached Courtland Thursday, that Jack Monroe, suspected as being the man who fired the fatal shots, had been captured near Ray, suffering from a bad gun shot wound in the breast, which makes it appear that Mr. Drew made a commendable resistance, even though he lost his life in doing so. (sic) [3]
The following appeared in the Tombstone Prospector on May 18, 1911:
Jack Monroe has been arrested as suspect of a holdup in a saloon at Ray in which Ed Drew of Courtland was shot and killed about three days ago. Monroe was found in the hills near Ray shot and weak from loss of blood from his wounds, and now the officers suspicion him as the party to the bold hold-up and claim to have strong evidence against Monroe. The hold-up man entering through the back way met Ed Drew at the back door and commanded him to hold up his hands, but instead of raising his hands Drew reached for his gun and fired while the robber fired also and Drew fell to the floor dead. Drew was a former Cochise county resident, having lived at Courtland. Jack Monroe is also a former Cochise resident. In 1904 he was sentenced in the district court here to serve six years at Yuma. He was convicted on a charge of assault on a Mexican at Don Luis. (sic) [3]
The Drew Ranch is now owned by the Nature Conservancy. Also, members of Drew's family still live in Arizona today. [3] [5] [7]
The gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a gunfight that lasted less than a minute between lawmen led by Virgil Earp and members of a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cowboys that occurred at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in Tombstone, Arizona, United States. It is generally regarded as the most famous gunfight in the history of the American Old West.
John HenryHolliday, better known as Doc Holliday, was a dentist and later a gambler, gunfighter, and a close friend and associate of lawman Wyatt Earp. Holliday is best known for his role in the events surrounding and his participation in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. He developed a reputation as having killed more than a dozen men in various altercations, but modern researchers have concluded that, contrary to popular myth-making, Holliday killed only one to three men. Holliday's colorful life and character have been depicted in many books and portrayed by well-known actors in numerous movies and television series.
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William Brocius, better known as Curly Bill Brocius, was an American gunman, rustler and an outlaw Cowboy in the Cochise County area of the Arizona Territory during the late 1870s and early 1880s. His name is likely an alias or nickname, and some evidence links him to another outlaw named William "Curly Bill" Bresnaham, who was convicted of an 1878 attempted robbery and murder in El Paso, Texas.
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WarrenBaxterEarp was an American frontiersman and lawman. He was the youngest of Earp brothers, Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil, James, and Newton Earp. Although he was not present during the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, after Virgil was maimed in an ambush, Warren joined Wyatt and was in town when Morgan was assassinated. He also helped Wyatt in the hunt for the outlaws they believed responsible. Later in life, Warren developed a reputation as a bully and was killed in an argument in 1900.
Charleston is a ghost town in Cochise County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Arizona. It was occupied from the late-1870s through the late-1880s, and was located in what was then known as the Arizona Territory. Located on the west bank of the San Pedro River, Charleston's economy was based on milling silver ore mined from nearby Tombstone in the community of Millville, located directly across the river.
The Cochise County Cowboys is the modern name for a loosely associated group of outlaws living in Pima and Cochise County, Arizona in the late 19th century. The term "cowboy", as opposed to "cowhand," had only begun to come into wider usage during the 1870s. In that place and time, "cowboy" was synonymous with "cattle rustler". Such thieves frequently rode across the border into Mexico and stole cattle from Mexican ranches that they then drove back across the border to sell in the United States. Some modern writers consider them to be an early form of organized crime in America.
Cochise County in southeastern Arizona was the scene of a number of violent conflicts in the 19th-century and early 20th-century American Old West, including between white settlers and Apache Indians, between opposing political and economic factions, and between outlaw gangs and local law enforcement. Cochise County was carved off in 1881 from the easternmost portion of Pima County during a formative period in the American Southwest. The era was characterized by rapidly growing boomtowns, the emergence of large-scale farming and ranching interests, lucrative mining operations, and the development of new technologies in railroading and telecommunications. Complicating the situation was staunch resistance to white settlement from local Native American groups, most notably during the Apache Wars, as well as Cochise County's location on the border with Mexico, which not only threatened international conflict but also presented opportunities for criminal smugglers and cattle rustlers.
Robert Havlin Paul, commonly known as Bob Paul, was a law enforcement officer in the American Southwest for more than 30 years. He was sheriff of Pima County, Arizona Territory, from April 1881 to 1886. He was also a friend of Deputy U.S. Marshall Virgil Earp and his brother Wyatt Earp. At 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) and 240 pounds (110 kg), he was described as "larger than life". Others described him as "powerful, fearless and very lucky".
Feuds in the United States deals with the phenomena of historic blood feuding in the United States. These feuds have been numerous and some became quite vicious. Often, a conflict which may have started out as a rivalry between two individuals or families became further escalated into a clan-wide feud or a range war, involving dozens—or even hundreds—of participants. Below are listed some of the most notable blood feuds in United States history, most of which occurred in the Old West.
The Bisbee massacre occurred in Bisbee, Arizona, on December 8, 1883, when six outlaws who were part of the Cochise County Cowboys robbed a general store. Believing the general store's safe contained a mining payroll of $7,000, they timed the robbery incorrectly and were only able to steal between $800 and $3,000, along with a gold watch and jewelry. During the robbery, members of the gang killed five people, including a lawman and a pregnant woman. Six men were convicted of the robbery and murders. John Heath, who was accused of organizing the robbery, was tried separately and sentenced to life in prison. The other five men were convicted of murder and sentenced to hang.
The Shootout at Wilson Ranch resulted in the final and most famous hanging in the history of Tombstone, Arizona. On April 7, 1899, the brothers William and Thomas Lee Halderman were confronted by two lawmen at a ranch located in the Chiricahua Mountains. A brief gunfight ensued, during which Constable Chester L. Ainsworth was killed and his deputy, Teddy Moore, was mortally wounded. The Halderman brothers then fled to New Mexico, but they were captured shortly thereafter and executed on November 16, 1900, following a hasty trial in Tombstone.
The Gleeson gunfight, or the Gleeson shootout, was one of the last gunfights in the Old West, having occurred during the transition period between the "Old" and the "New." On March 5, 1917, the sheriff of Cochise County, Harry C. Wheeler, and his deputy, Lafe Gibson, were ambushed by a gang of Mexican alcohol smugglers near the town of Gleeson, Arizona. During the battle that followed, Wheeler and Gibson fought off the attackers and confiscated their alcohol, wounding at least one man in the process.
Courtland is a ghost town in Cochise County, Arizona, that was founded in 1909 due to a copper boom. The town is located at the foot of the Dragoon Mountains, about fifteen miles northeast of Tombstone, and was named after Courtland Young, one of the owners of the Great Western Mining Company.
Bill Downing a.k.a. William F. Downing was a notorious outlaw during the Wild West era in Arizona. Downing had fled from the Texas Rangers posse who was after him when he came to Arizona. In Arizona, he was involved in the killing of William S. “Slim” Traynor and in various train robberies including the robbery of the Train Depot in the town of Cochise. Downing was so unpopular that even members of his gang couldn't stand him.
