Legends of the Old West - TOM HORN Ep. 1 | “Arizona Wars”

Episode Date: September 21, 2022

Tom Horn battles through a rough childhood and then heads west like many young men of the era. He lands in Arizona and quickly finds himself embroiled in the Apache Wars and the Pleasant Valley War. In that crucible, he begins to learn that he is good at a dark trade. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUVRfp5H1frBzTegq9qMNIQ For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To the average person, the name Tom Horn isn't the most recognizable in Old West history. Though in his 44 years on Earth, he achieved living legend status in many parts of the West. But there are legendary good guys and legendary bad guys. By the end of the story, you'll have to decide which category to put him in. Throughout his life, Tom wore many hats. He worked as a cowhand, a packer, a scout, a rancher, a prospector, a lawman, a soldier, a Pinkerton agent, and even a rodeo performer. But the occupation that made Tom Horn famous and feared throughout the West

was a hired gun for rich and powerful cattle ranchers. Oftentimes, his job was to do the things they talked about but never showed in the old John Wayne movies when the powerful rancher hired a bunch of gunmen. Tom Horn was supposed to kill the competition. He seemed to take pride in his work, and by his own admission, he enjoyed it. Like most of the other notorious killers in the Old West, no one will ever know for sure how many people Tom Horn killed, but the most common number is 17. In some cases, the victims were genuine cattle rustlers, and very few people had a problem with killing rustlers. But many times, the victims were just accused of rustling, and the accusations were thin at best.

The cattle barons in the West, specifically in Wyoming, hated homesteaders who moved onto the land and started stringing barbed wire fences across the open range. Tom Horn became their deadly instrument of frontier justice. He did his job quickly and efficiently, but not always quietly. Tom talked far more than he should have for a man who made a living with a gun. But one of the things that helped save him all those years, and makes his life hard to understand now, is that he never told a story the same way twice. When he talked about his exploits and adventures, he told outright lies. Or sometimes he wrapped a kernel of truth in a whole bunch of lies. And sometimes, as you'll hear, he told so many versions of the

same story that it's impossible to tell fact from fiction. But one thing was certain. If you were a cattle rustler in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, or Wyoming in the late 1800s, or if you were even suspected of rustling, Tom Horn was the last person you wanted on your trail. If he caught you, he was probably the last person you'd see. Or, more often, you wouldn't see him at all. You'd be dead before you knew you were in danger. From Black Barrel Media, this is Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this season we're telling the complex and controversial story of Tom Horn, range detective, Pinkerton agent, and hired gun. This is Episode 1, Arizona Wars.

Like many young men in America in the 1860s and 1870s, Tom Horne left home at the age of 16. But his life up until that point was different from many of the other teenagers who just wanted to explore the West for the sake of adventure, like, for instance, Wild Bill Hickok. Tom Horne, Like, for instance, Wild Bill Hickok. Tom Horn Jr. was born in 1860 in Scotland County, Missouri. That's in the northeast corner of the state, right along the Iowa-Missouri border. He was one of 12 children who were raised on a 600-acre farm, and his childhood was not what you would call happy. His parents, Tom Sr. and Mary Ann, were devout members of the Disciples of Christ and lived by a strict religious code. That code included regular whippings by his mother and even more brutal beatings by his father for any transgressions.

Young Tom liked to skip church and school, and that brought severe punishment. But it didn't stop Tom from exploring the Missouri wilderness with his loyal companion, a dog named Shedrick. Tom knew, as he wrote later, that there was a thumping waiting for him when he got home, but for him it was worth the bruises. The saving grace after years of abuse was that by the time Tom left home at age 16, he was an expert tracker and hunter and very adept with a rifle. Tom struck out for the American Southwest, and he made it as far as Kansas City, Missouri,

before he realized it was going to take a lot more money to get there than he anticipated. He soon found a job with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad working on the tracks outside Newton, Kansas. While Tom tried to make it on his own for the first time, his family began a few years of moving around. His father moved the family from Missouri to Kansas and bought a small farm outside a town called Grinnell. Tom Jr. briefly reunited with his father and his family on the farm, but then Tom was lured back to Missouri by his older brother, Charles. Charles had gone out to California for a few years, but recently returned to Scotland

