By Parker Anderson

The first legal hanging in Prescott's history is not remembered as an extraordinary affair. The people involved are not as colorful and legendary even though the event has been written about a number of times. In one of Arizona's beleaguered Mexican settlements just outside of Camp Verde, violence erupted at the wedding of Santino Morales in April of 1875. One of Morales's guests, identified as Gregorio Eredia, apparently became intoxicated and threw a large stone at Antonio Aldecor, knocking him unconscious.

Three men identified as Manuel Abiles, "Cross-Eyed Jesus" Eredia and a white man, William Malone, chased Gregorio from the house. 

The following day, Morales discovered the dead body of Gregorio Eredia in a wash, his head smashed in with a spade. Yavapai County Sheriff Ed Bowers was notified and after interviewing all of the wedding guests, he arrested Abiles, Malone and Jesus Eredia (no relation to the deceased.) All three were indicted by a grand jury that consisted of such noted Yavapai pioneers as Levi Bashford, Charles Genung and W.M. Fain. 

When their trials came up, Jesus Eredia was acquitted of all charges, a remarkable event considering the racial attitudes of the era. William Malone was freed after his jury became hopelessly deadlocked. This left Manuel Abiles to face the wrath of the law-he was convicted of killing Gregorio and sentenced to death. 

Surprisingly for this period, a number of people petitioned the Territorial Governor asking for clemency for Abiles. Yavapai County was still in its infancy and the people of Prescott were perhaps a bit unnerved at the thought of their very first hanging. The Governor denied the petition and the execution plans went forward. 

On August 6, 1875, Abiles stated before his execution that he was indeed present at the murder of Gregorio but insisted that it was Malone who delivered the fatal blows. Manuel Abiles then swung into eternity as Yavapai's first hanging. 

The story of Abiles's death is fairly cut and dried based on the original newspaper accounts and Malone's court records. However, this has not stopped the folklorists from putting their spin on the story. Sometime in the 1930's, a Charles M. Clark of the Arizona Pioneers Association wrote a lengthy, radically different and very erroneous account of the Abiles hanging. He contended that Abiles was walking along when he found a corpse by the side of the road. Suddenly, a group of white men rode up and accused him of the murder. Abiles was quickly taken to Prescott, tried, convicted and hanged. According to Clark, 60 years after the fact, a different man confessed to the murder. Malone and Eredia are unmentioned in this version. 

That story is false but was taken seriously at the time and has been repeated verbatim numerous times. Some reputable historians have also been taken in by this version of events. When writing about history, it's very easy to assume that the researchers who came before you got it all correctly. This is not always the case; which is why this writer likes to go straight to the original sources whenever possible. 

Whether Abiles delivered the fatal blow or not, his was Yavapai's first legal hanging but not the last. At least 10 more people went to the gallows in Prescott between 1875 and 1927. 

(Parker Anderson is an active member of the Sharlot Hall Museum's Blue Rose theatre and frequent contributor to Days Past) 



Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (citn208pc). Reuse only by permission.
Prescott's Courthouse Plaza did not have a courthouse until the late 1870s so the County's first hanging took place at the Courthouse on Cortez Street (about where the old Masonic Building is today). This view of downtown Prescott was probably taken in 1877 when just the basement of the building was complete.