William M. Riggs | |
---|---|
![]() Riggs in 1906 | |
Member of the Arizona Senate from the Cochise County district | |
In office January 1915 –January 1917 | |
Preceded by | C. M. Roberts |
Succeeded by | Fred Sutter C. M. Roberts |
Personal details | |
Born | 1861 Milam County,Texas |
Died | February 13,1949 Willcox,Arizona |
Nationality | American |
Political party | Democrat |
Spouse(s) | Cora (second wife) |
Children | William M. Riggs Jr. |
Profession | Politician |
William Monroe Riggs was a politician from Arizona who served in the Arizona state senate during the 2nd Arizona State Legislature. [1] He was a cattleman in southern Arizona,and served on the Cochise County board of supervisors for several terms,being chairman for four years,and was elected to the Arizona state senate.
Riggs was born in 1861 in Milam County,Texas,where his family had moved to from Alabama. [2] The family moved to Colorado,and then they eventually to Arizona in 1876,first to near Fort Apache,then to near Fort Thomas on the Gila River,before they eventually settled down in the Sulphur Springs Valley,near Dos Cabezas,Arizona. His father was Brannock Riggs,built up the Riggs Ranch,which eventually encompassed 175,000 acres and had over 100,000 miles of wire fence,where he raised cattle. William had 9 siblings. Three of his brothers were named Barney,John,and Thomas,and three sisters were named Martha,Mary,and Rodah. [3] [4] [5] His father and four of his brothers served in the Confederate army. [5] Riggs attended the El Dorado School,the first school in Cochise County,and helped in its construction by hauling shingles for its roof from a nearby mill in the Chiricahua Mountains. As a young man he worked as a cowboy,saving his money which he used to pay to attend the Valparaiso Normal School when he was 30. [5]
In 1904,Riggs became a member of the Cochise County board of supervisors,elected for a four-year term. [6] [7] [8] He was selected the chairman of the board. [9] He was re-elected to the board in 1908 and 1912. [10]
In April 1914,he announced his intention to run for one of the two state senate seats from Cochise County. [11] In the primary,he upset C. M. Roberts. Both Roberts and W. P. Sims ran for re-election,but Riggs received more votes than either of them. The primary was held on September 8,and by the 13th,32 out of 46 precincts had reported in,with Roberts solidly in second place with 1348 votes,behind Riggs with 1655,but in front of Sims with 1209. [12] However,two days later,a week after the election,there was only a single district remaining,and Roberts lead had disappeared and Sims now led him by 16 votes. That district,West Huachuca,had a total of 24 Democratic votes to be counted. When all the votes were tallied the results were Riggs:2643;Sims:2107;Roberts:2099;and Joseph H. Gray 1620. [13] [14] After his defeat,Roberts contemplated filing a legal contestation of the election,claiming Riggs' nomination was not legal. [15] Both Sims and Riggs were elected in November's general election. [16]
In 1916 he announced his intention to run for re-election to the state senate. [17] The Democrat primary saw him in a re-match against Sims,along with newcomer,Fred A. Sutter,This time Sims got the better of Riggs,and he came in third with 2,337 votes,behind Sutter (2,699) and Roberts (2,480). [18] [19]
He was well-known cattleman in the southern part of Arizona. [9] When his father died,the Riggs ranch was split between the sons,and Riggs' portion was near Dos Cabezas,Arizona. [4] [20] He was married twice,his second wife's name was Cora,and they had a son,William Jr.,who served in the infantry in the Pacific Theater during World War II. [4] [5] [21] He was president of the Riggs Bank,as well as being on the board of directors of the Willcox Bank and Trust Company. [5]
Riggs became ill in late 1945,and died on February 13,1949,in his home in Willcox,Arizona. He had been bedridden for most of the four years of his illnes. [4] [5]
Cochise County is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after the Native American chief Cochise.
Frank C. Stilwell was an outlaw Cowboy who killed at least two men in Cochise County during 1877–82. Both killings were considered to have been self-defense. For four months he was a deputy sheriff in Tombstone,Arizona Territory for Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan. Stilwell owned interests in several mines and various businesses,including a saloon,a wholesale liquor business,a stage line,and at his death livery stables in Charleston and Bisbee. He was also a partner in a Bisbee-area saloon with ex-Texas Ranger Pete Spence.
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.
