History

Friday, 17 July 2009 19:10

Pleasant Valley is home to the infamous conflict between the Graham and Tewksbury families in the late 1800s, known today as the Pleasant Valley War. Among the most famous of the range wars in the American West, the feud was big enough and bloody enough to command national attention, and has been portrayed in literature and the movies in many different ways.

The Pleasant Valley war most likely began as vendetta between two families that escalated to the point where neighbors, and at least according to some, government authorities were forced to choose sides. To others it was a clash between cattlemen and sheep men. Some contend the feud was over cattle rustling and involved vigilantism. Others describe it as giant east-coast Corporate interests (the Aztec Land And Cattle Company, more commonly known as "Hashknife" outfit) importing gunfighters to drive out competing small western ranchers. Zane Gray, in his book, "To the Last Man", portrayed the feud as being over a woman, and Earle Forest in his "Arizona's Dark and Bloody Ground" reports that a number of "old timers" subscribed to the theory that a woman was at the bottom of the blood feud (Forrest, 43). Perhaps there is an element of truth in all of the various theories. Clearly, there were accusations of rustling, bloody gunfights, lynchings, and multiple courtroom dramas.

Today the legend of the feud has sparked several books, hundreds of questions and mountains of speculation. The legend begins back in the day when cow boys ruled the wilderness and the law was dispensed with the crack of a whip and the barrel of a gun. Pleasant Valley War Chronology

1879 -- James D. Tewksbury moves to Pleasant Valley and establishes a ranch on Cherry Creek with his new wife, toddler son Walter and three grown sons from an earlier marriage, Edwin, John, and James. They raised cattle and half wild hogs. (Phoenix Gazette) John's first wife, mother of John, Edwin, Frank and James was reportedly either a Hupa or Wiyot Indian (Hanchett) or Shoshone (Dedera).

1881 -- James Stinson moves his cattle into Pleasant Valley (Hanchett)

1882 -- the Graham brothers arrive in Pleasant Valley (Phoenix Gazette). The Grahams came to Pleasant Valley in response to an invitation by Ed Tewksbury to one of the Graham brothers John or Tom. (Hanchett, 17; Dedara, 38)

January 12 1883 -- confrontation between John Gilliland and Edwin Tewksbury. A party from the Stinson ranch, including John Gilliland (Stinson ranch foreman), Epitasio "Potash" Ruiz (Stinson Mexican ranch hand) and Elisha Gilliland (foreman Gilliland's cousin) ride to the upper Tewksbury Ranch on Cherry Creek (John Tewksbury's) to discuss alleged mis-branding of Stinson cattle by the Tewksburys. Ed, James, John, Frank and Mary Ann (John's wife) Tewksbury were at the ranch, together with Tom and John Graham (then friendly). A gunfight ensued between Ed Tewksbury on the one side and Stinson's foreman Gilliland and ranch hand Ruiz on the other. John Gilliland was shot in the shoulder, and Elisha Gilliland in the back while attempting to get away. (Hanchett, 17)

A complaint was filed in Strawberry against the Tewksbury and Graham brothers on behalf of the Stinson outfit with respect to the shooting. A posse was dispatched, arrested John, James and Frank Tewksbury and John Graham and escorted them to Pine Valley. In the meantime Ed Tewksbury and John Graham rode to Prescott and and filed a complaint against Gilliland and the Stinson group for the shooting, and warrants issued against the Stinson men. Stinson Foreman John Gilliland and ranch hand Ruiz were arrested and taken into custody. (Hanchett, 19)

February 1883 -- Gilliland and Ruiz are indicted in Prescott for the shooting.
A hearing was held in Pine Valley with respect to charges against the Tewksburys and Grahams. (Hanchett, 20) All charges against the Tewksburys and Graham were dropped.

