Tales from the Morgue

1921: Neil Shearman gives self up

March 23, 1921

Father admits shooting; Claims self-defense in killing of dry officers

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Five men are held for deaths of Beckett and Wood in midnight liquor raid; Will be arraigned tomorrow.

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Following the killing of S.E. Beckett, chief prohibition agent in charge of the El Paso office in the absence of Director James Shevlin, and C. Arch Wood, chief of the field forces of the border district, which occurred about midnight Monday at the Shearman hog ranch five miles east of the city, deputy sheriffs and federal officers yesterday afternoon arrested C.P. Shearman and his two sons, Allen and John, and Tomas Mendoza, a Mexican ranch hand, employed by the Shearmans.

Neil Shearman, the fifth member of the party charged with the murder of the two officers, shortly before 11 o’clock last night, telephoned to the office of the sheriff and informed Deputy Sheriff J.C. Stansel that he was at his home and requested the sheriff to come out and get him.

Deputy Sheriff Stansel went to the home at 2016 Federal street, where he found Shearman in company with his attorney, John Dyer, and they went to the county jail, where Neil Shearman was booked on a murder charge with his father, two brothers and the ranch hand. They will be given a hearing before Justice Rawlins Thursday.

Shearman stated that he had been at his home all day with the exception of a time in the afternoon when he came downtown. He could not say whether or not he was at the ranch the night of the shooting and declined to talk regarding the affair.

Following his arrest C.P. Shearman accompanied deputy sheriffs to his son’s home expecting to find him and urge him to surrender. Not finding him there the father expressed the belief that he would shortly return.

C.P. Shearman talked freely of the shooting to Deputy Sheriff J.C Stansel who headed the posse that made the arrest. He made no denial of participation in it and stated that the killing was in self-defense and that the officers opened fire.

In contradiction of Shearman’s version of the shooting the federal officers tell a story of treachery, ambuscade and massacre, in which the two officers were killed and W.C. Guinn and J.S. Parker, prohibition agents, who had accompanied Beckett and Wood, narrowly escaped with their lives. To substantiate their story agents say the pistols of their dead comrades are not powder fouled indicating they had not been discharged.

The story of the federal officers is one of men shot down without warning by those to whom they had just conversed with pleasantly and who had ensured the officer of no opposition to their prosecution of the search for which they had warrants.

The officers had been told, they claim, of a sick youth in the house and the desire of the father to avoid excitement on his account. They had permitted the father to go into the house and had given him time to give assurances to the sick boy. At his request they had permitted him to return to his automobile and take into the house the repeating shotgun, which, it is alleged, was afterward turned upon the officers and did deadly execution.

First Volley “Gets” Them

Relying upon his peaceable protestation officers Beckett and Wood had started from the front of the house to the garage at one side of the rear. They had hardly cleared the front of the house when several shots were fired from the rear and both men fell at the first shots.

But neither was fatally wounded, as the ground evidence shows. Both made efforts to crawl out of range and each received additional wounds in doing so. There are indications that each was shot at close range after death had ensued.

Officer Guinn took refuge in a chicken house on the opposite side of the ranch house, while office Parker left the scene to telephone to the city for reinforcements.

Searching for the missing officers whom he knew to have been on the place, it is alleged that C.P. Shearman started for the chicken house where Officer Guinn was concealed. As Shearman started to enter, Guinn fired and several buckshot passed through the rim and crown of the sombrero which Shearman as wearing. Shearman had on the hat showing the holes, when he was taken in custody yesterday afternoon.

This is said to have been the only shot fired by the prohibition officers on the ranch.

Capture Is Dramatic

The arrest of C.P. Shearman and his son, John, were made at 2130 Lebanon street yesterday afternoon, shortly after 2 o’clock and that of Allan Shearman was made on the effect in front of the house. He being alone but for the crowd of spectators that had been attracted to the scene.

Led by Deputy Sheriff J.C. Stansel, a posse consisting of deputy sheriffs Kilpatrick, Boone and Perkins. Tom White and John Wrenn of the department of justice force, and four prohibition officers, went to the house in Lebanon street in search of the Shearmans. The house is occupied by Ben McCreary. It is stated by the officers that Mrs. McCreary is the sister of the wife of Neill Shearman.

The house was found o be closed. Repeated calls failed to bring any response. The officers finally located McCreary and he told them the Shearman had come to his house at 1:20 o’clock in the morning, told him there had been trouble at the ranch, but did not state what, and had remained all night.

He said they were at the house when he left early in the morning to go to work, but that they might have left since then. He applied his key to the door, but the door was found to be bolted from the inside.

Securing a pick, Deputy Sheriff Stansel broke open the door. The house was hurriedly searched by the officers but the Shearmans were not found. An opening in a ceiling of a closet gave access to a false garret, which was peered into by some of the officers but nothing was seen.

When the officers had about concluded that the men had left, Deputy Stansel decided to have a look at the garret. Using the shelves as foot and hand holds he climbed up and poked his head through the opening in the ceiling

Shearman Covers Stansel

He looked into a 45 six-shooter in the hands of C.P. Shearman. Standing nearby was John Shearman, but unarmed.

“Come on down here and give yourself up,” Stansel said to Shearman.

“Have you got enough men to protect us, Stansel?” asked Shearman, “We are not coming down just to be killed.”

