b'CHARLEY DUCHET: THE MAN, HIS GUN AND HIS DESERT CANYONPART 2 By Bill Roberts Reprinted from The TravelerH e had met the Tewksburys in Monterey years earlier while robbing stages. The Tewksburys eventually were run out of town for stealing and went to Nevada. From Nevada, the Tewksburys reportedly found their way to Tonto Basin, Pleasant Valley, Arizona Territory in the 1880s. By the late 1880s, the Tewksbury-Graham feud was heating up. Duchet was herding sheep on Baker Butte, up on the rim, for the Tewksbury clan and the Daggs Brothers then of Flagstaff. It was up on Baker Butte that Duchet had his chance meeting, and fateful one, with Tom Graham. By the late 1800s, the Tewksbury-Graham feud was heating up. Edwin Tewksbury (left) and Tom Graham.A short time later the Tewksburys reportedly triedmother was out of town on a visit. Annie attendedNewton had married a wealthy woman. He was to hire Duchet to kill the Grahams. They said thethe suffering infant through the night, unableheavily allied with the Tewksbury faction. He and money, one thousand dollars for each Graham thatto leave her to summon help. The infant died ofold man Tewksbury were both from the same area of Duchet killed, would be paid by old Mrs. Daggs ofdehydration before help finally arrived. The coupleMassachusetts. Newton had bought the old Middleton Globe. Duchet turned down the offer and warnedhad another daughter within the year and named herranch in Pleasant Valley where the first shootout of the Grahams. About that time a young IndianEstrella. As the infant Estrella grew to a charmingthe Pleasant Valley War had left two cowboys, Payne sheepherder was shot off his horse, the first victim ofand pretty little girl, she grew extremely fond of aand Blevins, dead in 1887. They were the first two the Pleasant Valley War. Duchet claimed this killing. knife scarred and crippled old man in the household,white men to be killed in the bloody feud. Newton and Charley Duchet. his partner Jerry Vosburgh added to their Pleasant The Grahams gathered for a conference at theValley holdings as others lost their nerve and sold Houdon Ranch with Duchet present. The battleDuchet called Estrella the old girl which somehowout. Newtons brother-in-law, George Wilson, was a lines were drawn. Duchet never left Tom Grahamspleased the little girl. From the beginning, the oldlife-long Tewksbury ally. Newton also supplied Ed side throughout the bitter war, which left some 27curmudgeon spoiled Estrella like most grandfathersTewksbury with supplies, ammunition, and cash from men dead from both sides and wiped out both thewill. The bond became so close between the twoGlobe. Some suspect Newtons widow bankrolled the Tewksbury and Graham clans. that Estrella would not eat unless Charley was at thehigh-priced defense teams that got Ed Tewksbury table. Estrella never saw the hard side, the man-killerand John Rhodes off after the slaying of Tom Graham Early in the fighting, Duchet claimed to have takenside, of her adopted grandfather and in later years,by ambush in Tempe. Many also suspected Charley a slug in his right lung. After recovering, he tookwhen she knew, it made no difference to her. TheDuchet and Tom Graham did in Newton that day in another one, almost in the same place. The lungbond between Estrella and Charley Duchet lastedApril 1892, when the jeweler headed out of Globe for collapsed. Some 50 years old now, the old gunfighterthroughout Duchets life, long after Tom Graham hadPleasant Valley, never to arrive or return.decided he could best be of service by staying closedied. Perhaps, Annie, Tom, and Estrella were the only to Tom Graham. Graham agreed. Those who knewpeople of his day who knew Charley Duchet had aGraham Does ReturnDuchet then and knew him best described him assoft side. It was a side he could ill-afford to show inAbout the time Newton disappeared, Tom Graham totally fearless and a man who would never disguisepublic, as it would soften the aura of fear that walkednegotiated with Tom Harmon, a cattle feeder in hard feelings. If he encountered a person he hadthe Territory with Charley Duchet. Tempe, to buy the Pleasant Valley herd. In June, Tom reason to hate, he wanted to kill him on the spot. ItGraham and Charley Duchet saddled up for the ride to was often said that he did just that. Estrella Graham never saw the hardPleasant Valley to round up the cattle and drive them to Harmon in Tempe. Graham had been away from Who killed who in the Pleasant Valley War, exceptside, the man-killer side, of her adoptedPleasant Valley for five years, leaving his interest in the for those killed in outright shootouts and raids of onehands of Silas Young, a man who although employed camp on the other, remains a mystery to this day. Itgrandfather and in later years, when sheby Graham, was considered a neutral in the feud by all is strongly suspected that Duchet added a half dozenknew, it made no difference to her. of those in the valley, including the Tewksbury clan.victims or more to his trail of lead while in Pleasant Valley. Duchet himself was cut down by ambushDuchet later said that when he and Graham rode during the feud. While being treated in the doctorsNewtonA Duchet Victim? into the valley, the ranchers from the area, mostly office he calmly asked the doctor how many bullets heThey never found Globe jeweler George NewtonsTewksbury supporters, rode out to meet them. had in him. Three, replied the doc. Duchet replied,body. The did find his horses, one saddle horse and oneThe valley crowd eyed Graham and Duchet, held a Then thats how many men theyll find face down onpack horse near the mouth of Coon Creek, 75 milesconference, and then William Colcord rode out of the the trail, admitting that though badly wounded heup the Salt River from Tempe, on April 15, 1892. Thecrowd and approached Graham and Duchet. Well had killed all three of his attackers. packhorse was dead, the pack still on its back, its bodyboys, is it war or peace? Colcord asked. Duchet lodged in a riffle in the river. The saddle horse, withreportedly faced Colcord and said, Quit fighting A Softer Side saddle and bridle intact, was grazing on the riverbank.with your mouth and cut loose. Im ready for every Tom Graham left Pleasant Valley and moved toThey were George Newtons horses, the horses he setone of you. Colcord, head of the deadly vigilantes in Tempe hiring Silas W Young to look after his ranchout with several days earlier on a trip to his holdings inPleasant Valley had 12 heavily armed men with him. and herd in the valley. In 1888, Tom and his wifePleasant Valley. They also found Newtons gun and gunPeace, replied Graham. Colcord and his bunch did suffered a deep personal tragedy when their infantbelt on a sandbar by the Coon Creek ford. There wasnot want to face Duchet. Colcord moved forward and daughter, Arvilla, was stricken with severe diarrhea.no trace of Newton himself. No trace of him has beenshook the hands of Graham and Duchet. The rest of Tom was out of town on business. Annie Grahamsfound to this day. continued on page 2118 April 2020'