Your History is Safe With Us – The Pleasant Valley War

www.GlobeMiamiTimes.com YOUR HISTORY IS SAFE WITH US

By Tom Foster Last month, as the 133rd anniversary The Pleasant Valley War first, but the men in the cabin opened up on the riders from a point of cover against men of the Pleasant Valley War approached, 40 yards to point blank range, with no cover. I decided to travel out to the place where Winchester rifles began to speak from the it happened and commemorate the cabin, possibly an 1886 Winchester in 45/70 anniversary with an on-site visit. or 45/90.

You may have heard stories of the Hampton Blevins fell first, shot through Pleasant Valley War and how two families, the head. His horse fell with him. Second, once friends, engaged in the bloodiest feud John Payne’s horse was shot. It fell with the ever to find its way into Arizona. It’s one of rider, who was killed shortly after Hamp. the darkest stories from the history of the Two other men, badly wounded, would Southwest. That history spans vast amounts escape and survive. of time, from the earliest inhabitants, to A minute later, as the smoke cleared, the the Spanish incursions into Mexico and carnage became evident in the extreme. An north in search of the Cities of Gold, and Apache war party come on the scene at that to more recent history. Some of its stories point. After a narrow escape from further are pictures painted in words between violence, the men in the cabin rode off. the covers of a book; others are painted The next day, the cabin was burned, and in blood and surrounded in mystery. The the two dead were buried in shallow graves. Pleasant Valley War is one of those: a tale of Sitting on top of the plaque memorializing the death of Hampton Blevins and John The war lasted from about 1884 through violence and tragedy that has echoed down Payne is an 1886 Winchester rifle in 45/70 caliber and .45 caliber Colt single 1887, and hostilities continued into 1892. the years. action in a holster and belt. Both models represent firearms used on Aug. 9, 1887. The war remained a significant blemish

The Graham Tewksbury Feud took on Arizona and slowed our prospects of in many square miles in the far northern statehood for nearly two decades. stretches of Gila County – from Globe As a catalyst, add a bad group of Texas were no more Grahams to carry on the fight. In 1921, Arizona author Zane Grey to Young, and on to Holbrook, Payson, cowboys into the mix. When they arrived, It is said that Col. Jesse Ellison cleaned up wrote the story “To the Last Man” based Prescott, and all the area in between. The all hell broke loose. Countless men died, on any further violence … and it was quiet on the feud. There were also two movies beginnings of the feud were found in or simply disappeared, never to be seen once again in Pleasant Valley. made, which incorporated elements of the the elements of sheep, cattle, betrayal of again. The estimated numbers vary from The opening shots of this war came on story into celluloid for the silver screen: a friendships, power, control, and land. All 20 to 50 lost, shot, or lynched. In the end, August 9, 1887. These gunshots, and the 1923 silent Western, and in 1933, a version these elements mixed with day-to-day life Edwin Tewksbury took the fight all the way smoke and death they brought, would echo with Randolph Scott. The latter version is in the harsh environment of the Arizona to Tempe and pulled the trigger on the through the valley for decades. The incident available for purchase on Amazon. Territory. Murder and death finally brought last Graham in Arizona. When the smoke took place at the Middleton cabin (then The remnants of the Middleton cabin, things to an end. cleared, Tom Graham was dead, and there owned by George Newton), located about and the memorial to the Pleasant Valley three miles south of the Q Ranch (home War, are located on private property in a of Arizona’s first First Lady, Duette Ellison very remote area, and not easily found. Hunt). As the story goes, one hot summer Not much remains except a stone fireplace, day, before the afternoon rains, six or seven some foundation stones, and bits and riders approached the cabin. These men pieces of fence. A plaque has been placed were Hashknife cowboys headed up by near the cabin commemorating the deaths Hampton Blevins and John Payne, down of Blevins and Payne: “Killed by Gunshot.” from Holbrook. It’s a quiet place now … just the wind, THE LEADER IN ORTHODONTIC EXCELLENCE They were on a rescue mission for their some cows, a few birds, and rattlesnakes.

Providing braces for children, teenagers Actual patient father, but also in search of “a little war of their own.” They found their war at the cabin that day, and more. It was about 11:00 a.m. when they rode up to the cabin, which It’s hard to believe such a violent event took place here 133 years ago. Take a look at the Bullion Plaza Cultural Center & Museum Facebook post for further and adults. should have been deserted. The mounted history, filmed on location on the 9th of group was aligned with the Grahams, and August, 2020. There are many books written the heavily armed group holed up in the on this feud, and if you like the history that cabin were Tewksbury men. made Gila County, you may want to read a

FREE CONSULTATION Words were exchanged, and as the cowboys turned to ride away, a shot was fired. No one knows who pulled the trigger couple of them. Some of these are on sale at the Gila County Museum in Globe and Bullion Plaza Museum in Miami. u AND

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*Not to be combined with any other discount or oer. This is an exhibit in progress in the Ranch Room at Bullion Plaza museum, portraying photographs from the Middleton cabin. The top middle photograph is courtesy Kathy Gines Hunt of Young, Ariz. (author of a new book, “Photographs of the Jesse Washington Ellison Family”).

Due to COVID-19, the Museum is closed until further notice.

Please look forward to our re-opening! Slavic History Exhibit • Mexican Heritage Room Rose Mofford Room • Mining & Mineral Display • Military Exhibit Ranching History • The McKusick Tile Exhibit Native American Heritage Exhibit