Lessons I have learned during more than a quarter century of “Ask the Marshall.”

• How did Arizona finally rid itself of the outlaw Ike Clanton?
  Dr. Ricas
  Scottsdale, AZ
  In 1887, Ike and Fin Clanton, a couple of cow thieves who survived the Cochise County War, moved their operations to the Springville area. Soon, they and their friends were accused of terrorizing local citizens, cattle rustling, train robbery and holding up the Apache County treasurer.
  In April 1887, the Apache County Stock Association convened in St. Johns and hired a Pinkerton detective to keep on the gang. Sheriff Commodore Perry Owens also dispatched Apache County deputies Albert Miller and Rawhide Jake Brighton to go after the Clantons. Brighton, along with being constable at Springerville, was a range detective enforcing the law with a mail-order detective’s badge.
  On May 31, the lawmen stopped to rest at the ranch of James “Peg Leg” Wilson on Eagle Creek. They spent the night there, and the next morning, while they were having breakfast, Ike Clanton rode in. Brighton recognized him and went to the door. Ike wheeled his horse around and bolted toward a thick stand of trees nearby. At the same time, he jerked his Winchester from its scabbard and threw it across his left arm. Brighton fired, hitting Ike under his left arm, the bullet passing through his body and exiting on the right side. Brighton jacked another cartridge into his rifle and fired again, hitting the cantle of Ike’s saddle, grazing his leg. He fell from the saddle and was dead by the time the officers reached him.
  Afterward, Wilson rode to the nearby Double Circle Ranch where he found four of Ike’s friends, who returned with him to identify the body. Ike’s body was wrapped in a piece of canvas and buried somewhere at the Wilson ranch.

• I’ve been reading a lot about the Apache Scouts of late and I’d appreciate your thoughts as to their importance to history.
  Rusty Thorne
  San Diego, CA
  One of the smartest strategic moves by the frontier army during the Indian Wars was to enlist Natives as scouts. The Army successfully enlisted Apaches to locate and hunt down other Apaches who refused to live on the reservations. On the campaigns, they were led by men like Lts. Britton Davis and Charles Gatewood and Captain Emmett Crawford. Officers from General George Crook to Captain John Bourke gave glowing accounts of the bravery and persistence of the scouts, saying they were invaluable on the trail. Bourke wrote: “It grew increasingly apparent that the success of the troops depended on the scouts. Without the scouts the troops couldn’t find the enemy; with the scouts they rarely missed. It was as simple as that.” He added, “The longer we knew the scouts, the better we liked them.”

• Just wondering how the pay for law enforcement officials (sheriffs, marshals, constables, deputies) was determined in the Old West? And about how much they got paid.
  Jeff Mock
  Sandy, UT
  It wasn’t that much. Virgil Earp was hired as Tombstone town marshal in 1881 at $150 a month. One of his deputies earned $15 to $25 a week. U.S. marshals only made about $200 per year. But the salary was supplemented by collection of taxes, serving court processes (warrants, subpoenas, etc.), and an added amount per arrest. Lawmen also collected reward money for wanted people. That could amount to several hundred dollars per arrest. As a result, officers of the law often went outside their jurisdictions for significant periods of time to track down miscreants. They also had expense accounts—which they frequently padded as a way of getting extra money.

• In Western novels and movies, it seems that every time outlaws commit a crime in town, a posse is raised in order to chase after them. How often was a posse actually used in the real West?
  Andy Barrett
  Peoria, AZ
  In some of the most notorious towns such as Bodie, California, where robbery was frequent, there might be a voluntary posse on call. In other places and situations, a posse would be raised after a robbery or when a citizen was shot. The size of the group varied, based on the size of the town and the number of available men. There usually was a daily nominal fee paid to the possemen. For some, going after outlaws was an adventure. Some posses stayed on the trail for hundreds of miles and weeks on end. Others made a cursory search that ended hours or a few days before they returned to town.