By Bob Harner

When it comes to history and legends about the West, Arizona has its share, and, at times, it’s difficult to separate the two. In Prescott, a prime example is the history and legend of Fleming Parker.
 

First some history. James Fleming Parker (usually known as Fleming Parker) was born in Visalia, California, in 1865. When he was ten, his mother died in childbirth, and his father committed suicide four years later. At 15, he was sentenced to San Quentin for cattle theft. After release, he worked as a cowboy, but supplementing his income with burglary soon landed him back in San Quentin.
 

Released again, he relocated to Arizona and continued to work as a cowboy. This time, his sideline was cattle rustling as a member of the Abe Thompson gang. In his cowboy role, however, he became friends with a fellow wrangler, George Ruffner. It’s unknown whether Ruffner was aware of his friend’s other work. Eventually, the two parted ways. Parker settled near Peach Springs, and Ruffner became a prominent Prescott businessman and Yavapai County sheriff.
 

On February 8, 1897, Parker and accomplices (accounts vary on the number) robbed an Atlantic & Pacific train near Peach Springs. An accomplice was killed, and Parker scored little or no loot. Captured about a week later, he was held for trial in the Yavapai County jail in Prescott by his old friend, George Ruffner.
 

History and legend concerning the robbery are intertwined. One story maintains that one of Parker’s best horses had been killed by an Atlantic & Pacific train and that the railroad offered such an insultingly low settlement, that Parker decided to compensate himself with a robbery. It’s highly likely this version came from Parker himself as an attempt at self-justification. In fact, he was a known rustler and thief, and the robbery was more likely just a robbery.
 

However, history does show that Parker and one or more other inmates (accounts again vary) escaped prior to trial, and that Parker shot and killed the popular district attorney, Erasmus Lee Norris in the process. Parker also stole Ruffner’s favorite horse, Sure Shot, to ride to freedom. Ruffner recaptured Parker and another escapee, Louis Clair Miller, on May 23 and returned them to Prescott.
 

Tried as an accomplice to murder, Miller escaped the death penalty by a single vote. Parker, on the other hand, was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang. It was Ruffner’s duty as sheriff to hang his former friend, although he had long been advocating to have this responsibility re-assigned to the Yuma Territorial Prison. The execution was carried out on June 3, 1898, but the events surrounding Parker’s death are again a tangled knot of history and myth.
 

The popular story is that, on the night prior, Parker’s last request to George Ruffner was that Ruffner ask Parker’s favorite “soiled dove,” Flossie, to spend some time comforting Parker in his cell. Both Ruffner and Flossie are said to have agreed to this plan.
 

The next morning, Parker reportedly asked to examine the gallows on the courthouse grounds, since he had never seen one. Afterward, he mounted the steps and, according to some reports, shook hands with everyone on the platform and then asked the jailer to tell the other prisoners that he had “died game and like a man.” At Parker’s request, Ruffner (a man Parker said he respected) placed the black hood over Parker’s head, and the hanging took place. The story ends with George Ruffner himself driving the hearse to Parker’s grave in Citizen’s Cemetery on Sheldon Street.
 

The history and legends surrounding Fleming Parker will likely never be fully untangled. But that doesn’t make it any less of a good story.
 

“Days Past” is a collaborative project of the Sharlot Hall Museum and the Prescott Corral of Westerners International (www.prescottcorral.org). This and other Days Past articles are also available at https://sharlothallmuseum.org/articles/days-past-articles.l. The public is encouraged to submit proposed articles and inquiries to dayspast@sharlothallmuseum.org. Please contact SHM Library & Archives reference desk at 928-445-3122 Ext. 2, or via email at archivesrequest@sharlothallmuseum.org for information or assistance with photo requests.