The Gleeson Gunfight (also known as the Gleeson Shootout) occurred on the night of March 5, 1917, near Gleeson in Cochise County, southeastern Arizona. It is widely regarded as one of the last traditional gunfights of the Old West, taking place during the transition to the modern era marked by automobiles, World War I, and statewide Prohibition.
Background and Context
Gleeson was a small mining town in the Courtland-Gleeson Mining District, known for copper and turquoise. By 1917, the area had quieted from its earlier boom days but remained active with mining and border-related activities.
Arizona had gone “dry” on January 1, 1915, banning the sale and manufacture of alcohol. However, neighboring Mexico and parts of New Mexico remained “wet,” turning the U.S.-Mexico border and areas like Cochise County into major smuggling corridors for bootleggers.
Harry C. Wheeler, a former captain in the Arizona Rangers and then Sheriff of Cochise County, was a staunch enforcer of Prohibition. A nationally recognized champion marksman, Wheeler and his deputies frequently patrolled the border regions and had been involved in several prior shootouts with smugglers.
The Gunfight
On March 5, 1917, Sheriff Wheeler and his deputy, Lafe Gibson, had spent the day searching the Chiricahua Mountains for smugglers. Exhausted after dark, they pulled their 1915 Oldsmobile Touring Car off the road about two miles east of Gleeson, near the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, and camped for the night.
They were ambushed shortly after settling down. A gang of at least four Mexican alcohol smugglers, positioned behind rocks about 200 yards away, opened fire. The first shot shattered the car’s windshield.
Wheeler and Gibson returned fire. Wheeler, armed with a rifle and a box of ammunition, took a position on the railroad berm. Gibson had only his revolver and belt ammunition. The smugglers advanced under cover of darkness, closing to within 50 yards while shouting taunts like “We’ll fix you gringos!” and “Come and get us now!”
The full moon initially silhouetted the lawmen, giving the attackers an advantage. After exchanging roughly 100 shots, Wheeler waited for the moon to set. When one smuggler nearly hit him, Wheeler aimed at the muzzle flash and fired six rapid shots from his rifle. He struck the man, who groaned audibly, halting the smugglers’ advance.
Once the moon dipped below the horizon, Wheeler and Gibson charged the attackers’ position. The smugglers had fled, abandoning their camp. The lawmen found four burros loaded with ten cases of whiskey. A large pool of blood and drag marks (knee and elbow prints) indicated at least one smuggler was seriously wounded (possibly killed), though no body was recovered. Horse tracks led toward the Chiricahua Mountains.
Aftermath and Capture
Wheeler and Gibson drove their damaged car to nearby Courtland and telegraphed for reinforcements. Chief Deputy Guy Welch arrived from Tombstone with additional men and supplies.
Knowing the smugglers would likely try to cross into Mexico via Apache Pass, the posse pursued them. They captured two members of the gang, including leader Santiago Garcia, who were jailed in the Gleeson Jail. Garcia later claimed they mistook the lawmen for rival bootleggers trying to hijack their load. The remaining smugglers escaped across the border.
The confiscated whiskey was taken to Tombstone. The Gleeson gunfight was Sheriff Wheeler’s final shootout. He later resigned to serve in World War I, returned, ran unsuccessfully for sheriff again, and died in 1925.
Historical Significance
The Gleeson Gunfight symbolizes the end of an era. While earlier famous shootouts like the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1881) occurred in a lawless frontier, this 1917 event involved automobiles, Prohibition smuggling, and a shift toward modern law enforcement — yet it retained the classic elements of an Old West ambush and firefight.
The restored Gleeson Jail (built in 1909–1910) still stands today as a tangible link to this history and the broader mining and law enforcement stories of Cochise County. The event is remembered in local histories, ghost town tours, and accounts of Arizona’s Prohibition-era border conflicts.
This relatively minor but dramatic confrontation highlights the ongoing challenges of border control, smuggling, and law enforcement in early 20th-century Arizona.