June 1, 2024
Dan The Man, Stuart Rosebrook and I are wrapping up the big Doc In Prescott feature for the next issue of True West. Here's a layout you might get a kick out of.
As you may know, Virgil Earp made his bones, while standing on the corner of Gurley and Montezuma Streets (where the St. Michaels Hotel is today) in Prescott when the local constable rode by in a buggy going south on Whiskey Row and spied the civilian—Virgil—holding a Winchester and deputized him on the spot. Virgil ran after the buggy, on foot, all the way to Granite Creek where he personally dispatched a couple of inebriated Texas bad boys and his bravery got him elected constable (replacing the guy who deputized him!) and then he rode the coattails of this event all the way to being named city marshal in Tombstone a short time later. Anyway, here is a sneak peek at one of the layouts we're working on in the next issue which ties those two happenstances together. And, by the way, yes, we know that arrow, on right, is pointing to the wrong place.
"Standing On A Corner In Prescott, Arizona, such a fine sight to see. It's Virgil Earp, my lord, with a saddle gun, slowing down to take a look at me."
—Jackson Browne, if he grew up in Yavapai County
Aren't Sheriffs elected? Should that caption indicate Virgil was sworn in as a deputy? I often see this misuse wherein Sheriffs' deputies are referred to as Sheriffs mistakenly.
ReplyDeleteOr were terms different in old AZ?
Thanks, Bob!
It was the constable who deputized Virgil, he was not a sheriff. And I think "sworn in" is perhaps a tad formal for the fluid situation.
DeleteAnd the police response to the problem of that day should be seen as nothing less than remarkable.
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