Early
Law Enforcement
Reprint - UPOA Magazine Vol 62, Issue 4, 1985/86
By Ray Haueter - former
UPOA Historian,
UPOA President 1970 - 1971, now deceased
By
popular request, we reprint Ray's stories of Early Law Enforcement for
your pleasure
Lot Smith, Outlaw or Lawman, which?
Some say the era of the gunman was from about 1850 to 1900. 1 would
rather believe that it was more like from 1830 to the present time of 1985.
The era of the gunman is still very much with us. Law enforcement officers
are trained to be very proficient with the weapons they carry. Much more
so than the average type criminal or "outlaw" they are confronted with.
However, the role of the gunman has changed.
Law enforcement has progressed from the need of the fast man with a
gun to the structure of a complex justice system where the gun now becomes
a last resort. Not so in the 1850s when law could be a very illusive thing,
and sometimes nonexistent. Acts committed then, by a peace officer, might
very well have been considered a criminal act in today's system of enforcement,
yet a very necessary part of his job in an earlier day.
It required tough men to do a tough job .... the ability to live off
the land in a hostile environment where the nearest friend might be many
miles away. He attempted to "keep the peace" in a jurisdiction that might
stretch for hundreds of miles in any direction.
The Mormon settlers had their share of such men, who obeyed the orders
of the church officials and those placed in authority without question.
Men such as Porter Rockwell, William "Bill" Hickman, "Old Eph Hanks," Lot
Smith and others rose to the task and performed their enforcement duties
in their own individual ways. Each had something to add to the growth of
the West and in so doing left their footprints across the pages of history
in the deeds they done, both good.... and bad.
For the purpose of this article, Lot Smith and his career tends to
serve as an example of the type of enforcement ... and also the lack of
it over a period of time in the 1800s. He was a man who served Brigham
Young faithfully in any assignment given to him. It is said that the only
god Lot Smith worshipped was Brigham Young, and that after his death in
1877, he seemed to "go to pieces." Always a rebel who did things his own
way, after the death of Young he became more arrogant and uncontrollable,
violating territorial and federal laws whenever he cared to.
The following information has been acquired from a number of sources,
primarily from a story told to Gladwell Richardson, by Joe Lee, who is
the grandson of John Doyle Lee, who was executed for his part in the Mountain
Meadows Massacre. Joe Lee indicates that he knew Lot Smith personally so
the information contained herein should be considered quite factual OR
at least as a person who knew Lot Smith remembers it. Additional information
was obtained from a variety of sources which will be noted where necessary.
The story of Joe Lee would be an interesting one also, as he spent
most of his life in southern Utah and northern Arizona, living most of
his days with members of different Indian tribes who became close friends
of his and took him into their confidence as few white men have had the
opportunity to be so entrusted with the Indian lore made available to him
through his many Indian friends. However, at this time, the story will
relate some of Lot Smith's life as he lived it. ... both in the mountains
of Utah and Wyoming, and in the deserts of southern Utah and northern Arizona
in Navajo Land.
LOT SMITH
Lot Smith, Bill Hickman and Porter Rockwell seldom ever worked together
as they were men of distinctly different personalities. Brigham Young always
attempted to make sure that each received assignments which kept them apart
and in different areas of the territory.
Rockwell has been described as an outgoing type of person who enjoyed
the company of others, friendly to those whom he trusted and associated
with, attended the theater whenever possible, and loved good horses. He
was always well armed, usually with two six-shooters, a rifle, a wicked
looking bowie knife and a shotgun not far away. Hickman and Smith were
armed in much the same manner. Hickman was quite secretive in his movements
while Lot Smith did not possess the same needs as Rockwell, to mingle with
others, and seemed to prefer his own company although from time to time
he could be described as loud and boisterous when in the company of other
mountaineers. However, he was described as being short-tempered, deadly
and capable of being unmerciful and cruel, running over people and taking
whatever he wanted by force. He is said to have branded one of his wives
with his Circle S branding iron, and in later years when he would come
to Yuba City, Arizona, where he had a home, Indian watchers were posted
on the mesa rim where they could warn others of his return.
