TOMBSTONES CHAPTER Four

 

I bet during his quiet moments in the White House, 55 year old Rutherford Bichard Hayes (above) often wondered, "Why the hell did I ever take this damn job?" "Old Granny" Hayes had certainly paid more than the job was worth. 

Despite losing the November 1876 election by a quarter million popular votes - thanks to the Klu Kux Klan's brutally effective voter suppression program (above) - and despite being tied with 63 year old New York Democratic Governor Samuel Tilden with 183 electoral votes,  Republican "Ruther-fraud" would be named "President Defacto",  earning Hayes the additional nickname of "Old 8 to 7" -  the split on the 15 member commission which finally settled the election in February of 1877 in his favor

But having won the office Hayes was forced to admit, "I am not liked as a President by the politicians...in the press, or in Congress." In order to win the office he had been forced to promise to remain a one term President, Still Democrats considered the Republican Hayes "The Usurper". 

And his fellow Republicans, such as Senator Rosco Conkling of New York,  called his election, "...the Austerlitz of American politics" because Hayes won by sacrificing the rights of 4 million recently enfranchised African American voters.  He had also been forced to promise to withdraw federal troops from southern states which had not yet moved to integrate African-Americans into their political systems.

Determined to hold Rutherford's feet to the fire, in 1877 the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives  reduced the army to just 25,000 men and to hold up their budgets,. That year also became known as "The Year the Army Didn't Get Paid".   But Democrats boasted of foiling "His Fraudulancy's" dreams for a war with Mexico.  And they refused to budge, even while Texas citizens were suffering from Indian and Mexican criminal gangs crossing the Rio Grande River. 

Struggling against such road blocks, Secretary of War, 42 year old penny pinch-er George McCrary, authorized the army to cross the Rio Grande in "hot pursuit" of Mexican raiders, which they did 23 times over the next decade. And the Secretary of State, 60 year old William Maxwell Evarts, vowed not to recognize the new Mexican government of 47 year old General Porfiro Diaz until the raids were stopped, because, ".. not one single man, so far as is known to this government, has been punished" for those raids.

Time did not improve the situation of poor President Hayes. In the mid-term elections of November 1878, the Democrats retained their hold in the House of Representatives, - 141 Democrats to 132 Republicans, with 13 Greenback and 7 independents. And for the first time since before the Civil War, the Democrats gained control of the Senate as well - 42 to 31 seats.  Rutherford was smart enough to know what a disaster this partisanship was for the country, warning the Democrats,, "Extreme party action...would ruin the party....The party out of power gains by all partisan conduct of those in power."  No one on the other side was listening, of course. Winners never learn from their victories.

After failing 3 times to override Hayes' veto of pro - Klu Klux Klan legislation, the Democrats slashed funding for the United States Marshals Service, which was charged with enforcing laws against the nighttime rides by terrorists in white robes. With no funding for new Deputies, or Federal judges in the territories, Republican officials in Arizona and New Mexico were left without the means to prosecute rustlers and thieves who were funded by cross border raids into Chiluahua and Sonora. In short, by crippling the executive branch the Democrats in Washington were matching the anarchy on the Mexican side of the border.  Speaking of which...

The political pressure in Mexico to respond to the "Hot Pursuit" was irresistible. Ignaio Vallarta, the 47 year old Minister of Foreign Affairs, angerly charged it treated Mexican citizens ".. as savages,” and President Diaz (above) ordered the Mexican Army to " Repel with force" any invasion of Mexican soil. And it was about then that 37 year old General José Guillermo Carbó was dispatched to Sonora, to bring things under control.

He was a good choice, a complex man made up of equal parts thinking military officer and poet. And he quickly came to love the mountains and deserts of Sonora, writing, "You are my new homeland:

if someday You are in danger, I swear, Sonora, O my country! I will rush to defend you." With the Mexican reorganization of the border region, Secretary Everts modified the hot pursuit policy, telling 60 year old U.S. General Edward Ord that "Whenever Mexican troops are present and prepared to intercept retreating raiders", he was to withdraw and let them do the work.

