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Maricopa Slim (October 13, 1883 – November 5, 1914) was a
Maricopa Slim was involved in several shootouts:
* Killed "the famous Jack Miller"
* Killed one Mexican and wounded two in a gunfight at Sacate, Arizona; the Mexicans were wanted for beating up the shopkeeper of Sacaton Siding and robbing his store. The Mexicans were also wanted for the killing of another deputy sheriff; the manhunt left seven dead.
* January 1913: Two escaped prisoners, J. C. Miller (shot and killed) and J. C. Wilson (recaptured)
* November 1914: Maricopa Slim versus an employee of either the Barnum or the Al G. Barnes Circus; the employee was named Sideshow Black or Mike Meehan or Frank Sawyer; "Maricopa Slim" Powers was killed immediately, the other man later died of his wounds. The exact circumstances of Maricopa Slim's death have been obscure since 1914.
When Tom and John Powers and another man Tom J. Sisson were accused in 1918 of "killing three Arizona peace officers in the Aravaipa canyon north of Tucson," initial reports had it that the Powers brothers were half-brothers of Maricopa Slim, but this was false.
In 1961 a retired Southern Pacific railroad bull told an Idaho columnist that Maricopa Slim was "the most abusive, just unnecessarily darn mean man you could think of" and he was killed by someone he had bullied.
Maricopa Slim, the Gila Monster and Yermo Red are mentioned in a 2018 Beau L'Amour novel.
gunslinger
Gunfighters, also called gunslingers () or in the late 19th and early 20th century gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in shootouts. Today, the term "gunslin ...
and railroad bull of the American 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 ...
. His real name was John Powers and he worked in the Gila River Valley
The Gila River Valley is a multi-sectioned valley of the Gila River, located primarily in Arizona. The Gila River forms in western New Mexico and flows west across southeastern, south-central, and southwestern Arizona; it changes directions as i ...
of 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 ...
, United States in the early 20th century, originally as a Southern Pacific
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...
railroad detective and later as a deputy sheriff.
Biography
Maricopa Slim was born John C. Powers in Texas on October 3, 1883. Alternate URL: https://www.copperarea.com/pages/maricopa-slim-a-pinal-county-legend/ Maricopa Slim seems to have spent much or most of his time roustinghobos
A hobo is a migrant worker in the United States. Hoboes, tramps, and bums are generally regarded as related, but distinct: a hobo travels and is willing to work; a tramp travels, but avoids work if possible; a bum neither travels nor works.
Et ...
who were trying to ride the rails cross-country for free. Captured vagrants were kept in a jail made of railroad ties until they could be transported to the county jail in Florence, Arizona. Maricopa Slim was based out of the Maricopa Junction station; he sometimes worked with deputy sheriff Perry, known as the Gila Monster of Gila Bend
Gila Bend (; O'odham: Hila Wi:n), founded in 1872, is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The town is named for an approximately 90-degree bend in the Gila River, which is near the community's current location. As of the 2020 c ...
station.
Maricopa Slim was involved in several shootouts:
* Killed "the famous Jack Miller"
* Killed one Mexican and wounded two in a gunfight at Sacate, Arizona; the Mexicans were wanted for beating up the shopkeeper of Sacaton Siding and robbing his store. The Mexicans were also wanted for the killing of another deputy sheriff; the manhunt left seven dead.
* January 1913: Two escaped prisoners, J. C. Miller (shot and killed) and J. C. Wilson (recaptured)
* November 1914: Maricopa Slim versus an employee of either the Barnum or the Al G. Barnes Circus; the employee was named Sideshow Black or Mike Meehan or Frank Sawyer; "Maricopa Slim" Powers was killed immediately, the other man later died of his wounds. The exact circumstances of Maricopa Slim's death have been obscure since 1914.
When Tom and John Powers and another man Tom J. Sisson were accused in 1918 of "killing three Arizona peace officers in the Aravaipa canyon north of Tucson," initial reports had it that the Powers brothers were half-brothers of Maricopa Slim, but this was false.
In 1961 a retired Southern Pacific railroad bull told an Idaho columnist that Maricopa Slim was "the most abusive, just unnecessarily darn mean man you could think of" and he was killed by someone he had bullied.
Maricopa Slim, the Gila Monster and Yermo Red are mentioned in a 2018 Beau L'Amour novel.
See also
*Gila monster
The Gila monster (''Heloderma suspectum'', ) is a species of venomous lizard native to the Southwestern United States and the northwestern Mexico, Mexican state of Sonora. It is a heavy, slow-moving reptile, up to long, and it is the only ve ...
(''Heloderma suspectum'')
References
Further reading
* * {{Cite book , url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/5102910 , title=Hardships and happy times in Idaho's St. Joe Wilderness , date=1978 , publisher=Lacon Publishers , editor=Bert Russell , isbn=0-930344-01-4 , edition= , location=Harrison, Idaho , oclc=5102910 People from Arizona History of Arizona American Old West gunfights 1883 births 1914 deaths