MORMON REBELLION
Probably, about the only time these three gunmen worked together was
during the so called "Mormon Rebellion" when United States Troops were
sent to the Territory of Utah to remove Brigham Young as governor and establish
another administration with a Georgian named Alfred Cummings to replace
Young and a group of federal appointees to take over the other offices
of importance. Approximately twelve hundred soldiers were marching towards
Utah during that year of 1857.
Brigham Young's' answer to this crisis was to call up the Nauvoo Legion
and make plans for the defense of the Mormon people. The plan was to engage
the troops before they could enter Salt Lake Valley and conduct a guerrilla
type action against them, to harass and disrupt the troops and supply lines,
steal their stock and destroy their possible food sources. This responsibility
was given to Porter Rockwell, William Hickman and Lot Smith. Lot was a
Major in the Legion (now the Utah State Guard) and was given a command
of one hundred men. Rockwell and Hickman, both Captains in the Legion,
were each given one hundred men for their command and ordered to act independently
of the Legion as Ranger companies and answer only to Brigham Young and
Lieutenant General Daniel H. Wells.
The first contact made with the U.S. troops was on September 28, when
Hickman's company came down upon an infantry regiment near the Green River
and the Big Sandy at which time they captured and burned two large supply
trains destroying approximately 500,000 pounds of supplies for the army.
On October 3, Rockwell led his company into Fort Supply where they
burned it to the ground. At the same time Major Lewis Robison put the torch
to Fort Bridger, destroying it and it's contents.
On one of Rockwell's scouting expeditions he crept up close to an army
camp and heard some of the soldiers complaining about raids led by Lot
Smith in which about seventy-five wagon loads of supplies had been captured
and burned near Green River. On October 11, Hickman came into Rockwell's
camp to tell him of a large herd of cattle near Ham's Fork where a short
time before, Lot Smith had destroyed two wagon trains. Enroute to the area,
Rockwell came upon the camp of Lot Smith and told him about the cattle.
They decided to make the attack together. The action is described in Harold
Schindler's book of Porter Rockwell, "Man Of God, Son Of Thunder;"
"Reconnoitering, the two guerilla leaders found the situation precisely
as Hickman had detailed it and retired to devise a plan of action. Ultimately
it was decided to use Smith's full command, Rockwell's thirty rangers,
plus a picked contingent from Burton's company, bringing the striking force
to a hundred strong. Smith's attitude toward his long-haired comrade was
one of aloof tolerance. "I did as I pleased," he explained, "and Rockwell,
regularly damned me for it." But united in a common purpose they endured
each other. Both men sensed that a successful raid on the army herd could
well mean victory for the Mormon cause; without beef the Utah Expedition
faced certain starvation during the fast approaching winter." Schindler's
story continues: "As the guerrilla assembled in the hills, Rockwell felt
an uneasiness about the lack of sentinels on the livestock. Suspecting
a trap, he confided his apprehensions to Smith, who responded with a jeering
laugh. Bristling, Rockwell retorted through tight lips that Alexander had
discovered what a "damn fool" Smith was and had planted an ambush for him.
Momentarily taken aback by Rockwell's rebuke, Smith wiped a coat sleeve
across his mouth, scratched his bearded chin, and then prodded his horse
down the bluff toward the cattle. Fully two-thirds of the Mormon raiders
were left behind in the major's haste to reach the herd. Nettled by Smith's
reckless action, Rockwell boiled down the slope shouting a string of curses
... at the Major for riding too fast and at the command for failing to
keep up. Out in front by nearly a hundred yards, the two Mormon warriors
pounded across the meadow, whipping their horses to greater speed at the
sight of infantry picket guards hurrying to drive off the herd.