May 1883 -- Gilliland and Ruiz are tried in Prescott for the shooting incident and found not guilty. (Hanchett, 20) Mary Ann Tewksbury, Tom Graham and John Graham both testified that Gilliland was first to draw his pistol. (Dedara, 43)

Spring 1883 -- Frank Tewksbury, after being subpoenaed as a witness for the Prescott hearing, dies of measles complicated by exposure during the trip to and from the hearing in Prescott. (Hanchett, 19; Dedara, 49)

November 1883 -- Grahams enter into a contract with Stinson under which the Grahams would receive 25 cows and 25 calves for each instance where they provide evidence leading to the conviction of someone rustling Stinson cattle. (Hanchett, 20)

1884 -- John Tewksbury whipped John Graham in a fistfight (Dedera, 71)

March 1884 -- John Graham recordsthe TE Connected brand (commonly known to be the brand used on cattle commonly owned by Tom Graham & Ed Tewksbury) in his own name

March 1884 -- Grahams record the contract with Stinson, and immediately file a series of complaints to the effect that the Tewksbury Brothers were rustling cattle from Stinson and from the Grahams. (Hanchett, 20)

July 1884 -- The Tewksbury Brothers are indicted for cattle rustling based on complaint filed by the Grahams. (Hanchett, 21) At trial, the contract between the Grahams and Stinson was put in evidence, and George Newton testified that Ed Tewksbury was in Globe at the time of the rustling providing an alibi. The charges against the Tewksburys were ultimately dropped. The Grahams charged with perjury by the judge. The perjury charges against the Grahams were also ultimately dismissed. (Hanchett, 21)

July 5, 1884 -- warrants issued against James Tewksbury and George Blaine for robbery of a store in Apache County. Tewksbury and Blaine were released on $3500 bonds, paid by William A. Daggs (Daggs Brothers sheep), secured by mortgages on John Tewksbury's crops and ranch. James Tewksbury was ultimately tried and found not guilty

July 23, 1884 -- Gunfight on Stinson ranch. George Blaine, John Tewksbury, William Richards and Ed Rose (Al Rose's brother) went to Stinson ranch to discuss planning for an upcoming round up. An argument broke out between Blaine and Marian McCann (Stinson's new foreman). A gunfight ensued, during which Blaine was severely wounded. John Tewksbury was also reportedly wounded.
(Hanchett, 26)

June 1885 -- Range Detective for Apache County Cattlemen's Association, Carr Blasingame, brings charges against the Grahams for cattle rustling. Grahams were indicted and released on $1000 bail. The bail was ultimately forfeited, but the charges were ultimately not pursued. (Hanchett, 26)

1885 -- Stinson leaves Pleasant Valley, selling out to the New York-based corporation Aztec Land and Cattle Company., the Hashknife brand outfit. The Hashknife outfit also acquired 500,000 acres of land from the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad between Holbrook and the Mongollon rim. (Hanchett, 38)

1885 -- Former Texas Ranger "Colonel" Jesse W. Ellison establishes ranch (Apple ranch) Between Pleasant Valley and Payson.

Spring 1886 -- Andy Cooper (Blevins) and Charlie Blevins come to Pleasant Valley, driving the Adams brothers (original Mormon settlers) from the Canyon Creek Ranch. Andy Cooper and Charlie Blevins are joined by brother Hampton Blevins, father "Old Man" Mart Blevins, and mother. (Hanchett, 38) Andy Cooper and his brothers were aligned with, and reputedly in the employ of, the Hashknife outfit. (Hanchett, 38; Dedera 82)

Summer 1886 -- The Hashknife outfit begins implementing an aggressive plan to control not only its own range, but also the government-owned open range, intimidating or forcing out any smaller outfits attempting to share the use of the open range (Hanchett, 43) Hashknife enforcers (John Payne, Andy Cooper Blevins, Zack Booth, Tom Tucker, Bob Glaspie, Thomas Covington) pistol whip sheepherders, terrorize Mormon settlers and small ranchers to drive them from the range. (Dedara, 110 et seq)

Summer 1886 -- The Tewksburys enter into agreement with the Daggs Brothers (largest wool shippers -- sheep men -- in Arizona) of Flagstaff to take two herds of sheep on shares

Summer 1886 -- William Jacobs cabin is burned (Dedara, 110)

Fall 1886 -- Confrontation between cowboy "Gladden" and Ed Tewksbury in Payson bar. (Dedara, 110)

Fall 1886 -- Herd of sheep driven over a cliff, and herders sent to carry word to the Tewksburys.