County with his wife. Charles and Tom started a cattle business, but it didn't fare any better than their father's new farm in Kansas. Charles and Tom gave up their business, their father gave up his farm, and the whole family reunited on another new farm near Burton, Kansas. The Santa Fe Railroad now ran through Burton, and the town was booming. That was where Tom Sr.'s luck finally started to change. was booming. That was where Tom Sr.'s luck finally started to change. He was able to start a successful livery business, and he became a well-regarded businessman. While Tom Sr. pursued a newfound interest in local politics, he asked Charles to manage the livery business. Charles agreed, and once again he convinced his younger brother to join him. Things were finally going well for the family, but Tom Jr. was not happy and it showed. One local man from Burton who knew teenage Tom described him as a sullen-eyed, sour-faced 17-year-old. It wasn't long before Tom's

restless nature had him looking west again, if he could only figure out how to get there. nature had him looking west again, if he could only figure out how to get there. Fate lent Tom a hand when he met a crew of cowboys who had just finished a cattle drive to Dodge City. They offered Tom a job, and he jumped at the opportunity. He quit the livery business, said goodbye to his family once again, and headed for Texas. Tom worked on cattle drives between Texas and Dodge City over the next two years, and those were the peak years of Dodge City between 1877 and 1879. Wyatt Earp and his brothers were there, Bat Masterson and his brothers were there, and Doc Holliday was there. There are no records of any interactions between Tom Horn and the other men in Dodge who later became famous, but they were all there at the same time.

Tom was good with cattle, but the experience as a cowhand was an early signal that he didn't work well with others. He wasn't popular with his fellow cowboys. One old grizzled cowboy was quoted as saying, he was big for his age and figured he was better mentally, physically, and yes, by God, morally, than the rest of us boys. Tom's career as a cowboy was short. Like many men of the era, he was lured west by the promise of riches in the mines of Colorado and then Arizona. And when he made it to Arizona, he would discover his true calling,

as a man with a gun. As a podcast network, our first priority has always been audio and the stories we're able to share with you. But we also sell merch, and organizing that was made both possible and easy with Shopify. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell and grow at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage all the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage.

Whether you're selling scented soap or offering outdoor outfits, Shopify helps you sell everywhere. They have an all-in-one e-commerce platform and in-person POS system, so wherever and whatever you're selling, Shopify's got you covered. With the internet's best converting checkout, 36% better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms, Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers. Shopify has allowed us to share something tangible with the podcast community we've built here, selling our beanies, sweatshirts, and mugs to fans of our shows without taking up too much time from all the other work we do to bring you even more great content.

And it's not just us. Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. Shopify is also the global force behind Allbirds, Rothy's, and Brooklinen, and millions of other entrepreneurs of every size across 175 countries. Thank you. Now, to grow your business, no matter what stage you're in. Shopify.com. Tom heard about Leadville, Colorado, the site of a booming silver operation. He hadn't liked any of his previous jobs, so he decided to try his luck in Leadville. Tom was sure that becoming a silver miner would make him rich, but it didn't. He made it to Leadville and was hired as a mucker in one of the mines, but he quickly grew frustrated and bored

with the work. It was now 1880, he was 20 years old, and he was no better off than when he left home four years earlier. Tom threw down his shovel and pick in defeat, and he was no better off than when he left home four years earlier. Tom threw down his shovel and pick in defeat, but he soon heard of a new silver strike in Arizona. He headed south, just in time to get caught up in the Apache Wars and the Pleasant Valley War. The silver bug bit Tom Horn again after he heard the story of William Munson. Munson was a wagon driver down near the town of Globe, Arizona, and he discovered a massive chunk of quartz that had an incredible amount of silver in it. Munson's chunk, as the rock became known, was worth an estimated $3,500,

close to $100,000 in today's dollars. Tom began the journey to Arizona, but because he was still poor, he needed to stop and find work along the way. Some believe Tom may have worked as a stagecoach driver in New Mexico. If he did, there was the obligatory follow-up rumor that he met Billy the Kid. But it's impossible to know for sure, and Tom loved to tell tall tales about his life, so he may have started the rumor himself. Eventually, Tom made it to Camp Verde, a U.S. cavalry outpost in the Verde Valley in central Arizona. The Camp Verde outpost was built to guard the road between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the Prescott, Arizona mining region. The road also bordered the western edge of Apache country. It was dangerous territory.

