October 2018 20 The victims were Jim “Jamie” Stott, Jim Scott and Billy Wilson. The prominent suspected ringleader of the vigilantes was Jim Houck, a surly, mean-spirited man who at the time was a deputy sheriff under Navajo County Sheriff Commodore Perry Owens. Houck had let it be known that he wanted the ranch, Jim Stott, a young easterner from a Massachusetts milling family, had bought rights to and developed on the north side of Black Mesa, some 60 miles south of Holbrook and on the north edge of Pleasant Valley. Stott held two plush parcels known as Aztec Springs and Bear Springs in the area and was running some 200 head of stock, about 120 horses and 80 head of cattle. Houck had boasted several times that he would “run his sheep on Stott’s land.” As Sheriff Owen’s deputy, Houck had been a shady figure lurking in the shadows of the Pleasant Valley War between the Graham and Tewksbury factions, a feud that left some 26 men dead and had degenerated into shootings from ambush from the open encounters between the two factions that had exploded in 1886, the first at the abandoned Middleton ranch cabin. Houck was closely allied with the Tewksbury brothers and was herding sheep on the range in Pleasant Valley, as were the Tewksbury clan, much to the consternation of Tom Graham and his fellow cattlemen in the Tonto Basin area of the Mogollon Rim country. Houck’s Devious Scheme Houck had exchanged angry words with two of the lynching victims, Stott and Jim Scott, an Aztec Land and Cattle Company cowboy, in a restaurant and saloon in Holbrook seven months before the lynching. Jamie Stott had a long days ride into Holbrook for supplies from the Aztec Springs ranch. Jim Scott met him in town and the two were getting dinner at the saloon, the only eatery open in the evening in Holbrook in those days. Stott avoided saloons and was not a drinker. Houck was in the place and well liquored up. He was railing against the Hashknife outfit, named for the brand of the Aztec Company, and picked Hashknife cowboy Jim Scott to rail at. Houck had a reputation for meanness when he was drinking and most would not have tried to stand up against him. Young Jim Scott was not “most.” He was known for quietly standing his ground. Houck and Scott stood face to face, eyes affixed on each other, hands on their pistols, in a frozen posture. Neither would back down. For Houck, this was a new experience. After a few minutes and the realization that this young Hashknife cowboy had no fear of him, Houck began to become unnerved. Jamie Stott, who stood a foot taller than both the men, walked up to them and told them to stop their foolishness. Houck gladly backed off after sizing up Jaime and his size. On his way out the door, Houck shouted back at Stott his oft-heard boast, “I’ll run my sheep on your place someday, Stott.” It was then that Houck reportedly began planning his revenge on Stott and Scott and planning his takeover of Stott’s rich ranch lands. Rumor and Smear Campaign It wasn’t long before Houck began setting a pattern obviously designed to destroy the reputation of Stott. Houck had little success with those who knew Stott and his generous, warm-hearted personality and honesty. But in the hatred and suspicions lurking behind every bush in Pleasant Valley, Houck found fertile ground to plant his seeds of suspicion against Stott. He enlisted the Tewksbury clan and some of their cronies in this effort. Soon rumors were being whispered that young Stott had tied in with a band of rustlers working Pleasant Valley and reservation areas near Navajo County. There was no evidence to support the rumors. Once started, however, in the dark atmosphere of Pleasant Valley of the day, there was no stopping them. Houck then enlisted a Tewksbury crony named Jacob Lauffer in his scheme. Lauffer hinted that Stott and Scott were responsible for the theft of one of his horses. He filed charges against Stott and the matter went to trial in Globe. Stott was found not guilty. On May 5th, two men robbed the Watkins store in Tonto Basin. This was an act of pure luck for Houck, who said he suspected Jamie Stott and Jim Scott of the robbery. His boss, Sheriff Commodore Perry Owens, went out of his way to accuse Stott and another man named Bargman of being suspects in the killing of three men in Pleasant Valley the previous week. Owens told the St. Johns Herald the citizens of Pleasant Valley planned to handle the matter themselves and that Stott and Bargman had been told to leave Pleasant Valley. The sheriff hinted to the Herald reporter that the entire matter had connections to the Watkins store robbery. The Herald reporter, carried away by being taken into Owens confidence, printed a letter that Stott had sent to the paper in response to Owen’s comments, denying having ever have been in the area of Pleasant Valley where the Watkins store was located, by adding his own editorial comments after Stott’s letter. The Herald said it had been “credibly informed” that Tonto Basin was not a “healthy section for Mr. Stott to range in nowadays,” and added, “Go-betweens for rustlers must go along with their masters.” Since both Owens and Houck were known sources for the St Johns paper and used it often to their own advantage, the Herald article hints strongly that Owens, as well as Houck, knew of plans to lynch Stott long before the actual deed on August 11th. Houck Arrest of Victims Jamie Stott, Jim Scott, and Billy Wilson were arrested by Houck and a “posse” of several other men at Stott’s Aztec Springs cabin on August 11th. Houck had no warrants for the arrests. The deputy told the Flagstaff Champion a week later that the three were arrested for the ambush shootings TRIPLE LYNCHING CLOUDED TERRITORIAL HISTORY continued on page 22 (Reprinted from The Traveler) A triple lynching by a so-called “citizen’s committee” in Pleasant Valley in August of 1888 left three young men dead and a black cloud over the history of Arizona Territory and Yavapai County. (Photo from "The Crooked Trail to Holbrook" by Leland J. Hanchett, Jr.) Courtesy Jan Burtt Jim “Jamie” Stott, 1886