February 1887 -- A sheepherder hired by the Daggs Brothers to help drive sheep through Pleasant Valley is killed, and reportedly beheaded. The Grahams are suspected of committing the killing; Indian trackers hired by Daggs Brothers reportedly followed the killers to the Graham cabin. The Tewksbury's reportedly either had an interest in the sheep herd or had been hired by the Daggs brothers to protect the herd. (Hanchett, 38; Dedara 111)

February-March 1887 -- Andy Cooper is sent out by the Grahams to obtain (coerce) signatures on a "Tewksbury scalp" contract: "We the stock men of Pleasant Valley, who signed our names below, agreed to pay Cooper Blevins fifty dollars for each and every one of the Tewksburys scalps" (Dedara, 115)

July 1887 -- "Old Man " (Mart) Blevins, father of gunfighter Andy Cooper (Blevins) Hamp Blevins and Charlie Blevins, leaves his ranch to search for horses and disappears. His sons believe he was ambushed. (Phoenix Gazette, Hanchett, 53) Mart Blevins, though known as "Old Man" Blevins, was less than 50 years old (Dedara, 115)

August 1887 -- Hashknife outfit (Aztec Land And Cattle Company) sued the Daggs brothers claiming the rights to part of the Daggs (sheep) Ranch. The Daggs Brothers counterclaim for damages. (Hanchett, 43)

August 9, 1987 -- Gunfight at Middleton ranch. John and Ed Tewksbury (with Jim Roberts, George Wilson and WB Edmundson) were visiting George Newton at the Middleton Ranch when Hamp Blevins and Hashknife cowboys John Payne, Thomas Carrington, Robert Glaspie, and Tom Tucker arrive at the Middleton ranch (then owned by George Newton). In some reports they were "seeking information" about Mart Blevins disappearance. In other reports (McClintock papers) the Hashknife cowboys had "come to run everybody off, after giving ranchers a certain time to leave the country", rather than investigating Mart Blevins disappearance (Dedara 122). A gunfight erupts. Hamp Blevins and John Payne were killed, were Tucker and Glaspie wounded. (Phoenix Gazette; Hanchett, 54; Dedara, 120)

After the gunfight, apparently concerned either attack by a larger party or the potential for arrest, the Tewksbury faction abandoned the Middleton ranch and fled to the forest.

The next day, a group including Charlie Blevins, Thomas Carrington, Al and Ed Rose, Bill Voris, Miguel Apodaca, and Lewis Parker burned down the Middleton ranch

August 17, 1887 -- Billy Graham killed on trail. Billy Graham, the youngest Graham son is killed in gunfight with Apache County Deputy Sheriff James Houck. According to Deputy Sheriff Houck, while attempting to serve a warrant on John Graham, he encountered Billy Graham on the trail. (Dedara, 134) A gunfight ensued, during which Billy was shot and ultimately died. (Phoenix Gazette) Billy was shot through the abdomen, and eviscerated. (Dedera, 174) However, Graham partisans (G. O Sixby, Louis Gruwell, and Al Rose) testified that at a corner's inquest that before he died Billy Graham claimed that he had been shot by Ed Tewksbury. (Hanchett, 59) Billy Graham is buried in the cemetery in Young.

Late August 1887 -- Sheriff Mulvenon and posse come to Pleasant Valley to investigate Middleton ranch gunfight.