In fact as the American and Mexican officers made the effort to meet each other they found they had a good deal in common. Both were being trained on the Prussian model. Both were being starved for funds by their divided governments. Both were facing the same enemies - the Apache and gangs of criminals. And both sides knew the last thing they wanted was to fight  each other. In April of 1878, the American officers convinced the American diplomats and politicians to recognize the Diez government of Mexico.

The biggest problem was that the Sonoran blancos (above) remained the only "job creators", in Sonora. And increasingly that state became the supplier of food - cattle and wheat - to the American side of the border.  Because of the high import/export duties, this was usually done through smuggling. And the Haciendas were usually paid in manufactured goods smuggled south. The third largest town in Sonora was Magdalena,  half way between Hermosillo and Tuscon, Arizona. Magdalena reaped the profits as a way station in the smuggling trade. But that was not unmitigated good news. When the largest land owner in the district, Manuel Mascarenas, was arrested and charged with stealing his neighbors'  cattle and selling them in Arizona, his patrone, Louis Torres, made the charges disappear.

The lack of liquidity and of order also drove many Sonoran businesses to take on silent American partners, a practice called "petate del muerto" - or the repose of the dead. These relationships were used for legal as well as illegal businesses. It would have been a mutually beneficial business except the Americans usually saw no reason to allow their Sonoran partners to profit at all. American butchers, supplying beef to Nevada miners, certainly showed no hesitation when they could increase profits by stealing cattle from Sonoran ranchers, rather than buying them.  And every once in awhile Mexican frustrations boiled to the surface, producing a cross border "raid", as happened with the Galeyville, Arizona butcher named Miller McCallister.

The story goes that Miller had gone south with enough silver to buy 80 head of cattle. Instead opportunity presented itself on the moon lit un-fenced scrub land 10 miles south of the Sonoran town of Fronteras.  McCallister and 4 of his partners - George Turner, John Oliver, H.A. Garcia and William "Curly Bill" Brocius  - stumbled upon 500 head of cattle.  And without bothering to notify their owner, the Americans drove the herd north. After slipping through the twisting Guadalupe Canyon and safely across the border, the Yankees drove the cows across the San Simon Valley, to the west face of the Peloncillo Mountains. Their next goal was to pass through the confines of Skeleton Canyon (above) on the border between the territories of New Mexico and Arizona..  But as they approached the watering hole of the San Simon Cienega or marsh (below) in the Peloncillos,  just at dawn on Thursday, 13 May, 1880,  the weary rustlers were confronted by a determined wiry dark man with a double barreled shotgun resting in his arms.

Standing in the half light, the man challenged the startled Americans in accented English, "I am Senior Jose Juan Vasquez," he declared, "and these are my cattle. You are free to go home, to your own side of the border. But my cattle stay here." Instead of simply riding away, one the Americans rashly opened fire. 

Instantly 40 vaqueros began blasting away from behind the rocks. When the gunfire finally slowed and stilled,  not only was McCallister dead, but so were Turner, Olvier and Garciea. There were reports some of the wounded cowboys had been tortured to death by the Mexican ranch hands after they realized their boss, Senior Vasquez, had also been killed. However no proof of this was ever offered.

Shortly thereafter a report in the newspaper "The Southwest",  published in Silver City, New Mexico,  claimed that local physician Dr. Henry Woodville had treated the sole American survivor of what was being called the Skeleton Canyon Massacre - William "Curly Bill" Brocius (above). And the career of Brocius is emblematic of the matching anarchy on the American side of the border.

