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:''This event should not be confused with the Skeleton Canyon Massacres of 1879 and 1881.'' The Skeleton Canyon shootout was a gunfight on August 12, 1896, between members of the High Five Gang and a posse of American lawmen. Following a failed robbery on August 1 of the bank in Nogales, Arizona, the High Fives headed east and split up. The gang's leader, Black Jack Christian, and George Musgrave got away. Three others, including Bob Christian, were engaged by the posse at the entrance of Skeleton Canyon. This gorge in the Peloncillo Mountains had historically been used by smugglers, bandits, and legitimate travelers between the United States and Mexico. The outlaws fought off their pursuers, killing Frank Robson, and escaped into New Mexico Territory.〔 〕 Pursuit continued through the month, as Black Jack and Musgrave surfaced in other areas, as did the other three. Other men joined the posse, and the United States Marshal of New Mexico Territory acquired aid from United States Army forces already in the area for the Apache Campaign in the Peloncillos. The pursuers did not catch up with the bandits for many months. ==Background== Black Jack Christian and his older brother Bob were leaders of the outlaw High Five Gang, but at least six other men rode with them at times, including Bob Hayes, George West Musgrave, Van Musgrave, Code Young, Sid Moore, and "Three Fingered" Jack Dunlop. After working as cowboys in Arizona, on July 20, 1896, the High Fives held up a general store in Separ, New Mexico. They made off with around $200 and some merchandise, trading some of their loot to local ranchers for food and lodging. By August 1, 1896, the High Fives were holed up on the Babocomari grant, in the San Pedro Valley north of Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Together with Ed Roberts, a wealthy rancher and associated of Musgrave, they planned to rob the International Bank of Nogales in Arizona, located near the international border. Roberts was to arrange to withdraw $10,000 in specie and bills, purportedly to pay the unpopular tariff for importing some Mexican cattle. But, Roberts intended to have the High Fives steal the money. The bank was in a two-story building that also held stores for groceries and hardware. On August 6, the clerks in the bank prepared the cash and coins for Robert's large withdrawal, scheduled to take place at 1:00 pm. The bank's president, John Dessart, had the money taken out of the vault and stacked on the counter in preparation. Sometime after 12:00 pm, the High Fives entered town, riding next to the railroad down Morley Avenue and toward the bank. At lunchtime, it was quiet. Black Jack, George Musgrave, and Bob Hayes dismounted and went inside, while Bob Christian and Code Young remained outside to watch the horses.〔 Another source says that Three Fingered Jack was the fifth man in the robbery, rather than Code Young. Inside the bank, the cashier, Major Fred Herrera, sat behind the counter while John Dessart stood at a desk working on balances. Hayes covered the cashier, Black Jack watched Dessart, and Musgrave moved behind the counter with a sack for the loot. Herrera handed stacks of cash over the counter to Dessart, who filled the bag. Musgrave walked to the rear to check it out. Through a double door, he saw four men meeting in the bank's parlor; Morgan R. Wise, a consular agent; W.L. Campbell of Calabasas, Robert Ekey, a Santa Cruz County rancher; and Judge Ed Williams, Ekey's attorney. About then, Major A.O. Brummel entered the bank to join the meeting; Musgrave seized him and moved him toward the back, but this activity distracted Black Jack, and Dessart ran out the front door. Black Jack struck and wounded Dessart in the head with his rifle, but the president reached the exterior, running and calling to Herry Lewis on the street, to telephone the police. Black Jack threatened Lewis with his pistol and prevented him from calling anyone. Distracted, Musgrave and Hayes lost control of the men in the parlor, and the five escaped out the back door of the bank. Major Fred Herrera got his pistol from under the counter and fired it at Hayes. Running through the front door, Hayes bumped into Black Jack. Herrera also shot at Musgrave, hitting him in the knee as he ran out the back. The bandit passed through the hardware store to join his gang in front. As they mounted up, Frank King, a deputy customs inspector, opened fire from across the street, wounding both Musgrave's and Black Jack's horses. Black Jack pulled Musgrave up behind him, and the High Fives took off on four horses, with Musgrave's riderless horse trailing closely. As they passed the Montezuma Hotel, a Treasury Department inspector named Ben E. Hambleton grabbed a rifle and mounted a horse to pursue. Passing the Nogales Electric, Light, Ice and Water Company building, the gang was fired on by two employees. At the end of town, they were fired on by two other Nogales residents. The "bullet marks scarred much of downtown Nogales," but the only fatalities were animals: a horse hit by Black Jack and a mule by Major Herrera. Diego Ramirez of Nogales said that the High Fives made off with $40,000; however, Johnny Clarke, the son of a posse member who pursued the outlaws to Skeleton Canyon, said that "it was never known if they got away with the money or not."〔 According to the Tanners, the gang did not gain $40,000, or even the $10,000 that was arranged. The newspapers of both Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Mexico reported that "not a cent was lost."〔 Just outside town, the outlaws rode east up Beck Canyon, where they split up. Black Jack and Musgrave went to Ed Robert's ranch, located on the upper San Pedro River. Bob Christian, Bob Hayes and Code Young crossed the border into Sonora, near the San Antonio Pass in the Patagonia Mountains. They were pursued by a posse from Nogales, led by Customs Collector Samuel F. Webb, but the lawmen eventually abandoned the pursuit several days later on August 8. From the border town of Lochiel, the posse had traveled fifteen miles into Sonora, but finally had to turn back because they lacked fresh mounts. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Skeleton Canyon shootout」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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