SOME STORIES DESERVE TO BE TOLD IN GREAT DETAIL
Joshua was raised by a religious family in Laurel, Delaware. Around 1875, about 10 years after the Civil War, he and his brother, Manlove Dyson, went west, possibly following one of his older brothers, Lorenzo Dow, settling in scenic, but untamed southern Colorado.
Brothers Joshua and Manlove soon took up with a couple of cattle rustlers, brothers Isaac "Ike" and William Porter "Port" Stockton, becoming the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, which operated in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. Joshua started using his middle name and was known as "Harg" among his peers. Manlove went by "Dyson," his middle name also.
The Stocktons were regarded as gunslingers and generally avoided by most law-abiding men. Dyson followed the example of Port Stockton and gained a reputation as a quick-tempered, deadly-accurate gunslinger. Harg was definitely low-profile compared to the other three, but he stuck it out, possibly to keep an eye on his younger brother. Some historical references seem to confuse Harg with his brother, Dyson, the hot-headed gunslinger.
The gang lived and "did business" from various places in the "Dark Corner" of Colorado, often at Trinidad, Silverton, and Durango, along with various locations in northwest New Mexico. Many, many stories, some more fiction than fact, are available to document the misdeeds of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, either individually or acting together.
In September 1879, a band of renegades from the Paiute tribe in Colorado massacred the US Government Indian Agent and 10 others in an area later renamed Meeker, Colorado. The renegades made frequent raids wherever opportunity presented itself, stealing horses, mutilating cattle, raping, killing, kidnapping, etc. One of their favorite activities was to cut the tongues out of cattle, leaving them to die of thirst or starvation. The cattlemen in the Four-Corners area, including the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, did not appreciate the renegades interfering with their livelihood.
In May 1881, a band of renegades headed to southwest Colorado to the horse ranch of J.B. Alderson, where 200 head of horses were being kept. When they got there, the horses had been sold to the US Army for $1,000. The renegades murdered two cowboys at the ranch, stole the money, and burned the cabin. Word of the murders quickly spread throughout the area, but because it was sparsely settled, it took a several days for a posse to be gathered. The US Army, stationed at Fort Lewis in Durango, Colorado and staffed mostly by "buffalo soldiers," was doing little to nothing to protect the cattlemen and their property, so the cattlemen were left to take care of things themselves.
The Paiutes apparently made their way westward, heading out of Colorado to an area near present day Monticello, Utah, where they encamped. About 60 of the renegades soon ventured north to do more "mischief." By this time, the posse had grown to over 90 men and started following the renegades' trail northward to the slopes of the present La Sal Mountains. The posse consisted of miners, ranchers, cowboys, and several of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, including Ike Stockton and Harg Eskridge.
As they got close to the renegades, the posse split into two, a group of twelve men chasing and the rest trying to outrun then confront them. (Many cowboys were veterans of the Civil War.) The plan was to flank them and attack from two sides.
The first encounter was a "running battle" with the smaller posse shooting from horseback at the fleeing band of renegades. One man, Jordan Bean, was wounded and left for dead, and a second cowboy had his horse shot out from under him. (Jordan Bean was only stunned and he recovered to be one of the few witnesses to tell the story.) The remaining 10 continued the "running battle." The larger group, hearing the gunfire, quickly returned to join the battle. When the renegades found out that they were outnumbered, they took off as fast as they could. Again, the posse broke into two groups, the same 10 chasing the renegades while the larger group tried again to outflank them.
The renegades quickly found and took up a defensible position, then waited for the posse. As the 10 men came up Pinhook Draw to Wilson Mesa, they were met with a hail of bullets and the battle was on. A couple of nearby cattlemen (the Wilson brothers, Mormon pioneers from Moab) heard the shooting and rode to help. (The previous summer, two other Wilson brothers had been ambushed by renegades on the La Sal Mountains, leaving the youngest Wilson brother crippled and disfigured. )
By the time the main posse reached the battle, 10 of the 12 were dead, including the two Wilson boys. The renegades had escaped again, taking as many of their dead and wounded as they could carry, but still leaving a few.
One of the wounded cowboys, Harg Eskridge, had been shot through the left heel and was unable to walk. He was taken to Moab, where his heel was treated by the Rasmussen family, Mormon pioneers. Several weeks later, Ike Stockton took him back to Colorado to complete his recovery.