In later years Lot Smith recalled the guards' panic at the spectacle
of a hundred well-armed Mormon cavalrymen exploding into view; The boys
then gave a shout, such as imported steers never heard before, and the
latter started away pell mell, trodding many of the poorer under their
hooves and killing half a dozen of them. The guards were frightened as
badly as the cattle and looked pale as death."
The cattle taken during that raid was about fourteen hundred head and
Rockwell took his herd toward Salt Lake Valley. Smith had this to say when
he left the camp: "Rockwell went in with the cattle, very much to my regret.
I never found many men like him. I think our officers were afraid that
he and I could not get along together, but we could."
DIXIE PATROL
After the "Mormon War" was settled, Lot and his scouts became members
of the "Dixie Patrol" that kept communications open and provided protection
for many of the Mormon settlers who were sent south to open up areas of
the territory to farming and homesteading. He and his group were also assigned
to guard the Overland Stage through the Rockies during the Civil War.
In about 1874 Mormon settlers entered Arizona territory to begin farming
operations and were becoming quite successful for the first two years,
after which there seemed to be a slump in production and in the desire
to continue farming in the area. It is, at this time, that Brigham Young
is said to have sent Lot Smith to Southern Utah and Northern Arizona to
"encourage" the settlers to do better.
RECOLLECTIONS OF JOE LEE
At this time it might be well to further introduce Joe Lee to the reader
and his knowledge of some of the occurrences that took place after Lot
Smith arrived in the Arizona Territories. Joe's family moved to Arizona
Territory from southern Utah in 1876 when Joe was three years of age. They
crossed the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry and went up Lee's Backbone past
Bitter Seep, Navajo Springs, Collin's Well and down Hamblin Wash to Willow
Springs. Several families were already living there as settlers. John Bigelow
ran a small trading post under Echo Cliffs. They stayed there from December
20, 1876 to May 10, 1877 and moved to Moencopi in 1879. Joe Lee became
one of the best known and respected Navajo Indian traders in the southwest.
It was early in his life when he first became acquainted with Lot Smith,
when at the age of eleven he recalls an incident involving Smith. Joe Lee
describes this event in an article written for the March issue, 1974 of
Frontier Times, written by Gladwell Richardson as submitted to him by Joe
Lee, from which I present the following:
Tom Hubbell operated a store on the rim above Moencopi and was unable
to get along with the Hopis who lived there so "Hubbell sold out to Ed
Stone and his wife the forepart of 1886. Hubbell then moves north to Tuvasita
where he put in another store and ranch. An old prospector named Scully
came along and went to work for Stone.
The wool house was a tent outside the building's east end. One day
Scully bought some wool from Etcitty's brother. After the deal was made,
the Navajo changed his mind. Deciding he had been cheated, he took back
his wool. Scully and he got into a fight immediately and, when about overcome,
Scully jerked his .44 six-shooter and shot Etcitty's brother dead. This
happened just outside the tent where they had been struggling. Stone had
nothing whatever to do with this incident and didn't know what was going
on until the shot was fired. Scully then skedaddled elsewhere in a hurry."
The story continues:
"The last day of January, 1887, I went down to Yuba City. Lot Smith
(who had an intense dislike for gentiles) never wanted a gentile-owned
trading post near him. He surrounded Stone's post with a large force of
armed men.
Breaking down the door they seized everything, holding as prisoners
Ed Stone, his wife, and Barney Williams who was visiting them. Smith apparently
intended killing them all, including Mrs. Stone. So I went over to Tom
Hubbell's ranch to tell him about it.
Hubbell got five or six armed Navajos and a white man working for him
and arrived there after good dark. Hubbell had been a county deputy sheriff
and at one time had arrested Smith. He wasn't afraid of him at all whereas
everybody else was. When Hubbell got there he told Smith to send out all
the prisoners or there would be a gun baffle. Smith replied that if Hubbell
came in unarmed they would talk it over. Hubbell did so. Managing to get
the Stones and Williams released, Hubbell took them to his ranch. Soon
afterwards Hubbell abandoned his property and left Arizona.
