William Walters (Broncho Bill)
William Walters, also known as Broncho Bill, along with Mike McGinnis, followed a group of miners from Hachita to Separ in October 1890 intending to rob them, especially a miner named Jackson who was thought to have $480 [1]. After the miners retired for the night, Walters and McGinnis shot up the boarding house to scare Jackson out, but he escaped with his money [1]. The robbers then took his gripsack and hid it in a pile of ties, where it was later found by officers [1]. Enraged, they went to the telegraph office in night clothes, tried to kill a miner there, and terrorized the depot while the operator wired Lordsburg for help [2][3]. Sheriff Whitehill and Robert Black arrived by train and found the desperadoes asleep; when awakened, Walters tried to draw his revolver from beside him in bed but it had slid out of reach [2][3]. He reviled the officers, claiming they had taken a sneaking advantage [3].
Sources
- Separ Shooting (1890)Separ ShootingThe little railroad station of Separ is fast gaining notoriety for shooters and shooting scrapes. The latest up to date occurring on Thursday of last week, being a most atrocious and dastardly piece…
- Separ Shooting (1890)money which they sup- posed to be in his grip sack. They did scare him and he ran out of the house in his shirt sleeves without hat or coat but took his money with him. The robbers then took his gripsack …
- Silver City Enterprise — 1888-1890 (full OCR, Internet Archive) — 1890-10-17 (1890)dressed only in their night clothes, they tried to kill a miner there await- ing the train and inaugurated a reign of terror at the depot, much to the annoyance of the lady operator, who during all this ti…