Death in the Desert

This Colt .45 “Peacemaker” was found out in the desert in historically one of the most dangerous places on Earth.

- William P. Mapoles

The end of the barrel was spotted sticking up out of the dust in the middle of nowhere, 17 miles from Tombstone, Arizona, 16 miles from Fort Huachuca, and only nine miles north of the Mexican border. It was made in 1884, based on the serial number of 111,506. The gun has one empty chamber, two fired shells, and three live rounds in it. The hammer is frozen in the first click or notch. Given the clockwise rotation of the cylinder, it had been carried on the empty chamber, then two shots had been fired, and the owner was in the act of cocking the hammer for the third shot, when it fell to the ground. You get an eerie feeling that the guy died violently when he dropped this gun, because he was in “The Valley of the Shadow of Death.”

Here is what was happening in this area at the time. Tombstone was in its heyday, and “Boot Hill” was full of people murdered in the town and out in the desert. Only very seldom did anyone die of natural causes. It was not uncommon for Anglo outlaws, Mexican bandits, and rogue Apaches to raid small, individually owned mines out in the remote areas. In fact, what is known as “the bloodiest cabin in Arizona” is only about 10 miles away. This is a small adobe miner’s cabin where at least 20 people were found murdered over a number of years. A few miners would move in to work the rich silver vein, they would get robbed and killed, and a few new miners would move in to continue working the claim. This cycle of mayhem was repeated over and over.