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Hello history fans. In our last episode Richard Gird was advised to flee the Arizona Territory due to a groundless but troublesome lawsuit. From its inception Millville was but one of Gird’s great achievements, and without Millville Charleston would never have existed.

But in his absence the outlaw element against which he railed was busy with mayhem. An outbreak of violence along the San Pedro River occurred and a beloved lady of Charleston suffered a tragic fate.

“Shooting Near the San Pedro—The Contrabandists Escape”

“Wednesday night, between the hours of ten and eleven o’clock, the custom-house guards at San Pedro and about twenty contrabandists had an interesting time. The smugglers had been purchasing goods at this city and Charleston for the past week, and having packed the booty on good horses, resolved to cheat the revenue laws of their country by making a dash into Sonora without paying duty on the goods. An agent of the custom-house at this city, kept his eye on the adventurers during their stay at this place and kept the custom-house officials duly posted. The smugglers, who were all well armed and mounted, were confronted by several custom-house guards when they had proceeded about three miles into Sonora. They were ordered to direct their steps to the custom-house or surrender their goods as contraband. This they positively refused to do and some animated shooting immediately began. The smugglers raised a whoop and charged into the country firing a volley at the guards as they started. The guards pursued and kept up a continual fire on the retreating contrabandists. The latter formed a rear guard for defense and intrusted (sic) the pack animals to a minority of the party who pushed ahead as rapidly as possible. The night was pretty dark and the shooting was not very accurate. One of the guards named Thomas Santos received a severe bullet wound in the arm, but as far as known the smugglers were unhurt. The chase was kept up for several hours, but the adventurers had the best stock and gradually got out of sight of the officials. At last accounts the guards were on their trail, and hopes were entertained that the crowd would be captured. They branched off from the Sonora river about twenty miles north of Baucauchi, and took a south easterly direction. It is supposed that they were heading for Cumpas.”

Tragedy would later strike the wife of the owner of Charleston’s celebrated Eagle Hotel. “Tuesday’s Record-Epitaph contains an account of the sad death of Mrs. Garlock, of Charleston, wife of the proprietor of the Eagle Hotel, at that place. While endeavoring to light a fire with the aid of coal-oil, the fluid became ignited, causing an explosion of the can, the burning oil saturating her clothing and enveloping her in a sheet of flames. Assistance did not reach her in time to accomplish any good, and the poor woman died in great agony a few hours later.”

Of the kindness extended to his wife, Mr. Garlock would soon write the following: “I desire to extend through your columns my sincere thanks to those who were so kind to me in my late trouble, attendant upon the unfortunate accident which befel(l) my beloved wife on Monday afternoon, and especially to the following ladies of Charleston, who by their tender care made her last hours on earth comfortable. Mrs. E.D. Waffle and others, who were so kind to me in my sorrow and distress. Respectfully E.G. (Eugene T.) Garlock.”

“One of the saddest occurrences that has ever taken place in Charleston was the funeral of the late Mrs. E T Garlock, which took place at 8 o’clock this morning. The business houses closed while the silent procession filed through the streets on its way to Fairbank, where the body was to be placed on the train and begin its long journey to the land where the deceased had passed her girl hood days, and where anxious hearts had bid her a last good bye; there to be laid under the sod of her birth place. About fifty people accompanied the remains to Fairbank. Arriving there the scene was a sad one and heart rendering and not a dry eye was to be seen. Mr. Garlock accompanied the remains. The death of Mrs. Garlock has cast a sorrowful gloom over the town of Charleston, where she was a universal favorite.”

The summer of 1885 would long be remembered by residents of Charleston for the continuing decline of local fortunes, and the Garlock tragedy. As the residents of Charleston faced an uncertain future, some took time to look back at how it all began. For Herman Welisch, it may have been that he was not suited for Charleston’s many excesses, but he was drawn back to the “capital city of the San Pedro,” anyway. Whether it was nostalgia of having built a business out of limited means, memories of boom times, or just the cold hard cash, one thing was clear — Charleston was not for everyone, and even some of its strongest supporters and success stories found Charleston an acquired taste. On some level they cared about this dynamic locale as they had helped to build it, and it in turn gave them a place to do business, and a place to call home.

JOHN D. ROSE has lived in Sierra Vista and its area since 1966 and has published seven books, numerous articles on his website, WyattEarpExplorers.com, and has been featured in Arizona Highways, worked as consulting editor to Wild West Magazine, and appeared on the Voice of America, among others. His books can be found at the Sierra Vista, Bisbee and Benson Ace Hardware stores. Most importantly, he was once carrier of the month as a Herald/Dispatch paper boy in his younger days.

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