“I’ve got plenty of men and you will not be hurt,” Stansel replied, and in a few minutes they were all in the living room.

In the meantime a large crowd had gathered from the neighborhood. Passerbys were attracted by bolts from the inside, an officer went to a telephone and called up the sheriff’s office. Deputy Sheriff Bryan answered and the officer asked that the fumigating outfit of the health department be sent out.

“What do you want with that? Asked Bryan.

“Yes,” came the reply.

“Then you don’t need any gas plant; he knows how to make them come out.” Remarked the deputy sheriff and hung up the phone.

Police officers Scherer and Holsiman last night claimed credit for having discovered the presence of C.P. Shearman and his son, John, in the attic. According to Scherer’s story, he first investigated the attic and failed to see the men. He went outside the house, took an observation of the chimney, he says, and came to the conclusion that they could be hiding behind it.

Upon re-entering the house, he says, he and Officer Holsiman discovered Shearman’s hat with the bullet holes in it and six-shooter which convinced him they were there. He says he then took another observation of the attic and discovered the men.

Admits Shooting

The trip to the sheriff‘s office, where the men were booked, was uneventful. Except for the conversation the eldest Shearman had with the deputy sheriff. The deputy sheriff has not given out that conversation in detail as it will probably be used as evidence, but it is known that Shearman admitted the shooting and alleged that it was done in self-defense.

Shearman and his son John were in excellent spirits when they arrived at the county court house and laughed and chatted with friends, whom they recognized in the crowd that had been attracted by the arrest. Allan Shearman had been represented to the officers as being ill in the ranch house, which caused the delay in the search and gave time for the ambuscade, according to the officers.

In contradiction to his father and brother John, who are physical giants, Allan is an invalid. His face and frame show the ravages of disease and it is said he has recently undergone an operation. He was not in the house at the time of the arrest, but was pointed out to the officers by his father when they came out. He was standing across the street in the crowd being kept back by the police officers.

Young Shearman Defiant

When deputy Sheriff Kilpatrick came over and told him to come the sick youth drew back and retorted: “You can’t arrest me without a warrant.”

The deputy told him that he had a warrant for him and the boy demanded that he be shown it. When shown the document, he accompanied the officer across the street and joined the party entering automobiles for the trip to the county jail.

But he had little to say. When being booked before being locked up he answered questions as briefly and as snappily as he could.

After the men were booked at the jail, Deputy Stangel questioned C.P. Shearman regarding the whereabouts of this son Neil. The father stated his belief that Neil would be found at home and offered to accompany the officers there and induce him to surrender.

They went to the residence, but found there only Mrs. Neil Shearman. She stated that her husband had been there throughout most of the day, but that he had left the house shortly before and she did not know where he had gone.

Mrs. Shearman Drives Up

Shortly after the house in Lebanon street had been surrounded by deputy sheriffs and federal officers yesterday afternoon. Mrs. Neil Shearman drove up in an automobile and stopped in the front of the residence. The engine to the car was kept running and she sounded the horn several short, sharp blasts and then gave a long one.

With her hand still on the button, she looked around and saw a man with a repeating rifle nearby. A few feet further was another with a reapeting shotgun. Others with rifles and six shooters began to appear from around the house, attracted by the automobile signal.

The long blast died out as the clutch was let in and the sudden speed with which the car darted off and shot around a corner showed that the accelerator was being held down to the limit.

While the Shearmans and Tomas Mendoza, the Mexican ranch hand, who were arrested early yesterday morning at the ranch, are held under state warrants issued by Justice Rawlins following his investigation into the deaths of the two federal officers, it is stated that the case can be brought within federal jurisdiction. Last night it was said the prisoners would be arraigned Thursday before Justice Rawlins.

Whether any such effort will be made will be determined today after the arrival of E.R. Elfers, assistant United States district attorney. Attorney Elfers was leaving for El Paso and is expected to arrive here this morning.

In the absence of the district attorney United States Commissioner A.J. W. Schmid yesterday went in an advisory capacity to the federal officers. He visited the scene of the killing in company with the officers and advised as to the investigation.

Attorneys Confer

Later a conference was held between Commissioner Schmid, Justice Rawlins, District Attorney Clark and County Attorney Pelphrey. It is expected that other conference in which District Attorney Elfers will participate, will be held today.

The course to be pursued by federal officers, it is expected, will be decided after Attorney Elfers has made his investigation.

It is claimed that Officer Beckett and Wood were engaged actively on federal business, armed with a federal warrant, and that they were proceeding to carry out the instructions of the warrant when they were killed in the performance of that duty.

This, it was claimed by federal officers yesterday, may be set up to bring the case under federal jurisdiction.

Others maintained that this killing not having taken place on the federal reservation come within the state jurisdiction and that state officers are not likely to waive jurisdiction and relinquish any right of the state.

Story of Killing

Officers Beckett and Wood were killed Monday shortly before midnight at the Shearman hog ranch, about five miles east of El Paso, where they had gone in company with Prohibition Agents, Parker and Guinn to make a search for controlled liquor. Before going Officer Beckett secured search warrants from United Sates Commissioner Schmid.

Neil Shearman at the time was out on $5,000 bond on a charge of violating the prohibition law and was to have been given a trial in United States district court at the April term. The officers had information that a large consignment of liquor was to be landed at the hog ranch Monday night and went prepared to intercept it.

