Showing posts sorted by relevance for query The Legend Of Johnny-Behind-The-Deuce. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query The Legend Of Johnny-Behind-The-Deuce. Sort by date Show all posts

Thursday, August 4, 2016

The Legend Of Johnny-Behind-The-Deuce

By Terry McGahey
Associate Writer / Old West Historian


Among the many legends behind Wyatt Earp, the story of his heroic stand protecting his prisoner, Michael "Johnny-Behind-The-Deuce" O'Rourke, against an armed lynch mob in Tombstone is just that, a legend.

No one knows how this legend actually began but over the years this story was told many times until such time it became thought of as fact. Even in the movie Wyatt Earp, with Kevin Costner, the final scene depicts this legend. 

The Tombstone Epitaph was a great defender and friend of Wyatt Earp, and if such a heroic deed had been accomplished the Epitaph would not have missed the opportunity to write this story in a fanciful fashion.

Not to say that Wyatt wasn't a man with a lot of sand, because sand was not something he lacked, but when an individual is of tough character, stories begin to take on a life of their own with people of the time period who admired this quality in a person. Also, given the writings of Stuart N. Lake about Wyatt Earp which idolized and promoted his legend beyond reality, many people have taken these legends to be pure fact in this day and age. 

Below is the actual article written about the Michael "Johnny-Behind-The-Deuce" O'Rourke incident in Tombstone by the Tombstone Epitaph on January 17th 1881:

SLAUGHTERED

Brutal murder of an Upright Citizen at Charleston

by a Desperado


Again, the bloody hand of a murderer has been raised against a peaceable citizen; again the law is scoffed at and Justice rided. Yesterday's sun rose bright and cheerful over our neighboring village of Charleston, mellowing the crisp night air with its rays. Once more her toilers began their daily avocations with re-newed energy, little dreaming of the damnable deed that, in the glowing light of noonday, was to await one of their number.

Sometime since the cabin of Mr. W. P. Schneider, chief engineer of the Corbin Mill, was entered and robbed of several articles including some clothing. Circumstances pointed very strongly to two parties, one of whom is so well known by the cognomen of "Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce"that we were unable last night to obtain his real name, but direct proof not being sufficient, no arrest was made. 

Yesterday at noon Mr. Schneider left his duties and went to a restaurant where he was accustomed to take his meals, and on entering approached the stove and, noticing a friend standing by, entered into conversation. Having just left the heated engine room the air without felt cool which brought Mr. S. a remark to that effect. "Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce" who was also in the room, then said, "I thought you never got cold." 

Not desiring to have anything to do with one of his character, Mr. Schneider turned and said, "I was not talking to you sir." This raised the lurking devil in the diminutive heart of "J-B-the D.," who blurted out, "G-d D--n you I'll shoot you when you come out," and left the room. After eating his dinner Mr. Schneider passed out the door, and was proceeding to the mill, when, true to his promise, the lurking fiend, who had secreted himself with hell in his heart and death in his mind, drew deadly aim and dropped his victim dead in his tracks.

Immediately after the shooting the following telegrams were sent to Mr. Richard Gird, the superintendent, who was in the mine here at the time:

Charleston, Jan. 14, 1:30 p.m.

To Richard Gird; Schneider has just been killed by a gambler; no provocation. Cow boys are preparing to take him out of custody. We need fifty will armed men.

Charleston, Jan. 14, 1:35 p.m.

To Richard Gird; Prisoner has just gone to Tombstone. Try and head him off and bring him back.

Charleston, Jan. 14, 1:50 p.m.

To Richard Gird; Burnett has telegraphed to the officers who have the murderer in charge to bring him back to appear at inquest. See that he is brought back.

Considerable delay occurred in getting these dispatches to Mr. Gird, who at the time was in the mine, and just where was not known; but as soon as he received it, prompt action was taken, and a number of the miners were ordered to report to the officers, to resist any attempted rescue of the prisoner. Owing, to some delay in delivery at the office of the company, and subsequent loss of time in finding Mr. Gird, over an hour elapsed, we are informed, after transmission before the dispatches were opened, and during this time the murderer was flying over the road toward the city, reaching the corner of Fifth and Allen a few minutes after the dispatches had been read. 

It is asserted that the officers, fearing pursuit, sent the murderer, who was on horseback, on ahead. However, this may be, it is certain that he came in ahead, his horse reeking with sweat, and, dismounting in front of Vogan's saloon asked for protection, acknowledging that he had kill his man. In a few minutes Allen street was jammed with an excited crowd, rapidly augmented by scores from all directions. By this time Marshal Sippy, realizing the situation at once, in the light of the repeated murders that have been committed and the ultimate liberty of the offenders, had secured a well armed posse of over a score of men to prevent any attempt on the part of the crowd to lynch the prisoner; but feeling that no guard would be strong enough to resist a justly enraged public long, produced a light wagon in which the prisoner was placed, Guarded by himself, Virgil Earp and Deputy Sheriff Behan, assisted by a strong posse well armed. 