September 2, 1887 -- Ambush at the James D. Tewksbury Ranch The Grahams, Andy Cooper, and others ambush and kill John Tewksbury and William Jacobs at the James D. Tewksbury Ranch (now the Tilting H. Ranch). (Phoenix Gazette; Hanchett, 73; Dedara 135). John Tewksbury and William Jacobs were camping out in the woods (presumably in hiding from Sheriff Mulvenon posse). When returning to the ranch along Cherry Creek, John Tewksbury and Jacobs were ambushed and killed. Mary Ann Tewksbury (John's wife) and a guest, schoolteacher Mrs. Crouch, went to investigate and were driven back to the cabin by gunfire. Gun men kept the Tewksbury women pinned down in the cabin for at least three days. The rocky streambed where the bodies lay made it difficult to dig a grave, the best that could be done was to cover the corpses with sheets held down with rocks during nighttime forays. Half wild hogs half devoured the bodies (Dedera 135; Forrest 98) (Hanchett's partisan account contends that corner's inquest testimony did not mention the depredation by hogs)

It is unclear as to precisely who was present in the cabin. Father J. D. Tewksbury, his wife Lydia, and young children were, according to some accounts, in Salt River Valley, and Ed and Jim and Jim Roberts were hiding (from the Mulvenon posse) in the mountains. Others contend that J. D., Lydia, and Marianne Tewksbury, Bertha Acton, Mrs. Crouch and John Rhodes were in the cabin. (Dedera, 135) By yet other accounts, Edwin, James, and father James D. held off the attackers. (Phoenix Gazette).
John Tewksbury and William Jacobs are buried across Cherry Creek from the ranch.

September 4, 1887 -- Gunfight in Holbrook between Apache County Sheriff Commodore Perry Owens and Graham partisans Andy Cooper (Blevins), Sam Houston Blevins, John Blevins and Mose Roberts. Cooper, Sam Blevins and Mose Roberts are killed and John Blevins seriously wounded. (Phoenix Gazette; Dedera, 139) Sheriff Owens was serving an arrest warrant on Andy Cooper, and the gunfight ensued.

September 10, 1887 -- Arizona Governor C. Meyer Zulick sends Yavapai County Sheriff William Mulvenon and 20 man posse to arrest all feud participants. (Phoenix Gazette; Dedera 155)

September 16, 1887 -- Gunfight At Rock Springs. The Grahams raid a Tewksbury encampment in Canyon Creek. One of the Graham faction is killed and another wounded. Both factions elude the Mulvenon posse. (Phoenix Gazette; Dedara, 161) The Tewksburys (Ed and Jim Tewksbury, Jim Roberts, George Newton) were camped not far from the Cherry Creek Ranch. The Graham partisans attacked the Tewksbury camp from horseback at dawn. Graham partisan Harry Middleton (reportedly a Hashknife cowboy) was killed, and Joe Ellenwood wounded. In some accounts, Tom Graham was also wounded. (Dedara, 162)

September 25, 1887 -- Gunfight at Perkins Store . The Mulvenon posse catches John Graham and Charlie Blevins at Perkins store in Pleasant Valley (now Young). John Graham and Charlie Blevins are killed in the ensuing gunfight. (Phoenix Gazette) The posse included (apparently among others) Sheriff William Mulvenon, Deputy Jim Houck, Deputy Francis, Deputy Joe T. McKinney, Const. E. F. Odell, Osmer Flake, William Birch. By some accounts Jim Roberts and perhaps other Tewksbury partisans were also part of the posse. There were approximately 14 men in the posse arrayed around the outside of Perkins store. John Graham and Charlie Blevins approached on horseback. When Sheriff Mulvenon stepped out from behind the building and told them they were under arrest, they pulled their pistols and attempted to flee. Sheriff Mulvenon shut them down. (Dedera, 164) John Graham is buried in the cemetery in Young.

After hearing about the gunfight at Perkins store, Jim and Ed Tewksbury, Jim Roberts, George Newton and Jake Laufer (and perhaps others) surrender to Mulvenon (Phoenix Gazette; Dedera 168)

October 8, 1887 -- Tom Graham moves to Tempe and marries Anne Melton. (Phoenix Gazette) Tom Grahams Ranch is taken over by S. W. Young, father of Ola Young. (Forrest)

Summer 1887 -- Committee of 50 Formed. Local ranchers form vigilante group cleanup Pleasant Valley. Graham partisans and others are lynched. (Phoenix Gazette) Colonel J. W. Ellison was "chairman" of the vigilante group. (Dedera, 184)

