Pete Spence (born Elliot Larkin Ferguson; 1852–1914) was a small-time criminal known for his association with outlaw Cowboys Frank and

Tom McLaury Tom McLaury (June 30, 1853 – October 26, 1881) was an American outlaw. He and his brother Frank owned a ranch outside Tombstone, Arizona, Arizona Territory during the 1880s. He was a member of a group of outlaws Cowboys and cattle rustlers ...

, and Ike and Billy Clanton, of Tombstone,

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

. Spence was also a suspect in the assassination of

Morgan Earp Morgan Seth Earp (April 24, 1851 – March 18, 1882) was an American sheriff and lawman. He served as Tombstone, Arizona's Special Policeman when he helped his brothers Virgil and Wyatt, as well as Doc Holliday, confront the outlaw Cochise ...

. His wife Marietta Duarte testified that Spence and several friends had talked about killing Morgan, but the judge ruled her testimony inadmissible. Spence was first suspected of robbery in 1878 in Goliad County, Texas. He was suspected of stealing mules and later a suspect in a stagecoach robbery outside Bisbee, Arizona. While a deputy sheriff, he pistol-whipped and killed a man for which he served 18 months of a five-year term before the governor pardoned him.

Origins

In the 1880 Tombstone census he gave his age as 28, born in Texas, and listed his occupation as stock raiser. He was also reported as having been born in Louisiana in 1850. Little is known about his youth, but he enlisted in the Texas Rangers under Captain Wallace in 1874.

From Texas to Arizona

Ferguson was wanted for robbery in Goliad Co., Texas in 1878 and left the area for the

near Bisbee and Tombstone where he began using the name of Peter M. Spencer. He was one of a number of outlaws from Texas who sought sanctuary on the

American frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

and the

wild west The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

. Locally known as Cowboys, Tombstone resident George Parson wrote in his diary, "A Cowboy is a rustler at times, and a rustler is a synonym for desperado—bandit, outlaw, and horse thief.".

Life in Tombstone

In Tombstone, Arizona Territory, Spence lived immediately across the street from the Earps in a house which still stands in Tombstone. For a time he ran Vogan's Saloon. In October, 1880 Spence was charged with grand larceny on a charge of possessing stolen Mexican mules, but was not convicted. Spence was a business partner of

Frank Stilwell Frank C. Stilwell (1856 – March 20, 1882) was an outlaw Cowboy who killed at least two men in Cochise County during 1877–82. Both killings were considered to have been self-defense. For four months he was a deputy sheriff in Tombstone, A ...

in the Franklin Mine and other mining ventures, and also in a Bisbee saloon. On August 12, 1881, he married Marietta Duarte.

Sandy Bob stage robbery

On September 8, 1881, a passenger stage on the Sandy Bob line in the Tombstone, Arizona area bound for Bisbee was held up by two masked men. They robbed all of the passengers of their valuables since the stage was not carrying a strongbox. During their robbery the driver heard one of the robbers describe the money as "sugar", a phrase known to be used by

. Stilwell had until the prior month been a deputy for Sheriff

Johnny Behan John Harris Behan (October 24, 1844 – June 7, 1912) was an American law enforcement officer and politician who served as Sheriff of Cochise County in the Arizona Territory, during the gunfight at the O.K. Corral and was known for his opposi ...

but had been fired for "accounting irregularities". Deputy U.S. Marshal

Virgil Earp Virgil Walter Earp (July 18, 1843 – October 19, 1905) was both deputy U.S. Marshal and Tombstone, Arizona City Marshal when he led his younger brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and Doc Holliday, in a confrontation with outlaw Cowboys at the Gunf ...

assisted by his brother Wyatt and Sheriff's posse led by Behan attempted to track the Bisbee stage robbers. At the scene of the holdup, Wyatt discovered an unusual boot print left by someone wearing a custom-repaired boot heel. The Earps checked a shoe repair shop in Bisbee known to provide widened boot heels, and were able to link the boot print to Frank Stilwell. Stilwell had just arrived in Bisbee with Spence, his livery stable partner, and Virgil and Wyatt arrested both of them at the stable, for the stage robbery, on September 10.

Cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

friends provided Stilwell and Spence with an

alibi An alibi (from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person, who is a possible perpetrator of a crime, of where they were at the time a particular offence was committed, which is somewhere other than where the crim ...

