The Under-Handed Under Sheriff

James R. Sias was appointed undersheriff by Yavapai County Sheriff Joseph Roberts, but on July 24, 1904,  he turned up missing. The Weekly Arizona Journal-Miner reported: “He was seen around town, and [then] Sheriff Roberts received word that he was seen in Ash Fork.” Roberts was slightly surprised, but assumed he would return. He did not.

“This is the second time that Sias has deserted his family,” the paper continued, “his wife surprising him in Prescott a couple of years ago, just at a time when he was [about] to marry a very estimable young lady here, having, until her arrival, posed as an unmarried man.” Trying to discern why he seemed to disappear, “an investigation of the sheriff’s books showed an apparent shortage in his accounts, and Sheriff Roberts employed CA Peter, of the Bank of Arizona, to go through the books and make a thorough examination of them.” Peter uncovered a shortage. $800 was recorded as having been given to the sheriff, but it was not. Later, the total missing was found to be $997.90 (over $38,000 today).

Those who doubted he was actually fleeing changed their minds when Roberts received a package from El Paso, Texas, containing Sias’s badge and keys. Most everyone now believed Sias was going to cross into Mexico, “where he may imagine himself secure from arrest,” the paper reasoned. Indeed, Sias soon sent a letter to Roberts from Juarez, Mexico, that contained checks totaling $110.

“[Sias] did not add any to the popularity of the sheriff’s office during the period he was here, and his departure has created no interest in the community beyond the little sensation caused by his reported [embezzlement], and the further fact that he left a wife and two children unprovided for,” the paper noted.

Nothing more happened until ten months later, when Sias was found in Houston, Texas, using the alias of Forrest. Somehow, his wife tracked him down again, which ultimately led to his arrest. Jim Lowry was now Yavapai County Sheriff, and he travelled to Houston with extradition papers. A group of Texas attorneys compiled a writ of habeas corpus for Sias / Forest and served Lowry with it. However, after “careful examination of the requisition and other papers, the [Texas lawyers] withdrew their petition and [Lowry] was given permission without a contest,” the paper related.

During the trip back, and even after he arrived in Prescott, Sias refused to talk about the case. “There seems to be a well-founded unanimous feeling against Sias in Prescott, more on account of the way he left his innocent family to suffer and to become objects of charity,” the paper continued. “Those who best know Sias in Prescott are at a loss to understand why he placed himself in jeopardy by crossing into United States territory, when he could have remained comparatively safe in Mexico.”

“Quite a crowd of curiously minded residents were at the depot to witness the arrival of the alleged absconder,” the paper declared, “and throughout the day the general topic of interest was the return of the ex-deputy sheriff and the probable outcome of his trial.” 

The prisoner was placed under a $1000 bond, and his attorney, A.L. Hammond, told him not to make any public statement. However, Hammond himself did—insisting the loss was not as large as reported and that it was simply a case of faulty bookkeeping.

The morning before appearing in court, Sias asked ex-sheriff Roberts to visit him at the jail. He asked Roberts to “help him out of this trouble.” But Roberts explained that it was out of his hands now and was a matter for the district attorney.

Sias told Roberts that when he went to the depot the day of his departure, he had no intention of skipping town, but the impulse came to him, and off he went. He soon broke down, admitting that he had “done dirt” to the sheriff. “His voice choked, and the words came out one at a time,” the paper disclosed, but there was nothing Roberts could do for him.

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Sias appeared at his preliminary trial “dressed in a working suit of blue cotton, unshaven and rather unkempt,” the paper observed. “Quite a number of Prescott people were in attendance as visitors.” However, some defense witnesses would not arrive until next week, and the hearing began “with this understanding.” The first witness was the County Recorder, who “presented records showing the employment of former sheriff Roberts and deputy Sias.” Next was the assistant cashier of the Prescott National Bank, who certified a certificate of deposit made by Sias. 

The most interesting witness was Roberts, who “told the story of Sias’ disappearance and his alleged shortage,” the paper reported. He said “that shortly before the shortage was discovered, he had called Sias’ attorney asking him to bring the books up to date. When Roberts returned from a trip, he found that the books were still not updated. It was the following day that Sias skipped town. The hearing was then delayed for a defense witness to arrive from Texas.

