Hysterical Journey To Historic Places

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NEWMAN HAYNES CLANTON







Newman was known, somewhat derisively, as “Old Man” Clanton. It is a term that may have originated with his cowardly son, Ike. Newman raised a passel of kids over near Port Hueneme in Ventura County, California. He got himself into a land dispute there that was made worse by Ike’s loud mouth and the whole family was advised to leave the area. The older kids settled in other areas of California and were well respected throughout their lives. Newman took the remaining kids over to Arizona and attempted to start up a community called Clantonville on the Gila River near where Maxey was later built. It was pestilent area of the river and the community failed due an outbreak of malaria. He then acquired a ranch on the San Pedro River a few miles south of Charleston, but could not afford to stock his ranch with cattle. Ike quickly solved that problem by stealing some cattle in Mexico. It was such a lucrative business plan that it quickly involved neighboring ranchers, Frank and Tom McLaury who were in partnership with a man named Frank Patterson. The demand for cattle to supply markets at military posts, Indian reservations, mining communities and the railroad hugely exceeded supply and that supply was met through rustling out of Mexico. More range was needed and Frank and Tom expanded onto property near Soldiers Hole, and the Clantons expanded onto range in the Animas Valley near the border in New Mexico. Newman was not particularly pleased with the business plan that Ike was running, had lost control of his family and had become a kind of recluse at the New Mexico ranch. If it were up to him Newman would have preferred to make a more honest living, but Ike was running the family and kept bringing stolen cattle onto his range. What’s a man to do? During the summer of 1881 border strife, looting, smuggling, and killing had reached such a fevered pitch that the Mexican Army had gone to an alert status. As a participant in the distribution of stolen cattle Old Man Clanton was part of that strife. The Mexicans had a few bands of ruthless cutthroats of their own doing business along the border. In July a group of Mexican smugglers were slaughtered and robbed in Skeleton Canyon a few miles north of the border and that incident called for retaliation by Mexican authorities. On August 12, 1881 the Lang Ranch in the Animas Valley sent a herd of 100 or so head of cattle to the market in Tombstone. The drive was headed by Lang’s son, Will, and two ranch hands, Charlie Snow and Billy Byers. Old Man Clanton agreed to accompany the drive as cook. Traveling with the group for their safety were Dick Gray and a town dandy named Harry Ernshaw. The outlaw, Jim Crane, stumbled onto the camp that evening and was invited to stay for supper and to join the merry band overnight. Crane was wanted in connection with the Kinnear stage coach killings on March 15 and thought he stood a fair chance of being acquitted since the robbery attempt failed, and the other desperadoes involved had already been killed. As the only surviving witness Crane was willing to take his chances in court and was on his way to turn himself in to Sheriff Johnny Behan. Just before daylight on the morning of August 13the Lang party was attacked in Guadalupe Canyon by Mexican soldiers under the command of Capitan Carrillo. In the opening salvo Old Man Clanton, Charlie Snow, Dick Gray, and Jim Crane were all killed. Will Lang went down fighting. Byers and Ernshaw were both wounded but escaped, and recovered. Snow was buried where he was found, but the other corpses were removed to the Gray Ranch and buried there. If Jim Crane had survived the carnage in Guadalupe Canyon the infamous Gunfight near OK Corral probably would not have happened. In the spring of 1882 Ike and Phin Clanton dug their dad up and transplanted him to Boot Hill Cemetery in Tombstone kind of edged in there beside Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers.

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Photos

OLD MAN CLANTON
Boot Hill Cemetery is on the east side of Hwy 80 about a third of a mile north of Fremont Street.

GUADALUPE CANYON MASSACRE
Access to Guadalupe Canyon is extremely difficult due to border security and locked gates.