November 1887 -- A grand jury in Prescott indicts the Grahams and Tewksbury's on various charges (Phoenix Gazette) A Prescott grand jury indicted Ed and Jim Tewksbury, Jim Roberts, Joe Boyer, George Newton, Jacob Lauffer, and George Wagner for the Middleton (Newton) ranch shooting of Hamp Blevins. Tom Graham, Louis Parker "and others" (Miguel Apodaca) were indicted, presumably for the ambush at the Cherry Creek Ranch (Dedera, 182)

November 1887 -- Al Rose is killed. By one account Rose was shot by Ed Tewksbury, by other accounts Al Rose was lynched by the Committee of 50 (Dedera, 185)

March 1888 -- James Stott and Tom Tucker are charged with stealing horses from Jake Lauffer, but acquitted (Dedera, 188)

June 1888 -- Cases against Grahams and Tewksburys dismissed when witnesses refused to testify. The trial was postponed and ultimately dismissed (Phoenix Gazette; Dedera, 182)
August 1888 -- Jake Lauffer at his ranch on lower Cherry Creek is shot in the arm from ambush

August 15, 1888 -- Jim Stott, Billy Wilson, and Jim Scott are lynched (Dedera, 192)

September 20, 1888 -- John Blevins is sentenced to five years in Yuma territorial prison for participation in Holbrook gunfight with Sheriff Owens. (Phoenix Gazette)

September 1891 -- George Newton, Tewksbury partisan, disappears while returning to his ranch (the Flying V) from Globe. (Phoenix Gazette; Dedera, 211) Tom Graham and Charlie Duchet (Tom Graham's bodyguard) are suspected.

August 2, 1892 -- Tom Graham is shot and killed in Tempe. Edwin Tewksbury and John Rhodes are charged (Phoenix Gazette)

August 19, 1892 -- charges against John Rhodes dismissed at preliminary hearing (Phoenix Gazette)

December 23, 1893 -- Edwin Tewksbury's convicted of Tom Graham's murder after seven day trial in Tucson. A retrial is granted for procedural error. (Phoenix Gazette)

February 1895 -- Edwin Tewksbury retried for Tom Graham's murder, resulting in a hung jury, and freed on bail. (Phoenix Gazette)

March 2, 1896 -- charges against Edwin Tewksbury dropped (Phoenix Gazette)

April 4, 1904 -- Ed Tewksbury dies in Globe (Phoenix Gazette)

January 8, 1934 -- Tewksbury partisan Jim Roberts, "the best gunfighter of them all" dies in Clarksville Arizona (Forrest)

May 21, 1945 -- Walter Tewksbury dies in Prescott Arizona (Forrest)

By all accounts what is now the Tilting H Ranch, then owned by James D. Tewksbury, the patriarch of the Tewksbury clan, was the site of one of the most infamous ambushes of the Pleasant Valley war. The Graham partisans (reportedly Tom Graham, Andy Cooper Blevins, and others) ambushed and killed John Tewksbury and William Jacobs, then, from the top of Ambush Hill, pinned down the remaining Tewksburys in the cabin for a number of days.

Please enjoy this creative narrative taken from the view points of Tom Graham and John Tewksbury that we have put together from a collection of stories surrounding the infamous cabin ambush. The sun was high, the plain grass dry as the scene on Ambush Hill unfolded…

Laying flat on his belly, Tom Graham peered over the brittle plain grass atop the knoll on Ambush Hill. Grunting, he shifted and dislodged one of the many small rocks scattered across the rolling hills that had managed to worm its way under his raw hide leather jacket. A wind whipping carelessly across the valley carried with it the first tinge of autumn chill, brisk in the low morning light.

“Are you sure about this?” Tom whispered to the man at his side.
“Are you not?” the man replied with the touch of a frown creasing his leathery face. “These sheep-lovers have caused us enough problems already, Tom. And I mean to see it end today.”

