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Friday, March 24, 2023

Harry C. Wheeler

Harry Cornwall Wheeler (July 23, 1875 – December 17, 1925) was an Arizona lawman who was the third captain of the Arizona Rangers, as well as the sheriff of Cochise County, serving from 1912 into 1918. He is known as the lead figure in the illegal mass kidnapping and deportation of some 1200 miners and family members, many of them immigrants, from Bisbee, Arizona to New Mexico in 1917. Beginning on July 12, 1917, he took total control of the town of Bisbee, controlling access and running kangaroo courts that deported numerous people. 

He was born and raised in Florida and was a veteran of the Spanish–American War and World War I. He served in the Arizona Rangers from 1903 to its disbanding in 1909.

1 comment:

  1. Law-breaking sheriffs were a tradition in Cochise County long before Wheeler. The shootout at the OK Corral was part of what was basically a gang war between badges: the Cowboys, led by Sheriff Johnny Behan, against the Earp brothers and friends.

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