ArizonaRealCountry.com 35 October 2018 RV, Diesel and Automotive Repair Please call 623-376-6791 for details or to be added to our reservation list for RV Valet & Concierge Storage services. Super Sized with 18 Bays and 12 Lifts Including 2 for RV’s Expanded Service Center to Accommodate More RV and Diesel Vehicles Additional Services for Commercial Vehicle Maintenance Repair RV Valet and Concierge Services When Old West history lovers hear the name John Behan, they undoubtedly think of the gunfight at the OK Corral on Fremont Street. Born John Harris Behan on October 23, 1845, in Missouri, he grew up attending Westport Public Schools. As a young man, in 1862, he moved to Tucson as an employee of the Quartermaster Department of the California Column. He clerked for a time in Pima County and then moved to Prescott in 1864. There Behan worked as a bull wacker for Charles Beach who had a hay hauling contract for the military. Eventually, he quit and made a career as a public servant. In 1867, he became the Yavapai County Recorder. Behan was credited with taking the first census of then Black Canyon in 1869. The Miner newspaper reported that Behan, as a deputy under Sheriff John P. Bourke, was “ready and willing to arrest offenders against the peace of Yavapai County,” and the Arizona Miner dated November 4, 1871, reported of Behan’s successful tax collection raid upon the citizens of various settlements. Behan had a reputation as a brave and honest lawman. However, on May 22, 1875, John was divorced from his wife Victoria on the grounds of extreme cruelty. She was granted custody of their son Albert Price Behan. Behan was both sheriffs for Yavapai County from 1871 to 1872 and Cochise County beginning in 1880. During his tenure in Yavapai, no one was ever hanged for a violent crime. Fate made him sheriff during the gunfight at the OK Corral in October 1881. Behan arrested the Earps for the murders of the Clantons. Of course, following the 30-day trial, Judge Wells Spicer, coincidentally a relative of the Earps, ruled that the Earps were justified in their actions. They went unpunished. According to Bob Alexander who wrote John H. Behan, Sacrificed Sheriff, during Behan’s career in law enforcement, “He was skilled with a gun and horse, and consistently fought crime and arrested the bad guys without killing anyone.” Behan had political aspirations and represented Mohave County in the legislature. During one of his two terms, he introduced a bill to care for insane persons. Additionally, Behan was appointed the superintendent of the Yuma Territorial Prison by Governor Conrad Zulick. In November 1892, John was appointed to represent Arizona as commissioner to the World’s Fair by Governor Nathan Murphy. His son, Price, a lawman at the time, was witness to the ceremony. During the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1900, Behan was master of transportation for the US Government. He was subsequently employed by the Treasury Department. After a varied and illustrious career, he died on June 7, 1912, of Bright’s Disease in Tucson. By Michael Sandford John Behan, Hero Of Days Gone By Arizona University John and Victoria Behan, 1880