The Wild West was a lawless era, a time when a man’s reputation was often measured by his speed with a gun. Amid the violence and disorder of the Arizona Territory in the late 1800s, few names inspired as much fear as Curly Bill Brocius.
Brocius was an outlaw cowboy, a rustler, and the leader of the Clanton gang. He arrived in Arizona from either Texas or Missouri around 1878, after briefly visiting the San Carlos Reservation while herding cattle.
For a time, Brocius also served as a de facto tax collector for Cochise County Sheriff Johnny Behan. In that role, he compelled other rustlers to pay taxes on their stolen cattle, with the proceeds going into the sheriff’s treasury.
Contemporary author Billy Breakenridge described Brocius as the most deadly pistol shot of the Cowboys. He was said to be able to hit running jackrabbits, shoot out candle flames without breaking the candles, and shoot quarters from between the fingers of volunteers when drunk.
Brocius was also known for a mean sense of humor. Wells Fargo agent Fred Dodge reported that Brocius once used gunfire to make a preacher dance during a sermon and forced Mexicans at a community dance to strip and dance naked.
Photographs of Brocius are rare and largely unverified. Writers who knew him described him as a well-built man with curly black hair and a freckled complexion.
On the evening of October 28, 1880, a drunken disturbance broke out in Tombstone. Several of Curly Bill’s friends fired pistols into the air in a dimly lit area near what is now the Bird Cage Theatre.
Tombstone Town Marshal Fred White attempted to disarm Brocius and grabbed his weapon by the barrel. Tragically, the gun discharged, striking White in the groin.
Wyatt Earp, who had borrowed a pistol from Fred Dodge, pistol-whipped Brocius during the arrest. White initially believed the shooting was accidental and gave a statement exonerating Brocius of murder.
However, White’s condition worsened, and he died two days later. In his final moments, White testified that he believed the pistol had accidentally discharged and that Brocius did not shoot him on purpose.
Wyatt Earp supported this testimony. A demonstration showed that Brocius’s pistol could fire from half-cock, and the gun was found to contain six rounds with only one fired.
Brocius spent most of November and December 1880 in jail awaiting trial. He was ultimately acquitted with a verdict of accidental death.
Years later, Wyatt Earp told his biographer that he believed Brocius was armed at the time and that he did not notice the pistol on the ground in the dark until Brocius was already down.
Despite being responsible for the deaths of several men during his life, Brocius reportedly liked White personally and always maintained that the death was a tragic accident.
On March 8, 1881, Brocius and his friend Johnny Ringo were in a saloon in Maxey, Arizona. Cowboy Dick Lloyd, drunk and armed, rode his horse into the saloon after shooting and wounding a man.
Brocius and several others resented the interruption, and about a dozen men, including Brocius, shot Lloyd. The saloon owner, O’Neil, took the blame and was acquitted.
On May 25, 1881, Brocius was drinking heavily in Gayville with his friend Jim Wallace, a veteran of the Lincoln County War. Trouble began when Wallace insulted Deputy Marshal Billy Breakenridge.
Brocius took offense and insisted Wallace apologize. Although Wallace complied, Brocius continued to berate him. Wallace left the saloon, and Brocius pursued him.
Feeling threatened, Wallace fired, striking Brocius in the cheek and neck. Wallace was arrested but was acquitted on grounds of self-defense.
In July 1881, Bill Leonard and Harry Head attempted to rob a general store in New Mexico. The Haslett brothers shot both men.
Some modern researchers suggest Brocius and Johnny Ringo rode to New Mexico to avenge their friends’ deaths, but no eyewitnesses could corroborate the events.
Four months after being shot, Brocius was seen at the McL Brothers Ranch. He had not fully recovered from his injury but was well enough to ride.
Some reports claim Brocius was involved in the Skeleton Canyon Massacre, where six Mexicans lost their lives and survivors were taken captive. Allegedly, Brocius sold the stolen Mexican beef to Newman Hayes Clanton.
Shortly after, old man Clanton and four others were ambushed and killed in the Guadalupe Canyon Massacre. However, no credible reports confirm Curly Bill’s direct involvement in these incidents.
After the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Brocius robbed the Tombstone-Bisbee stagecoach on January 6, 1882, and the Tombstone-Benson stage the next day.
Wyatt Earp organized a posse to pursue the culprits, but the search proved fruitless. Brocius reappeared in Tombstone on March 17.
He was implicated in the assassination of Morgan Earp by Marietta Duarte, the wife of Pete Spence. However, Justice of the Peace Wells Spicer rejected her testimony as hearsay, and the charges were dropped.
On March 20, 1882, Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt Earp shot and killed outlaw Frank Stilwell in Tucson while guarding his brother Virgil.
On March 24, 1882, the Earp party stumbled upon Brocius and his men at Iron Springs in the Whetstone Mountains. The Cowboys were cooking a meal alongside the spring.
According to Wyatt Earp’s account, the Cowboys opened fire from less than 30 feet behind an embankment. The initial shots struck Earp’s saddle horn, not the man.
Brocius aimed a shotgun at Earp from about 50 feet but missed. Earp returned fire with a 10-gauge shotgun, striking Brocius in the stomach with a blast of buckshot that nearly severed him in two.
Brocius collapsed at the water’s edge. The Cowboys unleashed a volley of shots, but the lawmen’s fire was intense, and those who could fled.
Earp shot Johnny Barnes in the chest and Milt Hicks in the arm. The posse retreated under heavy fire.
Brocius’s remains were reportedly buried on Frank Patterson’s Ranch along the Babocomari River. His grave site has never been identified.
Fred Dodge, an undercover Wells Fargo agent, conducted inquiries into Brocius’s death. A saloon proprietor in Charleston relayed that individuals present had confirmed Brocius met his end at the hands of Wyatt Earp.
The Tombstone Nugget offered a $1,000 reward for proof that Curly Bill lived, and the Tombstone Epitaph countered with $2,000. Neither was ever collected.
Brocius was not a wanted man in Arizona, and if he were alive, he had no reason to disappear. Returning to Texas, where he may have faced murder charges, seemed highly improbable.
Because of his nickname, Brocius has sometimes been confused with Curly Bill Graham, a different outlaw of the same region. Graham was killed in a gunfight in 1887 and is not considered the same man.
Brocius’s birth date, birth name, and birthplace are unknown. His surname has also been spelled as Brocius, though that spelling was used for his mail drop in Arizona.
Historical research has turned up two possible earlier identities. Dennis McLaflin reports that Brocius was from Missouri and named William B. Graham.
Historian Robert M. Utley suggests that Robert Martin, a member of the Jesse Evans gang, may have been Brocius. Because of the time frame, location, and friendship with Martin, Curly Bill may have been a member of the Evans gang as well.