The Craziest American Cowboy Stories You Never Heard In History Class

Publish date: 2024-03-28

In 1899 a disgruntled Arizona railroad employee, George Smiley, shot his foreman, P. McSweeney, to death over back pay. Smiley made history as the first man to hang in Holbrook. Sheriff Frank Wattron, anxious to show something for himself, sent out 50 fancy invitations reading, "You are hereby cordially invited to attend the hanging of one GEORGE SMILEY, MURDERER. His soul will be swung into eternity on Dec. 8, 1899, at 2 o'clock p.m., sharp. Latest improved methods in the art of scientific strangulation will be employed and everything possible will be done to make the proceedings cheerful and the execution a success."

News off the tasteless invite drifted as far as the White House, where President William McKinley demanded it be changed. A second, rather sarcastic invitation was issued by Wattron: "With feelings of profound sorrow and regret, I hereby invite you to attend and witness the private, decent and humane execution of a human being: name, George Smiley, crime, murder. The said George Smiley will be executed on January 8, 1900, at 2 o'clock p.m. You are expected to deport yourself in a respectful manner, and any 'flippant' or 'unseemly' language or conduct on your part will not be allowed. Conduct on anyone's part, bordering on ribaldry and tending to mar the solemnity of the occasion will not be tolerated." Navajo County verifies that Smiley finally swung into eternity on January 8, 1900.

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