Double Murder Near Springerville in Luna Valley (1888)
Lead
Following a horse race, a crowd gathered at the store of Sperling Brothers & Taylor in the Luna Valley near Springerville, Arizona, where they were drinking and playing cards [1][2]. A man named Pitman and Billy Smith got into a wrangle, and Pitman drew a six-shooter on Smith [1][2]. Smith, unarmed, opened his coat and told Pitman to shoot [1][2]. When Pitman learned Smith had no weapon, he told him to go arm himself [1][2]. Smith retrieved his pistol from inside the store, but friends intervened and prevented him from returning outside [1][2].
Sources
- Particulars of the double murder which… (1888)Particulars of the double murder which occurred near Springerville, Arizona, in the Luna valley, recently, have been received and are as follows: There had been a horse race, after which the crowd gathered at th…
- Silver City Enterprise — 1888-1890 (full OCR, Internet Archive) — 1888-03-23 (1888)set fire to it. The robbers proved themselves game by coming out fighting. A regular battle occurred between the authorities and train robbers in which all the robbers, Sheehan, Johnson and Hart, were killed…