It is notable that few were the Mormons who have met untimely death by
violence in the Southwest. It is believed that the following brief record
is, very nearly, complete:
George A. Smith, Jr.--Nov. 2, 1860. Killed by Navajos near Tuba City.
Dr. J.M. Whitmore and Robert McIntire--Jan. 8, 1866. Killed by Navajos
near Pipe Springs.
Elijah Averett--Jan. 1866. Killed by Navajos near Paria Creek.
Averett had been with the Capt. James Andrus expedition after the
Whitmore-McIntire murderers and had been sent back, with a companion,
with dispatches from about the Crossing of the Fathers. He was killed on
this return journey and his companion wounded.
Joseph Berry, Robert Berry and the latter's wife, Isabella--April 2,
1866. Killed by Paiutes at Cedar Knoll near Short Creek, west of
Pipe Springs. The three were in a wagon and had attempted to escape
by running their horses across country, but the Indians cut them off.
They fought for their lives and one dead Indian was found near their
bodies. In the woman's body was a circle of arrows.
Joseph Davidson, wife and son--June 12, 1869. Perished of thirst on
Southern Nevada desert, in Muddy Valley section.
Lorenzo W. Roundy--May 24, 1876. Drowned in Colorado River.
Nathan B. Robinson--June 1, 1882. Killed by Apaches near Reidhead.
Nathan C. Tenney--June 24, 1882. Unintentionally shot by Mexicans in
course of riot at St. Johns.
Jacob S. Ferrin--July 19, 1882. Killed by Apaches 12 miles east of San
Carlos.
Mrs. W.N. Fife--Sept. 11, 1884. Murdered at her home in the Sulphur
Springs Valley. She had given a Mexican dinner and was rewarded by a shot
in the back. A 13-year-old daughter was saved by the timely arrival of a
Mexican employee. The murderer, only known as Jesus, was captured the
following day by a posse of settlers and, after full determination of
guilt, was hanged to a tree. The murderer's skull now is in possession of
Dr. Ezra Rich of Ogden, Utah.
Lorenzo and Seth Wright--Dec. 1, 1885. Ambushed by Apaches in Gila
Valley.
Frank Thurston--May 23, 1886. Killed by Apaches six miles west of Pima.
Lot Smith--June 20, 1892. Killed by Navajos near Tuba.
Chas. L. Flake--Dec. 8, 1892. Killed by fugitive criminal at Snowflake.
Horatio Merrill and 14-year-old daughter, Eliza--Dec. 3, 1895. Killed by
Apaches at Ash Springs, 30 miles east of Pima. This crime has been
charged to the infamous Apache Kid.
Isaac Benj. Jones--May 12, 1897. Killed at El Dorado Canyon, near the
Colorado River. While freighting ore to a mill, he was ambushed and shot
from his wagon by a Paiute, Avote, who murdered several other whites
before being run down and killed by Indians on Cottonwood Island, where
he had taken refuge.
John Bleak--Jan. 26, 1899. Killed by Mexicans, near Hackberry, Mohave
County. The body was found with many knife thrusts, with indications of a
desperate resistance of two assailants.
Frank Lesueur and Augustus Andrew Gibbons--Mar. 27, 1900. Killed by
outlaws near Navajo, eastern Apache County. They had been deserted by six
Mexican members of a posse trailing American cattle thieves, who were
fleeing northward from near St. Johns, and were ambushed in a mountain
canyon. Lesueur was killed instantly by a shot in the forehead and
Gibbons, already shot through the body, was killed by a shot in the head
at very short range. The murderers were not apprehended.
Wm. T. Maxwell--1901. Killed by outlaws near Nutrioso. He was the son of
a Mormon Battalion member.
Wm. W. Berry--Dec. 22, 1903. Murdered in Tonto Basin. John and Zach
Booth, goat owners, were arrested for the crime. The latter was hanged
and the former released after disagreement of the jury. The crime also
embraced the murder of a 16-year-old boy, Juan Vigil, son of a herder.
Berry at the time was in charge of a band of sheep.
Hyrum Smith Peterson--Nov. 12, 1913. Killed near Mesa. Peterson, city
marshal, was shot down by thieves whom he was trying to arrest.
Frank McBride and Martin Kempton--Feb. 10, 1918. Killed 60 miles west of
Pima. McBride was sheriff of Graham County and Kempton was deputy. The
two sought arrest of the Powers brothers and Sisson, draft evaders, who
were in a cabin in the Galiuro Mountains. With them was killed another
deputy, Kane Wootan. In a following special session of the Legislature,
the families of the three were given $17,500, to be invested for their
benefit.
[Illustration: KILLED BY INDIANS
1--Geo. A. Smith, Jr. 2--Dr. Jas. M. Whitmore
3--Seth Wright 4--Jacob Ferrin 5--Eliza Merrill
6--Diana Davis Fife 7--Lorenzo Wright]
[Illustration: KILLED BY OUTLAWS
1--Nathan C. Tenney 2--Chas. L. Flake 3--Frank Lesueur
4--Augustus Andrew Gibbons 5--Wm. Wiley Berry
6--Hyrum S. Peterson 7--R. Franklin McBride 8--Martin Kempton]