Robert H. Birch

An illustration from Edward Bonney's book Banditti of the Prairies in which Robert Birch and his accomplices in the Banditti of the Prairie attacked and murdered Colonel George Davenport at his home on July 4, 1845. Birch was later captured and arrested for the crimes and escaped from jail in Wisconsin. Robert H. Birch with his Banditti outlaw partners, William Fox and John Long burying ill-gotten loot An illustration of Edward Bonney, from his book Banditti of the Prairies who as a bounty hunter and amateur detective in 1846, began a man-hunt doggedly pursued Robert Birch and his accomplices in the "Banditti of the Prairie", from Illinois to Ohio and back to Chicago for the torture-murder of Colonel George Davenport and counterfeiting. Robert Birch was arrested for his part in the torture-murder of Colonel George Davenport but because he broke out of jail in 1847, through outside help or bribery, in Knoxville, Illinois his case never went to trial and he vanished without a trace. The October, 1845 hangings of Granville Young and John and Aaron Long, Banditti murderers of Colonel Davenport, from the 1850 book, The Banditti of the Prairies, Or, The Murderer's Doom!!: A Tale of the Mississippi Valley by Edward Bonney, who is standing to the right of the gallows, wearing a top hat and black suit.

Robert H. "Three-Fingered" Birch, born Robert Henry Birch (c. 1827 – c. 1866), was a 19th-century American adventurer, criminal, soldier, lawman, postmaster, and prospector. He was a member of the infamous "Banditti of the Prairie" in his youth, whose involvement in the torture-murder of Colonel George Davenport in 1845 led to his turning state's evidence against his co-conspirators. Birch was also the discoverer of the Pinos Altos gold mine with Jacob Snively and James W. Hicks. During the American Civil War, he served in the American Southwest with the Confederate forces of the Arizona Rangers and 2nd Texas Cavalry.

Early life Robert Birch claimed to have been born in New York, Robert Birch was one of several members later identified by Edward Bonney who had infiltrated the gang as a bogus counterfeiter. Ironically, three years earlier, Bonney had been arrested and charged with counterfeiting in Indiana but escaped before his conviction. Birch was soon apprehended, in part due to information from Bonney, and he soon agreed to testify against the others in exchange for a reduced sentence. Granville Young and brothers John and Aaron Long were later executed for the murder. After several court delays, Robert Birch broke out of jail, through outside help or bribery, in Knoxville, Illinois, March 22, 1847.

Honest pursuits in New Mexico Territory

New Mexico Gold Rush Disappearing into the frontier, of the Midwest United States, Robert Birch resurfaced, almost, a decade later, a reformed, honest man and an associate of Jacob Snively, the founder of Arizona's first gold rush boom town Gila City, and became the first postmaster on December 24, 1858. Two years later, Birch followed Snively and James W. Hicks to the New Mexico Territory where they discovered gold deposits on Bear Creek. A mining camp soon sprang up around the claim, on the site of what is today the ghost town of Pinos Altos, and was originally named Birchville in his honor.

American Civil War service When the Confederate Army invaded the territory of New Mexico, at the start of the American Civil War, they created the Confederate Territory of Arizona Robert Birch possibly because of his southern family leanings volunteered for military service. He initially served with Company A, Arizona Rangers under 2nd Lieutenant James Henry Tevis however, according to Tevis, Birch asked to be transferred to Colonel John Salmon Ford's Second Texas Cavalry on the Rio Grande.

Death Robert Birch died in 1866, in Arizona Territory, present-day Arizona.