The Epic Chase: Wyatt Earp, John Slaughter & Arizona Rangers Couldn’t Rid the West of Train Robbers

Southwest Train Robberies. Of the 16 train robberies in the Gadsden Purchase (southern Arizona and New Mexico) almost all involved Cochise County one way or another. Neither Wyatt Earp, Sheriff Texas John Slaughter, nor the Arizona Rangers succeeded in eliminating all of the outlaws. In fact, Billy Stiles was paid as a ranger while on the run and Burt Alvord was Constable of Willcox, and a former Slaughter deputy, when he and Stiles conducted two robberies. Can an outlaw collect the bounty on himself? Stiles and Alvord tried. On two occasions, an entire posse was arrested. A train robber, out on his own recognizance as state’s witness, used a gun loaned to him by law enforcement to break the gang out of jail. Sheriff C.S. Fly pursued a stolen train on foot. Outlaws blew up the entire express car and were caught because one had handed out photos of himself to pretty girls. Outlaws made off with the locomotive accidentally leaving the express car behind. Shoot ‘em Up Dick got no respect while Black Jack was so renowned that he continued to pull robberies in the newspapers two years after he died. His greatest feat was robbing an entire town.