A messenger was sent to Flagstaff for a posse of officers to come get
Smith and to secure Stone's trading post. Commodore Perry Owens, Sheriff
of Apache County, held a number of warrants for Lot Smith so he was the
one telegraphed. But after coming by train to Flagstaff, Owens refused
to go on to Tuba City. Once before he had attempted to arrest Smith, who
had drawn his gun and pistol-whipped Owens badly.
A posse left Flagstaff under John W. Francis. They didn't know Smith
had already fled to hiding on the upper Little Colorado River. They never
did get to Tuba City anyway. A messenger overtook them at their first night
camp to report all prisoners had broken out of Flagstaff's jail and were
hoorawing the town. The posse turned back and Stone's $5,000.00 stock of
goods never was recovered."
Note: This is the second part of a two part
article regarding Lot Smith.
The first part was published in the Fall 2003 Issue, Volume 80, Issue
3. This information has been acquired from a number of sources that are
considered to be the most authentic, such sources to be noted where necessary.
The following correction should be noted where an error in spelling resulted
in a geographical change in location. This error occurred on page nine
of the Winter Issue and listed a town as "Yuba" City. This should read
"Tuba" City which is located between Page, Arizona and Flagstaff, and in
1959 was one of the main headquarters for the Navajo Police. At that time
I was working as a Ranger with the Bureau of Reclamation, the police force
to the town of Page. This gave me the opportunity to explore much of the
area around Page and become familiar with many of the places mentioned
in this article. I value very highly many of the friendships I was able
to make with some of the Navajo who lived in the area. Among those were
the two Navajo Police assigned to work with our Ranger force, Franklin
Daw and Andy Natanapaw. Also Ed Manson who was a member of the Indian Tribal
Council at that time. Our story now continues:
PART TWO
Inasmuch as John W. Francis and his posse had found it necessary to
return to Flagstaff to restore peace by recapturing the escaped prisoners
from the Flagstaff jail, they never returned to take up the trail of Smith
nor did any other posse. No one ever attempted to arrest him for the take-over
of Ed Stone's trading post. However, he gradually failed in the trading
post business as his temper continued to become more violent from day to
day and continued to take control of his mind and body. His many arguments
with the settlers in the area and the surrounding Navajo made him both
a feared and a hated man to many of them.
His red beard would split and flow over his shoulders
Lot was described as a large man, left-handed and having copper-red
hair and beard. They say he usually rode his horses on a run and his red
beard would split and flow over both of his shoulders as he rode. Joe Lee
indicates in his story that Smith had taken several wives, some of them
living in or near Yuba City. Depending upon where he was at the end of
the day usually determined which place he would go to spend the night.
Lot had leased some pasture ground near a place called Sheep Dip Wash.
There was a good spring on the ground and Lot spent quite a bit of time
working on a reservoir near there in "Middle Reservoir" Canyon, where he
had a farm. The youngest of his wives, Diantha, lived there. She was described
as being quite beautiful and bore him several children.
During this period of time there was very little farming land that
had been enclosed with fences and as a result all stock ran loose. People
had to watch their growing crops very carefully to keep livestock out of
them. Smith refused to do so, saying it was the responsibility of others
to keep their stock off of his ground. There was one time he had found
some of Hosteen Denetsosie's cattle in his field and he had locked up about
fifteen head in a corral without food or water. They almost died before
the Indian found them. After that, Hosteen and his people hated Lot Smith
and waited for a chance to get even.
Lot's Death
The circumstances surrounding Lot's death proved to be quite interesting
and from the information obtained is believed to be a very accurate report.
However, there is one story of his death, proven to be false, that was
given by a trader who was, by his own admission, no friend to Lot Smith.