The Texas witness was CW Griswold of Humble, Texas. Unfortunately, his arrival in Prescott was further delayed due to illness. When the defense attorney insisted that Griswold’s testimony would be vital to the case, the prosecuting attorney argued that it was implausible for a Texas resident who was not in Prescott at the time to be able to offer anything germane to the case. Still, the judge agreed to a delay until July 11, but that would be the last postponement he would allow.

Although the Texan was in Prescott on the 11th, the defense attorney ended up not calling him. “What evidence this witness will have to offer, it seems, will be withheld until the trial,” the paper said. Griswold refused to give the newspaper any information about what he would testify to, but even when it meant a loss to his business affairs, he was determined “to help his former employee in any legitimate manner that may develop.”

Sias was arraigned, and the trial was scheduled to begin on November 27, but instead it was delayed two weeks.

The trial was unusual in that both the district attorney and PW O’Sullivan, one of the defense attorneys, were called to testify for the prosecution! O’Sullivan also gave the opening argument for the defense, “which was said by those who heard it to be one of the most eloquent and forcible efforts made by him during his legal career,” the paper observed.

Roberts testified that $997.90 was missing and that the books were not altered in any way after Sias departed.

JD Carter, who replaced Sias as under-sheriff and was an expert bookkeeper, testified for the rest of the morning. Carter went over Sias’ books as soon as he was appointed. He stated that the books “were kept in such a way that a trial balance was impossible on account of the reason that many items were shown without a corresponding entry or any other account.” He found that “the blotter did not check up with the miscellaneous account in fifteen instances, and the alleged $997.90 shortage was found from footings in the cash account, which had nothing to do with the miscellaneous account.

The defense argued that minor accounting mistakes were made and there was no criminal intent. The Texan, Griswold, could only speak to Sias’s character, and the case was sent to the jury.

Both the first and last jury ballots stood nine for conviction and three for acquittal. No one’s mind was changed, and the jury came back hung. The prosecution opted for a second trial.

The second trial came six months later. “Nothing of a startling nature was disclosed,” the paper reported. This time, Sias was convicted, and in June, he was sentenced to five years in the Yuma prison. He was held in custody during his appeal process. By the end of 1908, all of his appeals were dismissed and exhausted, and he went to Yuma to serve his sentence.

This wasn’t the end of his criminal career, however. In 1925, the Arizona Republican reported that Sias was “under arrest at Humble, Texas, where he had been for some time, going under the name of Forrest.” His crime? Embezzlement.

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SOURCES:

Weekly Arizona Journal-Miner:

8/3/1904, Pg. 3, Col. 2; & pg. 8, Col. 1.

6/21/1905, Pg. 2, Col. 6; & Pg. 8, Cols. 4-5.

6/28/1905, Pg. 3, Cols. 1-3; & Pg. 6, Cols. 4-5.

7/12/1905, Pg. 4, Cols. 3-4.

11/22/1905, Pg. 3, Col. 3; & Pg. 6, Col. 1.

12/13/1905, Pg. 5, Col. 3; & Pg. 8, Cols. 1-3.

5/30/1906, Pg. 7, Col. 4.

6/13/1906, Pg. 8, Col. 5.

12/23/1908, Pg. 2, Col. 2.

Arizona Republican: 

6/12/1925, Pg. 4, Col. 6.

Deadly Train Sabotage: March 1924

The northbound Santa Fe passenger train No. 42 left Phoenix at 6:10 p.m. on March 7, 1924, heading toward Prescott. Little did they know that this train was bound for disaster.

A Killing in Copper Basin (1895)

It was the morning of February 1, 1895. A Mexican boy who was out hunting was traveling along the Copper Basin road when he came upon a ghastly scene. The night before, a man was brutally murdered.

“His appearance was a frightful one, the right side of his head being smashed so that the bones protruded, while all over his body and on his hands were many knife wounds to be seen,” the Arizona Weekly Journal-Miner described. “The ground too, gave evidence of a struggle, and though losing his life, made a desperate fight to the last.”