Andy “Cooper” Blevins was as tough of a man as there was by all accounts, known for his quick tempers and even quicker decisions to act on them. His baby face belied his reputation as a gunfighter. Normally fastidiously clean, he wore dusty, rumpled clothes. The last few days creeping through the Arizona brush afforded him little time to shave and no change of clothes.

It was the butt of a rifle rested between the crook of his arm, its point directed towards the creek bed beyond cabin at the base of the sloping hill, that had Tom's attention though. The twin to his own held closely against the ground.
He looked up to make sure his brother John was in position. John was with the group at the top of the hill overlooking the Tewksbury cabin. Their job was to pin down the Tewksburys in the cabin, and make sure that they stay put. He waved at John, who acknowledged with a wave of his own.

Tom studied Andy for a moment more before returning his gaze to peer across the length of his own rifle.

Tewksbury Barn

Andy had it hot for those two, John Tewksbury and William Jacobs. He and his Hashknife cowboy friends had burned Jacobs cabin earlier that summer. Andy said it was because of Jacobs' connection to the Mormon sheep men. Of course, the $50 that the Hashknife outfit gave him for “encouraging” Jacobs stop his competing use of the range, might have played into it. Now, the Tewksburys had killed Andy's brother, Hamp and his friend John Payne in a gunfight at the old Middleton Ranch.

To be honest, Tom relished the idea of putting Tewksbury and Jacobs under a mound of dirt himself. While the official word was that Sheriff Houck had shot his little brother Billy, but he was sure that the Tewksbury boys had a hand in it somehow.

The Tewksburys and their bunch had been hiding out somewhere in the forest since the gunfight at Middleton's ranch. They obviously had gotten word that Sheriff Mulvenon was in town with a posse. Tom and his brother John figured, correctly, that it was just a matter of time before the Tewksburys checked in with the ranch. One of Graham's bunch had spotted Tewksbury and Jacobs in a camp just off of Cherry Creek last night. Now, the men had broken camp and were moving slowly up Cherry Creek towards old man Tewksbury's cabin.

“They're coming, Tom. They'll be along this way any time now” muttered Andy. “Wait ‘till they both make it out past Crouch Creek we'll take ‘em before they even know what hit ‘em.”

Tom surveyed Andy's stern countenance that Andy . His face was contorted into a feral snarl. Once again, Tom was glad that Andy was on his side. The man had a gleam in his eye that sent a shiver down his spine.

The resonant sound of horses hooves on rock alerted Tom to their targets approach. He gave a quick signal to his brother on the hilltop, and readied his rifle.
***
Pleasant Valley War Victims

John Tewksbury was not a tall man, but carried himself with all the confidence and propriety of a man twice his size as he led his horse along the dry creek bed. Square jawed, sun bronzed and normally clean-shaven, he quickly took in the brisk morning atmosphere.

“Let's be on with this John,” mumbled the voice from behind him. "Let's check in with the womenfolk, and head on out to Rock Springs before Mulvenon shows up …"

"I'm not worried about Mulvenon. Ed was talking about surrendering to him anyway, once things calm down, and we can be sure the Grahams won't shoot us down when we turn over our guns. I'm more concerned about an ambush... the Grahams just jumping out from behind a rock and shooting." Little did he know that his words were prophetic.

The barn and corral came into view as the pair passed the gully known as Crouch Creek. A frown creeped onto John's face as a premonition made the hairs upon his neck shoot out, trying to crawl their way up his scalp.

“Something's not…” he heard Bill say before he felt a smashing impact, then heard twin sounds of thunder piercing the silence of the morning, crashing against the valley rim.

The sky is so blue today, thought John, curiously wondering why he suddenly found himself on his back. Is it raining, why is my coat wet? Lifting a hand to his jacket, he pulled away a calloused hand coated in red.
Blood? My blood.

A trickle of noise floated into his ears, muffled as if giant cotton swaps were stuffed in them. He heard the sound of rocks shifting underfoot, and the shadow of a man passed over him. He saw Tom Graham poised over him, readying to crush his skull with a small boulder.