He had met Smith during his travels, on a trading expedition in northern
Arizona, when Lot was living at a fort near the Little Colorado, at a place
called Sunset. This man's name was Don Maguire. His home was in Ogden,
Utah and he was familiar with Lot's background and the part he had played
in the "Mormon War." He described Lot's death in a story edited by a man
called Gary Topping, which was printed in the Utah Historical Quarterly,
Fall issue, 1985 and went as follows:
"Lot Smith, of whom I have already made frequent mention, had unfortunately
not ingratiated himself with these Indians. Previous to my leaving the
fort at Sunset, I learned that on several occasions he had had trouble
with the Navajos and a considerable time after our visit to his settlement
or fort a Navajo stole his favorite riding mule. Lot Smith, instead of
going to a Navajo camp nearby and informing the head man of his loss and
demanding that the mule be returned, took the matter into his own hands,
and with three or four of his neighbors, started in pursuit of the thieving
Navajo. This Indian was accompanied by two or three others. In his escape
from the neighborhood of the Mormon fort where he had stolen the mule,
he and his associates crossed the Little Colorado river into the broken
country to the west. The Indian and his associates saw Lot Smith and his
party approaching. They were some distance away when first observed by
the Navajo horse thieves who, drawing away from the main trail a few hundred
feet, secreted themselves behind a group of immense sandstone boulders,
and upon the near approach of Lot Smith and his partners, opened fire upon
them, instantly killing Lot Smith and wounding one or two of his associates,
who beat a retreat. The Navajo and his comrades succeeded in making their
escape, and their names not being known to the white people at the fort,
they were never apprehended."
Gary Topping, who edited the Maguire report, concurs that this report
of Smith's death was not true and should not be considered accurate in
any way.
It has been mentioned that Lot owned a farm in Middle Reservoir Canyon,
near the pasture where the spring was located. When Lot was working on
the spring or the ditches he would usually stay with his wife, Diantha,
and on this particular day of June 20,1892 he was working at the Upper
reservoir. During this same time, young Joe Lee and his friend Steve Howard,
were working on the ditch near Sheep Dip Wash, cleaning and repairing a
head gate at the Lower reservoir so the water could come on through. Water
is a very scarce and precious time in the desert and the Indians who ran
livestock near these reservoirs and Moencopi Canyon had been used to watering
their livestock at the spring near Sheep Dip Wash. However, since Lot had
taken over the spring and the pasture, he had refused to allow any livestock
but his own to drink from the spring and had threatened to kill any others
he found near the water.
When noon came, Lot rode over to Diantha's where she prepared lunch
for him. After eating he headed back towards the Upper reservoir but detoured
to ride along his pasture fence to check it for repair. It was at this
time that he found some sheep belonging to Hosteen Chachos inside the fence
and watering at the spring. With a curse he stuck spurs to his horse, at
the same time pulling his rifle from the scabbard, and came charging down
towards the sheep. The Navajo children, taking care of the sheep, saw Lot
thundering down upon them and quickly disappeared into the brush to hide
from this fiery-bearded demon who had suddenly appeared.
As he neared the animals he began shooting into the small stampeding
herd, killing six. At the sound of the shooting, Joe Lee and his friend
stopped work on the head gate and turned towards the sound of the shots
when suddenly, another rifle began firing from a nearby sandy ridge. The
first bullet missed but spooked the big bay Lot was riding and nearly unseated
him as it turned sharply. A second bullet caught Smith high up on the back,
going completely through him and taking off his right thumb as it came
out the front of his body. At this point the hidden rifleman become silent
and Lot's horse came to a trembling stop. Smith had dropped his rifle and
seeing Joe and Steve, motioned for them to come to him. At this same time,
Hosteen Denetsosie came running from the direction of the pasture fence
which was not from where the shots had been fired.
By not Lot had lost the reins and was hanging onto the saddle horn
as the bay broke into a run. Joe Lee, Howard and Denetsosie all began running
to try and catch the horse but were unable to until it came to a stop in
front of Diantha's house. Smith was trying to get down but couldn't make
it. He was bleeding from the chest and there was a bloody froth coming
from his nose and mouth. Steve Howard grabbed the bridle while Joe Lee
and Denetsosie lifted Smith from the saddle and carried him into the house.
