05/06/2026
On this day in Arizona Ranger’s History…..118 years ago:
…Our third captain from the 1901-09 era, Harry Wheeler, killed horse thief and notorious outlaw George Arnett on May 6, 1908. It was truly one of the last great gunfights of that enigmatic time known as the "Wild West," (1855-1912).
…Former Captain Thomas Rynning made a notation in the personal records he
continued to maintain even though he'd left the legendary "26 Men" fourteen
months before to become warden of the notorious Yuma Territorial Prison. The
journal entry was on the pages pertaining to his successor, Harry Wheeler,
specifically about a ruffian known to all the area lawmen as George O. Arnett
(alias George Wood, age 37): "Killed by Capt. Harry Wheeler with Deputy Henm
(sic; actual last name of the deputy was Humm) May 5, 1908...horse thief who
resisted arrest by shooting...."
The Bisbee Review provided a rather lengthy description of the fatal gunfight and
the weeks-long investigation leading up to it: "Arnett was killed about one mile
from Lowell in a canyon a short distance from the Winwood townsite. The dead
man had in his possession at the time of his death, and also when encountered by
the officers, two horses which he had stolen from the Brophy stables in Lowell,
and upon the two horses were two stolen saddles which have been missing for two
or three weeks...." (This account can be found in Joseph Miller's collection of
newspaper clippings from the era entitled "The Arizona Rangers," [Hastings House,
New York, 1972]).
"Arnett's death was caused by a wound which was made in his neck by one of the
shots fired by the officers. The course of the bullet was through the left shoulder,
into the left side of the neck, and out of the right ear. Another wound was that in
his left arm, the bullet passing through...entering below the elbow and leaving just
above where it entered."
The two lawmen had been surveilling Arnett's "stomping grounds," on the look-out
for him for five days following culmination of a two week investigation into the
increase of horse thefts plaguing the area. When they confronted Arnett after dark
and "flashed their electric bulls eye lights on him, at the same time commanding
him to hold up his hands," Arnett responded with two shots. (Note: thanks to the
Phoenix Police Museum, I was able to examine one such "bullseye" light, often
used by lawmen in the pursuit of suspects at night back in the 1800's and early
1900's; a similar artifact is pictured below, courtesy of Christopher Clarke
Antiques in Cheltenham, Great Britain
The lawmen returned fire and Arnett, still atop his steed, whirled the animal and
fled into the night. Deciding it was too perilous to pursue their suspect in the dark,
Wheeler and Humm rode back into town, returning at first light to find the
suspect's horse grazing along the purple sagebrush about a quarter mile away from
the original shoot-out the night before; they quickly discovered Arnett laying face
down in the prairie nearby, dead. Harry Wheeler and George Humm were later
exonerated by a Coroner's Jury.
Although my research continues (and is, in fact, never-ending), I've yet to locate a
picture or even a drawing or caricature of George Arnett, alias George Wood, who
was between 36 and 37 years of age when Capt. Wheeler dispatched him to meet
his Maker. Born in 1871, his remains are now interred at Evergreen Cemetery in
Bisbee.
The Bisbee Daily Review, Arizona Territory, dated 8 May 1908 gave him 43 words:
WILL BE BURIED TODAY.
George Wood, or Arnett, as he was known, who met death while resisting arrest
for horse theft, will be buried this morning at 10:30 o'clock, the funeral services
taking place from the home of the deceased in Johnson Addition.
A smaller addendum the following day in the same newspaper advised readers in
38 words or less:
ARNETT BURIED.
Funeral services over the remains of George Arnett, or Wood, as he was known,
were held yesterday… Father Muerer of the Catholic church officiated. A brother
of the deceased from Globe was present at the services.
A sincere tip o' the Stetson to Captain Harry Wheeler, one of the last of the Old
West lawmen and legendary gunfighters who was instrumental in helping his "26
Men" "tame the territory" so that, by 1912, Arizona became this great c
-Courtesy of our
State Historian
ARIZONA RANGERS
