The Bisbee Massacre: Robbery, Murder and Retribution in the Arizona Territory, 1883-1884

Book info: The Bisbee Massacre: Robbery, Murder and Retribution in the Arizona Territory, 1883-1884 (Paperback, 272 pages) – McFarland & Company, 2017. Language: English.

In December 1883, five outlaws attempted to rob the A.A. Castaneda Mercantile establishment in the fledgling mining town of Bisbee in the Arizona Territory. The robbery was a disaster: four citizens shot dead, one a pregnant woman. The failed heist was national news, with the subsequent manhunt, trial and execution of the alleged perpetrators followed by newspapers from New York to San Francisco.

The Bisbee Massacre was as momentous as the infamous blood feud between the Earp brothers and the cowboys two years earlier, and led to the only recorded lynching in the town of Tombstone--John Heath, a sporting man, who was thought to be the mastermind. New research indicates he may have been innocent. This comprehensive history takes a fresh look at the event that marked the end of the Wild West period in the Arizona Territory.

Editorial Reviews Review “The author writes clearly and has done momentous research. Readers who cannot get enough of the Wild West will appreciate his full accounting.”―The Journal of Arizona History; “reading the court proceedings as reported in surviving transcripts and the press makes the reader shake his head in amazement.”―Western Writers of America. About the Author David Grasse is an assistant library director in Payson, Arizona. He has previously published three books and numerous articles about Arizona Territorial history as well as several journal and newspaper articles about the Old West.