Shortly after their arrival at the ranch and before they had made their presence known, C. P. Shearman drove up in his automobile. He was halted and shown the warrants of authority to make the search.

It is claimed by the officers that Shearman laughed and that they were mistaken. He said they had nothing to conceal and the officer so would be welcome to search.

He told them they say, that he had a sick boy in the house who was probably asleep, and asked that the be permitted to go inside and give the boy warning so that he would not be excited and disturbed when the officers came in. The officers agreed to this they say, and Shearman started in, apparently in a pleasant frame of mind.

When he had gone a few steps he turned around and returned to his car where the officers were still standing.

Returns for Gun

“My shotgun is in the car and I might as well take it in now,” Shearman is reported to have said and the officers permitted him to take the automatic gun along with him into the house.

A few minutes afterward Beckett and Wood started to go around the house in the direction of the garage to the rear. As they came around the corner of the house and stared toward the garage, where they expected to find some contraband, a volley of shots was fired and both men fell.

Condition of the ground shows that both men attempted to crawl away and wounds on their bodies show that they were shot while in the crawling position. The first shot to strike Officer Wood, it is thought, struck him in the right leg about four inches above the ankle. This was apparently a dum-dum bullet, as it spread and almost tore the foot from the leg. He received two wounds in the neck, one of which also was apparently from a dum-dum, two buckshot wounds in the front of the body, buckshot wounds in the leg and a wound in the left side two and one half inches long, apparently from a dum-dum.

Officer Beckett did not receive so many wounds. He had a wound in the right side, just above the hip, thought to have been the first received, and another wound from a dum-dum entering the right check and coming out of the neck. A pistol wound in the center of the forehead, just below the hair is thought to have been administered after he was dead.

Following the shooting four men are said to have been seen by prohibition officers to enter an automobile and drive away from the ranch.

Slain Men Had Families

Funeral arrangements for S.J. Beckett had not been made last night, pending the arrival of hi father and other members of the family. He was 31 years old and leaves a wife and two small children, Robert, aged 8 and Dorothy, aged 6. He was married 10 years ago to Miss Rose Arfaten in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Mr. Beckett was a native of Nebraska and came to Texas shortly after his marriage. For a time he was a member of the rangers and later entered the immigration service. When the prohibition force was organized under the Volstead act, he transferred to that service and was made chief prohibition agent by Director James Shelvin. He was regarded as one of the best officers on the border.

Besides his wife and two children, he leaves a father and mother and three sisters; Mrs. J. Green of Hollywood, Cal., Mrs. L.H. Knetle of Omaha, Neb. And Mrs. H.E. Isard of Omaha.

The body of C. Arch Wood will be taken today to Abilene, his childhood home, for burial. Funeral services will be held there on Thursday. He leaves a wife and daughter, Elizabeth, 14 years of age. They have continued to reside in San Antonio since Mr. Wood had been station in El Paso.

Mr. Wood was formerly a member of the narcotic force in San Antonio. He was transferred to El Paso when the border prohibition district was created last October and was made chief of the filed force for the district.

1970: Praise Youth In Capture Of Armed Robbery Suspect

November 24, 1970

By Bruce Bissonete
El Paso Times

Police had high praise for two youths Monday who displayed their eagerness to “get involved” by capturing a gunman moments after he held up a Northeast El Paso menswear store. With the arrest of the robbery suspect, a Ft. Bliss soldier, police hoped they had cleared four other recent robberies including one that occurred earlier Monday morning.

Charged with robbery in a warrant issued by Justice of the Peace Ben Mejia was Cleo K. Pierce, 35. Pierce said he was a staff sergeant stationed at Ft. Bliss.

But police and Norman Goldberg, manager of Rayburn’s Men’s Wear, 8534 Dyer, had the highest praise for two young men who unhesitatingly chased the suspect across the Sunrise Shopping Center parking lot, nabbing their quarry with a flying tackle despite the fact the man was armed and made an attempt to fire the weapon.

The youths, Ernie Mijares, 19, and Rudy Martinez, 18,  were shopping in the store when they heard Goldberg shout that he had been robbed. Goldberg said young Mijares sprinted to the front of the store and ran outside in pursuit of the gunman who was already well on his way to freedom.

“I didn’t even know what he looked like,” said Mijares, “but I saw this man running across the lot and he kept looking back over his shoulder toward me.” The youth, followed closely by his companion, chased the suspect diagonally across the lot finally bring him down with a football style flying tackle.

The two struggled on the pavement with the suspect severely biting young Mijares on his left arm in his attempt to get away. “He had the gun in his hand and was on top of me,” said Mijares, “when Rudy jumped on top of the man. The gun clicked as we fought and then a man ran up and put his foot on the hand that was holding the gun.”

Martinez disarmed the man just as motorcycle patrolman Clyde Clark rode into the parking lot in response to a call that a man with a gun was being held. Martinez was handicapped in the fracas. His left arm was in a cast, the result of a mishap a few weeks ago.

Pierce was taken to Police Headquarters where he was identified in a police lineup in connection with the Rayburn robbery and the holdup of the Handy Dandy Drive-In Grocery, 4100 Dyer, at 2:45 p.m. Monday. Police said two other robberies were cleared with the arrest and that a fifth would likely be cleared Tuesday.

The robberies cleared, police said, in addition to those of Monday, included Given’s Shoe Box, in Sunrise-Center, on Nov. 19, and the Hilltop Barber Shop, in the 2400 block of N. Piedras, on Nov. 17.

