The First in Phoenix

Henry Garfias was the first marshal of Phoenix, and the highest elected Mexican-American official in the region. He earned the job during a stint as county deputy sheriff.

In 1881, at the age of 30, Garfias managed to track down the so-called “Ghost Bandit,”
who’d held up three stages and gotten away with an estimated $68,000. Garfias staked
out the Agua Fria crossing and saw Gillett town blacksmith Henry Seymour approach
with a rifle. Seymour fit the description of the robber, so Garfias arrested him. Seymour
went to prison. And Garfias became Phoenix marshal.

Mark Boardman is the features editor at True West and editor of The Tombstone Epitaph.