Harg recounted the events, saying that he had killed at least 12 of the renegades, emptying his rifle and both of his six-guns. Later accounts of the event numbered the Indians at 31 dead, with eight wounded.
Harg became something of a hero among his peers for a time. Some thought his shooting skills may have been a factor in running the renegades off the La Sal Mountains that summer day.
AN ASIDE
Earlier that year, Port Stockton, the roughest member of the now infamous Stockton-Eskridge Gang, had been executed by a group of vigilantes who were tired of his thieving, murderous ways. Port, who sometimes rode with Billy the Kid, bragged that he had killed as many men as Billy... and had a higher bounty on his head. The local cattlemen gathered a large vigilante posse and rode out to Port's house in Flora Vista, New Mexico, where he was unceremoniously shot to death at his front door. (Billy the Kid was shot to death a few months later in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico.) A few months later, Ike found the man that bragged about leading the vigilantes, Aaron Barker, and killed him in a "gunfight."
On September 25, 1881, Ike robbed the bank in Silverton, then escaped down the mountain to Durango, where he was recognized by an acquaintance, Deputy James Sullivan. Sullivan knew Ike had a reputation for treachery. Ike had turned-in a member of his own gang for a $2,500 reward. Detested for that betrayal, wanted for the earlier murder of Aaron Barker and robbing the Silverton Bank, Ike shot it out with Deputy Sullivan and Sheriff Watson. Ike was shot in the leg, shattering his femur. He died later that night from loss of blood, after having his leg amputated. Ike's widow married a local lawyer, Nathaniel Colbert Coldwell, later moving to Fresno, California. (Their son, Colbert Nathaniel Coldwell, started a real estate brokerage that survives today as Coldwell Bankers Real Estate.)
That fall, Dyson Eskridge, wanted for a number of murders, headed south to Arizona and was reportedly killed in a gunfight with a lawman in Yuma. (Contrary to Western movies, lone gunslingers did not terrorize a whole town. Instead, they often met an untimely death at the hands of vigilantes and lawmen, some of whom were veterans of the Civil War.)
At the age of 24, Harg Eskridge was the sole survivor of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, and he had seen enough. He wisely left Colorado and traveled to San Diego, where he went into the real estate business for a year.
In 1883, he returned to his family in Sussex County, Delaware, married in September 1886, then moved to Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. There, they had a daughter, Cora, in 1887, a son, Robert, in 1891, and a daughter, Marion, in 1899. Cora died in 1889, just before turning two years of age.
His son, Robert, was had a talent for painting, so Joshua, as we was known again, moved his family to San Francisco, where his son could be trained and develop his painting skills. His son later gained a level of fame by painting in South America, Polynesia, and Hawaii, where his paintings are still displayed. His daughter suffered from epilepsy and never married.
Joshua was well regarded in Philipsburg, even know as "Deacon" among his acquaintances. He had stories to share from his time as a cattleman, fighting renegade Indians, and his life among gunslingers. By this time though, he had put his wild past behind him, becoming something of a local hero as he recounted "his version" of life in the west.
He died a month short of turning 71 at Philipsburg, considered a "pillar of the community." His obituary said he was shot in the foot by an arrow, an incorrect, romanticized version. Actually, it was a 45 caliber bullet that wounded him. The Indians were well armed. (Ask General George Armstrong Custer.)
His wife, Ella, lived until 1942, dying as a widow at the age of 78. Two of her children out-lived her, but neither married and they had no grandchildren.
OBSERVATION
Silly revisionist historians paint a totally different picture of the Pinhook Massacre, calling the posse of cowboys "aggressors," out to kill peaceful Indians who lived an idyllic life of peace and tranquility among the abundant wildlife and the beautiful mountains of Colorado. Except for the description of the mountains, no historical facts agree with the silly fantasies of politically correct, delusional, revisionist fools.
It must be emphasized that there were many peaceful Utes and Paiutes, along with other tribes across the west, but a number of tribes and certain bands of renegades caused so much trouble, committed so many murders, massacres, kidnappings, and acts of brutality that they created an image that is sometimes applied to all American Indians. That is inaccurate too.