Moving down the street closely followed by the throng, a halt was made and rifles leveled on the advancing citizens, several of whom were armed with rifles and shotguns. At this juncture, a well known individual with more avoirdupois than brains, called to the officers to turn loose and fire in the crowd. But Marshal Sippy's sound judgment prevented any such outbreak as would have been in the certain result, and cool as an iceberg he held the crowd in check. No one who was a witness of yesterday's proceedings can doubt that but for his presence, blood would have flown freely. The posse following would not have been considered; but, bowing to the majesty of the law, the crowd subsided and the wagon proceeded on its way to Benson with the prisoner, who by daylight this morning was lodged in the Tucson Jail.

Scarcely had the outfit got out of sight until stories of all descriptions regarding the killing and attending circumstances grew rife. One was to the effect that Schneider had chased "Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce" out of the restaurant with a drawn knife. This grew and brought forth a revolver in the other hand. Then it was reported that Mr. Gird had turned his mine loose for the purpose of lynching the prisoner. Again it was said by some of the pals of "Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce," that he was an honorable citizen, etc, etc. 

With the regard to the knife story the facts given by an eye-witness and borne out by the character of the decease, prove them to be false. Concerning the charge that the miners were turned out to defeat the law, we have it from Mr. Gird himself that they were ordered to report to the officers, in keeping with the tenor of the dispatches received by him, to sustain law.

In view of the diabolical and unprovoked crime committed, it is not to be wondered at that some of them should have joined the crowd that followed, desiring vengeance. As to the honorable character of the martyred kid who sails under the banner of "Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce" it is a well known fact that he was driven out of Tiger District by the best element of that camp, about a year ago, and tonight he will repose at the county expense in a jail on whose walls are inscribed horrid mockery of justice blazoned in the names of other murderers who have par-taken of county refreshment to be turned loose again to fasten themselves on the Tombstone public, a living curse. Today the clods will fall over his victim, silent in his last long sleep, no more to be a staff to parents who having passed the summit of life's divide with whitened locks already stand beneath the descending scythe of time. Mails will come and go, anxious hearts with eager beat will note perhaps the postman's knock. No news from day to day until at last the sad tidings will cross the threshold, and bending under the weight of woe two more souls will gladly welcome death.

Jan. 17, 1881

-- end of article, the Tombstone Epitaph, January 17th, 1881. 

As I have mentioned in the beginning of this article, Wyatt Earp, defending Michael "Johnny-Behind-The-Deuce" O'Rourke against a bloodthirsty mob on the streets of Tombstone is nothing more than legend and never took place. 

If Wyatt had been there the Epitaph surly would have listed his name in this incident being that the Epitaph was an adamant defender and friend of Wyatt Earp. I guess it's possible he was there but he would have been nothing more than just another deputy with several others which in count added up to fifteen total.

Michael O'Rourke, or Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce as he was known, broke out of jail on April 18, 1881 and was last seen in the Dragoon Mountains. He was well mounted and well equipped and believed to be heading for Texas. He was indicted by the Grand Jury on May 19th but never stood trial for the murder. There is no proof of what happened to Johnny-Behind-the-Deuce, he seemed to appear out of nowhere and he vanished in the same way.

About the author:

Terry McGahey is a writer and Old West historian. 

This once working cowboy is best known for his fight against the City of Tombstone and their historic City Ordinance Number 9, America's most famous gun-control law.

He was instrumental in finally getting Tombstone City Ordinance Number 9 repealed and having Tombstone fall in line with the state of Arizona. 

If you care to read how he fought Tombstone's City Hall and won, please click:

Sunday, April 14, 2019

An Eyewitness To The California Gold Rush 1848

The California Gold Country
Ever wonder what it was like in the first few days after the discovery of gold at the start of the California Gold Rush? I was recently reading an account of what took place in the first few days after the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in California on January 24th, 1848. Those events were recounted during the 50th anniversary observance of the event that changed California and the United States. 

Just prior to the 50th anniversary of the California Gold Rush, there was great deal of interest in locating eyewitnesses who may be still alive and able to recount what took place back in the day. The organizers of the observances found that there were actually a number of  Several individuals still around. Of them, many claimed to have been with James Marshall when he first found a few gold nuggets while building a sawmill for John Sutter.

Of course, as with any historical event, the same thing that takes place today actually took place back then, more people claimed to be with James Marshal than really were. You'd be shocked at how many people always seem to show up after the fact but say they were there. This is something that resonates through history and simply something people do. They either say they were there, or say they played a significant role in the event.

It's true. For example, Wyatt Earp claimed that he arrested Texas legend Ben Thompson, claimed that he single-handedly held off a mob of 300 angry townsfolk who wanted to hang gambler Johnny Behind The Deuce, claimed that he was a great fist fighter, claimed that he was the target of the Cowboys at the OK Corral, claimed that he shot Johnny Ringo, and even claimed that he shot and cut Curly Bill in half with a shot gun though in reality the two may have been standing a hundred yards away from each other if we actually belief Earp's tale. Of course, all of Earp's claims have been proven either completely false or questionable at best. Yet, there are those who still accept Earp's yarns at face value because he was Wyatt Earp.