It was quite apparent that he was hit hard and didn't have too much longer
to live.
By now the surrounding Navajos were aware of what had happened and
a large mounted band of Indians appeared at the house. They were all heavily
armed and wanted to know if Lot Smith was dead yet. When told that he was
still alive they insisted on coming into the house to finish the job but
Joe Lee talked them out of it. He told them there was no use shooting him
again as he did not have much time left to live. This satisfied the Indians
for the time although they would not leave the yard. They waited outside
the house until Lot Smith died at about ten o'clock that night.
The story does not end here
Most stories would end at this point. However the intrigue and the
happenings that followed Smith's death makes for a rather interesting part
of this story.
After the Navajos had left, Joe Lee returned to the lower reservoir
to get his horse and then rode into Tuba City to inform the authorities.
A deputy sheriff by the name of Allen wanted Joe to bring in an old Navajo
Indian named Chachos who had tried to shoot Lot Smith once before, but
had missed. There had been bad blood between them for a long time and the
deputy believed that Chachos had killed Smith. Joe refused to bring him
in, telling the deputy if he wanted Chachos he would have to get him himself.
Joe then rode for Flagstaff to notify the sheriff and to let the Smith
boys know that Lot was dead. The boys were living at Mormon Lake, south
of Flagstaff, at the time.
Lot Smith was buried in Middle Reservoir Canyon near Diantha's house.
About three years later, the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers paid Joe Lee
to dig up Lot's body and ship it to Farmington where he could be buried
near his home. Later, they erected a monument over his grave.
Joe Lee said that "when I dug him up Lot was sort of mummified. He
looked real natural and lifelike, and I'll swear if his red beard didn't
seem to have grown three inches longer."
The old Navajo Chachos was arrested and charged with killing Smith
although there apparently wasn't any proof against him. Everyone believed
he was guilty. The Navajos said so but none of them would swear to anything
and as a result he was never convicted of the killing. Using the words
of Cladwell Richardson, as this story was told to him by Joe Lee, I quote
the following:
"Like everyone else I believed him guilty. At that time Chachos was
a very old and sick man. They believed he would soon die anyway so they
lied to save a well man who had really fired the fatal bullet. But Chachos
didn't die for a good three years afterwards. Some three years after Smith
was killed I learned the truth. Hosteen Denetcloth and Hosteen Denetsosie
were brothers and rich in cattle, sheep and horses. They were brothers
of Chachos's mother. Not long before he died, Denetsosie said to me, "Joedy,
the spirit of Lot Smith is killing me."
"He worried much about it and told me often that he killed Smith. Before
joining us in the wash that fatal day he had buried his rile in the sand,
run several hundred yards and popped over the rim. Since he came from a
different direction than where the shots were fired we didn't suspect him
at all."
So ended another colorful character of the old west. Lot Smith played
his part in helping to establish the pioneers in their new home in the
west and lived his life in service to others until his later years when
for unknown reasons he became a victim of his own anger and fury. However,
it would be hard to forget the role he played in the "Mormon War" and his
service to his fellow man while a member of the Dixie Patrol. He was also
active in his church, having been sent to Northern Arizona to assist the
Mormon pioneers living there.
In the small settlement on the Little Colorado, called Sunset, he served
as the stake president, and had, as his counselors, Lorenzo H. Hatch and
Jacob Hamblin. Hamblin was well known throughout southern Utah and northern
Arizona as "The Peace Maker," having been sent south to make peace with,
and to work with the Indians. His is another story in its own right. More
information concerning Lot Smith can be found in a book entitled "A Mighty
Man was Brother Lot," and other sources available through the Utah Historical
Society.
As many other frontiersmen and mountain men he served his part in blazing
a trail in the wilderness for others to follow..... and although he became
a bitter and vindictive man during his later years, before we judge him
too harshly we should try walking a few miles in his boots.