Joshua was raised by a religious family in Laurel, Delaware. Around 1875, about 10 years after the Civil War, he and his brother, Manlove Dyson, went west, possibly following one of his older brothers, Lorenzo Dow, settling in scenic, but untamed southern Colorado.
Brothers Joshua and Manlove soon took up with a couple of cattle rustlers, brothers Isaac "Ike" and William Porter "Port" Stockton, becoming the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, which operated in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. Joshua started using his middle name and was known as "Harg" among his peers. Manlove went by "Dyson," his middle name also.
The Stocktons were regarded as gunslingers and generally avoided by most law-abiding men. Dyson followed the example of Port Stockton and gained a reputation as a quick-tempered, deadly-accurate gunslinger. Harg was definitely low-profile compared to the other three, but he stuck it out, possibly to keep an eye on his younger brother. Some historical references seem to confuse Harg with his brother, Dyson, the hot-headed gunslinger.
The gang lived and "did business" from various places in the "Dark Corner" of Colorado, often at Trinidad, Silverton, and Durango, along with various locations in northwest New Mexico. Many, many stories, some more fiction than fact, are available to document the misdeeds of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, either individually or acting together.
In September 1879, a band of renegades from the Paiute tribe in Colorado massacred the US Government Indian Agent and 10 others in an area later renamed Meeker, Colorado. The renegades made frequent raids wherever opportunity presented itself, stealing horses, mutilating cattle, raping, killing, kidnapping, etc. One of their favorite activities was to cut the tongues out of cattle, leaving them to die of thirst or starvation. The cattlemen in the Four-Corners area, including the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, did not appreciate the renegades interfering with their livelihood.
In May 1881, a band of renegades headed to southwest Colorado to the horse ranch of J.B. Alderson, where 200 head of horses were being kept. When they got there, the horses had been sold to the US Army for $1,000. The renegades murdered two cowboys at the ranch, stole the money, and burned the cabin. Word of the murders quickly spread throughout the area, but because it was sparsely settled, it took a several days for a posse to be gathered. The US Army, stationed at Fort Lewis in Durango, Colorado and staffed mostly by "buffalo soldiers," was doing little to nothing to protect the cattlemen and their property, so the cattlemen were left to take care of things themselves.
The Paiutes apparently made their way westward, heading out of Colorado to an area near present day Monticello, Utah, where they encamped. About 60 of the renegades soon ventured north to do more "mischief." By this time, the posse had grown to over 90 men and started following the renegades' trail northward to the slopes of the present La Sal Mountains. The posse consisted of miners, ranchers, cowboys, and several of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, including Ike Stockton and Harg Eskridge.
As they got close to the renegades, the posse split into two, a group of twelve men chasing and the rest trying to outrun then confront them. (Many cowboys were veterans of the Civil War.) The plan was to flank them and attack from two sides.
The first encounter was a "running battle" with the smaller posse shooting from horseback at the fleeing band of renegades. One man, Jordan Bean, was wounded and left for dead, and a second cowboy had his horse shot out from under him. (Jordan Bean was only stunned and he recovered to be one of the few witnesses to tell the story.) The remaining 10 continued the "running battle." The larger group, hearing the gunfire, quickly returned to join the battle. When the renegades found out that they were outnumbered, they took off as fast as they could. Again, the posse broke into two groups, the same 10 chasing the renegades while the larger group tried again to outflank them.
The renegades quickly found and took up a defensible position, then waited for the posse. As the 10 men came up Pinhook Draw to Wilson Mesa, they were met with a hail of bullets and the battle was on. A couple of nearby cattlemen (the Wilson brothers, Mormon pioneers from Moab) heard the shooting and rode to help. (The previous summer, two other Wilson brothers had been ambushed by renegades on the La Sal Mountains, leaving the youngest Wilson brother crippled and disfigured. )
By the time the main posse reached the battle, 10 of the 12 were dead, including the two Wilson boys. The renegades had escaped again, taking as many of their dead and wounded as they could carry, but still leaving a few.
One of the wounded cowboys, Harg Eskridge, had been shot through the left heel and was unable to walk. He was taken to Moab, where his heel was treated by the Rasmussen family, Mormon pioneers. Several weeks later, Ike Stockton took him back to Colorado to complete his recovery.
