Justice in Holbrook

Sheriff Perry Owen had learned long ago that reputation had its limits. It could help keep greenhorns from gunning for him. But sooner or later someone else would try. Owen, like other gunfighters, had developed a reputation he didn’t want. On a Sunday afternoon in Holbrook, Arizona in 1887, Owen was again headed for trouble. It had become his job since he had acquired his position as Apache County, Arizona sheriff. But today would be especially dangerous. He was on his way to arrest Andy “Cooper” Blevins who was suspected of murdering John Tewksbury and William Jacobs two days past. Andy Blevins was no ordinary suspect. He was at the center of a major Arizona feud at taking place at that time. A few years back two small time ranchers, John Tewksbury and Samuel Graham, and their families, developed a working agreement. They cut out mavericks from larger ranchers around them to develop their own stock. At this time this wasn’t always thought of as rustling. It was more like enterprising. Or at least that was the way small ranchers thought about it. The cattle the two families rounded up were grazed on Graham’s land. Part of the agreement said the Tewksburys could cut out their share anytime they liked. This worked for a while. It wasn’t long, though, before something went sour. One day Sam Graham secretly registered his brand and claimed all the cattle was his. The next time the Tewksburys tried to cut out their share, the Grahams stopped them and told them the new situation. The Tewksburys didn’t cotton to that. John Tewksbury took the next step. He encouraged the Daggs brothers to bring sheep into the Pleasant Valley area where Graham’s ranch was located. This got serious real quick. Sheep would trim the grass to a nubbin, leaving nothing for cattle. The small feud between the Grahams and the Tewksburys now turned into a major land war between cattlemen and sheepmen. Hashknife cowboys such as George Smith, Tom Pickett, Tom Tucker, John Paine, Buck Lancaster, Bob Glasspie, and George McNeal along with others interested in cattle joined with the Grahams. This included the Blevins family, who had long been suspected of rustling cattle. Other small landholders who had no interest in cattle joined with the Tewksburys. By February 1887 the first victim of this war died. A sniper shot and killed a Navaho sheepherder. Later some would suspect Tom Horn did the killing since he was in the area and knew the Tewksburys. In July Mart Blevins disappeared. Most believed him to be another victim of the war. August 10 Hampton Blevins and John Paine were killed. Tom Tucker, Bob Glasspie and Bob Charrington were injured. They had all been fighting the Tewksburys at the Middleton ranch. A week later a sheepman, James Houck, shot and killed one of Graham’s sons, William, age 18, in a horseback duel. Houck was also an Apache County deputy sheriff. Friday morning, September 2rd, Tom and John Graham along with Andy, Charles, and John Blevins plus others attacked the Tewksburys. That’s when John Tewksbury and William Jacobs were killed. So Sheriff Perry Owens had no illusions about what he was stepping into. But he had little choice. He represented the law of the land. His duty was to enforce it. And that’s what he intended to do on this day 125 years ago in the afternoon. It was nearing 4 p.m. It wouldn’t be the first gun battle he’d been in. He hoped it wouldn’t be his last. He’d left home when in his teens and worked as a cowboy for 10 years before ending up in Arizona working at a stage station. By then he’d already been tagged with a reputation as a dead aim shot against Indians. Later he’d started a horse ranch at Navajo Springs. The reputation that preceded him got him elected the Apache County Sheriff . He decided to dress up to fit the reputation. Some say his appearance rivaled that of Wild Bill Hickok. Owens let his curled blond hair grow long. He wore a wide-brimmed sombrero, fringed and hand-tooled chaps, a wide gun belt ribbed with two rows of ammunition, and a Colt .45 hung butt forward on his left side. But appearance as well as reputation didn’t hold water when it came to a showdown. And that’s what Owens was now facing. He arrived in Holbrook at 4 p.m. and left his horse at Brown and Kinder’s Livery Stable. He unsheathed his Winchester and carried it as he walked toward the Blevins’ clapboard cottage. One version of what followed says Owens walked up to the front door and knocked. Andy Blevins opened the door. “You’re under arrest,” Owens stated matter-of-factly. Andy slammed the door, drew his gun, and fired through it at Owens. Owens returned fire with the Winchester, the lead slamming Andy Blevins back across the room. Another version says Owens walked up to the house and spotted Andy Blevins with a drawn six-gun. Both men shot simultaneously but only Owens’ shot found its mark, knocking Andy back into the arms of his mother inside. One way or another Owens finished off Andy Blevins. John Blevins then fired at Owens from another door. Owens shot back hitting the second Blevins in the right shoulder. Owens then ran to the side of the house as Mose Roberts, a Blevin brother-in-law, leaped out a back window holding a gun. Owens drilled him with another shot, then wheeled around in time to nail 16-year-old Sam Houston Blevins in the heart. The youngster had run on to the front porch with gun in hand. John Blevins was the only one of the four to survive. This would not be the end of the Pleasant Valley War but it would put a damper on it. On Wednesday, September 21, Sheriff Perry Owens along with 16 posse members would shoot it out with both sides. John Graham and Charlie Blevins both died in this battle. The lawmen took in a number of members from both sides. This would stop the fighting for at least a year. Owens turned in his badge on December 31, 1888. He later worked as a detective for the Santa Fe railroad, then as an express messenger for Wells Fargo, before settling down in Seligman, Arizona, where he died on May 10, 1919. There’s nothing better or more satisfying than frontier justice.