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 to $3,000,along with a gold watch and jewelry. During the robbery,members of the gang killed four 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 1914 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 3,1914,for the post of the Governor of Arizona. The Supreme Court of Arizona ruled that there would be no statewide elections in 1912,thus extending the terms to sync up with elections on even years. The Democratic nominee was incumbent governor George W. P. Hunt,his Republican opponent was the final Delegate to Congress from Arizona Territory,Ralph H. Cameron. Cameron was disadvantaged by the same reason the previous Republican nominee Wells was:he had opposed statehood with the present Constitution.
The 1918 Arizona gubernatorial election took place on November 5,1918,for the post of the Governor of Arizona. Thomas Campbell,who served a partial term in 1917 and had his election overturned by the Supreme Court of Arizona,returned to contest the Governors office. Incumbent Governor Hunt declined to run again after the stress of the close elections and the year-long court battle. Despite falling to its lowest percentage in years,the sole third party challenger held the difference between the two candidates. The Democratic challenger was state senator Fred T. Colter,a pro-Hunt Democrat.
Fred Tuttle Colter was an Arizona rancher and farmer,as well as being the state senator for Apache County beginning with Arizona's second state legislature in 1915. Colter spent six terms in the Arizona Senate. He also led the fight on Arizona's behalf to maintain control over the water from the Colorado River,coining the slogan,"Save the Colorado for Arizona". He was a close ally of the state's first governor,George W. P. Hunt. Prior to his election to the state senate,Colter had served as the state's fair commissioner.
Fred Arthur Sutter Sr. was an Arizona attorney and politician. He ran several times,unsuccessfully,for governor of the state,and was elected several times to the state legislature.
The Ten-Percent Ring was a title given by the newspaper editors of The Tombstone Epitaph in 1881 to Johnny Behan and his friends for stealing about ten percent of the local Tombstone,Arizona taxes in the 1880s. Milt Joyce (1847–1889),owner of the Oriental Saloon and chairman of Cochise County,Arizona supervisors,was also seen as a leader of the Ten Percent Ring. The Tombstone Epitaph was started by John Clum in 1880. The newspaper outlined the corruption charges of Johnny Behan the Cochise County sheriff. When Johnny Behan was the Cochise County sheriff one of his duties was collecting prostitution,gambling,liquor,and theater taxes. As part of his pay,he received 10% of all proceeds collected. There was much talk in the town about the graft political corruption of the sheriff. For this many saw Behan as the head of the Ten Percent Ring and a friend of the outlaw Cochise County Cowboys. Others accused of membership in the ring was Artemus Fay (?–1906),owner of the Tombstone's first newspaper,the Tombstone Weekly Nugget and Harry Wood (1848–1896) a writer for the Weekly Nugget and an under-sheriff of Behan. Along with stealing tax funds,the Ten Percent Ring helped in election fraud and helping the outlaw Cochise County Cowboys. Behan so focused on taxes,that he was very soft on crime. Soon after Behan became sheriff,Virgil Earp was appointed Tombstone city marshal and had his brothers Wyatt Earp and Morgan Earp become special deputy policemen. Behan and the Earps were at conflict as Behan supported the outlaw Clanton and McLaury families. After the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the murder of Morgan Earp,Behan did nothing to find the killers of Morgan Earp. Rather than look for Morgan's killers,Behan put out warrants for U.S. marshal Virgil Earp and Wyatt for killing outlaws. On January 31,1882,Behan was arrested for collecting bills totaling $300 twice,arraigned in front of Justice Stilwell,and discharged due to a technicality. Behan failed to win re-election as sheriff in November of 1882;he would not serve as a peace officer again. Later,he was appointed as the warden of the Yuma Territorial Prison and had various other government jobs until his death in 1912. Milt Joyce departed Tombstone in 1883. On October 10,1880 Joyce and Doc Holliday had a shoot-out at the Oriental. Joyce died in 1889 at the age of 42 in San Francisco,where he was the owner of the Baldwin Billiard Parlor in 1883 and later the Cafe Royal in San Francisco. Harry M. Woods,a Pennsylvania Infantry Union Veteran,moved to from Tombstone to Nogales,Arizona where he was a tax collector until his death in 1896. After Artemus Fay departed the Weekly Nugget,which burned in the great fire of 1882 and did not re-open,he worked at the Nugget Mine in Dos Cabezas and start a short-lived paper there,the GoNote. After the death of his wife,Fay moved to Flagstaff and started a newspaper there.
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