, saying they were elsewhere during the robbery, and the state robbery charges were dropped. Spence and Stilwell were re-arrested on October 13 by Virgil Earp for the Bisbee robbery on a new federal charge of interfering with a mail carrier. The Cowboys saw the Earp's filing of federal charges as further evidence they were being unfairly harassed and targeted by the Earps. They let the Earps know that they could expect retaliation. Local newspapers erroneously reported that Spence and Stilwell had been arrested for a different stage robbery that occurred on October 8 near Contention City. Stilwell was in jail in Tucson on these federal charges on the day of the

gunfight A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only in ...

on October 26, 1881, but Spence had been released several days before.

Role in killing Morgan Earp

At 10:50 p.m. on Saturday, March 18, 1882,

was shot by assailants who fired through a glass-windowed, locked door at the Campbell & Hatch Billiard Parlor in Tombstone. At the time, Morgan was playing a late round of

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions ...

against owner Bob Hatch. The shooters narrowly missed Wyatt Earp, who was watching the game. Spence's wife, Marietta Duarte, testified at the coroner's inquest that her husband,

, Frederick Bode, Florentino "Indian Charlie" Cruz, and a half-breed named Fries bragged about shooting Morgan. Her husband had threatened her with violence if she told what she knew. The

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner's jur ...

's jury concluded that Spence and his accomplices were the suspects in Morgan's assassination. When she was called to testify at Spence's preliminary hearing, the defense objected because her testimony was

hearsay Hearsay evidence, in a legal forum, is testimony from an under-oath witness who is reciting an out-of-court statement, the content of which is being offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. In most courts, hearsay evidence is inadmi ...

and because a spouse could not testify against her husband. The judge agreed and dismissed the charges. However, when Wyatt Earp learned of the coroner's jury findings, he took action on his own. After escorting the still recuperating Virgil to the rail road in Tucson, he found Frank Stilwell lying in wait and killed him. Assembling a federal posse, he set out to find and kill the remaining Cowboys whose friends' alibis or legal technicalities had gotten them off. Spence owned a ranch and woodcutting camp at South Pass in the Dragoon Mountains, where he employed Indian Charlie Cruz. Cruz was the lookout during the Morgan Earp shooting. On March 20, 1882, Wyatt Earp and a federal posse arrived at Spence's camp and asked for him. But Spence had turned himself in to Cochise County Sheriff

figuring he was safer behind bars. When the Earp posse learned Spence was in jail, they asked about Cruz. They soon found him and killed him.

Manslaughter conviction

In June 1883, Spence was working as a deputy sheriff in Georgetown, New Mexico, when he severely pistol-whipped Rodney O’Hara, killing him. He was convicted of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th c ...

and sentenced to a five-year term in the Arizona Territorial Penitentiary. Less than 18 months later he was granted a full pardon by the territorial governor.

Later life

He operated a goat ranch south of

Globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe of ...

, Arizona near the Galiuro Mountains with his long-time friend, Phin Clanton, and ran mule teams to bring supplies into the Globe area. Phin Clanton died in 1906, and Spence married Phin's widow four years later on April 2, 1910, using his real name of Elliot Larkin Ferguson. He died in 1914 and is buried in the Globe, Arizona cemetery, in an unmarked plot next to Phin Clanton.

Screen portrayals

Pete Spence was played by

Michael Tolan Michael Tolan (born Seymour Tuchow, November 27, 1925 – January 31, 2011) was an American actor. Early life and education The son of Morris Tuchow, Tolan was born in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from Central High School and Wayne State Un ...

in ''

Hour of the Gun ''Hour of the Gun'' is a 1967 Western film depicting Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday during their 1881 battles against Ike Clanton and his brothers in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and the gunfight's aftermath in and around Tombstone, Arizona, ...

'' (1967), and by

Kirk Fox Kirk Fox (born August 26, 1969) is an American actor, screenwriter, and stand-up comedian. Career Television Fox played Sewage Joe on ''Parks and Recreation'' and was a regular on Nickelodeon's ''How to Rock'' as Mr. March. Other credits incl ...

in ''

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which la ...

'' (1994).

References

External links

Will the real Pete Spence please stand up?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Pete 1852 births 1914 deaths Outlaws of the American Old West Cowboys Cochise County conflict Arizona pioneers People from Tombstone, Arizona