The Wickenburg Massacre: Nov. 5, 1871

“The stage for California left Prescott on the morning of Saturday, November 4, 1871, carrying the US Mail,” the Weekly Arizona Miner began. Aboard were a driver and six passengers. Three of the passengers were from Prescott: Frederick Sholom, William Kruger, and a “soiled dove” named Mollie Shepherd. The other three passengers were part of the Wheeler Expedition, a US Geological Survey mission to map the West that started the same year. Among these three was a popular, well-known 22-year-old writer named Frederick W. Loring- a native of Boston and a graduate of Harvard. The driver, John Lentz, was hired recently and was about to embark on his first return trip.

The first leg of the trip to Wickenburg “was almost a pleasure trip,” the same paper described. Loring told several people that he planned to write what he observed on his trip—that sentiment back East, believing the Indian Wars were nearly over, was fallacious, and he planned to redress the mistaken view.

But the following day would quickly become nationally infamous.

The Great Fire Changed the Plaza Forever

Before the Great Fire of July 14, 1900, the Courthouse Plaza was described as a “desolate and neglected waste.” The white rail fence surrounding it was beyond repair, and the Weekly Journal-Miner called for its removal five years earlier. 

It was the Great Fire that brought an end to the fence. Not by burning, but by being knocked down and tossed aside as businesses set up shanties and other temporary structures upon the Plaza while the destruction was cleared away, and the downtown buildings familiar and historic to us today were constructed.

Prescott Was a Renowned Gambling Town

Several western towns were known for gambling: Tombstone, Deadwood, and Dodge City, for example. But if one were able to go back in time and ask the “sporting men” of the West, Prescott would be among the very best places to play. Gambling was immensely popular in the early days of Prescott. An 1884 account in the Weekly Arizona Miner proclaimed, “Faro dealers say that Prescott is the best gambling town in the West.” 

1907: Pretty Heiress Abducted from Castle Hot Springs

At first, the management at Castle Hot Springs kept the crime a secret for over a week, even denying that it happened. What’s more, the victim’s family completely shunned any surrounding publicity. But when the trail for the abductor began to grow cold, and the search needed to expand, the secret came out.

A Christmastime Murder in Bumble Bee

People living in the Bumble Bee district were concerned when Thomas Glasgow, a 60-year-old prospector, missed some appointments. 

“Glasgow…was arrested about two weeks [previous] on a charge filed by [Charles] Wagoner, who claimed [Glasgow] jumped his claims,” the Prescott Evening Courier explained. The case was dismissed, “but bad blood is said to have developed between the two men as a result.” Following the dismissal, Glasgow “told neighbors that if he ever was missing, to arrest Wagoner for murder.” 

The sheriff’s office was called to investigate his disappearance. It was Christmas Day, 1925.

The Embezzling Yavapai County Treasurer

Prescott was aghast when the Yavapai County Treasurer, James P Storm, was found bound and gagged in the county’s vault by his daughter, who heard him kicking the vault door when she arrived for work there on the morning of November 9, 1904.

Cowboys Deliver Instant Justice to Bandits

Paul and Jack Fodge were two brothers with dubious reputations. Aged 26 and 23 respectively, both had already spent time in prison. They didn’t exactly exhibit criminal mastermind-ship either when they decided to hold up a large group of cowboys and their companions at an early, holiday-season dance on November 14-15th, 1931.

Dan (Granville) Fain Nearly Murdered!

Dan Fain around the time
of the incident.

It was seven years before the Rafter 11 would brand its first bovine; when Norman Fain was just a lil’ cowpoke, at the mere age of 3. “Dan Fain was assaulted at Humboldt [May 31, 1910,] and escaped death solely through good fortune,” the Weekly Journal-Miner exclaimed.

Embezzling Postmaster is Redeemed (1875)

  James S Giles was a highly respected and true pioneer of Prescott, Arizona. He was one of the party that accompanied Governor Goodwin and Secretary McCormick to the territory in 1863. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee during the first Territorial Legislature, he introduced most of the first basic laws known as the “Chapters of the Code.” He was elected Speaker of the House in the second Legislature. Lately, he had been the postmaster for Prescott, so when he absconded with nearly $10,000 on August 14, 1875, it was a bombshell.