1962: Eastwood High Builds Traditions Through Adopted 1880 Heritage

11/14/1962

By Kathie Nordell

“Eastwood, queen of high schools,

Home of the Troopers bold …”

So begins the alma mater of Eastwood High School, and well these words portray the pride that each student has for the school.

Eastwood, celebrating its first birthday last Sept. 4, bears the colors of blue and gold and the mascot Troopers. The high school with grades seven through 10, is located on McRae Boulevard and is part of the Ysleta Independent School District.

People often wonder just how a school chooses its name, colors and mascot. “Eastwood” was chosen by vote of the parents of the Scotsdale area. “Cavalry,” “Rebels,” “Plainsmen” and “Matadors” were some of the names for mascots presented to Superintendent J.M. Hanks, and Principal Russell Paul Mack, and Frank Goss, area representative of Star engraving, Ostwald Band Uniforms and Henington Publishing Co.

The three men, after carefully studying pictures of uniforms and discussing the name, decided on “Cavalry.” However, after trying “Cavalry” in yells, they found it hard to pronounce and rather lifeless.

They then decided on “Troopers” because it was a nickname for “Cavalry” that is easy to yell and quite flashy. Later in the year, Eastwood’s student body voted unanimously for this mascot.

Blue and gold were chosen as the school colors because of authenticity in connection with troopers.

Few traditions have been established at Eastwood as yet but a reputation of excellent sportsmanship has been established by the student body which nearly exceeds 1,000 pupils.

Many school clubs are adapting the name “Troopers.” Some of these organizations are “Trooperettes,” girls marching corps; “Trooper Brigade,” the booster club, and “Troopers’ Alliance,” the foreign language club. The yearbook, “Salute,” and the newspaper, “Sabre,” were also named to go with the theme.

Two customs now in practice will very likely become the first traditions established at Eastwood. The first is a bugle call played by the entire cornet section of the varsity band at each kick-off. At the conclusion of the bugle call, everyone from Eastwood yells ‘Charge!”

Secondly, at each game played on Eastwood’s field, the halftime show will begin with a band member riding a galloping horse across the field as again the cornet section plays a bugle call.

When one sees the band marching at football games and in parades, he will notice uniforms patterned after those of Troopers in the late 1880’s. This date was chosen because it was in these years that the U.S. Cavalry, colorfully uniformed, won the West and made it a fit place for man to live. Eastwood’s band uniforms are the authentic pattern and cut of the Cavalry’s dress uniforms except that they have not tails.

Navy blue coats and light blue trousers with a gold stripe down each outside seam make up the main part of the uniform. Accessories are navy blue forage caps bearing a crossed sabre insignia, a gold scarf worn only during marching season, a gold patch like that of the 1st Cavalry as drawn by Wiley Heath, a black belt having a large golf buckle bearing a large black ‘E’ and black shoes.

To distinguish him from the rest of the band, drum major Mike Wiseman wears a black Stetson, white leather gloves and a silver sabre which he uses instead of a baton.

The Trooperettes, girls’ marching corps, wear a different version of the Cavalry’s tunic, navy blue jacket with reversible light and navy blue front. Also, the girls wear light blue skirts with gold kick pleats, black riding boots like those of the Cavalry, forage caps and First Cavalry patches like those of the band, and tan kid gloves.

Deviations are found in the uniforms of corps leader Miss Diane Yarbrough and majorettes Miss Sheila Cahmbliss and Miss Janis Hayes. These girls war a black Stetson with a large gold father-like plume, a long gold sash ending in two gold tassels and a gold braid citation cord under the left arm. The majorettes wear no gloves.

Eastwood High School, a new school, building its traditions and growing rapidly, is truly one with an interesting heritage and a colorful background.

2002: Engine No. 1 rolls again

May 29, 2002

By Dan J. Williams

El Paso Times

Suspended by crane cables as thick as your arm, UTEP's 55,000-pound "grand old lady" made a slight bow, settled to the street and began what is expected to be the 145-year-old steam locomotive's final journey.

Engine No. 1, a campus display since 1960, was removed from her glass house Tuesday and taken to an East Side warehouse, where she will be refurbished for display at the Union Plaza Transit Terminal in Downtown El Paso.

"I think this is a real milestone," University of Texas at El Paso President Diana Natalicio said. She was among about 200 faculty, students and campus employees who gathered to watch the move.

"It's going to be in such a better place ... where it's a lot more visible," Natalicio said.

In about seven months, the locomotive that once carried ore for mines and smelters from El Paso to Arizona will be the centerpiece of the Union Plaza's $11.1 million terminal and parking facility.

The plaza at San Antonio and Durango streets also will house Sun Metro's trolley fleet and will include 400 parking spaces and 12,000 square feet of shopping space.

"It's kind of sad," said Karla Hernandez, who graduated from UTEP last spring and now works across the street from the locomotive display.

"It was nice to have it on campus, but it'll be better Downtown where they'll take care of it better and more people will see it."

Hernandez and her friend, Bernadette Segura, said while students and faculty may not have fully appreciated the locomotive's historic value, Engine No. 1 was never unnoticed.

"It was our reference point, one place on campus that everybody knew well," Segura said.

"When we'd give directions, we'd say, 'You know where the old train is?'

