The History of the Horribles

Due to their over-the-top, Mardi Gras-quality costumes, pictures of “The Horribles” often appear around Halloween in Prescott. However, their activities actually surrounded the Fourth of July as a comedic alternative to Independence Day with hints of Confederate sympathy and mourning.

1878: Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman is Amazed With Prescott

It was Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman’s first trip to Arizona. He was on the way to inspect the area Army camps. He would visit Camp Verde before Prescott, and then would head “to Yuma and thence to the Pacific,” the Weekly Arizona Miner wrote. It was a trip that he had “been contemplating for a long time past.”

Sherman would traverse a wide portion of Arizona, but his welcome in Prescott would be the one he would remember the best.

Early Independence Day Celebrations

Surrounding the Civil War, not everybody was inclined to celebrate Independence Day. Many who lived in Yavapai County were sympathetic to Southern causes. “There was an apprehension that such diversity might exist here,” the Prescott paper observed, “and interfere with a genuine and hearty observance of the day.”

A Union Spy in the Joseph Walker Camp

Joseph Rutherford Walker, circa 1860

It is well understood that Fort Whipple was established to protect Anglos around the Prescott area. However, there is evidence that initially the federal government was not so much interested in protecting the miners as it was in protecting the minerals.

The Jack-the-Ripper of Yavapai County?

To the Anglos, Indian-killer John B. Townsend was a celebrated hero. To the Native Americans, he was equally an antihero.
This account takes the perspective of the latter

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John B. Townsend

The Indian Conflicts abounded with examples of vigilanteism. Although illegal, at times it was a near necessity since official law enforcement was often days away. Yet one man's vigilanteism was so extreme in those days that one might consider him to be a serial killer of Native Americans.

Even more distressing is the fact that when there exists an environment rife with racial cleansing, not only can a serial killer hide in plain sight, but he might even be lauded for his ghastly deeds.

Such is the case of one John B. Townsend, 1835-1873. "Those writing of this man seem to agree that he had a pathological hatred for the (Indian) and he hunted them with grim determination." (*1)

A WARNING: The following story contains graphic, racist remarks and incidents that can be harsh to read. It may not be suitable for sensitive readers.