Glenn Reynolds (c. 1853 - November 2, 1889) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

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'' ...

, and

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

man of the

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

, remembered for his death during the Kelvin Grade Massacre, in

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the 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 ...

, when a group of

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

renegades escaped from his custody. Glenn Reynolds Grave

Biography

Glenn Reynolds was born in about 1853, likely around Albany,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He served as a

child soldier Children in the military, including state armed forces, non-state armed groups, and other military organizations, may be trained for combat, assigned to support roles, such as cooks, porters/couriers, or messengers, or used for tactical adv ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, protecting frontier settlements from

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

raids while the older rebels engaged the Union Army. After the

Comanche Wars The Comanche Wars were a series of armed conflicts fought between Comanche peoples and Kingdom of Spain, Spanish, Mexico, Mexican, and United States, American militaries and civilians in the United States and Mexico from as early as 1706 until at ...

, Reynolds participated in the cattle drives from Texas to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

until being elected sheriff of Throckmorton County in 1885. His election was at least partly due to his prominent family, which owned a cattle company near Albany. Around 1887, Reynolds and his family headed across the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

, driving 3,000 head of cattle and 200 horses to Bowie Station in

. He then took his portion of the

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

and settled at a ranch in Pleasant Valley, a troubled region in a time known as the Tonto Basin War between feuding settlers. During this time, Edwin Tewksbury accused Reynolds of killing

Al Rose Alfred Grady Rose (January 26, 1905 – October 1985) was a tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characterist ...

on November 1, 1887, with a

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

. Rose was killed by eight or nine men wearing masks and overcoats at the Houdon Ranch, one of three owned by the Graham family. The county

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. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

later said that wounds on Rose's face appeared to have been caused by

buckshot A shotgun cartridge, shotshell, or shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) ammunition used specifically in shotguns. It is typically loaded with numerous small, spherical sub-projectiles called shot. Shotguns typically use a ...

. When the situation in Pleasant Valley became intolerable, Reynolds moved his family to

Globe A globe is a spherical Earth, spherical Model#Physical model, model of Earth, of some other astronomical object, celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface ...

, where he was elected sheriff in November 1888.Hanchett, pg. 95-98Thrapp, pg. 1,210-1,211 In 1889, a group of prisoners at Globe had to be transported to

Yuma Territorial Prison The Yuma Territorial Prison is a former prison located in Yuma, Arizona, United States, that opened on July 1, 1876, and shut down on September 15, 1909. It is one of the Yuma Crossing and Associated Sites on the National Register of Historic ...

, including the

Apache Kid Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl ( 1860 – 1890 or November 11, 1900 or September 4, 1907 / ), better known as the Apache Kid, was born in Aravaipa Canyon, 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of San Carlos Agency, into one of the three local groups of the Ara ...

, Pas-Lau-Tau, and other participants in the 1887 mutiny at San Carlos; as well as a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

horse thief named Jesus Avott. The first part of the journey required a

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

ride to

Casa Grande Casa Grande ( O'odham: ''Wainom Wo:g'') is a city in Pinal County, approximately halfway between Phoenix and Tucson, in the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the city was 55,653. It is named after the Casa ...

, where the prisoners would board a train for Yuma. Reynolds was ordered to command the procession, with Sheriff William A. Holmes and coach driver Eugene Middleton as a company. On November 1, 1889, Reynolds left Globe for Casa Grande. The party stopped at Kelvin, Arizona, on the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of ...

, for the first night, and then set out for Casa Grande early the next morning. Due to concerns that an incline along the road, known as Kelvin Grade, would be too steep for the horses to pull a wagon full of prisoners up, Reynolds decided that when they reached the grade, the prisoners would be taken out of the coach and marched up on foot. All of the prisoners were wearing handcuffs, and each pair was attached to one another. Only Avott was by himself. The Apache Kid and one other man were considered too dangerous for this, so they were left inside. When the party reached Kelvin Grade, the lawmen did as planned. Reynolds directed Middleton to take the coach on ahead of the prisoners and keep an eye on the Kid, while he and Holmes watch the remaining prisoners. At a sharp turn in the trail, the Apaches executed their escape. Two of the chained renegades attacked Reynolds and another two attacked Holmes. In the struggle, Pas-Lau-Tau seized a rifle from one of the guards and shot Reynolds, killing him. In the turmoil, Holmes died of a heart attack and Middleton, in attempting to keep the Apache Kid from escaping, was shot. Avott hid in a bush, but when the Apaches ran off, Avott alerted the authorities, for which he was

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

ed. The bullet that hit Middleton went through his mouth and out the back of his neck, but he survived. After Avott alerted a local rancher, who gave him a horse to ride, Middleton regained enough strength to walk back to Kelvin, when he found that climbing on top of his coach or a horse was impossible. The Apaches robbed Reynolds and the others before they left, and the Apache Kid even saved Middleton's life when another renegade wanted to crush the driver's head with a rock. The weather was cold that day, so Reynolds was wearing a coat and gloves. The coat hindered Reynolds from getting to his pistol when he needed to, and the gloves prevented the Apaches from stealing his gold ring. The ring was later given to Reynolds' wife when he was buried in Globe, next to his son, who had died sometime before. After the murders, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

launched a campaign to catch the fugitives, and by October 1890, all were caught except the Apache Kid. Also that year, Mexican

rurales In Mexico, the term ''Rurales'' ( Spanish) is used to refer to two armed government forces. The historic Guardia Rural ('Rural Guard') was a rural mounted police force, founded by President Benito Juárez in 1861 and expanded by President Porf ...

killed an old renegade somewhere in northern Mexico. Reynold's pistol and watch were found on the Apache and later turned over to his family.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Glenn Cowboys 1850s births 1889 deaths History of Arizona Arizona folklore Confederate States of America military personnel People from Arizona People from Shackelford County, Texas Apache Wars People of the American Civil War American people of the Indian Wars

Biography

See also

References