Hysterical Journey To Historic Places

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BUCKSKIN FRANK LESLIE

Buckskin Frank Leslie arrived in Tombstone in the spring of 1879 from San Francisco. He was an affable, well-spoken man when he was sober, but he was dearly fond of the bottle and when he was drunk he could be mean and treacherous. He soon took up with a woman named Mary Killeen whose marriage was on the rocks. Her husband, Mike Killeen, was a jealous man and warned them both to knock it off. When they politely ignored him he attacked Leslie and was killed. It was the first gun violence in Tombstone, and a week later the happy couple married in what was probably the first wedding in Tombstone. Buckskin Frank tended bar at the Oriental for Milt Joyce during times that it was not being rebuilt after a fire. Mary soon divorced him because of his intemperance. Over 4^th of July, 1882 he went on a 10 day toot with John Ringo and Billy Claiborne that culminated in the lonely suicide of Ringo on West Turkey Creek. Ringo was always kind to Billy and Billy revered him. Billy and Johnny might have been gay lovers. When Ringo died Billy held Buckskin Frank Leslie responsible for the death. On November 14 Billy drunkenly accosted him in the Oriental. Billy got thrown out of the saloon but waited in ambush outside armed with a rifle. Friends warned Leslie of the situation and he stepped out to appease Billy, but Billy threw down on him with the rifle and Leslie had to kill him in self-defense. When Milt Joyce decided to invest in a ranch Buckskin Frank became resident manager of it. By 1889 Tombstone was a less lively place and Leslie had taken up a living arrangement with a Tombstone prostitute named Blonde Mollie Williams. They lived on Milt Joyce's ranch near the south end of the Swisshelms. Leslie returned home from another 4^th of July toot in Tombstone, drunkenly accused Mollie of infidelity with a hired man named Jim Neal and shot them both. Mollie died, but Neal survived and Leslie was convicted of murder and sent to prison in Yuma. He did well in prison because he had to remain sober. He became the prison pharmacist and eventually won parole. Many years later Jim Neal hired him as a swamper in an Oakland saloon. Failing in health he stole a pistol from the saloon in 1925 and disappeared. It is presumed that he went off into the hills and committed suicide like Ringo did. The photo shows the foundation stones at the ranch house where he killed Blonde Mollie. She was buried in the front yard by neighbors. It is a lonely place for a lively girl to spend eternity in.

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Photos

BUCKSKIN FRANK LESLIE
From McNeal, AZ take Davis Rd east for about 8.75 miles to Leslie Canyon Road. Follow Leslie Canyon Rd about 4 miles northeast to the ranch. Blonde Mollie's grave is on private property but she might welcome a visit. The ranch owners seem to be tolerant of visitors who do not trespass.