Still, there would be a happy yet poignant ending.

Gun Fight at the Independence Mine

James S McClure, age 36, arrived home unexpectedly from a month-long business trip to Colorado. When he came upon his surprised wife, who was on her way to the post office, he was “out of sorts,” the Prescott Evening Courier reported. When she returned to their ranch that surrounded Tussock Springs, her husband was still in a sour mood. She was on her way to take the mule out to pasture when “he asked her to wait a minute,” which she did.

What would transpire in the next few minutes would decide whether Mrs. McClure would live or die.

Prescott’s 1st Federal Narcotics Raid was AZ's Biggest (1922)

 

It was, at the time, the largest drug haul ever confiscated in Arizona—a take-down of “the center of the wholesale drug ring in Central Arizona,” according to the Arizona Republican. The drug kingpin was a Prescott resident and barber named Mayo Simpson. 

Mayo was no stranger to being at odds with the law. His first stint in jail was for burglary…at the tender age of eleven.

Brave 14 Year-Old Testifies to Her Assault

It was February 11, 1922, when Mr. and Mrs. John A Rounds left with a neighbor, “Grady” CB Bartley, to find some firewood. While the couple was searching for wood, Bartley had something far more sinister on his mind. 

The three had left Mrs. Round’s sister, 14-year-old Mary Haynes, alone back at the house. After scouting for a bit, Bartley gave an excuse to head back to the house himself.

He “followed [Mary] into the kitchen and called the little girl into the bedroom,” the Prescott Evening Courier related. Afterwards, Bartley threatened the girl to keep her quiet.

1878: Blood Flows in the New Town of Gillett

Ad for the saloon where the trouble started. 

It all started with a good old-fashioned bar fight. It was midday, June 12, 1878. Deputy Sheriff James C Burnett heard a commotion inside Frank Smith’s saloon. He entered and found that a man only known as Setwright was arguing with another named Tom Farrell. As Burnett entered, Setwright twice struck Farrell over the head with a bottle, shattering it in the process. Burnett quickly broke up the fight and arrested Setwright.

However, the incident would grow into two murders and a lynching, and, at one point, 75 Gillette citizens were blamed for the killing of a peace officer.

1888: Prescott's Great Fire Before the Great Fire

Many who are familiar with Prescott history are aware of the Great Fire, which occurred on July 14, 1900, and destroyed Whiskey Row. However, twelve years earlier, there was another great fire that wiped out Cortez Street.

It all started with an ill-fated plan to blow the safe at TW Otis’ store. The burglars entered the establishment, under the cover of darkness, shortly after midnight on July 1st, and planted some dynamite around the store’s safe. Concerned that the noise from the blast would sound an alarm, the would-be thieves covered the safe with burlap gunny sacks. They then lit the fuse and scurried out of the building to avoid injury.

The Premeditated Murderous Disaster at Wilson's Sawmill

 

William Zadoc “Zeb” Wilson was proud of the brand-new boiler at his sawmill. He travelled to the Ohio manufacturer to deliver the desired specifications himself. According to the Journal-Miner, he “paid an extra price to have certain portions of it built extra strong.” When the boiler first arrived, it was examined by an engineer at Whipple, and he testified that “he considered it the best boiler in the county.” Wilson’s pride was only equalled by the meticulous care he gave his new boiler.

However, at 7:30 in the morning of November 19, 1887, this brand-new, prized boiler would blast Wilson and five other workers straight into the afterlife. Worst of all, it was found to be a premeditated act.

Undercover Detective or Stagecoach Robber?

On May 12, 1877, the California-Arizona Stage left Prescott, ultimately headed to San Bernardino. Stage robberies were far too prevalent in the mid-1870s, and the party was relieved to arrive at Wickenburg unmolested. 

As the driver, Jesus Lujan, pulled out of the station, he couldn’t know that just a few miles down the road his stage would fall victim to a carefully crafted ambush. 

Yavapai Co's First Prohibition Sting

Prohibition went into effect on January 1, 1915, and Sheriff Joe Young was intent on making it stick. It was the middle of May when he made his first big sting. Before all was said and done, however, one of the informants would be charged with soliciting a bribe.