Commodore Perry Owens
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Commodore Perry Owens (July 29, 1852 - May 10, 1919) was an American-born lawman and gunfighter of the old west.
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[edit] Early life
In spite of the assertions of his numerous biographers, the famed Arizona lawman Commodore Perry Owens was not born on the anniversary of the great naval commander, Oliver Hazard Perry's victory over British naval forces in the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie as often stated. Owens was born July 29, 1852, not on September 10. His father was named Oliver H. Perry Owens in Commodore Perry's honor. Commodore was named by his mother. He was raised in Tennessee and Indiana, but ran away from home at age thirteen to work on the ranches of Oklahoma and New Mexico as a cowboy. [1]
By 1881, Owens was working as a ranch foreman in Arizona. There are a myriad of myths surrounding Owens dealings with the Navajo. In one incident, when attacked by Navajo locals who were attempting to steal horses he was guarding, he allegedly killed at least two warriors, and earned the nickname "Iron man" for his stance. In truth, he was arrested only once by an Indian Agent named Riordan for the murder of a young Navajo boy near Navajo Springs who he shot while the youth was trying to rustle horses. Owens was subsequently acquitted of the murder. He had red hair, and wore his hair long in his youth, often curling it up underneath his hat, was popular with the ladies, and often made fun of due to his unusual name. Around this time, he homesteaded near Navajo Springs, Arizona, building a small house, and calling his place the "Z-Bar Ranch". [2]
[edit] Lawman, gunfighter
In 1886, Owens was elected Sheriff of Apache County, Arizona. Apache County was split into two counties in 1895, with the western part becoming Navajo County. However, at the time when Owens was Sheriff, he was responsible for 21,177 square miles (54,850 km²) of territory. By all reports, Owens was well liked within his jurisdiction, and is described as having a calm demeanor. His first year was relatively normal, with nothing of consequence short of a few arrests of drunken cowboys and cattle rustlers, mostly around Holbrook, Arizona, with only three reported shooting incidents in which he shot at least two men. Only one of the men is believed to have died. [3]
However, in September of 1887, Owens was in the process of attempting to subdue the most notorious gang of outlaws in the county. They were led by a man named Andy Cooper, also known as Andy Blevins. Blevins, and his half-brothers from the Blevins family, were well known as cattle rustlers, and were suspected in several murders. A range war was in full swing, becoming known as the Pleasant Valley War. The Blevins gang was allied with the Graham family, also known as cattle rustlers in the area. Those two families were opposing the Tewksbury family, who had herds of sheep, but who originally were also cattle ranchers. [4] [5]
Owens, in mid-September on a Sunday, traveled to the Blevins home in Holbrook to serve an outstanding warrant on Andy Blevins. There were twelve members of the Blevins family present at the house that day except for the patriarch Martin J (Mart) Blevins who had gone missing (some believe killed by the Tewksberrys) the previous month along with another brother, William Hampton (Hamp). Owens asked for Andy Blevins to come out of the house, and stated that he had an outstanding warrant for him. Blevins refused. His half-brother, John Blevins, then came out the front door and fired a shot at Owens with a rifle. Owens returned fire, wounding John, and killing Andy. A friend of the family named Mose Roberts,who was dating one of the Blevins girls, jumped out of a side window firing at Owens, and Owens shot him, killing him. It has been since alleged that Roberts was unarmed, and that he only jumped from the window to avoid bullets that passed through the wall into a back room where he was located. However, it seems more likely that had his intentions been to avoid bullets, he would have lain on the floor rather than jump from a window. Reported in "Arizona Sketch Book" by Brophy, Mose Roberts was unarmed, and also by family members still residing in Arizona. In any event, at that moment, fifteen year old Sam Houston Blevins ran outside, firing a pistol at Owens that he had picked up as it lay beside his dead brother. His mother attempted to hold him back, unsuccessfully. Owens again returned fire, killing the young boy. The whole incident took less than one minute. The shootout made Owens a legend. [6]
Locally, however, the aftermath did not show Owens as a hero, but rather a killer, mostly due to the young boy being killed, despite the fact that the boy was armed and attempting to kill him. He was not indicted, but was relieved of his duties by the County commission. At first, they also withheld his salary, but before leaving town he held them at gun point, and forced them to pay him. It was this shootout with the Blevins family that led to his notoriety as a gunman. [7]
[edit] Later life
After leaving Holbrook, Arizona, Owens worked in various law enforcement positions. He worked as a Deputy U.S. Marshall under William Kidder Meade and was appointed the first Sheriff of the newly-created Navajo County in 1895, serving two years in this capacity. Owens later law enforcement career lacked the drama and excitement of his days as Apache County Sheriff, but he was still considered a formidable opponent to the lawless element that remained in the territory.
After his term as Sheriff of Navajo County expired, Owens retired to Seligman, Arizona, where he bought property and opened a general store and a saloon. In 1902 he married a woman named Elizabeth Barrett. The census of 1910 shows Owens and his wife were residing in San Diego, California. He eventually returned to Seligman and on February 14, 1912 saw the Arizona territory he had helped to settle become the 48th state in the Union.
In the end the stalwart lawman turned entepenuer succumbed to Bright's disease (or possible paresis of the brain) and died on May 10, 1919, aged 66. Commodore Perry Owens buried in the Citizen's Cemetery in Flagstaff, Arizona. [8]
[edit] Poem about Owens
John S. Fuller wrote the following poem about Owens:
- Commodore Owens was the "Law of the West."
- When outlaws defied him, they went to their rest.
- He carried a forty-four by each side.
- When he went after outlaws, they surrendered or died. [9]
For more information on Commodore Perry Owens see Earle Forrest's Arizona's Dark and Bloody Ground, Will C. Barnes's Apaches and Longhorns or Robert Carlock's The Hashknife: The Early Days of The Aztec Land and Cattle Company.
