JOHN H. BEHAN
1st SHERIFF OF COCHISE COUNTY
TOMBSTONE, ARIZONA TERRITORY
The following is a profile of Sheriff
John H. Behan and a summary of events in and around Tombstone, Arizona in
the late 1870's and early 1880's. The town of Tombstone came into existence
when a miner by the name of Ed Shieffelin discovered gold and silver at the
Lucky Cuss Mine nearby. With news of his strike, the whole region began to
grow quickly. At the time the first ore was taken from the mine in 1878,
there were no permanent residents. By 1880 there were 2,385 town lots and
pressure on the city council to create more.
With the new boom came the promise of
quick fortune and this drew many opportunists to the area. Miners,
shopkeepers, rustlers, prostitutes and gamblers soon filled the streets and
saloons of Tombstone to create one of the most notorious towns and infamous
periods in American Frontier history.
Johnny Behan and Wyatt Earp were both
drawn to the opportunities available in Tombstone at this time. Wyatt came
with his brothers Virgil, Morgan, Baxter and James. Both Behan and Wyatt had
backgrounds in law enforcement and politics. Behan had served with the
California Column during the Civil War. He had been Sheriff of Yavapai
County in northern Arizona as well as the State Legislator from that area.
Earp had also been a lawman in Wichita and Dodge City, Kansas. He had become
known across the West for subduing the rowdy cattle drovers in those towns.
He was also known to have skirted the law in Kansas and Texas and to be
ruthless and fearless, both qualities that would again become apparent
during his stay in Tombstone.
These two now legendary men came to
Tombstone destined to confront each other at every turn. Their personal and
political ambitions were much the same. Their battle of wills was at the
core of all the trouble that was to follow. Wyatt Earp and John Behan were
to become mortal enemies.
Cochise County was created from part of
Pima County in January of 1881. Territorial Governor John Fremont initiated
the first regular elections soon thereafter. Both Behan and Earp ran for
election to become the first Sheriff ever of the newly formed Cochise
County. Both hoped to further their political and personal aspirations
through their role as Sheriff. Earp is said to have wanted the position
badly. But Behan had political allies in the area having already been in the
legislature. His affiliation with the Democratic Party in Arizona turned the
tables on Earp. As much of Tombstone was Democratic, Fremont appointed Behan
as County Sheriff basically bypassing the election process.
Behan proceeded to encourage the
lawlessness that had overtaken the town while keeping up a clever facade of
fulfilling his obligations as sheriff. The residents quickly recognized the
problem and began to split into two camps, one supporting Behan, the other,
in the hopes of bringing some law and order to the region, supporting the
Earp Brothers. The Tombstone newspaper Epitaph, Republican in its
affiliations, charged in 1881 that "There is all together too much good
feeling between the Sheriff's Office and the outlaws infesting this county."
The corruption of Sheriff Behan helped to
encourage the local criminal elements. Rustlers, thieves and shootists were
commonly referred to here as “cowboys.” The most famous of these were the
Clanton and the McLaury families assisted by the deadly Johnny Ringo and
Curly Bill Brocius. These gangs were active rustlers bringing hundreds of
cattle across the border with Mexico. They also robbed trains, stages and
frequently disrupted shipments from the nearby mine. Most of the locals were
law abiding and saw in the Earps the possibility of bringing this
lawlessness to an end.
These issues of law and its enforcement
caused an undeniable friction between the Earps and Behan. But maybe most
important was the bitterness they felt concerning pretty young Josephine
Sarah Marcus. Josephine had emigrated to Tombstone from San Francisco with
Behan and set up living arrangements with him. She used his last name
although they were never married. Dissatisfied with Behan and his
philandering, Josie fell in love with Wyatt Earp and they lived together
sporadically in the cottage Behan had rented for Josie. They were destined
to spend the rest of their lives together.
Behan is an important and pivotal
historical figure in this saga. He, like many law officers of the time,
walked a fine line between enforcing the law and overlooking it. Behan is
known to have had a direct role in the battle between the Earps and the
cowboys which culminated in the OK Corral shootout. Many historians feel
that Behan orchestrated the gunfight though he was never charged with any
wrongdoing. Shortly before the gunbattle Behan was seen talking at length to
the McLaury brothers and the Clantons. As the Earps approached the OK
Corral, Behan told Virgil, “I am going down to arrest and disarm the
cowboys.” Behan did neither. He had no intention of doing anything to
prevent the oncoming battle and hoped to benefit substantially from it.
Even if Behan had attempted to intervene
it is doubtful that he could have stopped the gunfight. As the Earps walked
down the main street of Tombstone, Cochise County Sheriff John Behan knew
that the fight was inevitable and hoped that the Earps would be bested and
out of his life forever. Behan was present at the OK gunfight. He even stood
momentarily between the two warring parties as they lined up against each
other. But, after that moment, he moved to the safety of C. S. Fly's Rooming
House nearby to watch the action.
After all 3 Earp brothers and Doc
Holliday survived the OK shootout, Behan continued his efforts to end their
influence in Tombstone. Behan received a warrant to arrest Wyatt and the
others and did assemble a posse. He soon returned to Tombstone though
fearing opposition from Earp supporters. In the mid-winter of 1882 Morgan
Earp had a fistfight with Sheriff Behan on the porch of Josephine's cottage.
Evidently Behan had tried to remove her from the house and Morgan had been
conveniently nearby to intervene. Behan left battered but not beaten. Soon
after, Morgan Earp lay dead on the floor of Cambell and Hatch's Saloon, shot
in the back. Holliday publicly charged Behan with planning the murder of
Morgan Earp.
Frank Stillwell, a local member of the
cowboy's gang, was assumed to have executed Morgan. Wyatt promptly ended
Stillwell's life in Tucson. Behan was never solidly implicated in the plot.
In the end, Morgan's murder was not the only revenge Behan was able to
exact. Virgil Earp had lost much of the use of his left arm from wounds
received during the OK shootout. As a result of this and other pressures,
Virgil lost his position as City Marshal of Tombstone. Wyatt and Holliday
were forced to leave Arizona as warrants for their arrests were outstanding
there. They both eventually went to Colorado where Governor Frederick Pitkin
refused to extradite them back to Arizona citing legal inaccuracies in the
paperwork.
Behan worked aggressively to bring the
Earps and Holliday back to Tombstone to stand trial but was unsuccessful. He
was defeated in his attempt at re-election for Sheriff in 1882. General
dissatisfaction with his handling of the cowboy and the Earps conflict as
well as charges of misuse of public funds put an end to Behan's Tombstone
career but not an end to his public role. He continued in public positions
becoming Superintendent of the Arizona Territorial Penitentary in Yuma.
After this position he became Inspector for US Customs and served in the
Spanish American War. He served in the American Brigade during China's Boxer
Rebellion and finally returned to work as a code clerk for the Arizona
Legislature. Former Cochise County Sheriff John H. Behan died of Bright's
disease and acute hardening of the arteries in 1912 at the age of 66.
The true legacy of John Behan is not easy
to understand. He was both criminal and lawman. He manipulated the politics
and the individuals of Tombstone in the 1880s to suit his own ends. He was
motivated by greed, spite, jealously and in no small part by a hunger for
power. Like many frontier lawmen, he walked a fine line between law and
lawlessness. The untamed conditions in the West allowed men like Behan and
Earp to define what the country was to become. Both types of men were
essential to this process. The morality of the period was played out by the
characters within it. The complex issues concerning these men are still
being debated today, 106 years later. More movies and books have been
written about the Tombstone conflicts in 1880-81 than any other frontier
event. The story of John H. Behan is one of the most intriguing stories of
all.
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