"Now, I guess we'll say, 'You know where the old train used to be?' "

To historians, the old engine was much more than a UTEP landmark.

"This is one of the three oldest, almost original, engines in the country," said Harry Bean, president of the Railroad and Locomotive Historical Society, Southwest Chapter.

"I've been wanting to see it restored for years."

Moving and restoring the train will be funded by a $1.1 million grant from the Texas Department of Transportation under the agency's historical preservation program. The engine removal was completed Tuesday.

Today, the 15-man crew with Southwestern Industrial Contractors planned to move the tender, the car that carried the engine's fuel and water.

Bean said Engine No. 1 used wood for fuel during much of its 32 years of service in Wisconsin. It later was converted to coal, and by 1889 was running the tracks between El Paso and Arizona as part of the El Paso and Southwestern Railroad, a subsidiary of Phelps Dodge Mining Co.

In 1903, Engine No. 1 was retired from active service, and in 1909 it was put on display at the corner of Stanton and Franklin streets, where it remained until it was deeded to UTEP and moved to the campus in 1960.

Natalicio and Centennial Museum Director Florence Schwein said a museum in San Diego had offered $80,000 to $100,000 for the engine.

"Not enough for a grand old lady," Schwein said as she watched the engine being hooked to a tractor-trailer rig for its short trip down Interstate 10. "It's 90 percent original parts. ... It's priceless.

"Something like this that relates to the heritage of the city belongs here," she said.

1936: Sheriff Posse Organization Starts In E.P.

November 14, 1936

Members To Study Police Methods as Well as Have Good Time

First definite step toward organization of the proposed Sheriff Department Posse was taken Friday night at a meeting of more than 30 prospective possemen at the courthouse.

Temporary officers were elected and a committee for preparing a constitution and by-laws for the organization was named. Capt. John R. Hughes, retired Texas Ranger, was elected honorary president of the group for life.

Leonard Butchofsky was elected “ranch boss”, an office corresponding to president; Wyndam White will be “ranch foreman”; Dick Crawford, sheriff ‘s department legal staff will be “wagon boss” and W. J. Myres was elected “country banker”, corresponding to treasurer of the group.

Sheriff Gives Ideas

Sheriff Chris P. Fox, addressing the group after plans for organization had been discussed, stressed the importance of the posse in perpetuating the spirit of cattle county, its importance as a law enforcing agency, and its possibilities as a social and recreational center.

“The idea of a sheriff’s posse is not a new one,” Fox said. “Los Angeles has one that has been doing some fine work for the past ten years. We can’t have the fancy trappings, the silver-decked saddles and fine uniforms that they have- but we can revive the spirit of our western country and, at the same time, do some admirable work.”

The group plans to avoid the “drug store cowboy” variety of clothing and, instead, wear the same worn chaps, boots, spurs, and ten gallon hats that are familiar to every hard-working cowhand. They will actively participate in community undertakings such as parades, the Sun Carnival, horse shows, and in times of emergency aid regular city and county officials.

Sheriff Police Methods

Besides presenting the more picturesque side of El Paso’s life, the possemen will study police methods and practice with fire-arms for times when their duties will be of a sterner nature.

Attending the meeting Friday night were: Dr. Hugh Shannon, Capt. J. R. Hughes, C. M. Newman, J. Dawson , Sam Cleavenger, Percy Sanderson, J. S. Dugan, Ed Ardoin, Leonard Butchofsky, J. R. Padgett, Detective Charles Mathews, W. J. Myres, R. G. Kelly, J. A. Hitchens, O. B. Hocker, Jack Bell, George Mansfield, S. W. Cooper, H. C. Norman, A. L. Rains, Lee Saunders, Wyndam White, Gammon Guinn, Louis Scott, Henry Wooldridge, Barry Hagedon, Ralph Homan, Dick Crawford, Vernus M. Carey, Detective Bennett Wilson, F. P. McDonald. Prospective members unable to attend at the meeting were Charles N. Basset, Detective Capt. W. C. Woolverton, Col. W. C. Strickland, Dr. Bill Mutlhauf, Dr. Frank Goodwin, and Joe Kennedy.

1st site of Border Patrol training was in El Paso

Dear Trish: The first Border Patrol Academy was held at Camp Chigas in El Paso. It was also the site of the El Paso Sector, or as it was called originally, the Bi-District Headquarters of the El Paso District. At the Border Patrol Museum, we have been scanning and digitizing literally thousands of newspaper articles related to the Border Patrol going back to the 1920s. In one of those articles, I think I read that Camp Chigas was named after an Army private who was killed during Pershing's Punitive Expedition into Mexico, chasing Pancho Villa. I would appreciate any information on this that you might have -- David Ham, President, Board of Governors, National Border Patrol Museum

The War Department named guard camps after two soldiers killed in the June 15, 1919, fighting with Villa's rebels. Pvt. Sam Tusco, Headquarters Company, 82nd Field Artillery, was killed by a sniper while standing near the Santa Fe bridge just before crossing into Mexico. Sgt. Pete Chigas, Troop L, 7th Cavalry, was shot in the chest during the fighting in Mexico and later died from his wound.

The Border Patrol Academy started its first training class Dec. 3, 1934, at Camp Chigas, with 32 men reporting for training. The classroom instruction was four hours a day and there was no physical training program. The first class graduated March 17, 1935.