The story was that Curly Bill and another man had robbed a stagecoach in Texas, killing the driver and a passenger. During their trial both bandits had escaped, and in 1878 Curley Bill reappeared in Southern New Mexico,  where he fell in with an older desperado named  Robert E. "Dutch" Martin. Dutch made his living stealing silver and cattle in Sonora, and killing any Mexicans who got in his way.  He would then sell his stolen goods in the United States, where he was a respected businessman.  Curly Bill became Dutch Martin's second in command over the outlaw gang called the Cow Boys.  Martin mostly stayed in New Mexico, while Brocius spent considerable time in the growing cattle market around Tombstone,  Arizona. 

Geologist Raphael Pumpelly, who was familiar with mining regions from Michigan to Japan, said that in the San Pedro River towns surrounding Tombstone, (above) - Fairbank, Charleston and Milltown, "Murder was the order of the day...everyone goes around armed to the teeth." In Charlestown it was not unusual to find at least one dead body on the street every morning,  These deaths were not investigated as a murder if  "the wound was in the front or a gun was found nearby",  And if the victim were a 'nigger' African American, a "greaser" Hispanic American, or a "Chink" Asian American, not even then. 

It was Pumpelly who described the Tombstone mining district as having little "pretense of civilization".  And that was the division across the Sonora desert border region - between the thieves  who sought and profited from anarchy, and the thieves who sought to profit from order. 

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THE IMPEACHMENT DEAL - Stanton V Johnson

I guess the modern politician whom Edwin Stanton reminds me of most is Dick Cheney. Physically they were very similar, and they shared the post of Secretary of War, albeit a century apart. Like Dick Cheney, Stanton was a Prima Donna who displayed a self indulgent affection for conspiracies, and practiced such hyperbole that “At certain crises…doubts of his sanity were widespread…”(p 286 – “Lincolns War Cabinet” Hendrick). . There were differences, of course. Stanton never actually shot anyone, but when he was a young man he did carry a large knife in his pants, which would have fascinated Freud had he been born an American.  In the end, the nicest thing I can say about Stanton is that he was a “rude and offensive” manic depressive lunatic on the right side of history.

When Stanton first set eyes upon Abraham Lincoln, in an 1857 Cincinnati courtroom, the bully loudly demanded, “Where did the long-armed baboon come from?” Eight years later Stanton lay literally sobbing on Lincoln’s deathbed. Lincoln was the only man who ever controlled Stanton, and it took a lot of his time. He called Stanton “my rock”,  which you can either stand upon or be tied to while you drown.  Or maybe you can just trip over it occasionally.  Lincoln admitted he spent most of his time devising strategies for “plowing around” that rock. In fact, Lincoln’s last official act before heading out to Ford’s Theatre, was to overrule yet another Stanton overreaction.

On the day Lincoln died , Vice President Andrew Johnson from Tennessee was sworn in as President and inherited the pit- bull lap-dog that was Stanton. Over the next two years the slavery loving pro-Union Democratic President Johnson struggled to find a way to make the anti-slavery Republican Stanton “heel”.  Finally, on Monday, 5 August, 1867, Johnson just asked Stanton for his resignation. To his surprise, Stanton simply said “no”.

There was a week of stunned silence from the White House, until the following Monday, 12 August , 1867,  when Johnson tried another tact. He ordered Civil War hero General U.S. Grant  to the War Office, to tell Stanton he was being temporarily suspended. Johnson also told Grant that if Stanton still refused to leave, Grant should arrest him. But Grant didn’t want to do that. Instead he and Stanton came up with a plan of their own. Grant took possession of the office. But Stanton never left the building.

There was a move to impeach Johnson for this attempt, but the votes fell short. The new congress was sworn in on Tuesday, 7 January, 1868, and on Monday, 13 January  it voted to back Stanton. The next day Grant locked the Secretary of War’s office, handed the key to an aide, and left. An hour later Stanton arrived and was handed the key. Only then did Grant tell President Johnson he had quit. The bitch was back.

