Commodore Perry Owens

Commodore Perry Owens (July 29, 1852 – May 10, 1919) was an American lawman and gunfighter of the Old West. One of his many exploits was the Owens-Blevins Shootout in Arizona Territory during the Pleasant Valley War.

Early life Commodore Perry Owens was born July 29, 1852, not on September 10 as asserted by some sources. His father was named Oliver H. Perry Owens after Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, a United States Naval hero of the War of 1812. Commodore was named by his mother. He was born in Hawkins County, Tennessee; his family migrated and developed a farm in Liberty Township, Hendricks County, Indiana. At age 13, Commodore ran away from home and went West, where he was eventually hired on as a buffalo hunter for the railroad. Killing buffalo each day to feed the railroad workers, Owens became an incredible shot. He was able to shoot a rifle accurately from the hip, without using the sights. Owens was ambidextrous and wore two pistols. He would entertain friends by shooting a can across the pasture with alternating shots from his left and right hands. Owens later worked on the ranches of Oklahoma and New Mexico as a cowboy.

Owens is known to have been working on Hillard Roger's ranch outside Bartlesville, Oklahoma on his twenty-first birthday. In an interview given later in life, Owens admitted running with a "gang of tough characters" in his youth and was possibly involved in rustling, whiskey running and other depredations in the Indian Territory.

Arizona Territory By 1881, Owens at age 28 was working as a ranch foreman for James D. Houck and A. E. Hennings in Navajo Springs, Arizona, northeast of present-day Holbrook, Arizona. Myths have arisen about Owens's dealings with the Navajo in the area during this period. It was their traditional territory, and they resisted American encroachment. In one incident, when attacked by Navajo locals trying to steal horses under his watch, Owens allegedly killed at least two warriors, and earned the nickname "Iron Man".

In September 1883, Owens was arrested by U.S. Indian Agent Denis Matthew Riordan, for the murder of a young Navajo boy near Houck's ranch. Owens shot and killed the youth, who, he said, was trying to rustle horses. Owens was tried and subsequently acquitted of the murder by an Apache County jury.

Owens had red hair and dressed as a typical cowboy, as seen in his photo taken in New Mexico. He wore his hair long in his youth, often curling it up underneath his hat, was popular with the ladies, and was often teased because of his unusual name. Around this time, he homesteaded outside Navajo Springs, building a small dugout/cabin, well, and stables for his livestock near the stage station. He raised purebred horses. Owens is said to have named his place the "Z-Bar Ranch", but this brand was not officially registered with the Apache County Recorder's Office.

Old Man Blevins disappeared in June 1887 and was thought to have been killed by the Tewksbury faction or by Apaches. The Blevins brothers searched for their father with help from some Hashknife Cowboys and in one of the forays Hamp Blevins and another were killed by the Tewksbury side. They had gone to a ranch formerly owned by the Middleton Family where a family friend of the Tewksbury's lived. There, a confrontation broke out and resulted in the Blevins' retreat. On September 2, 1887, Andy Blevins and others ambushed and killed John Tewksbury and Bill Jacobs in revenge. Blevins returned to Holbrook and was heard bragging about the killings.

Sheriff Owens had inherited an old warrant for Andy Cooper (Blevins) arrest, but had never gone after Blevins. Some said it was because Owens and Blevins were friends, having been cowboys together. Others said Owens was afraid of Blevins, who was known as a fine shot and a cold killer. The warrant was for the theft of some twenty-five horses from a Mormon, who had tracked his horses to the Blevins Canyon Creek Ranch and identified Andy. A county official had likewise seen Andy driving the horses.

On Sunday, September 4, 1887, Sheriff Owens heard Andy was in Holbrook and rode to the Blevins' cottage in Holbrook to serve the outstanding warrant for rustling on Andy Blevins/Cooper. Twelve people were inside the house that afternoon when Owens reached it, including Cooper (the eldest Blevins brother), the younger brothers John and Sam Houston Blevins; the brothers' mother, Mrs. Blevins; John Blevins's wife Eva and their infant son; a family friend, Miss Amanda Gladden; house guest Mose Roberts; and several children.