The Apache wars were still raging, and both the army and the civilian population were under constant threat of attack. Although many, if not most, of the Apache tribes in the region had reluctantly relocated to reservations, those who refused were prepared to fight to the death to defend their land. The Apache Wars have been called the longest war in American history. The most violent conflicts began in 1849 and lasted into the 20th century, with Apache skirmishes with settlers reported as late as 1906. You can hear the full story of the Apache Wars in Season 9 of this podcast.

The Apache, like nearly all Native American tribes, viewed white settlers and soldiers as invaders and oppressors. The Apaches were masters of the lightning raid. They knew every rock and canyon and cactus between central Arizona and northern Mexico. They burned wagons, cabins, and crops. They stole horses and livestock. They attacked homesteaders, travelers, and cavalry units. And in response, the U.S. government built forts throughout the region and increased the presence of the cavalry. And all of that meant the army needed increased the presence of the cavalry. And all of that meant

the army needed its own army of civilian workers, like packers, herders, teamsters, and blacksmiths to support the troops. It was dangerous work, and oftentimes civilians took up arms and fought side by side with the soldiers. Tom Horn soon became one of the civilian workers who was ready and willing to pick up his rifle and join the fight. After spending a few months working as a mule herder at Camp Verde, Tom, who was likely bored with the work again,

set out for Prescott. Prescott was the capital of Arizona territory at the time, and it was the first destination of the Earp clan when they left Dodge City two years earlier in 1879. Prescott was also the center of mining in the region and home to Whipple Barracks, the largest U.S. Cavalry outpost in the territory. According to one biographer, Tom Horn arrived in Prescott hungry, thirsty, and broke. He used his last two bits to buy a beer in a local saloon, then offered a free lunch. It turned out to be another twist of fate that changed the course of his life.

Tom heard that the commander of the Whipple Barracks was hiring civilians after a rash of Apache attacks. The most recent event was known as the Battle of Sibicu Creek. In August of 1881, the commander of Fort Apache sent troops to the Fort Apache Reservation to arrest a medicine man. As the soldiers transported the medicine man back to the fort, Apache warriors ambushed the soldiers. transported the medicine man back to the fort, Apache warriors ambushed the soldiers. In the fight that followed, eight soldiers died and several were wounded, and the medicine man and some of his followers were killed. In response, the warriors attacked Fort Apache. The two-part battle sparked an uprising as warriors left the reservation and joined renegade groups, the most prominent of which was led by Geronimo. Now, the military needed to quell the rebellion. The commander of the Whipple

barracks needed herders, packers, and teamsters to support the troops as they chased the renegades. Tom Horn, who was now 21 years old, applied for a job, and according to the Quartermaster's report, he was hired as a teamster on September 7, 1881, at a salary of $30 a month. By 1881, most bands and tribes that fall under the name Apache were on two reservations, the Fort Apache Reservation, also known reservations, the Fort Apache Reservation, also known as the White Mountain Apache Reservation, and the San Carlos Reservation. For a quick reference, the legendary Apache leader Geronimo is associated with the San Carlos Reservation. Geronimo and hundreds of warriors were now on the loose, and the army needed to

bring them back to the reservations. During operations in September and October of 1881, Tom met a man named Albert Seiber, a German immigrant and the civilian chief of scouts for the military. Seiber was known as an Indian fighter of some repute. He was also known for his brutality and cruelty in his dealings with the Apache. Cyber apparently arranged for Tom to get a promotion. According to the Whipple Barracks Quartermaster's documents, Tom was promoted from teamster to the more respectable position of packer in December of 1881. A packer was one of the men who was responsible for wrangling the pack mules that carried the supplies for the cavalry. Tom was sent to Fort McDowell and assigned to a packmaster by the name of James R. Cook.