In desperation, Johnson turned to a character he could control, a 63 year old paper pusher, the Armies’ Adjutant-General, Lorenzo Thomas (above). To this point, Thomas’ greatest claim to fame was that he had help spread the rumor that General William Tecumseh Sherman was crazy. That had not worked, which should have been a hint to Johnson, but he didn't take it. Now, on 21 February , 1868, the President handed General Thomas two letters. The first letter fired Stanton (Again!). The second named Thomas as Secretary of War. Johnson then ordered Thomas to deliver them to both to Stanton. Alas, it was a like sending the Little Dutch Boy to stop a forest fire. All he got was a burned finger.

At the War Office (above), Stanton read both notes, and asked, “Do you wish me to vacate the office at once?” Magnanimously, the old man answered, “Act at your pleasure.” Stanton then went down the hall to make a copy of the letter. While Thomas dumbly waited, and a clerk laboriously wrote out an exact copy of the order, Stanton arranged his thoughts and morphed into a petulant two-year old. When he returned Thomas announced that he would now issue orders as Secretary of War. To which Stanton replied “You shall not. I will countermand.” In front of Thomas, Stanton then dictated a letter to Thomas, saying, “Sir: I am informed that you presume to issue orders as Secretary of War…you are hereby commanded to abstain from issuing any orders other than in your capacity as Adjutant-General of the army.” Stanton then handed the completed letter to Thomas and ordered him out of the office.

A bewildered Thomas informed Johnson of this conversation. The President must have been flabbergasted. He ordered Thomas to return to the War Office and begin issuing orders. Thomas tried that, but discovered he could no longer get in. Stanton had locked the doors.

Stanton now went native. Food was brought in, and and drink, and Grant appointed a special guard to defend the building, against whom he did not say. This military guard was joined by members of the House of Representatives and 100 staffers, who patrolled the basement. I guess because down there in the dark Grant figured they could only shoot each  other. That night, at a White House masked ball in honor of George Washington’s Birthday, and emboldened by a little wine, Thomas boasted that in the morning he would break down the walls of the War Office and arrest the Secretary of War. It looked as if come morning, the nation would be either defended or stolen by a coup d’tetat.

What saved the nation this disaster was that Washington, D.C. (above) has always been, and remains to this day, a small southern town filled with gossips. Stanton heard Thomas’ boast almost as soon as he had uttered it, and at 2 O’clock in the morning as the White House Party was just breaking up, Stanton was awakening a federal judge to sign an arrest warrant. At eight the next morning, as Thomas was just setting down to eat breakfast, he was arrested and charged with violating the Tenure of Office Act, which Congress had passed to prevent Johnson from firing Stanton without Congressional approval. There was no coup d’tetat because at nine a.m. General Thomas was in court.

After he had been released on his own recognizance (who was he going to hurt?), Thomas returned to the White House, where, once again President Johnson ordered the old man to go to the War Department and take possession if it. So, for a third time, the old soldier pushed his rock of Presidential command up the hill to confront his nemeses. The old man intoned, “I will stand here.” Stanton responded, “You can stand there if you please, but you cannot act as Secretary of War. I am Secretary of War. I order you out of this office and to your own.” Thomas answered, “I refuse to go and will stand here.” It was a circular conversation, and getting nowhere fast.

After trying to issue orders to everyone he could (and meeting impassive resistance), Thomas gathered his wounded pride and asked Stanton, “The next time you have me arrested, please do not do it before I get something to eat. I have had nothing to eat or drink all day.” Now it was Stanton’s turn to be magnanimous. He produced a bottle of whisky and poured them equal amounts. Handing a glass to Thomas, Stanton said, “Now, this at least is neutral ground.”

Over the next weeks, while the Senate heard President Johnson’s impeachment trial for trying to fire Stanton, Stanton remained barricaded in the War Department. He received all dispatches and reports, had full access to the telegraph lines. He just never left the building.  Meanwhile Thomas had no access to any of that, but he appeared at daily Cabinet meetings as Secretary of War. But the two never crossed paths. And while the process was argued behind the closed doors of the Senate, a compromise (of sorts) was reached.