Cradling his Winchester rifle in his arm, Sheriff Owens knocked on the door and, when Andy Blevins answered with a pistol in hand, the lawman told him to come out of the house, stating that he had a warrant for arrest. Blevins refused to comply and tried to close the door. Owens dropped the rifle to his hip and shot Blevins through the door, hitting him in the abdomen. Andy's half-brother, John Blevins, pushed a pistol out the door to Owens's right and fired a shot at the Sheriff. He missed and killed Andy's saddle horse, which was tied to a tree. Owens turned toward his assailant and fired, wounding John Blevins in the arm, and putting him out of the fight.

Owens backed away into the yard so he could see three sides of the house. Seeing Andy Blevins moving inside, Owens fired a third time through the front wall of the cottage, striking Andy in the right hip. Mose Roberts, boarding with the family, jumped out of a side window. Roberts saw the Sheriff and immediately turned to run. Owens shot him, the bullet passing through his back and out of his chest. Roberts stumbled around the back of the house and fell at the back door. Arizona Sketchbook author Frank Brophy and others have alleged that Roberts was unarmed, and that he jumped from the window to avoid Owens's third shot, which entered the house, but the coroner's jury report indicated that a blood-covered pistol was found near the back door of the cottage where Roberts had re-entered the house after being shot. The doctor who treated Roberts testified that a pistol was there when he attended to Roberts.

After Owens shot Roberts, fifteen-year-old Samuel Houston Blevins ran out the front door, gripping his brother Andy's Colt revolver, which he had taken from the mortally wounded outlaw. The younger brother yelled, "I'll get him." His mother tried to hold him back, but Sam broke loose. As the youth came toward him, Owens shot and killed him. Sam fell backward, dying in his mother's arms. The whole incident took less than one minute and the shootout made Owens a legend.

Locally, Owens was praised for ridding the county of Andy Cooper, a notorious outlaw. Three separate coroner's juries, called for each of the deaths, found Owens's actions justifiable. The Gunfight at Holbrook was lauded in most circles, but Owens's lack of formal education became a liability. As Apache County became more developed, the constituency began to wonder if Owens had the skills to be as good an administrator as he was a fighter.

Additionally, Owens had problems retaining his bonds and his sureties. Owens would have "twenty-three different citizens underwriting his honesty and effectiveness in office." The outlaws Robert W. "Red" McNeil and Grant S. "Kid" Swingle continued to escape his attempts to capture them. Owens was criticized for holding John Blevins in custody, although he was pardoned by the governor for shooting at the sheriff during the conflict at his house. Commodore Perry Owens finished out his term as Apache County Sheriff, but he was defeated in the election of November 1888 by his former deputy, St. George Creaghe. On January 1, Owens left the sheriff's office.

Later life

In the fall of 1892 Owens again sought nomination for the office of Apache County Sheriff, this time on the Democratic ticket. He lost to Joseph Woods, who was defeated in the election by Republican W. R. Campbell. Owens went to work for Campbell as his Chief Deputy. In 1894, Owens ran again for sheriff, securing the Democratic nomination, but he was defeated by the Republican candidate by a margin of 50 votes.

In August 1893, Owens was appointed to the position of Deputy U.S. Marshal under William Kidder Meade. In 1895 he was appointed as Sheriff of the newly created Navajo County by Governor Louis Cameron Hughes, serving two years. Owens appointed as his Under Sheriff his nephew Robert Hufford, son of his sister Mary Francis. These later years did not have the high drama of his days as Apache County Sheriff, but Owens was still considered a formidable opponent by outlaws.

After his term as Sheriff of Navajo County expired, Owens did not seek reelection. He retired to Seligman, Arizona, where he bought property and opened a general store and a saloon. While the other buildings have long since been torn down, Owen's house still stands. Owens later claimed in interviews to have killed 14 men during his career, but this claim cannot be substantiated. Owens was buried in Citizens Cemetery in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Elizabeth Jane Owens survived her husband by 21 years, dying in San Diego on April 30, 1945.