Harg recounted the events, saying that he had killed at least 12 of the renegades, emptying his rifle and both of his six-guns. Later accounts of the event numbered the Indians at 31 dead, with eight wounded.
Harg became something of a hero among his peers for a time. Some thought his shooting skills may have been a factor in running the renegades off the La Sal Mountains that summer day.
AN ASIDE
Earlier that year, Port Stockton, the roughest member of the now infamous Stockton-Eskridge Gang, had been executed by a group of vigilantes who were tired of his thieving, murderous ways. Port, who sometimes rode with Billy the Kid, bragged that he had killed as many men as Billy... and had a higher bounty on his head. The local cattlemen gathered a large vigilante posse and rode out to Port's house in Flora Vista, New Mexico, where he was unceremoniously shot to death at his front door. (Billy the Kid was shot to death a few months later in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico.) A few months later, Ike found the man that bragged about leading the vigilantes, Aaron Barker, and killed him in a "gunfight."
On September 25, 1881, Ike robbed the bank in Silverton, then escaped down the mountain to Durango, where he was recognized by an acquaintance, Deputy James Sullivan. Sullivan knew Ike had a reputation for treachery. Ike had turned-in a member of his own gang for a $2,500 reward. Detested for that betrayal, wanted for the earlier murder of Aaron Barker and robbing the Silverton Bank, Ike shot it out with Deputy Sullivan and Sheriff Watson. Ike was shot in the leg, shattering his femur. He died later that night from loss of blood, after having his leg amputated. Ike's widow married a local lawyer, Nathaniel Colbert Coldwell, later moving to Fresno, California. (Their son, Colbert Nathaniel Coldwell, started a real estate brokerage that survives today as Coldwell Bankers Real Estate.)
That fall, Dyson Eskridge, wanted for a number of murders, headed south to Arizona and was reportedly killed in a gunfight with a lawman in Yuma. (Contrary to Western movies, lone gunslingers did not terrorize a whole town. Instead, they often met an untimely death at the hands of vigilantes and lawmen, some of whom were veterans of the Civil War.)
At the age of 24, Harg Eskridge was the sole survivor of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, and he had seen enough. He wisely left Colorado and traveled to San Diego, where he went into the real estate business for a year.
In 1883, he returned to his family in Sussex County, Delaware, married in September 1886, then moved to Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. There, they had a daughter, Cora, in 1887, a son, Robert, in 1891, and a daughter, Marion, in 1899. Cora died in 1889, just before turning two years of age.
His son, Robert, was had a talent for painting, so Joshua, as we was known again, moved his family to San Francisco, where his son could be trained and develop his painting skills. His son later gained a level of fame by painting in South America, Polynesia, and Hawaii, where his paintings are still displayed. His daughter suffered from epilepsy and never married.
Joshua was well regarded in Philipsburg, even know as "Deacon" among his acquaintances. He had stories to share from his time as a cattleman, fighting renegade Indians, and his life among gunslingers. By this time though, he had put his wild past behind him, becoming something of a local hero as he recounted "his version" of life in the west.
He died a month short of turning 71 at Philipsburg, considered a "pillar of the community." His obituary said he was shot in the foot by an arrow, an incorrect, romanticized version. Actually, it was a 45 caliber bullet that wounded him. The Indians were well armed. (Ask General George Armstrong Custer.)
His wife, Ella, lived until 1942, dying as a widow at the age of 78. Two of her children out-lived her, but neither married and they had no grandchildren.
OBSERVATION
Silly revisionist historians paint a totally different picture of the Pinhook Massacre, calling the posse of cowboys "aggressors," out to kill peaceful Indians who lived an idyllic life of peace and tranquility among the abundant wildlife and the beautiful mountains of Colorado. Except for the description of the mountains, no historical facts agree with the silly fantasies of politically correct, delusional, revisionist fools.
It must be emphasized that there were many peaceful Utes and Paiutes, along with other tribes across the west, but a number of tribes and certain bands of renegades caused so much trouble, committed so many murders, massacres, kidnappings, and acts of brutality that they created an image that is sometimes applied to all American Indians. That is inaccurate too.
