Tom Harper was a good friend of Curly Bill Brocius during Tombstone’s heyday. He also bit the dust before his Cowboy associates.
In September 1880, Harper offered to collect a debt owed to John Talliday. But when he got the cash, Harper spent it on himself. Talliday became angry, demanded the money, and an upset Harper shot and killed him in the Huachuca Mountains.
Harper was convicted in the

True West May/June 2025
In This Issue:
Features
- Historic Hotels of the American West
- A Journey Through Wyoming’s Outlaw History
- A Journey Through Washington’s Wild Frontier
- Blazing The Oregon Trail
- Journey Through Time
- Did Brigham Young Order a Massacre?
- Mountain Meadows Scapegoat John D. Lee VS. A Firing Squad
- Mormons in the Movies
- An Indigenous Consultant Ensures Accuracy
- The Battle Axe And A Raw Deal
- Showdown: Bridger VS. Brigham
- The Mountain Man and the Mormon Moses
- The Ghosts of Mountain Meadows
- The War Before the War
- Mountain Meadows