Here is some additional information about the history of the U.S. Border Patrol from a 1999 article by Times reporter Ken Flynn:

1904-24 --U.S. commissioner general of immigration assigns a mounted guard of about 75 men to patrol the southern border, with headquarters at El Paso. Commissioner is concerned with Chinese immigrants prohibited from entering the United States under the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Europeans unable to pass inspection at Ellis Island.

1917 -- Immigration Act of 1917 imposes head tax of $8 on Canadians and Mexicans. The act subjects them, like others, to a reading test. The act contributes to widespread illegal border crossings and increases in smuggling.

1920 -- Prohibition begins, marking the start of liquor smuggling. El Paso and Juarez both profit from Prohibition. Juarez establishes bars for thirsty Americans, and El Pasoans begin to advertise a visit to the border as a two-nation vacation.

1920s -- Rumrunners of the 1920s prove to be ruthless; by the time Prohibition ends in 1929, 30 officers lose their lives.

1921 and 1924 -- The Immigration Quota Acts of 1921 and 1924 establish the nation's first limits on the number of people legally admitted each year.

May 28, 1924 -- Congress passes an act that creates the U.S. Border Patrol, 450 "patrol inspectors" with headquarters in El Paso and a sector in Marfa, Texas, followed by sectors in Gainesville, Fla., in 1925; Rouses Point, N.Y., in 1926; and Grand Forks, N.D., in 1939. Agents are given badges but no uniforms.

December 1924 -- An official uniform is adopted. Spanish-speaking border residents nickname the Border Patrol agents los planchados, the ironed ones, for their spiffy uniforms and hard, drill-sergeant hats.

1934 -- Patrol officers attend first "training school" at Camp Chigas, El Paso.

1935 -- Border Patrol installs and uses radios in vehicles and stations.

1945 -- Border Patrol begins using fixed-wing aircraft.

1956 -- Agents begin using drug-sniffing dogs. Canine units prove helpful in many aspects of Border Patrol work.

1956 -- Training schools become known as "Border Patrol Academies." Agents attend a 19-week course with eight-hour training days, which include a two-hour physical training program.

1961 -- Border Patrol agents are deputized as U.S. marshals during nation's first airline hijacking in El Paso.

1962 -- Border Patrol agents are deputized as U.S. marshals during civil-rights disorders in Mississippi and Montgomery, Ala., and in 1973 during the Native American protests at Wounded Knee, S.D.

1975 -- Border Patrol Academy "Session 107" graduates first group of female agents.

1977 -- All training schools are now conducted at Border Patrol Academy in Glynco, Ga.

1980 -- Border Patrol begins using helicopters. The agency now employs the most modern law enforcement techniques such as closed-circuit television and electronic sensors.

1996 -- Charleston, S.C., becomes site of a satellite Border Patrol Academy to accommodate more agent trainees.

1999 -- The Border Patrol is the largest uniformed federal law-enforcement agency in the nation, with 8,000 highly trained and equipped agents operating in 22 states. Agents ease the flow of legal immigration and goods while preventing illegal traffic of people and contraband. They patrol the border by foot, air, vehicle, boat, bicycle, snowmobile, canoe and horseback.

If you want to know about El Paso's history, send El Paso Times librarian Trish Long an email at tlong@elpasotimes.com or comment at her blog by visiting elpasotimes.com/blogs.

1911: Insurrectos Set Buildings on Fire

May 9, 1911

El Paso Times -

In Hopes that They Will Drive Federals from the Church

Flames Spreading and Entire Block May Be Wiped Out.

The insurrectos have set fire to the post office in Juarez and the blaze has spread to the drug store and stationary store nearby. The post office is across the street from the church where the federals are gathered and it is believed the insurrectos are attempting to force them out or burn the town.

At the same time that the fire broke out, the rebels had completed their sortie and were firing at the church from their trenches. The rebels believe that if they can capture the church they will be in complete possession of the town. Insurrecto leaders think they know where Gen. Navarro is and are making every effort to take him prisoner. Orders have been given not to shoot him, but to capture him alive if possible.

The fire, it is believed, fanned by the wind, can wipe out one section of Juarez. There is a large number of federals at the barracks which is to be the objective point of the rebels.

At 4:40 p.m. Col. Steever gave the order permitting some Americans to cross the bridge and bring back the wounded who for some time have been lying near the bridge. Dozens of ambulances and scores of physicians have arrived since the news spread that the wounded could be assisted.

The flames are spreading in the eastern part of the block. The post office has practically been destroyed and the large wholesale grocery and dry goods establishment of Calderon and Bros is now being destroyed by the flames. A small hotel is also on fire.

The insurrectos under Col. Blanco are coming over the hills in Juarez while a thick cloud of black smoke is becoming so dense that it is now believed the rebels will take advantage of it and press close to the church under cover of the smoke.

The insurrectos have opened fire with their cannon in the old church opposite the post office, where the federals are gathered in great numbers. The federals are replying with volleys of shrapnel all around the point where the insurrectos shave set up their cannon.

The insurrecto forces now state that the federals have concentrated their forces in the church and barracks and that Gen. Navarro is located in a small house near the church and the insurrectos are going to make a desperate effort to capture him this afternoon.

Another fire has been started in the southeast section of Juarez. Dynamite bombs are being exploded constantly and the detonation can be heard far within El Paso.

At 1:30 p.m. it is estimated by the insurrecto officers that there area t least 1,500 insurrectos in Juarez.

