Shootout at the Middleton Ranch

Mart “Old Man” Blevins and his family arrived in the Pleasant Valley area from Texas around 1886. He and his sons, John, Charlie, Hamp and Sam Houston quickly hooked up with members of the Graham faction and a few Hash Knife cowboys who were supplementing their income by pilfering livestock from their employer, the Aztec Land and Cattle Company. Another of Mart's boys, Andy Blevins, using the alias Andy Cooper, had already gained a reputation as a desperado in Texas and like many outlaws