On Saturday, 16 May, 1868 the Senate took their first vote on an article of impeachment. It fell short of conviction. President Johnson, who had promised to cease obstructing the Reconstruction acts, would survive. The next day, Stanton wrote his letter of resignation. The crises had been resolved. But it would not be until 1887 before the Tenure in Office Act would be repealed.

Edwin Stanton was nominated to the Supreme Court by the next President, U. S. Grant. But the mercurial  clerk died four days after being confirmed by the Senate, Christmas Eve, 1869. It was so unlike him to sneak out of town before the his chance at a another grand performance.

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HYPERBOLE IN PERSON Trying to fire William Stanton

I guess the modern politician whom Edwin Stanton reminds me of most is Dick Cheney. Physically they were very similar, and they shared the post of Secretary of War, albeit a century apart. Like Dick Cheney, Stanton was a Prima Donna who displayed a self indulgent affection for conspiracies, and practiced such hyperbole that “At certain crises…doubts of his sanity were widespread…”(p 286 – “Lincolns War Cabinet” Hendrick). . There were differences, of course. Stanton never actually shot anyone, but when he was a young man he did carry a large knife in his pants, which would have fascinated Freud had he been born yet. In the end, the nicest thing I can say about Stanton is that he was a “rude and offensive” manic depressive lunatic on the right side of history.

When Stanton first set eyes upon Lincoln, in an 1857 Cincinnati courtroom, the bully loudly demanded, “Where did the long-armed baboon come from?” Eight years later Stanton lay literally sobbing on Lincoln’s deathbed. Lincoln was the only man who ever controlled Stanton, and it took a lot of his time. He called Stanton “my rock”, but admitting to devising strategies for “plowing around” that rock. Lincoln’s last official act before heading out to Ford’s Theatre, was to overrule yet another Stanton overreaction.

On the day Lincoln died Andrew Johnson from Tennessee was sworn in as President and inherited the pit- bull lap-dog that was Stanton. Over the next two years the slavery loving pro-Union Democratic President Johnson struggled to find a way to make Stanton “heel”. Finally, on Monday, August 5th, 1867, Johnson just asked Stanton for his resignation. To his surprise, Stanton simply said “no”.

There was a week of stunned silence from the White House, until the following Monday, August 12th, when Johnson tried another tact. He ordered Civil War hero General U.S. Grant  to the War Office, to tell Stanton he was being temporarily suspended. Johnson also told Grant that if Stanton still refused to leave, Grant should arrest him. But Grant didn’t want to do that. Instead he and Stanton came up with a plan of their own. Grant took possession of the office. But Stanton never left the building.

There was a move to impeach Johnson for this attempt, but the votes fell short. The new congress was sworn in on Tuesday, January 7, 1868, and on Monday, January 13th  it voted to back Stanton. The next day Grant locked the Secratary of War’s office, handed the key to an aide, and left. An hour later Stanton arrived and was handed the key. Only then did Grant tell President Johnson he had quit. The b-tch was back.

In desperation, Johnson turned to a character he could control, a 63 year old paper pusher, the Armies’ Adjutant-General, Lorenzo Thomas (above). To this point, Thomas’ greatest claim to fame was that he had help spread the rumor that General William Tecumsha Sherman was crazy. That had not worked, which should have been a hint to Johnson, but he didn't take it. Now, on February 21st, 1868, the President handed General Thomas two letters. The first letter fired Stanton (Again!). The second named Thomas as Secretary of War. Johnson then ordered Thomas to deliver them to both to Stanton. Alas, it was a like sending the Little Dutch Boy to stop a forest fire. All he got was a burned finger.