SOME STORIES DESERVE TO BE TOLD IN GREAT DETAIL
Joshua was raised by a religious family in Laurel, Delaware. Around 1875, about 10 years after the Civil War, he and his brother, Manlove Dyson, went west, possibly following one of his older brothers, Lorenzo Dow, settling in scenic, but untamed southern Colorado.
Brothers Joshua and Manlove soon took up with a couple of cattle rustlers, brothers Isaac "Ike" and William Porter "Port" Stockton, becoming the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, which operated in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. Joshua started using his middle name and was known as "Harg" among his peers. Manlove went by "Dyson," his middle name also.
The Stocktons were regarded as gunslingers and generally avoided by most law-abiding men. Dyson followed the example of Port Stockton and gained a reputation as a quick-tempered, deadly-accurate gunslinger. Harg was definitely low-profile compared to the other three, but he stuck it out, possibly to keep an eye on his younger brother. Some historical references seem to confuse Harg with his brother, Dyson, the hot-headed gunslinger.
The gang lived and "did business" from various places in the "Dark Corner" of Colorado, often at Trinidad, Silverton, and Durango, along with various locations in northwest New Mexico. Many, many stories, some more fiction than fact, are available to document the misdeeds of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, either individually or acting together.
In September 1879, a band of renegades from the Paiute tribe in Colorado massacred the US Government Indian Agent and 10 others in an area later renamed Meeker, Colorado. The renegades made frequent raids wherever opportunity presented itself, stealing horses, mutilating cattle, raping, killing, kidnapping, etc. One of their favorite activities was to cut the tongues out of cattle, leaving them to die of thirst or starvation. The cattlemen in the Four-Corners area, including the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, did not appreciate the renegades interfering with their livelihood.
In May 1881, a band of renegades headed to southwest Colorado to the horse ranch of J.B. Alderson, where 200 head of horses were being kept. When they got there, the horses had been sold to the US Army for $1,000. The renegades murdered two cowboys at the ranch, stole the money, and burned the cabin. Word of the murders quickly spread throughout the area, but because it was sparsely settled, it took a several days for a posse to be gathered. The US Army, stationed at Fort Lewis in Durango, Colorado and staffed mostly by "buffalo soldiers," was doing little to nothing to protect the cattlemen and their property, so the cattlemen were left to take care of things themselves.
The Paiutes apparently made their way westward, heading out of Colorado to an area near present day Monticello, Utah, where they encamped. About 60 of the renegades soon ventured north to do more "mischief." By this time, the posse had grown to over 90 men and started following the renegades' trail northward to the slopes of the present La Sal Mountains. The posse consisted of miners, ranchers, cowboys, and several of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, including Ike Stockton and Harg Eskridge.
As they got close to the renegades, the posse split into two, a group of twelve men chasing and the rest trying to outrun then confront them. (Many cowboys were veterans of the Civil War.) The plan was to flank them and attack from two sides.
The first encounter was a "running battle" with the smaller posse shooting from horseback at the fleeing band of renegades. One man, Jordan Bean, was wounded and left for dead, and a second cowboy had his horse shot out from under him. (Jordan Bean was only stunned and he recovered to be one of the few witnesses to tell the story.) The remaining 10 continued the "running battle." The larger group, hearing the gunfire, quickly returned to join the battle. When the renegades found out that they were outnumbered, they took off as fast as they could. Again, the posse broke into two groups, the same 10 chasing the renegades while the larger group tried again to outflank them.
The renegades quickly found and took up a defensible position, then waited for the posse. As the 10 men came up Pinhook Draw to Wilson Mesa, they were met with a hail of bullets and the battle was on. A couple of nearby cattlemen (the Wilson brothers, Mormon pioneers from Moab) heard the shooting and rode to help. (The previous summer, two other Wilson brothers had been ambushed by renegades on the La Sal Mountains, leaving the youngest Wilson brother crippled and disfigured. )
By the time the main posse reached the battle, 10 of the 12 were dead, including the two Wilson boys. The renegades had escaped again, taking as many of their dead and wounded as they could carry, but still leaving a few.
One of the wounded cowboys, Harg Eskridge, had been shot through the left heel and was unable to walk. He was taken to Moab, where his heel was treated by the Rasmussen family, Mormon pioneers. Several weeks later, Ike Stockton took him back to Colorado to complete his recovery.
