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John Dewitt Burgess was born near Exeter, England in 1847. His family immigrated to the United States while Dewitt was an infant. At the age of 15, John ran away and joined the Union Army. He would see combat in the Civil War being wounded twice and taken prisoner in 1864. He was sent to the notorious Andersonville prison until his release after the war. Burgess enjoyed army life and would find himself fighting in the Indian Wars. In 1868 as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 7th Calvary he participated in the battle of the Washita. He resigned his commission shortly afterwards.
In 1875 Burgess was given an appointment as a storekeeper on the Verde Indian reservation where he later helped move the Tonto Apaches and Mojaves to the San Carlos Indian reservation. He would become the agency clerk at San Carlos until 1876 when he assisted in moving the Chiricahuas from Bowie to San Carlos. He was named Chief Scout at San Carlos and served there until 1882. He then went into the mining business. While pursuing mining interests in the Table Mountain area he found himself in the town of Mammoth along the lower San Pedro River. He would become involved in what one newspaper called “a shooting affray on the San Pedro.”
On April 14, 1885, Burgess had come down from his mining camp at Table Mountain to the growing town of Mammoth, sometimes referred to by the newspapers as Mammoth City. Burgess had received a letter from William Oates, Superintendent of San Carlos Copper Company telling him to meet him at the Williams Ranch. Upon arriving at the ranch, Burgess found that Oates had left. Burgess went in to town and entered the Duboise Saloon. There he saw a friend of his, Daniel Sullivan being accosted by three drunken toughs, Kelly, O’Brien and “Mitch” who were trying to pick a fight with Sullivan. Burgess interfered and was able to get his friend out of the bar.
Burgess and Sullivan walked up the street to another bar to have a drink and talk. Just as they bellied up to the bar, Kelly, O’Brien and Mitch walked in and began arguing again with Burgess and Sullivan. Burgess ordered a round of drinks for his friend, himself and the three thugs. When the drinks arrived, Burgess and Sullivan snuck out of the bar while the three men were occupied getting their drinks. This time they went to the Williams ranch.
After an hour, Burgess decided to head back to his mining camp. He saddled his horse and strapped on his pistol and told Sullivan that he guessed those “three fighters” were gone and he would stop in the saloon and pay for the drinks he had ordered.
When Burgess entered the saloon, he was grabbed by the arm and forced against the bar where he now faced the three toughs drunker and angrier than they had been. They began calling him names and threatened to assault him. O’Brien got in his face and brushed up against him pushing his chest against Burgess while making threats. Burgess placed his left hand on O’Brien’s chest and shoved him back at the same time reaching for his gun with his right hand. One newspaper report said Burgess had struck O’Brien on the side of his face with a glass from the bar. The three men then attacked him. Burgess drew his pistol in an attempt to intimidate them and clear the way for him to make it to the door of the saloon. Kelly swung at Burgess and Burgess returned the blow by striking Kelly with his pistol. O’Brien then grabbed Burgess’ gun hand and they began struggling over the pistol. Mitch struck a hard blow to the side of Burgess’ head knocking Burgess and O’Brien through the doorway where they still wrestled for the gun. Kelly came through the doorway when the gun discharged and the bullet hit him striking a fatal wound. When the gun fired, O’Brien released his grip on Burgess and he was able to get away. Burgess covered the two toughs that were still standing. He then mounted his horse and rode away.
On May 9, the Silver Belt newspaper out of Globe City printed an article which said, “Sheriff Gabriel who came down from the San Pedro Wednesday, says the general impression in that section is that Captain Burgess was perfectly justifiable in shooting Kelly at the Mammoth Camp. The Captain will come down and give himself up during court week.”
On May 21 in Florence, after a hearing in front of Judge John Miller, John D. Burgess was acquitted of the killing of Kelly by reason of self defense. Burgess would go on to be well known in mining. In 1892 Burgess would become involved in another shooting affray, this time in Tucson. This time he wouldn’t be so lucky.
On May 23, 1892, Captain Jack Burgess was the Superintendent of the Cañada del Oro Mines. At around 7 p.m. that evening one of his employees, an Apache given the name Kit Carson by the white man that had raised him, came to Burgess’ house. He was drunk and in a foul mood. Captain Burgess chastised Kit, saying he had left work early to get drunk. Words were exchanged and Carson told Burgess that he had a shotgun in the stable and he would go get it and settle the matter.
Carson went to the stable and got the gun loaded with #6 shot and returned to Burgess’ house where he then called him out. Burgess left his house and approached Carson. When Burgess was about 10 feet away, Carson fired two shots knocking Burgess to the ground. Carson then fled but was arrested shortly afterwards. The shot from the gun penetrated his face, left arm and chest but were not deep enough to prove fatal, but Burgess would lose his right eye.
Carson on the night he was arrested was interviewed at the jail by a reporter. Carson said that the company had owed him money and the Captain refused to pay him. Carson insisted that the Captain pay him. They argued and Burgess became very abusive and then allegedly pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Carson. Carson told him he would go get his shotgun and make him take back what he had said. Carson returned with the shotgun and called Burgess out.
Kit Carson’s own words as reported in the Arizona Republican newspaper were: “When he got within ten feet of me, he shot at me. I covered him with my gun and told him to stop. He would not stop but came on, and I fired two shots at him. I then left. I am sorry that I did not kill him. I should have used buck shot then I would have killed the _____”.
Carson would be convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to ten years in the Yuma Territorial Prison. He would be pardoned by Governor Hughes in 1895 after serving three years.
Burgess would become involved in numerous mining ventures in the Tucson area, Florence, Table Mountain, and Sonora. Mexico. In 1909 he escorted William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill Cody), the famous scout and showman around the Old Hat Mining District in the Catalina Mountains. Burgess was the manager of the Campo Bonito mine near Oracle and got Buffalo Bill Cody interested enough to invest heavily in the mine. Cody and his partners would lose money in their mining ventures near Oracle. Burgess died in Tucson in 1918.
Burgess’s tombstone. He was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Tucson. Photo can be found online at http://bit.ly/1Ktzfxs.
John Hernandez lives in Oracle. He is retired and enjoys writing and traveling. He is active in the Oracle Historical Society. He covers numerous public events, researches historical features and writes business/artist profiles.
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