"Brazen Bill" Shot to Blazes
"Brazen Bill" Brazelton vs. A Tucson Posse
Categories: Classic Gunfights , Photo Gallery
By: Bob Boze Bell 04/01/2008
Aftermath: Odds & Ends
The newspapers (John Clum’s in particular) reported that Brazelton had robbed nine coaches in Arizona and New Mexico—all of them single-handedly. Clum also wrote that Brazen Bill was “dextrous with firearms and had not [a] streak of yellow in him.”
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Little is known of Brazelton’s early years. He told a friend in Tucson that he had robbed two stagecoaches in northern Arizona, three near Silver City, New Mexico, and four near Tucson. One of the newspapers described Brazelton as a “great, big, good natured fellow; and except when on business, as harmless as any man could be.”
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For many years after Brazen Bill’s death, the native population around Tucson avoided the spot where he had met his end, especially when traveling at night, even if they had to make a journey of a mile to go around it. The old-timers often told tales of seeing a phantom highwayman standing in the road (see below).
Recommended:
Bad Men by Bob Boze Bell, published by Tri-Star; and Apache Days and Tombstone Nights: John Clum’s Autobiography, 1877-1887 edited by Neil Carmony, published by High-Lonesome Books.
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Bill Brazelton is a great great grandfather of mine. I'm actually a direct decendant of his.