Canonizing is being heard on the east side of the city since 8 a.m. and it is supposed Villarreal’s command is working in and engaging the federals near the school house and race track.

Cowboy Park, the custom house, and the bull ring are occupied by the insurrectos.

The insurrectos are now engaged in getting bomb men up close to the church, jail and jefatura where the federals are concentrated. The bombs are being thrown with good effect.

Both sides are being careful with their ammunition. The insurrectos are expecting 1,000 men from Bauche this afternoon who will enter the city from the south.

A large number of federals are gathered near the market house and the insurrectos are bringing in some guns to being battering the church.

The insurrectos have had only slight losses this morning.

1895: Acting Mayor Stewart Seems To Enjoy The Power Of Veto

August 10, 1895

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Meeting of City Council Last Night – A Large Number of Bills Allowed – report of the Street and Grade Committee – Contractor Ritter and the Artesian Well

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The city council met in regular session lat night at 8 o’clock with Acting Mayor Stewart presiding and a full board of aldermen present. The aldermen were all in fine voice and in a debatable mood.

After roll call Alderman O’Keeffe was excused to attend to some private business.

HIS VETO AGAIN

The following communication from the mayor was read by the clerk:

I hereby lay before you my veto of your action of last Friday evening, August 2nd, in passing an ordinance to amend section 1 of an ordinance, No. 44, relative to streets, sidewalks, alleys, etc., approved June 19, 1891.

In vetoing your action as above referred to I do so for the following reasons, viz:

First. For the reason you do not state who is to pay the scavenger for his services. Although it is inferred from your proposed amendment that the city does so. And if so, why not be more generous and also pay the scavenger for cleaning the streets, alleys, gutters, etc.

In my opinion the tax payer would much rather pay for all the work than he would to be annoyed to do so himself.

But as I am told it is the intention of the council that the ordinance or amendment is to compel each person and property owner to pay the scavenger a certain sum or amount (which is not stated) each month for inspecting streets, alleys, etc. And as there is no provision made for who or how the scavenger shall be paid for this work, I see no good reason why the city should go to the expense of having said ordinance advertised.

And further, I believe the expense would be uncalled for at this time especially when we are contemplating a codification of all our ordinances in the near future. Hence the veto.

The veto was sustained by the council.

City Attorney Townsend recommended that the claim of J.F. Satterthwaite to the new city park be rejected. The recommendation was ordered carried out.

Chief Fink reported the collection of $485.50 in fines during July. Refered to the police committee.

Dr. Yandell, representing the firemen and said that while the boys were perfectly willing to go to fires in Juarez, Chief Powers did not wish to assume the responsibility of ordering the firemen over the river, and he wanted the city council to take some action on the matter.

It was ordered that the chief of the department could order the firemen to cross the river, only when the mayor or chief of police of Juarez or Collector Bauche call on the chief for aid.

The city assessor and collector reported the collection of $916.34 in taxes and license during the month of July. Refereed to the taxation committee.

The city engineer submitted a report reviewing the proper course to secure proper draining for the city. The report was received and filed.

Chairman Schutz of the committee on streets and grades submitted the following report:

First – In reference to request of Mr. A. Courchesne relative to building a new road to the smelter, we respectfully recommend as follows:

That the city donate two thousand dollars in general fund scrip towards building above road, provided the county will appropriate the sum of three thousand dollars for the same purpose; we further recommend that this committee be authorized to submit above proposition to the county commissioners at its regular meeting Monday, August 17.

Second – We have examined claim of A.L. Roy and find that the city is not liable therefore and do therefore recommend that same be disallowed.

Third – We find that the only way to prevent water from running into lot corner Stanton and Overland streets is to build a sidewalk around said property.

It was ordered that the recommendations of the committee be carried out, though Alderman Davis and Roberts favored paying Mr. Roy something

On recommendation of the finance committee the following bills were allowed:

Stacy Payne & Co. …………….$ 1.00

Thomas Pennie ………………… 21.00

H.P. Noake …………………….. 1.75

Mueller & Kachler …………….. 4.50

D. Mackenzie ………………….. 125.00

O. G. Seaton …………………… 20.00

W.E. Fink ……………………… 9.25

Electric light Co. ………………. 58.54

Times Publishing Co. ………….. 5.00

O.O. Ballinger …………………. 2.25

Transfer Co. …………………… 1.00

M.O. McGlennon ……………… 15.00

J.T. Nesom …………………….. 2.00

E.D. Mallory …………………… 1.00

Hotel Dieu ……………………... 17.00

Burton Lingo & Co ……………. 12.45

A. Solomon ……………………. 238.78

Electric Light Co ………………. 624.00

The city attorney was instructed to draw up a new contract with A. Solomon for street sprinkling and the mayor was authorized to sign the same.

Alderman Whitmore said he had received a telegram from Contractor Ritter asking that the commencement of work on the Artesian Well derrick be postponed until he could arrive.

Alderman Whitmore was instructed to confer with Messrs. Rheinhelmer & Holland relative to delaying work a few days.

Chairman Roberts of the fire and water committee was allowed further time to report on the proposition of the electric light company.

Mr. S.H. Buchanan suggested that the citizens of Juarez be requested not to ask for aid from El Paso’s fire department except in case of a serious conflagration. The mayor appointed the fire and water committee to confer with the officials of Juarez on the subject.

