Percy Bowden was born August 8, 1893 in Delmar, Iowa, to William and Frances Bowden.

The family caught a train that took them to Cochise, Arizona. From there, they traveled by stagecoach to Pearce, Arizona where the father worked as a miner. He remembered little of his father, who became ill and passed away soon after arriving in Pearce, when Percy was only three years old.

Percy started school when he was five years old. After his fathers death, Mrs. Bowden started a boarding house in order to support the family. In 1901, she married the star border, Richard Pearn, and the family moved to Tombstone. Mr. Pearn found a better job in California in 1902 and moved there. Percy and his stepfather did not get along very well, so Percy decided to stay in Tombstone and make it on his own. He had been cleaning floors and windows after school at John Rock's Dry Goods Store which was located on the north east corner of 4th and Allen Street. Percy also landed a job milking sixteen cows each morning, then delivering the milk before going to school. Most of his customers were restaurants and boarding houses.

Mr. Rock allowed Percy to stay in the back of the store free if he kept the work up around the store. So, Mr. Rock put a cot and a box with a mirror over it in the room. Percy talked a woman out of an old chair and moved in. The first few weeks he ate cold food until he made enough money to buy a small two-plate stove.

In December of 1903 Percy had a harrowing experience which happened to him while living in the back room of Rock's Dry Goods Store. Percy had just arrived at home when someone knocked on the door which led to his living quarters. Expecting to see one of his friends, he opened the door only to find two men pointing guns at him. They pushed their way in and quickly gave him orders to be quiet and do as he was told. They looked out the back door and told someone there that everything looked all right and then they shut the door.

The two outlaws had just broken out of the Tombstone Jail and were later identified as Burt Alvord and Billy Stiles. They took clothing, hats, shoes etc... and ran off, going down Freemont Street to John Escapule's Ranch where they stole horses to make their getaway. Percy was left unharmed.

After leaving school Percy operated a jitney service between Tombstone and Fairbank on the San Pedro River. In the early part of 1917, the throwing of a snowball at the then Sheriff, Harry Wheeler (Former Arizona Ranger), began an acquaintance that started a fifty-seven year law enforcement career.

Percy was known as the fightin'est law officer in the area. Fearing no one in a man-to-man struggle, he was known as the "kid deputy," and later, as the "kid chief of police" of Douglas, Arizona. He was recognized far and wide in his struggle with the bootleggers between Rodeo, New Mexico, and towns in Cochise County (Arizona). He was also known for running the cleanest border city in the entire United States and even once housed the notorious gangster and bankrobber John Dillinger in the Douglas City Jail. He took great pride in helping youth, never wanting to see a young person get a prison record; taking in eight and sending them through school. His relationships with officers in Mexico made him a valuable asset to officers throughout the nation.

Percy Bowden was considered a loner in many ways. He never took part in any civic clubs and avoided social events whenever possible. One thing he never seemed to mind, however, was riding in a police car at the head of parades. His political ties throughout the state were always respected. His hours on the job were long. It was hard for him to retire after serving as chief for more than fifty years, yet he said new regulations bothered him, and he realized they were for younger and better educated men. Percy retired June 1, 1971, and became hill soon afterward, passing away June 11, 1974.

Mr. Bowden was survived by his widow Hortencia and his adopted daughter Jo Ann Graham, of Lancaster, New York.

Almost ten days before Percy passed away Ervin Bond paid him a visit and he was in a talkative mood. He told Bond he had slipped the last few years; that he had let men get by with things and stay on the force who would not have lasted a week before, and this did not help him or the people who lived in Douglas. He believed he was not as sharp at times as he should have been and all the new regulations were beyond his educational ability. He had to rely on someone else to figure them out. Bond asked him if he thought they were better than the old ways that he was taught. To this he said "No" in a hurry. He felt that someday the country would have to go back to the Harry Wheeler days when an officer was the law, otherwise things were going to get to the point where a law officer would hold the lowest respect of any citizen in the community. He said that only a few years ago, a kid would get into trouble and he would receive a good spanking right in the police station. Now a law suit would be pending if you only touched him. The kids come in and tell the officer what can and can't be done and, many times, their parents will back them up in this, only to have him pull the same crime again. This is what makes working as a law officer difficult today, Percy declared. Unless it is changed within a few years, the penitentiaries will be more crowded than they are now. Percy told Bond, "I was only hurt really bad two times in my life, but these two times tore my heart out. One was when my wife Cleo, passed away and the other was when I gathered up my personal belongings on June 1, 1971, to give up the desk that I had called my own for more than fifty years." He claimed he had not spent a happy day for the last three years.

Source of information: Book, Percy Bowden, Born to be a Frontier Lawman, by: Ervin Bond.