Clarifying Glenn Reynolds' Death
Posted: Jun 20 2017 10:01 am
This responds to a hike notice regarding Reynolds' Creek Trail #150.
Sheriff Glenn Reynolds was not killed by the Apache Kid.
The Kid was one of eight Apaches (and one Mexican) being transported by stagecoach from Globe to Casa Grande, at which they were to be put aboard a train and transported to Yuma Territorial Prison.
After spending a night at a stage station on the Gila River, on a dark and cold November morning, Reynolds and his deputy ("Hunky Dory") Holmes and the owner/operator of their stagecoach, Eugene Middleton, loaded up their prisoners and started up a steep grade just west of the Gila.
The grade was too steep for the horses to handle the load, so Middleton had Reynolds, Holmes and seven Apaches walk up the grade on their own, behind the coach. Inside the stage were the Mexican (he had stolen a horse) and the Apache Kid (restrained with manacles because he was considered the most dangerous of the bunch).
It was still dark.
Reynolds was a top pistol shot, but it was cold, and he had his short guns beneath his heavy coat. The only weapon in his hands was a double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun. Holmes carried a rifle.
The Apaches were manacled together by twos. Each was handcuffed to another Apache by one wrist. Each was manacled to the other by one ankle.
In the darkness, they jumped Reynolds and killed him with his shotgun. They got his keys and unlocked their 'cuffs.
One erroneous source says the Apaches tortured Holmes.
Not so. The coroners report says Holmes died of a heart attack. Those Apaches wanted to get the heck out of there.
They ran up the hill, caught up with the stagecoach and shot Middleton through the neck with Holmes' rifle. Then they unlocked the Kid with Reynolds' keys and ran off.
Middleton miraculously lived. The Mexican unhitched one of the stage horses and rode for help. He was later pardoned.
Within six months, seven of the Apaches had been apprehended or killed.
It has never been conclusively shown what happened to the Apache Kid. There are rumors...none of which have been substantiated.
Sheriff Glenn Reynolds was not killed by the Apache Kid.
The Kid was one of eight Apaches (and one Mexican) being transported by stagecoach from Globe to Casa Grande, at which they were to be put aboard a train and transported to Yuma Territorial Prison.
After spending a night at a stage station on the Gila River, on a dark and cold November morning, Reynolds and his deputy ("Hunky Dory") Holmes and the owner/operator of their stagecoach, Eugene Middleton, loaded up their prisoners and started up a steep grade just west of the Gila.
The grade was too steep for the horses to handle the load, so Middleton had Reynolds, Holmes and seven Apaches walk up the grade on their own, behind the coach. Inside the stage were the Mexican (he had stolen a horse) and the Apache Kid (restrained with manacles because he was considered the most dangerous of the bunch).
It was still dark.
Reynolds was a top pistol shot, but it was cold, and he had his short guns beneath his heavy coat. The only weapon in his hands was a double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun. Holmes carried a rifle.
The Apaches were manacled together by twos. Each was handcuffed to another Apache by one wrist. Each was manacled to the other by one ankle.
In the darkness, they jumped Reynolds and killed him with his shotgun. They got his keys and unlocked their 'cuffs.
One erroneous source says the Apaches tortured Holmes.
Not so. The coroners report says Holmes died of a heart attack. Those Apaches wanted to get the heck out of there.
They ran up the hill, caught up with the stagecoach and shot Middleton through the neck with Holmes' rifle. Then they unlocked the Kid with Reynolds' keys and ran off.
Middleton miraculously lived. The Mexican unhitched one of the stage horses and rode for help. He was later pardoned.
Within six months, seven of the Apaches had been apprehended or killed.
It has never been conclusively shown what happened to the Apache Kid. There are rumors...none of which have been substantiated.