After John Slaughter became sheriff of Cochise County in 1887 he issued a warning to the rustler gangs, “get out or get shot.”
Most took his advice and left the country. In running outlaws to the ground he frequently acted as judge, jury and executioner. The law-abiding citizens were glad the undesirables were gone and wouldn’t return.
Not even Pancho Villa was willing to tangle with the man he called, “the wicked little gringo.”
His last battle occurred at age eighty-one when he and his wife, held off several bandits who were out to rob the ranch.
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Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian and the Wild West History Association’s vice president. His latest book is 2018’s Arizona Oddities: A Land of Anomalies and Tamales. Send your question, with your city/state of residence, to marshall.trimble@scottsdalecc.edu or Ask the Marshall, P.O. Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327.