Helldorado: Bringing the Law to the Mesquite

by William M. Breakenridge, Richard Maxwell Brown (Editor)

Helldorado offers cinematic images of wagon trains crossing the Great Plains, of Phoenix and Denver emerging from the dust and mud, of Tombstone blazing through a silver bonanza, and of the railroad joining East and West to change history. In his memoirs, originally published in 1928, William M. Breakenridge is shown doing about everything an enterprising and vigorous young man could do on the frontier. After leaving Wisconsin at the age of sixteen, he became a teamster, railroader; and lawman in Colorado, Arizona, and elsewhere. He took part in the Sand Creek Massacre, here described from his own point of view. Helldorado heats up in its evocation of early-day Tombstone, where, as deputy sheriff, Breakenridge encountered the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Luke Short, John Ringo, and Buckskin Frank Leslie.

Genres: History

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1928

Reviews

[Julie Bozza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deeply mixed reactions to this one! Being interested in the Old West of America, I couldn't ignore this autobiography from someone who was there. Breakenridge was a Deputy Sheriff in Tombstone in the early 1880s, and while away from town on the day of The Gunfight, he was definitely part of the whole story. There is, of course, also plenty of material covered from before and after those few years, and it's interesting to read about the day-to-day doings of a pioneer. He is writing late in life, and looking back over many decades, so maybe some of the details aren't spot on, but the overall story is authentic.

It's a bloody tough read, however, when Breakenridge recounts, in his "dry, terse, matter-of-fact" way, his experiences at Sand Creek. While Breakenridge seems not to have been directly involved in the worst of things, it's clear he didn't see anything he couldn't condone, and he states his continuing support for his commanding officer, Colonel John Chivington. After finishing this chapter, I went off to refresh my memory of what happened at Sand Creek, and ended up feeling physically ill. Breakenridge can't be excused as a man of his times, because Captain Silas Soule and Lieutenant Joseph Cramer were also men of their times - and they refused to let their Companies take part, then testified afterwards against Chivington. Sand Creek isn't something to be dismissed as only happening in the past, either. My copy of this book is a 1970 reprint, and the Publisher's Preface indulges a great angry rant against "liberals" like me who cry out against massacres. (Apparently we "shriek with joy" to do so!) The publisher equates Sand Creek (1864) with the My Lai massacre (1968) and states that soldiers on the front lines "ought not to have to account for one killing, not one, anywhere".

Some readers will not mind this. Some, like me, will.

On a (slightly) less contentious issue, I was very interested to read Breakenridge's account of Curly Bill Brocius, John Ringo and the other Cowboys during the Tombstone years. Deputy Sheriff Breakenridge and his boss County Sheriff John Behan were aligned with the Cowboys (and the Clantons and McLaurys) against the Earps and their friends. And there's no denying that Breakenridge is friendly with and even fond of Curly Bill and Ringo. But Breakenridge describes these outlaws and rustlers in much the same way as is found in books that take the Earps' side of things. There has been some suggestion that The Cowboy Problem in this corner of Arizona - which received notice all the way up to the President - was exaggerated. I therefore came to this account thinking to find arguments in their favour, or a view of them that lessens the crimes committed. But, no. Breakenridge still refers to them as rustlers, and notes that the small ranchers were implicated by providing the rustlers with pasture, and so on. Breakenridge is anti-Earp and very much anti-Holliday - but he also seems to regard The Cowboy Problem as real.

So this is an interesting read in many ways, but there are some parts (including the Preface!) that will please some and horrify others. You already know whether you want to read this or not, and what use you might make of it, so I'll leave you to it!

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 80% of the book I give a 5/5, absolutely amazing history with what seems to be his honest truth as to how he saw it. It was my first time reading something saying that the Earps were more like bullies with badges trying to make a buck rather than the good guys fighting bad guys. The last 20% of the book obviously just my opinion don’t even know why it’s there. I’ve never read a book that was so good I couldn’t put it down then so bad I couldn’t even force myself to skim the end let alone read the end.

[Debbie Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

R R Donnelley & Sons, Lakeside Press - Christmas 1982 reprint of the 1928 book by William Breakenridge. From my Lakeside Classics collection.

[Sophie Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book with the feel of listening to a man spin a tale. Star deducted for the horrible inhuman right-wing introduction.

[SB · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

William M Breakenridge was the deputy of Sheriff John Behan in Tombstone and was friends with both the Cowboys and the Earp's. A close friend of Curly Bill Brocius (William Graham) and the last man to see Johnny Ringo, Breakenridge lead an amazing life. And, if you want a first hand account of Tombstone during the time of the OK Corral, this is a must read book.

[Ralph Estes]

Tombstone deputy sheriff, low-key. Pretty good account; some perspective on OK Corral affair.