#67 Johnny Ringo Gravesite!

welcome my friends to big bill Anderson's death tours I am here in Pierce Arizona it is the 24th of March on a Sunday and I'm here to show you the gravesite of Johnny Ringo and you just go through this little gate right here and we walk down this little trail here I have driven 218 miles to arrived here from Phoenix on this glorious and beautiful day this is the rules for visiting the gravesite this is private property gentleman owns this land lives right over here to the right have to walk over this little bridge and back this way just a short little trek down is a gravesite of Johnny Ringo and my friends this is an epic adventure for me today to come here and pay my respects to this grave been here once before two years ago or so and I just took some photos that day today I wanted to document this a little bit better for my youtube channel and also wanted to send a shout-out thank you to a fellow youtuber Steve's trips down memory lane Steve the gentleman that runs that fantastic YouTube channel one of my favorites Steve's trips down memory lane a lot of you viewers watching us right now have come to me from his channel cannot thank you or him enough for taking the time and interest in my small channel to care enough to watch my videos that I feel are slowly getting better I am a very much a novice and I admit it but we are here today on the 24th March at Johnnie Ringo's grave he they buried him right where he fell it's kind of a mysterious death here's actually the headstone for him that they have July 13th 1882 there was a tree I believe that was right over here or it was right down in here that has since rotted away and they had to destroy it and and get rid of it it was dead he was found leaned up against a tree with a bullet in his brain I'm gonna talk a little bit more about it in my narration but I wanted to just show you this this is a historic site here in Arizona and it says John Ringo the remains of this once noted gunman and outlaw I here a teamster traveling from West Turkey Creek found the body sitting in the fork of a nearby oak tree with a bullet hole in the right temple a coroner's jury reported the death to be suicide and Ringo was buried on this spot there were others who viewed the body and maintained that the July 13th 1882 death of Ringo was murder and I will talk a little bit more about that it's a beautiful spot out here very serene very tranquil very relaxing and I suppose if you're a noted gunman such as Johnny Ringo you probably couldn't ask for a better place to be laid to rest my friends we'll talk a little bit more about this as I go along here and give you some other ideas that have been reported about the death here of Johnny Ringo and I thank you so much for watching and to keep watching gonna add some more documentary in here thank you my friends I am here on March 24 2000 19 at Turkey Creek Canyon in southeast Arizona at the frontier gravesite of John Peters Ringo known as Johnny Ringo I'm about 40 miles north of tombstone and about 200 miles from Phoenix Arizona Johnny Ringo was an American Old West outlaw associated with the Cochise County Cowboys in frontier Tombstone in Cochise County in the Arizona Territory he was affiliated with Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan Ike Clanton and Frank Stilwell during 1881 and 1882 Johnny Ringo was born in Green Fork Indiana on May 3rd 1850 his family moved to Liberty Missouri in 1856 in 1858 his family moved to Gallatin Missouri on July 30th and 1864 when Johnny was 14 his family was in Wyoming in route to California his father Martin Ringo was killed when he stepped off their wagon holding a shotgun which accidentally discharged the buckshot entered the right side of Martin's face and exited the top of his head the family buried Martin on a hillside along the trail by the mid-1870s Ringo had migrated from San Jose California to Mason County Texas here he got heavily involved in the Mason County War which consisted of a large group of German immigrant farmers versus some cattle rustlers and ranchers it was during this time that Ringo committed his first murder on September 25th 1875 by November of 1876 the Mason County War had petered out about a dozen individuals had been killed Johnny Ringo was locked up one of Ringo's alleged cellmates was the notorious killer John Wesley Hardin Ringo was acquitted of the murder by a jury two years later Ringo was a constable in loyal Valley Texas soon after this he travelled to Arizona for the very first time Ringo first appeared in Cochise County Arizona Territory in 1879 in December of 1879 a drunk Ringo shot unarmed Lewis Hancock in a Sephardim saloon when Hancock refused a complimentary drink of whiskey stating that he preferred beer Hancock survived his wound in Tombstone Arizona Ringo had a reputation as having a very bad temper he may have participated in robberies and killings with the Cochise County Cowboys a group of Outlaws On January 17 1882 Ringo and Doc Holliday traded threats as seemed to be headed into a gunfight both men were arrested by tombstones Chief of Police James Flynn and hauled before the judge for carrion weapons in town both were fined Judge William H Stillwell followed up on charges outstanding against Ringo for a robbery in Gale evil and Ringo was really and jailed On January 20th for the weekend Ringo was suspected by the herbs of taking part in the December 28th 1881 ambush of virgil earp that crippled him for life and the March 18th 1882 murder of Morgan Earp while he was shooting pool in a tombstone saloon deputy u.s. marshal Wyatt Earp and his posse killed Frank Stilwell in Tucson on March 20th 1882 after the shooting the Earp's and a federal posse set out on a vendetta to find and kill the others they held responsible for ambushing Virgil and Morgan Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan received warrants from a Tucson judge for the arrest of the herbs and Holliday and deputized Ringo and 19 other men many of them friends of Stilwell and the Cochise County Cowboys the County Posse pursued but never found the Earp posse