By Parker Anderson

Following the capture of outlaw James (alias Fleming) Parker for the notorious Rock Cut Train Robbery near Peach Springs, Arizona, the Flagstaff Sun-Democrat described some of the problems facing Northern Arizona ranchers in its February 18, 1897 edition. "Bally Creighton, "Kid" Marvin and Abe Thompson together with Jim Parker had for several years terrorized the law-abiding ranchers in the vicinity of Peach Springs and kept up a continual round of pilfering and petty stealing, frequently breaking into the ranchers cabins thereabouts.

Due to the onslaught of Parker folklore in later years, the tentacles of the ruffians collectively known as "the Abe Thompson Gang" have been exaggerated, although there is no doubt the gang existed. Because of his association with Parker, many people regard Abe Thompson as a Yavapai County historical figure, but in fact, he spent most of his life in Mohave County. Legend has it that Parker replaced Thompson as the leader of the gang at some point, which may be true. 

But it was not always this way. Abe Thompson arrived in Arizona from Wisconsin sometime in the early 1880's. He settled in Peach Springs and started out as a respectable citizen. He became a rancher and worked at various times as fireman, a train engineer and even as a Republican primary delegate. He married a local Peach Springs woman named Ida Baldwin, who later bore him two children. Around 1890, Abe Thompson became Constable of Peach Springs, a respectable but minor law enforcement position. 

Perhaps Thompson's most memorable experience as Constable was his arrest of a murderer named Nicolas Carbajal, who had killed a man he blamed for taking his job at the cinder pit. After shooting the man who remains unidentified, Carbajal holed up in his house, but eventually was talked into surrendering by Constable Abe Thompson. It was an impressive accomplishment for the Peach Springs lawman. 

It all came crashing down in 1893, when Thompson returned home from a trip to Ash Fork, only to discover his wife dead on the floor, apparently from neuralgia-induced heart attack. Their children were curled up by their mother's corpse, apparently waiting for her to wake up. It was a horrifying sight and perhaps explains what happened after that. Abe Thompson underwent a personality change and maybe his wife's death knocked a few shingles off his roof. 

Within two years of his wife's death, Abe Thompson and a group of smalltime thugs engaged in cattle and horse rustling activities and petty burglaries of area ranches. They stayed at a minor league rustler's hideout known as Thompson's Cabin. By 1897, the gang, probably under the influence of member James Parker, started to get ambitious and gang member Charles "Bally" Creighton reportedly fled the group when they started talking about robbing a train. 

The Rock Cut Train Robbery, as it came to be known, was a disaster that actually finished off the Abe Thompson Gang. While Thompson and Love "Kid" Marvin went into Peach Springs to make themselves conspicuous and thereby give the gang an alibi, Parker and a gang member, who has never been satisfactorily identified, forced a track watchman to flag down westbound train No. 1 outside of Peach Springs. Parker rifled the mail car but apparently did not locate what he was looking for. In the confusion of the ill-planned robbery, an express messenger was able to shoot and ki1l the other robber. 

Parker was eventually captured and because a considerable amount of stolen goods were located in his cabin, Abe and Love Marvin were arrested as accessories to the train robbery. 

There is no evidence that Abe Thompson played any role in Parker's legendary jailbreak in May of 1897 even though he was in the same jail. As a former lawman, Thompson perhaps thought that he couldn't fight the system, so he pleaded guilty to the train robbery. He was sentenced to five years in Yuma Territorial Prison. 

Abe Thompson was paroled in 1900 and disappeared after that. There is a persistent legend that he attempted another train robbery and was hanged for it. To date, I have found no documentation to support the story but it hasn't been for lack of looking. If anyone has further information on Abe Thompson, please contact the Sharlot Hall Museum Archives. 

If it were not for James Parker it is unlikely that Abe Thompson and his gang would be remembered at all today. They did not have the size or the influence that the larger outlaw bands did. In fact, because they kept their thievery to a small scale and they left no incriminating evidence, they were not even wanted by the law until the train robbery. The ranchers undoubtedly knew who their tormentors were but without solid evidence to back them up, there was little they could do. Unlike many parts of America, mob rule was rare in Arizona in those days. 

(Parker Anderson is an active member of the Theater community in Prescott. He is continuing his research on the history of the Elks Theatre.) 



Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (po1240p). Reuse only by permission.
Albeit a bit blurry, this is the only photograph of Abe Thompson in the Sharlot Hall Museum collections. If it were not for James Parker it is unlikely that Abe Thompson, who had been a lawman, and his train-robbing gang would be remembered at all today.