Harg recounted the events, saying that he had killed at least 12 of the renegades, emptying his rifle and both of his six-guns. Later accounts of the event numbered the Indians at 31 dead, with eight wounded.
Harg became something of a hero among his peers for a time. Some thought his shooting skills may have been a factor in running the renegades off the La Sal Mountains that summer day.
AN ASIDE
Earlier that year, Port Stockton, the roughest member of the now infamous Stockton-Eskridge Gang, had been executed by a group of vigilantes who were tired of his thieving, murderous ways. Port, who sometimes rode with Billy the Kid, bragged that he had killed as many men as Billy... and had a higher bounty on his head. The local cattlemen gathered a large vigilante posse and rode out to Port's house in Flora Vista, New Mexico, where he was unceremoniously shot to death at his front door. (Billy the Kid was shot to death a few months later in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico.) A few months later, Ike found the man that bragged about leading the vigilantes, Aaron Barker, and killed him in a "gunfight."
On September 25, 1881, Ike robbed the bank in Silverton, then escaped down the mountain to Durango, where he was recognized by an acquaintance, Deputy James Sullivan. Sullivan knew Ike had a reputation for treachery. Ike had turned-in a member of his own gang for a $2,500 reward. Detested for that betrayal, wanted for the earlier murder of Aaron Barker and robbing the Silverton Bank, Ike shot it out with Deputy Sullivan and Sheriff Watson. Ike was shot in the leg, shattering his femur. He died later that night from loss of blood, after having his leg amputated. Ike's widow married a local lawyer, Nathaniel Colbert Coldwell, later moving to Fresno, California. (Their son, Colbert Nathaniel Coldwell, started a real estate brokerage that survives today as Coldwell Bankers Real Estate.)
That fall, Dyson Eskridge, wanted for a number of murders, headed south to Arizona and was reportedly killed in a gunfight with a lawman in Yuma. (Contrary to Western movies, lone gunslingers did not terrorize a whole town. Instead, they often met an untimely death at the hands of vigilantes and lawmen, some of whom were veterans of the Civil War.)
At the age of 24, Harg Eskridge was the sole survivor of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, and he had seen enough. He wisely left Colorado and traveled to San Diego, where he went into the real estate business for a year.
In 1883, he returned to his family in Sussex County, Delaware, married in September 1886, then moved to Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. There, they had a daughter, Cora, in 1887, a son, Robert, in 1891, and a daughter, Marion, in 1899. Cora died in 1889, just before turning two years of age.
His son, Robert, was had a talent for painting, so Joshua, as we was known again, moved his family to San Francisco, where his son could be trained and develop his painting skills. His son later gained a level of fame by painting in South America, Polynesia, and Hawaii, where his paintings are still displayed. His daughter suffered from epilepsy and never married.
Joshua was well regarded in Philipsburg, even know as "Deacon" among his acquaintances. He had stories to share from his time as a cattleman, fighting renegade Indians, and his life among gunslingers. By this time though, he had put his wild past behind him, becoming something of a local hero as he recounted "his version" of life in the west.
He died a month short of turning 71 at Philipsburg, considered a "pillar of the community." His obituary said he was shot in the foot by an arrow, an incorrect, romanticized version. Actually, it was a 45 caliber bullet that wounded him. The Indians were well armed. (Ask General George Armstrong Custer.)
His wife, Ella, lived until 1942, dying as a widow at the age of 78. Two of her children out-lived her, but neither married and they had no grandchildren.
OBSERVATION
Silly revisionist historians paint a totally different picture of the Pinhook Massacre, calling the posse of cowboys "aggressors," out to kill peaceful Indians who lived an idyllic life of peace and tranquility among the abundant wildlife and the beautiful mountains of Colorado. Except for the description of the mountains, no historical facts agree with the silly fantasies of politically correct, delusional, revisionist fools.
It must be emphasized that there were many peaceful Utes and Paiutes, along with other tribes across the west, but a number of tribes and certain bands of renegades caused so much trouble, committed so many murders, massacres, kidnappings, and acts of brutality that they created an image that is sometimes applied to all American Indians. That is inaccurate too.