At the War Office (above), Stanton read both notes, and asked, “Do you wish me to vacate the office at once?” Magnanimously, the old man answered, “Act at your pleasure.” Stanton then went down the hall to make a copy of the letter. While Thomas dumbly waited, and a clerk laboriously wrote out an exact copy of the order, Stanton arranged his thoughts and morphed into a petulant two-year old. When he returned Thomas announced that he would now issue orders as Secretary of War. To which Stanton replied “You shall not. I will countermand.” In front of Thomas, Stanton then dictated a letter to Thomas, saying, “Sir: I am informed that you presume to issue orders as Secretary of War…you are hereby commanded to abstain from issuing any orders other than in your capacity as Adjutant-General of the army.” Stanton then handed the completed letter to Thomas and ordered him out of the office.

A bewildered Thomas informed Johnson of this conversation. The President must have been flabbergasted. He ordered Thomas to return to the War Office and begin issuing orders. Thomas tried that, but discovered he could no longer get in. Stanton had locked the doors.

Stanton now went native. Food was brought in, and and drink, and Grant appointed a special guard to defend the building, against whom he did not say. This military guard was joined by members of the House of Representatives and 100 staffers, who patrolled the basement. I guess because down there Grant figured they could only shoot each  other. That night, at a White House masked ball in honor of George Washington’s Birthday, and emboldened by a little wine, Thomas boasted that in the morning he would break down the walls of the War Office and arrest the Secretary of War. It looked as if come morning, the nation would be either defended for stolen by a coup d’tetat.

What saved the nation this disaster was that Washington, D.C. (above) was, has always been, and remains to this day, a small southern town filled with gossips. Stanton heard Thomas’ boast almost as soon as he had uttered it, and at 2 o’clock in the morning as the White House Party was just breaking up, Stanton was awakening a federal judge to sign an arrest warrent. At eight the next morning, as Thomas was just setting down to eat breakfast, he was arrested and charged with violating the Tenure of Office Act, which Congress had passed to prevent Johnson from firing Stanton without Congressional approval. There was no coup d’tetat because at nine a.m. General Thomas was in court.

After he had been released on his own recognizance (who was he going to hurt?), Thomas returned to the White House, where, once again President Johnson ordered the old man to go to the War Department and take possession if it. So, for a third time, the old soldier pushed his rock of Presidential command up the hill to confront his nemeses. The old man intoned, “I will stand here.” Stanton responded, “You can stand there if you please, but you cannot act as Secretary of War. I am Secretary of War. I order you out of this office and to your own.” Thomas answered, “I refuse to go and will stand here.” It was a circular conversation, and getting nowhere fast.

After trying to issue orders to everyone he could (and meeting impassive resistance), Thomas gathered his wounded pride and asked Stanton, “The next time you have me arrested, please do not do it before I get something to eat. I have had nothing to eat or drink all day.” Now it was Stanton’s turn to be magnanimous. He produced a bottle of whisky and poured them equal amounts. Handing a glass to Thomas, Stanton said, “Now, this at least is neutral ground.”

Over the next weeks, while the Senate heard President Johnson’s impeachment trial for trying to fire Stanton, Stanton remained barricaded in the War Department. He received all dispatches and reports, had full accesss to the telegraph lines. He just never left the building.  Meanwhile Thomas had no access to any of that, but he appeared at daily Cabinet meetings as Secretary of War. But the two never crossed paths. And while the process was argued behind the closed doors of the Senate, a compromise (of sorts) was reached.

On Saturday, May 16, 1868 the Senate took their first vote on an article of impeachment. It fell short of conviction. President Johnson, who had promised to cease obstructing the Reconstruction acts, would survive. The next day, Stanton wrote his letter of resignation. The crises had been resolved. But it would not be until 1887 before the Tenure in Office Act would be repealed.

Edwin Stanton was nominated to the Supreme Court by the next President, U. S. Grant. But the mercurial  clerk died four days after being confirmed by the Senate, Christmas Eve, 1869. It was so unlike him to sneak out of town before the his chance at a really grand performance.

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