Mrs. Joseph Burns was shot and killed in a dispute over a
piece of land about fifteen miles southwest of Yuma
yesterday. The Burns family has been occupying the land
for the past seven years but various complications in
title had prevented them making entry on it by reason of
a relinquishment from parties claiming title. A man
named Miller made a homestead filing on the land and was
endeavoring to take possession of it when Mrs. Burns was
killed.
It is almost impossible to get at the truth of the story
of the killing, but from what can be learned a constable
by the name of Marion Alexander accompanied by two other
men went to the Burns home while Burns was absent attending
to business in Yuma, and attempted to drive stock from the
place for the purpose of impounding it. Mrs. Burns
undertook to prevent it being interfered with and during
the controversy Alexander killed her by shooting her
with a load of buckshot.
A coroner's jury found that she had come to her death at the
hands of Alexander "under circumstances not entirely
excusable" but under mitigating circumstances. By many
the killing was considered to be an unjustifiable murder.
Alexander surrendered himself to the authorities and to
save him from a threatened lynching, he was placed in the
territorial prison for safe keeping.
Mrs. Burns is a sister of Frank King, formerly a newspaper
man of Phoenix and Nogales and she was a very highly
respected lady. Her death is deeply deplored.
The Yuma Tragedy
February 10, 1901
Frank M. King, the cattle broker, this morning received
word of a terrible tragedy which was enacted near Yuma
yesterday morning.
Mr. King's sister, Mrs. Joe Burns was shot twice in the
breast by Constable Alexander and she died instantly.
Parties who came up from Yuma today say that Alexander
went out to the farm where Mr. and Mrs. Burns live, which
is twelve miles west of Yuma, to serve papers ousting them
from the land.
Mrs. Burns was in the field with her children and unarmed.
As the constable approached he engaged her in conversation
but what was said is not known. The constable pulled his
gun and fired twice at Mrs. Burns and her dead body fell
at the feet of her children.
It appears that the constable had made a previous trip to
the farm to serve the papers, when Mr. Burns was not at
home, but Mrs. Burns drove him off with a Winchester.
He was accompanied to the house on the second trip by
Frank Miller and Jim Fayne, who were present during the
shooting.
All three men went back to Yuma and gave themselves up at
the territorial prison. Mr. King will probably go to Yuma
tonight and as he holds Miller and Fayne as responsible as
well as Alexander for his sister's death, there is liable
to be trouble if Miller and Fayne are liberated.
Mrs. Burns has a sister here, Mrs. Powell, a sister at
Tombstone, Mrs. M.C. Benton and Frank King, her brother,
who resides in Tucson.
February 13, 1901
Mulford winsor, assistant chief clerk of the assembly, who
returned from Yuma yesterday morning says that nothing more
is known there than in Phoneix about the killing of Mrs. Burns
by Constable Alexander last Thursday. Alexander is in the
penetentiary for safe keeping, and Miller and Fayne, who
were with im at the time of the tragedy are detained in the
county jail.
None of them has done any talking except to say that Mrs.
Burns was not armed at the time of the shooting, though the
day before she had bluffed Alexander with a Winchester.
Alexander's reputation in Yuma had been very good until
now so that it is the general opinion that he got rattled
and did not know what he was doing.
Miller is also a man of good reputation. Some of Mrs. Burns'
relatives are inclined to hold him responsible for the
killing, but her father, Mr. King, though heart-broken
over the death of his daughter, sent word to Mrs. Miller
the other day that he had no feeling against her husband
and did not regard him was being in any way responsible
for the shooting. He added that he hoped nobody would
get excited. He intends to prosecute Alexander
vigorously. The course of Mr. King has occasioned a
great deal of surprise. Though a good citizen, he has
been known to be a dangerous man when roused.
The land over which the fatal dispute arose, belonged to
Mr. Powell, a brother-in-law of the murdered woman and
she and her husband had occupied it for some time.
Miller had lately made a deal with Powell for possession
of it and it put him in the position that the constable
had accompanied him to it.
TOM BURNS
June 20, 1901
On the San Pedro last Saturday, Wallace, a cowboy and
Tom Burns quarreled over work on the Tom Wills ditch.
Burns struck Wallace over the head with a shovel,
cutting the scalp. Wills ordered Burns away. On
leaving he encountered Wallace and threatened to kill
him with a shovel. Wallace drew a revolver, killing
Burns instantly. He was buried with his boots on.
Burns is said to have worked on Arizona ranges, to
have been a Wells Fargo guard and to have been a
member of the force that captured Evans and Sontag.
Mr. Finch of Tempe received a letter from his niece,
who is living near Mammoth on the San Pedro giving an
account of the killing of Tom Burns, more or less noted
as a bad man, who achieved some fame on account of his
being a member of the posse that pursued Evans and Sontag,
two of the most daring and desperate train robbers who
ever plied their craft in the west. They were captured,
Evans desperately wounded, after a terrible battle and
were afterward committed to the penitentiary, where
Sontag was killed at a later date.
The details of Burns' tragic end so far as could be learned
are as follows: Tom Burns and Willis Miller got into a
dispute over some matter which ended in a fight in which
Burns struck Miller over the head with a shovel. Miller,
covered with blood, started on a run for the house with
Burns in pursuit. Miller ran into the house and Burns
was intercepted by the ranch foreman who told him to
leave the ranch as he would discharge him for beating
Miller up in such a manner. Burns replied that he
would as soon have killed that ____. He then started
around the house and met Miller who in the meantime
had armed himself and renewed his attack on him, when
Miller shot and killed him instantly, the bullet entering
his heart.
I.Z. BURRIS
September 8, 1901
A killing occurred at Hay Canyon in Graham County on the
morning of the 29th while Stockton's round-up was working
in that section, says the Copper Era. The killing was
done by Joe Grammer, in the employ of the L.C. Company and
I.Z. Burris, a cook for the round-up was the victim. The
killing occurred in the morning after all the men except
the principals and Walter Newman had left camp. Newman
was the only witness to the killing except Grammer. After
the killing Grammer got on his horse and left. Newman
notified some of the cowboys and after a coroner's inquest
was held at which Newman testified that Grammer and Burris
had been quarreling and Grammer got on his horse and
started to leave when Burris commenced shooting. Grammer
got down from his horse and ran past Burris into the house
where he secured a Winchester from under the bed with
which he shot and killed Burris.
Deputy Sheriffs John Parks and Gus Hobbs left Clifton,
Thursday night in pursuit of Grammer. They first went to
Lyon and Campbell's' "Red Barn" on the Gila where they
learned that Grammer had not yet put in an appearance.
They spent the day along the river and learned that
Grammer had been stopping at the L.C. Horse Ranch on
Sacaton. They got a guide and reached Sacaton about 3
o'clock the next morning. (print too hard to read). The
deputies who made the capture were congratulated by their
many friends. The boys were in the saddle two days and
nights.