Joshua was raised by a religious family in Laurel, Delaware. Around 1875, about 10 years after the Civil War, he and his brother, Manlove Dyson, went west, possibly following one of his older brothers, Lorenzo Dow, settling in scenic, but untamed southern Colorado.
Brothers Joshua and Manlove soon took up with a couple of cattle rustlers, brothers Isaac "Ike" and William Porter "Port" Stockton, becoming the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, which operated in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. Joshua started using his middle name and was known as "Harg" among his peers. Manlove went by "Dyson," his middle name also.
The Stocktons were regarded as gunslingers and generally avoided by most law-abiding men. Dyson followed the example of Port Stockton and gained a reputation as a quick-tempered, deadly-accurate gunslinger. Harg was definitely low-profile compared to the other three, but he stuck it out, possibly to keep an eye on his younger brother. Some historical references seem to confuse Harg with his brother, Dyson, the hot-headed gunslinger.
The gang lived and "did business" from various places in the "Dark Corner" of Colorado, often at Trinidad, Silverton, and Durango, along with various locations in northwest New Mexico. Many, many stories, some more fiction than fact, are available to document the misdeeds of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, either individually or acting together.
In September 1879, a band of renegades from the Paiute tribe in Colorado massacred the US Government Indian Agent and 10 others in an area later renamed Meeker, Colorado. The renegades made frequent raids wherever opportunity presented itself, stealing horses, mutilating cattle, raping, killing, kidnapping, etc. One of their favorite activities was to cut the tongues out of cattle, leaving them to die of thirst or starvation. The cattlemen in the Four-Corners area, including the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, did not appreciate the renegades interfering with their livelihood.
In May 1881, a band of renegades headed to southwest Colorado to the horse ranch of J.B. Alderson, where 200 head of horses were being kept. When they got there, the horses had been sold to the US Army for $1,000. The renegades murdered two cowboys at the ranch, stole the money, and burned the cabin. Word of the murders quickly spread throughout the area, but because it was sparsely settled, it took a several days for a posse to be gathered. The US Army, stationed at Fort Lewis in Durango, Colorado and staffed mostly by "buffalo soldiers," was doing little to nothing to protect the cattlemen and their property, so the cattlemen were left to take care of things themselves.
The Paiutes apparently made their way westward, heading out of Colorado to an area near present day Monticello, Utah, where they encamped. About 60 of the renegades soon ventured north to do more "mischief." By this time, the posse had grown to over 90 men and started following the renegades' trail northward to the slopes of the present La Sal Mountains. The posse consisted of miners, ranchers, cowboys, and several of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, including Ike Stockton and Harg Eskridge.
As they got close to the renegades, the posse split into two, a group of twelve men chasing and the rest trying to outrun then confront them. (Many cowboys were veterans of the Civil War.) The plan was to flank them and attack from two sides.
The first encounter was a "running battle" with the smaller posse shooting from horseback at the fleeing band of renegades. One man, Jordan Bean, was wounded and left for dead, and a second cowboy had his horse shot out from under him. (Jordan Bean was only stunned and he recovered to be one of the few witnesses to tell the story.) The remaining 10 continued the "running battle." The larger group, hearing the gunfire, quickly returned to join the battle. When the renegades found out that they were outnumbered, they took off as fast as they could. Again, the posse broke into two groups, the same 10 chasing the renegades while the larger group tried again to outflank them.
The renegades quickly found and took up a defensible position, then waited for the posse. As the 10 men came up Pinhook Draw to Wilson Mesa, they were met with a hail of bullets and the battle was on. A couple of nearby cattlemen (the Wilson brothers, Mormon pioneers from Moab) heard the shooting and rode to help. (The previous summer, two other Wilson brothers had been ambushed by renegades on the La Sal Mountains, leaving the youngest Wilson brother crippled and disfigured. )
By the time the main posse reached the battle, 10 of the 12 were dead, including the two Wilson boys. The renegades had escaped again, taking as many of their dead and wounded as they could carry, but still leaving a few.
One of the wounded cowboys, Harg Eskridge, had been shot through the left heel and was unable to walk. He was taken to Moab, where his heel was treated by the Rasmussen family, Mormon pioneers. Several weeks later, Ike Stockton took him back to Colorado to complete his recovery.