This was the problem that confronted the folks attempting to recount what took place at the start of the California Gold Rush. They found that their may have been almost a hundred people who were standing right beside James Marshall when he bent over to pick up a few nuggets of gold. And as for most of the accounts, many were treated with a great deal of skepticism for good reason.

But, of those located, there was an old man by the name of Adam Wicks. The folks researching what took place found him living in Ventura, California. Among them, it was agreed that he was a credible source. They saw him as reliable because his facts agreed with how gold was first discovered in California at Sutter's Mill. He knew things that proved that he had credibility.

The New York Times published an interview with Adam Wicks on December 27, 1897. Their article was published about a month before the actual 50th anniversary. What Mr. Wicks recalled was fascinating in it's details, I hope you enjoy what he recalled.

Adam Wicks recalled arriving in San Francisco by ship in the summer of 1847, at the age of 21:

"I was charmed with the wild new country, and decided to stay, and I’ve never been out of the state from that time. Along in October 1847, I went with several young fellows up the Sacramento River to Sutter’s Fort, at what is now the City of Sacramento. There were about 25 white people at Sutter’s Fort, which was merely a stockade of timbers as a protection from assaults by Indians.

"Sutter was the richest American in central California at the time, but he had no money. It was all in land, timber, horses, and cattle. He was about 45 years old, and was full of schemes for making money by selling his timber to the United States government, which had just come into possession of California. That is why he was having Marshall build the sawmill up in Columale (later known as Coloma).

"I knew James Marshall, the discoverer of gold, very well. He was an ingenious, flighty sort of man, who claimed to be an expert millwright out from New Jersey."

Mr. Wicks remembered hearing about the gold discovery as meaningless cow camp gossip:

"In the latter part of January 1848, I was at work with a gang of vaqueros for Captain Sutter. I remember as clearly as if it were yesterday when I first heard of the gold discovery. It was on January 26, 1848, forty-eight hours after the event. We had driven a drove of cattle to a fertile grazing spot on the American River and were on our way back to Columale for more orders.

"A nephew, a lad of 15 years, of Mrs. Wimmer, the cook at the lumber camp, met us on the road. I gave him a lift on my horse, and as we jogged along the boy told me that Jim Marshall had found some pieces of what Marshall and Mrs. Wimmer thought were gold. The boy told this in the most matter-of-fact way, and I did not think of it again until I had put the horses in the corral and Marshall and I sat down for a smoke."

Mr. Wicks stated that he met and asked John Marshall if he heard anything about someone finding gold in the area. He said that John Marshall was annoyed by the question, but then swore Wicks to silence before actually showing Wicks what he were found:

"The largest nugget was the size of a hickory nut; the others were the size of black beans. All had been hammered, and were very bright from boiling and acid tests. Those were the evidences of gold.

"I have wondered a thousand times since how we took the finding of the gold so coolly. Why, it did not seem to us a big thing. It appeared only an easier way of making a living for a few of us. We had never heard of a stampede of gold-crazy men in those days. Besides, we were green backwoodsmen. None of us had ever seen natural gold before."

Believe it or not, some say the initial discovery had very little effect on the day to day life there. Mr. Wicks described life working for Captain Sutter as follows:

"We went to bed at the usual hour that night, and so little excited were we about the discovery that neither of us lost a moment’s sleep over the stupendous wealth that lay all about us. We proposed to go out and hunt at odd times and on Sundays for gold nuggets.

"Two weeks or so later Mrs. Wimmer went to Sacramento. There she showed at Sutter’s Fort some nuggets she had found along the American River. Even Captain Sutter himself had not known of the finds of gold on his land until then."

Of course, once the word of gold got out, a mass migration took place. Mr. Wicks described the scene as follows:

"The earliest rush to the mines was in April. There were 20 men, from San Francisco, in the party. Marshall was so mad at Mrs. Wimmer that he vowed he would never treat her decently again.

"At first it was thought the gold was only to be found within a radius of a few miles of the sawmill at Columale, but the newcomers spread out, and every day brought news of localities along the American River that were richer in gold than where we had been quietly working for a few weeks.

"The very maddest man of all was Captain Sutter when men began to come from San Francisco, San Jose, Monterey and Vallejo by the score to find gold. All of the captain's workmen quit their jobs, his sawmill could not be run, his cattle went wandering away for lack of vaqueros, and his ranch was occupied by a horde of lawless gold-crazy men of all degrees of civilization.

"All the captain’s plans for a great business career were suddenly ruined."

While John Sutter later died broke, as history tells us, the word of gold being found spread like wild fire. To confirm the findings, President Polk mentioned the California gold discovery in his annual (state of the Union) report to Congress in December of 1848. In those days, the State of the Union was a report given to Congress and not an address given to the American people as it is today. President Woodrow Wilson actually started the modern day tradition of the President giving a State of the Union speech to the people.

After President Polk confirmed the discovery of gold, the great California Gold Rush was on. This single event changed California and made the United States wealthier than imaginable.

Tom Correa