The committee on codification of ordinances was granted further time to report.

It was decided that the council should meet next Monday afternoon at 7:30 o’clock as a board of equalization.

A short, spicy and pert letter from Contractor Ritter was read by the clerk.

A request for sewer extensions on Missouri street was referred to the street and grade committee in conjunction with the city engineer.

A communication from A.M. Loomis relative to the rental of city property was approved and the city attorney was instructed to proceed to secure possession of the house now occupied by B.S. Oatlin.

The city clerk was instructed to advertise for bids for a team to do street work.

Council adjourned, after agreeing to meet at 6:30 next Friday night.

1987: Billy the Kid made 1st escape from Silver City jail

Billy the Kid visited San Elizario in 1876 to break a friend out of jail. Re-enactments of that event, guided tours, historic talks and arts and crafts with highlight the Billy the Kid Festival this weekend. billythekidfestival.com

This is Grant County Sheriff Harvey Whitehill's recollection of his first jail break was in Silver City, NM followed by links to a couple of articles I have posted in the past.

March 24, 1987

By Sandra Grifin
El Paso Times

SILVER CITY – The most dramatic escape from jail by the romanticized outlaw Billy the Kid was from the Lincoln County Courthouse jail, where he shot and killed two deputies.

But early newspaper accounts and a document in the Pinos Altos Museum show Billy the Kid first practiced his jail-breaking sills in Silver City when he was only 16.

The escape was not nearly as exciting as the later Lincoln County episode and never made any of the history books.

According to a document entitled “The Old Butterfield Trail and the Mowry Swindle” as told by Mrs. Robert Bell, the granddaughter of former Grant County Sheriff Harvey Whitehill, her father first arrested Billy for rather petty and uninteresting crimes – stealing 2 pounds of butter and “taking $70 from a Chinaman in Georgetown.”

The document was given to George Schafer, owner of the Pinos Altos Museum, and is dated June 28, 1951.

Bell died in Silver City in the 1960s.

The document tells of her father’s account of arresting Billy the Kid, who, she said, complained of mistreatment at the jail, and so was given more freedom.

He used that freedom, Bell said, to go up the chimney where an assistant had a rope ready to help with the escape.

Sheriff Whitehill’s own account, as told in the Silver City Enterprise of Jan. 3, 1902, gives a somewhat different version of the story. The story was told to a reporter long after the actual incident, which occurred in 1875.

“I believe I was the first officer who ever arrested him (Billy the Kid),” the sheriff’s story began.

At that time, of course, Billy had not acquired his nickname and was still just Henry McCarty.

Whitehill said Billy the Kid’s first offense was to steal butter from a ranchman living near Silver City. The lad was released, Whitehill said, on the promise of good behavior.

Then, the former sheriff said, the Kid stole $70 from Charlie Sun in Georgetown and was placed in the adobe jail.

One day, Whitehill said the Kid complained that the jailer was treating him roughly, keeping him in solitary confinement in a cell and allowing him no exercise.

So Whitehill allowed him to walk about the corridor one day. And, left alone for a half-hour, the Kid made his escape.

“I ran outside and around the jail and a Mexican standing on a ridge at the rear asked whom I was hunting. I replied in Spanish, a prisoner. ‘He came out of the chimney,’ answered the Mexican. I ran into the jail, looked up the big old-fashioned chimney and sure enough, I could se where in an effort to obtain a hold, his hands had clawed into the thick layer of soot which lined the chimney. The chimney hole itself did not appears large as my arm and yet that lad squeezed his frail slender body through it and gained his liberty,” the Enterprise quoted Whitehill in its interview.

It was not long afterward, Whitehill said, that Billy the Kid “commenced his career of lawlessness in earnest.”

Less than two years later, while still a teen-ager, Henry took on the name of Billy Antrim, after his stepfather William Antrim, and went on to Arizona, where he killed a blacksmith. He also was known by the alias William Bonney.

A chamber of Commerce sign in Silver City marks the homesite of Billy the Kid at the corner of College and Hudson Streets. But as the sign admits in smaller print, the actual building where his mother, Catherine Antrim, lived was torn down long ago. The sign, in a parking lot, points to only a ghost of his former home and childhood days.

1943: Billy The Kid Killed 62 Years Ago

1931: Billy the Kid’s Compadre Here

1931: Being In County Jail Has Its Compensations In Hot Weather

June 19, 1931

Inmates of the county jail are living in quarters which are several degrees cooler than the average home.

A breeze hits the county jail each day, the cement floors are cool and prisoners lounge around in the decided undress impossible in a household with several brothers and sisters.

Has No Hours

Whereas the inhabitant out of jail must perforce keep up appearances in spite of hot weather and relax only at given hours of the day the prisoner has no such convention to observe; he relaxes all day long.

Hot weather does not temper food served at the jail, however, since practically the same meals are served summer and winter, according to J.R. Glaves, jailer.

Prisoners awake in the morning to a meal of mush, oatmeal, or corn flakes, bread and coffee.

At noon, they have fish, liver and onions, stew or beans, and tea.

And at supper, stewed fruit – prunes, apricots, or peaches – and coffee.

On Saturday night prisoners are given pie instead of stewed fruit, Glaves says.

A special concession to hot weather – prisoners are given iced tea twice a week in the hottest seasons.

“But we aren’t having hot weather, yet,” Glaves said.