Harg recounted the events, saying that he had killed at least 12 of the renegades, emptying his rifle and both of his six-guns. Later accounts of the event numbered the Indians at 31 dead, with eight wounded.
Harg became something of a hero among his peers for a time. Some thought his shooting skills may have been a factor in running the renegades off the La Sal Mountains that summer day.
AN ASIDE
Earlier that year, Port Stockton, the roughest member of the now infamous Stockton-Eskridge Gang, had been executed by a group of vigilantes who were tired of his thieving, murderous ways. Port, who sometimes rode with Billy the Kid, bragged that he had killed as many men as Billy... and had a higher bounty on his head. The local cattlemen gathered a large vigilante posse and rode out to Port's house in Flora Vista, New Mexico, where he was unceremoniously shot to death at his front door. (Billy the Kid was shot to death a few months later in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico.) A few months later, Ike found the man that bragged about leading the vigilantes, Aaron Barker, and killed him in a "gunfight."
On September 25, 1881, Ike robbed the bank in Silverton, then escaped down the mountain to Durango, where he was recognized by an acquaintance, Deputy James Sullivan. Sullivan knew Ike had a reputation for treachery. Ike had turned-in a member of his own gang for a $2,500 reward. Detested for that betrayal, wanted for the earlier murder of Aaron Barker and robbing the Silverton Bank, Ike shot it out with Deputy Sullivan and Sheriff Watson. Ike was shot in the leg, shattering his femur. He died later that night from loss of blood, after having his leg amputated. Ike's widow married a local lawyer, Nathaniel Colbert Coldwell, later moving to Fresno, California. (Their son, Colbert Nathaniel Coldwell, started a real estate brokerage that survives today as Coldwell Bankers Real Estate.)
That fall, Dyson Eskridge, wanted for a number of murders, headed south to Arizona and was reportedly killed in a gunfight with a lawman in Yuma. (Contrary to Western movies, lone gunslingers did not terrorize a whole town. Instead, they often met an untimely death at the hands of vigilantes and lawmen, some of whom were veterans of the Civil War.)
At the age of 24, Harg Eskridge was the sole survivor of the Stockton-Eskridge Gang, and he had seen enough. He wisely left Colorado and traveled to San Diego, where he went into the real estate business for a year.
In 1883, he returned to his family in Sussex County, Delaware, married in September 1886, then moved to Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. There, they had a daughter, Cora, in 1887, a son, Robert, in 1891, and a daughter, Marion, in 1899. Cora died in 1889, just before turning two years of age.
His son, Robert, was had a talent for painting, so Joshua, as we was known again, moved his family to San Francisco, where his son could be trained and develop his painting skills. His son later gained a level of fame by painting in South America, Polynesia, and Hawaii, where his paintings are still displayed. His daughter suffered from epilepsy and never married.
Joshua was well regarded in Philipsburg, even know as "Deacon" among his acquaintances. He had stories to share from his time as a cattleman, fighting renegade Indians, and his life among gunslingers. By this time though, he had put his wild past behind him, becoming something of a local hero as he recounted "his version" of life in the west.
He died a month short of turning 71 at Philipsburg, considered a "pillar of the community." His obituary said he was shot in the foot by an arrow, an incorrect, romanticized version. Actually, it was a 45 caliber bullet that wounded him. The Indians were well armed. (Ask General George Armstrong Custer.)
His wife, Ella, lived until 1942, dying as a widow at the age of 78. Two of her children out-lived her, but neither married and they had no grandchildren.
OBSERVATION
Silly revisionist historians paint a totally different picture of the Pinhook Massacre, calling the posse of cowboys "aggressors," out to kill peaceful Indians who lived an idyllic life of peace and tranquility among the abundant wildlife and the beautiful mountains of Colorado. Except for the description of the mountains, no historical facts agree with the silly fantasies of politically correct, delusional, revisionist fools.
It must be emphasized that there were many peaceful Utes and Paiutes, along with other tribes across the west, but a number of tribes and certain bands of renegades caused so much trouble, committed so many murders, massacres, kidnappings, and acts of brutality that they created an image that is sometimes applied to all American Indians. That is inaccurate too.
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