Abram Henson Meadows (March 10, 1860 – December 9, 1932), also known as Charlie Meadows and Arizona Charlie, was an American

showman Showman can have a variety of meanings, usually by context and depending on the country. Australia Travelling Funfair, showmen ("showies") are people who run amusement and side show equipment at regional shows, state capital shows, events ...

and

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

, and a contemporary of "Buffalo Bill" Cody whose

Wild West Show Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of co ...

inspired Meadows to pursue his own performing career. Meadows was born on March 10, 1859, along Elbow Creek near modern-day Visalia,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, the 6th of 12 children of John Meadows Sr.''Fame, Fortune, and a Snowball's Chance in Hell'', by Marshall Trimble, in ''True West'' magazine, June 2018 After

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

became president, his father changed his name to Charles to move the family to a ranch in Diamond Valley north of

Payson, Arizona Payson () is a town in northern Gila County, Arizona, Gila County, Arizona, United States. Due to Payson's location being very near to the geographic center of Arizona, it has been called "The Heart of Arizona." Payson is also considered part o ...

. On July 15, 1882, John Meadows Sr. was killed by a party of Cibecue Apaches led by Natiotish, who killed his elder brother Henry, leaving him the man of the house. In 1884 Charlie and John C. Chilson organized the Payson Rodeo, in

which claims to be America's oldest continuous rodeo. Meadows died on December 9, 1932, in Yuma,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, at the age of 73.

References

Encyclopedia of Frontier Biography: Charles "Arizona Charlie" Meadows
1859 births 1932 deaths 19th-century American male actors American male stage actors People from Visalia, California People from Yuma, Arizona Sharpshooters Wild West show performers People from Arizona Territory {{US-entertainer-stub

See also

References