Cook was an Irishman who literally stood out in a crowd. He was six feet eight inches tall, at a time when the average man was 5'8 or 5'9. So, at Fort McDowell, with Long Jim Cook as his boss and Al Cyber as the chief of scouts, Tom probably saw his share of smaller, bloody conflicts. But the biggest clash was called the Battle of Big Dry Wash. A White Mountain Apache warrior named Natty Otish had refused to surrender in a recent battle with the cavalry. His position hadn't changed when troops came to arrest him again. When four local San Carlos policemen went ahead of the troops to encourage Natty Otish to surrender, the warrior said no. He and his supporters killed all four policemen and then fled the reservation. When word of the murders reached the troops,

three additional regiments were called to duty. They were joined by Al Cyber and his scouts and Long Jim Cook's pack train with Packer's second class Tom Horn. On July 17, 1882, troops caught up with Natiotish and his men, in a manner of speaking. The Apaches laid a trap in a narrow gorge. They built fortified rifle pits in the walls of the gorge and waited for the cavalry. The troopers would have to ride single file through the narrow gorge, right below the warriors. But the cavalry commander was no dummy. He sent squads of scouts to explore the area before the soldiers rode into an ambush.

The scouts discovered some of the Apaches, and the battle exploded to life before anyone was ready. The two forces battled each other in a chaotic, often clumsy, back-and-forth engagement for most of the day. It was a rare, sustained fight between Apaches and soldiers that eventually settled into a stalemate. The stalemate only ended when a freak hailstorm rolled in and pelted everyone with freezing rain and ice. That encouraged everyone to go home and live to fight another day. And the Battle of Big Dry Wash was the last major battle between Apaches and soldiers on U.S. soil. Tom Horn later described the battle with enough detail to prove he had been there.

But in his revised recollections, he claimed he was given charge of a hundred White Mountain Apache volunteer soldiers on horseback and led them in hot pursuit of the renegades, which definitely didn't happen. Fighting continued in the Southwest for years to come, but any future large-scale military operations against Apaches would be fought in northern Mexico. In 1886, the U.S. Army sent more than 5,000 soldiers into the region. Under the command of General Nelson Miles, their sole mission was to hunt down Geronimo and convince him to surrender. By September of 1886, Geronimo and his followers were exhausted and outnumbered, and on September 4th, in Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, he finally agreed to surrender. Tom Horn, who was 26 at the time and had been promoted to Chief of Scouts, Al Cyber's old job, was at the historic surrender. But later in life, he tried to claim all the credit.

He claimed he'd convinced Geronimo to surrender, and that it was the warm and respectful relationship of trust he had cultivated with the great Apache chief that made it happen. In Tom's version of events, he was sending messages to General Miles that laid the ground rules for the surrender. Tom said Geronimo would only meet with General Miles if Tom was ground rules for the surrender. Tom said Geronimo would only meet with General Miles if Tom was present and was the interpreter. Even in an age when stretching the truth for the sake of a good story was expected and even encouraged, this was a bit extreme. Tom made lots of claims that glorified his involvement in the Apache Wars. Many, if not most, were either completely false or highly exaggerated. But the story of how he single-handedly organized Geronimo's

surrender tops them all. A few weeks after the surrender, on September 30th, 1886, Tom inexplicably resigned his position as chief of scouts and struck out on his own once again. And this is a bit of a blank spot in Tom Horn's story. It's hard to know what he did after he left the army, but we know he stayed in Arizona. Over the past five years, he'd made friends in the area of Aravaipa Canyon, which is close to the San Carlos Reservation. We do know that he hadn't lost hope that he could get rich through a lucky strike in one of the many mines in the area. Tom partnered with some fellas and invested in a mineral mine located in nearby Deer Creek Mining District. Some who have researched his life

believe Tom also bought a ranch near the western edge of the San Carlos Reservation. At one time, he was alleged to have had 100 head of cattle and 26 horses. That would be a decent operation for a guy who was in his late 20s who didn't come from money. But if Tom found success as a rancher, it didn't last long. The story goes that one night, a band of rustlers stormed his ranch and stole all his cattle and horses. a band of rustlers stormed his ranch and stole all his cattle and horses. With his future as a rancher gone and his interest in the mine floundering, Tom found himself with very few prospects. But then one day, some old friends from back home in Scotland County, Missouri contacted him. They had settled in nearby Pleasant Valley,

and they approached him with a proposition. There was a hell of a feud going on between the Tewksbury family and the Graham family, and both sides were looking for help. Tom's friends believed his experience with the military, scouting, tracking, and killing, prepared him for anything that might be necessary in the conflict that was eventually called the Pleasant Valley War. in the conflict that was eventually called the Pleasant Valley War. We did the story of the Pleasant Valley War in Season 18, so we won't rehash the whole thing here. But the short version is that the Tewksbury's and the Graham's started out as friends, and then greed and betrayals led to a falling out. The falling out escalated into years of bloodshed in central Arizona.

