Tragedy on the Butterfield Line

On September 8th, 1858, during construction of the Butterfield Stage Station at Dragoon Springs in Cochise County, Butterfield employees Silas St. John, Jim Laing, Bill Cunningham and Jim Hughes were attacked with axes and a sledge hammer by three Mexican laborers. Although badly wounded St. John drove them off with his pistol. His left arm was nearly severed and he suffered a gaping axe wound in his hip. He managed to stop the bleeding in his arm by making a tourniquet with a handkerchief and