As I've written before, Cochise County doesn't have a long history of law and order. From the early days of the Apache wars to wild times in Tombstone, there's a healthy supply of interesting tales. Cattle rustling was one enterprise that the Indians, Mexicans and Americans seemed to enjoy. The terrain is well-suited because of the multitude of canyons, arroyos, and undefined borders which benefited rustlers. Curly Bill's gang (of the OK Corral shoot out fame) headed an active bunch of rustlers whose most famous exploit was killing a group of Mexican smugglers in Skeleton Canyon. After that awful deed, they proceeded to steal 300 head of cattle in Mexico and jubilantly returned to the Tombstone area with their catch. The Mexican vacqueros pursued the bovine bandits back into the U.S. and recovered the cattle and managed to rustle 200 more head on the way back across the Mexican border. This only escalated the whole affair with Curly Bill who wasn't going to acc...
Positively encouraging