He heard the sharp squeals of his father's half wild hogs, disturbed from their foraging along the creek by the gunfire, and the sound of a woman screaming. The boulder came rushing towards his head. The last thought that ran across his mind before falling into blackness was what would become of his wife Mary Ann, and their unborn child?

John Tewksbury & Bill Jacobs died that day in what would set off a firestorm across Pleasant Valley. The Graham partisans, kept the Tewksbury family pinned down in their cabin with a steady barrage of fire for a number of days. During that time the essentially feral hogs that had the run of the Tewksbury Ranch came across the bodies of Tewksbury and Jacobs and partially devoured them. the Grahams gunfire prevented the Tewksbury women from attending to their dead.

The rocky ground along Cherry Creek made it essentially impossible to dig a grave. The best that Mary Ann Tewksbury could do was to cover the bodies with blankets weighted down with rocks. Later, after the siege was finally lifted, what was left of the bodies of John Tewksbury and William Jacobs were carried a few hundred yards on the far side of Cherry Creek and buried in a common grave.

Days later, while in Holbrook Andy Cooper bragged openly about shooting both Tewksbury and Jacobs. What would follow is one of the most notorious shootings in Arizona.

Sheriff Commodore Perry Owens of Apache Junction was in Holbrook when he heard word of Cooper's tale. Owens, who already had an arrest warrant out for Cooper, went to the Blevins family home. When Owens reached the Blevins home, armed with both pistol and rifle, Cooper refused to let him enter, opening the door only a crack for him to look out. Cooper moved to raise his six shooter and Owens shot through the crack with his rifle and killed him. By the time of the shooting stopped, Sheriff Owens had killed not only Andy Cooper, but also Cooper's 15-year-old brother Sam Blevins and Mose Roberts and seriously wounded Cooper's brother John Blevins. This was perhaps the most noted gunfight in all Arizona's frontier history.

Within a few weeks of the gunfight in Holbrook, John Graham and Charlie Blevins were gunned down by the Mulvenon posse when resisting arrest at Perkins store in Pleasant Valley (now Young).

A few years later, Tom Graham was gunned down in Tempe, reportedly by Ed Tewksbury and John Rhodes (both of whom were ultimately acquitted of murder charges).

When the dust settled after five years of heated conflict, anywhere from 17 to 28 people were killed, depending upon the account that you read. None of the Graham and only one of the Blevins fighters involved in the feud survived. The story of the Pleasant Valley War lives on in history as one of the deadliest feuds in all of the West.

Last Updated on Monday, 28 September 2009 13:51

Room Amenities

Room Amenities
The Main Lodge includes:
- Five bedrooms plus loft that sleep up to 19
- King, queen and double beds
- Crib and pullout bed are available

Bunkhouse includes:
- Three bedrooms, .that sleep up to 20
- The Bunkhouse Commons Suite (sleeps 8) includes private kitchen
- King, queen, double and twin beds
- Access to washer and dryer.

Perfect for families with lots of children and extended stays

Additional features:
Enjoy spectacular bed and breakfast cooking at the main lodge. Chef service available for other meals.
- Free WiFi
- Free Gun lockers
- Free Meeting space

To maintain the natural environment around the lodge we are
solar-powered and green friendly.

Testimonials

“The untouched natural beauty surrounding Cherry Creek Lodge is what truly makes it a jewel amidst the Arizona landscape.” - Matthew Dutile, Phoenix"

Cherry Creek Lodge is indeed a Lodge, but owners Sharon and Michael Lechter operate it more like a B&B , which means some meals -- the most delicious food you'll ever eat -- are included and guests are invited to make themselves at home. - Robert Stieve, Arizona Highways Magazine, January 2010"

“The history of the Pleasant Valley Wars was just fascinating… sitting up on Ambush Hill you really can imagine yourself back in the old west.” - Gregg Edgar, Gilbert"

“Stunning vistas in every direction delighted the eye and the soul. A true retreat.” - Lois Olson"

“Cherry Creek Lodge is a perfect setting for a corporate retreat that demands a secluded, elegant location for making important decisions and bonding.” - Dwight Olson"