Both families were small-time cattle ranchers, and the Tewksbury's expanded their operation to include sheep herding. The Grahams were the more sinister and shady of the two families, and they allied themselves with a family of outlaws from Texas named Blevins. But neither side was innocent, and neither side had a problem spilling blood. In Tom's autobiography, he claimed he heard about the conflict in April of 1887. He said he was fed up with his mining operation, and he'd heard that rustlers were winning the war in Pleasant Valley. Tom Horn had a deep hatred of cattle rustlers and has generally assumed that he went to work for the Tewksbury's.

While there are lots of questions surrounding Tom Horn's involvement, it's probably safe to say that he fought against the Grahams, who were the most associated with rustling. associated with rustling. Tom claimed he was asked to come to work as a mediator between the warring factions and that he was deputized by a group of three county sheriffs who were embroiled in the feud. He was temporarily deputized by at least one county sheriff and maybe two in order to give him the authority to make arrests as the war went on. But calling him a mediator would have to be put in quotation marks. More than likely, Tom was a hired gun for the Tewksbury side.

His friends from Missouri who told him about the feud were connected to the Tewksburys, and Tom might have worked on some cattle roundups with members of the family. So if he was going to choose a side, it would have been them, which makes it unlikely that he was a neutral party who just wanted to broker peace between the two families. One of the big events of the war was the disappearance of Martin Blevins in July 1887. Martin was the father of the Blevins clan, the family of ne'er-do-wells from Texas who aligned themselves with the Graham family. Martin left the house one morning to track down some missing horses, and no one saw him or heard from him again. An easy conclusion was that Apaches killed him.

But if Tom Horn joined the fray in April and Martin disappeared in July, then it's also easy to speculate that Tom Horne disappeared Martin Blevins. In an interview years later with the Denver Gazette, Tom claimed to have been responsible for a good number of killings in Pleasant Valley. But at the same time, he was quick to say that none of them were crimes. He claimed to have killed only on behalf of men who had hired him. He was just doing his job. In the end, both sides of the feud suffered terribly and basically wiped each other out. And it's impossible to know the exact nature or extent

of Tom Horn's involvement. But given what we know about the things he did later in life, it's not hard to look back at this time period in Arizona and call it the beginning. He became one of the most notorious hired killers in the West, and it probably started right here in central Arizona. According to one of Tom's early biographers, Jay Monahan, Tom may have committed brutal murders against Apaches with encouragement from his mentor, Al Cyber. Tom bragged years later of other atrocities he committed on behalf of soldiers.

But so often, his stories were lies that were designed to impress whoever he was talking to. So the hope is that he was lying for some sort of morbid reason. Whatever the truth was, Tom Horn played a role in the Apache Wars and the Pleasant Valley War in Arizona. His skills, talents, and temperament would soon lead him into two more wars over the next 20 years. In one, he became a hero. In the other, he became one of the most feared men in the West. men in the West. Next time on Legends of the Old West, the story of Tom Horn really kicks into gear. He becomes a range detective and a Pinkerton agent and sets his sights on Wyoming, where the last big range war in the West is brewing. That's next week on Legends of the Old West. And members of our Black Barrel Plus program don't have to wait week to week.

They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships begin at just $5 per month. This series was researched and written by Michael Byrne. Original music by Rob Valliere. Copy editing by me, Chris Wimmer, and I'm your host and producer. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening. Check out our website, blackbarrelmedia.com, for more details.

And join us on social media. We're at Old West Podcast on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada Si vous faites vos achats tout en travaillant, en mangeant ou même en écoutant ce balado, alors vous connaissez et aimez l'excitation du magasinage. Mais avez-vous ce frisson d'obtenir le meilleur deal? Les membres de Rakuten, eux, oui. Ils magasinent les marques qu'ils aiment et font d'importantes économies, en plus des remises en argent. Et vous pouvez aussi commencer à gagner des remises en argent dans vos magasins préférés, comme Old Navy, Best Buy et Expedia, et même cumuler les ventes et les remises en argent. Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada Rechargez l'application gratuite Rakuten et ne manquez jamais un bon deal. Ou allez sur rakuten.ca pour en avoir plus pour votre argent. C'est R-A-K-U-T-E-N.