during the Erb vendetta ride Wyatt Earp killed one of Johnny Ringo Schlow zazz friends curly bill Brocius in a gunfight at iron springs about 20 miles from Tombstone on July 14 1882 Ringo's body was found lying here against the trunk of a tree in West turkey creek valley near the Chiricahua peak in Arizona Territory a neighboring property owner heard a single gunshot on the afternoon of July 13th and discovered ringo's body the following day his feet were wrapped in strips of cloth torn from the undershirt of his body probably because his horse had gotten loose and bolted with his boots tied to the saddle a method commonly used at the time to keep scorpions out of them there was a bullet hole in his right temple and an exit wound and the back of his head his revolver had one round expended and was found hanging by one finger in his hand his horse was found eleven days later and two miles away with his boots still tied to the saddle a coroner's inquest officially ruled his death a suicide Ringo's body is buried near the base of the tree where it was discovered the grave is located on private land despite the coroner's ruling a newspaper reports Ringo had frequently threatens to commit suicide and that the event was expected at any time alternative theory Ringo's cause of death of Aryan plausibility have been proposed over the years by researchers and amateur enthusiasts we'll go over some of those theories now the Wyatt Earp theory is in 1888 he was interviewed by several newspaper men and told them that he killed Johnny Ringo as he left Arizona in 1882 however herbs included details that did not match what is known about Ringo's death the Doc Holliday theory is that it is very similar to the Erb theory except that Holliday alleges that he killed Ringo a variant popularized in the movie tombstone holds that Holliday stepped in for Erb in response to a gunfight challenge from Ringo and shot him records of the Pueblo County Colorado district court located in Pueblo Colorado indicate that Holliday and his attorney appeared in court on July 11th 14th and 18th in 1882 to answer charges of larceny however a writ of capias was issued for him on the 11th suggesting that he did not in fact appear in court on that date Ringo's body was found on the 14th of July 6 days before Ringo's death the Pueblo daily chieftain reported that Holliday was in Celina Colorado about 670 miles from Turkey Creek Arizona and then in Leadville about 700 miles away on the 18th of July there was still an arrest warrant outstanding on holiday in Arizona for his part in Frank Stilwell's murder making it unlikely that he would have entered Arizona at the time the Michael O'Rourke theory is some accounts attribute Ringo's death to Michael O'Rourke a gambler who was arrested in Tucson in January of 1881 on suspicion of murdering a mining engineer Wyatt Earp is said to have protected him from being lynched by a mob organized and led by Johnny Ringo O'Rourke escaped from jail in April of 1881 and never trial on the murder charges the last documented sighting of O'Rourke was in the Dragoon mountains near tombstone during May of 1881 well mounted and equipped and presumably on his way out of the territory from then on he is referenced only in unsubstantiated rumors and legends according to one a combination of the debt he owed Earp and the grudge he held against Ringo prompted him to return to Arizona in 1882 and track Ringo down and kill him while some sources consider the story plausible others point out that O'Rourke like Holliday would have been reluctant to reenter Arizona with a murder warrant hanging over his head particularly to commit another murder a theory popular in the years immediately following Ringo's death was another man named buckskin Frank Leslie as the possible killer Leslie apparently did tell a card at the Yuma Territorial prison where he was serving time for killing his wife that he had shot Ringo while many believed his story others thought he was simply claiming credit for it to add favor with the herbs inner circle or for whatever notoriety it might bring him in a popular but unsubstantiated story one of the Cowboys Billy claybournes last words after losing a gunfight to Leslie in November of 1882 were Frank Leslie killed John Ringo I saw him do it deputy Billy Breckenridge encountered Ringo on a trail now near Helldorado two days before he was found dead it was shortly after noon Ringo was drunk reeling in the saddle and said he was going to Gale evil it was in the summer and a very hot day he offered me a drink out of a bottle of half full of whiskey and he had another full bottle said Breckenridge I tasted it and it was too hot to drink it burned my lips knowing that he would have to ride nearly all night before he could reach Gale evil I tried to get him to go back with me to the Goodrich ranch and wait until after sundown but he was stubborn and on his way I think this was the last time he was seen alive the property that was found on the person of Johnny Ringo the day he was found dead was one Colt revolver caliber 45 containing five cartridges one Winchester rifle caliber 45 model 1876 one in the breech and ten in the magazine one cartridge belt containing nine rifle cartridges one cartridge belt containing two revolver cartridges one silver watch of American from the American watch company and a silver chain attached to dollars is sixty cents and money six pistol cartridges in his pocket one small pocket knife one tobacco pipe one comb one block of matches and one small piece of tobacco so my friends Johnny Ringo was found dead right here at the age of 32 years old Johnny Ringo I hope you're resting in peace here in this beautiful scenic area of southeastern Arizona my friends thank you for watching this video please like and subscribe ring the notification bell it will alert you as to my future videos when they are uploaded thank you have a beautiful day you

Channel: Big Bill Anderson's Life Tours!

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Length: 17min 37sec (1057 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 28 2019