By A.E. Ensign of the Federal Writers Project c.1935 

Editor's Note: continuing our series of articles written by the Federal Writers Project in depression-era America, 'Law and Order' is an exaggerated recount of a courtroom melée during the 1880s. Although many of the hard facts are wrong, the excitable description of this gruesome and almost humorous encounter is an entertaining read and is an example of how an historical event, when told at a certain angle or by a certain person, can become mythical. Please find the original Courier article (which contains most of the correct facts) following the story.

Witnesses and spectators crowded the Yavapai County Courthouse at Prescott, Arizona, on a hot June day in 1886. Lawyers were mopping their brows, women were fanning their faces, and any fresh air that managed to find entrance into the crowded courtroom had to force its way through open windows and packed with the overflow who had come too late to secure other seats. Perhaps the heat was partly responsible for the remarkable scene which was about to occur. 

Two ranchers, Charlie Beach and Ed McIntire, were having a lawsuit over a water right on Kirkland Creek. Only one witness had testified up to this moment when Beach's attorney, Rush, started an argument over a point of law. It should be noted that Beach's legal case was not entirely puncture-proof and that Rush may have commenced the argument as a diversion from the real point at issue. At any rate, as a diversion, it made legal history. 

It was clear that Rush was losing the case for Beach. His opponent, Churchill, acting for McIntire, had practically won his point against Rush's shouted protest. The judge rapped for order when Rush precipitated the historical fracas. 

"You're a liar"!, he shouted at Churchill. Churchill, who had restrained his temper with obvious difficulty while Rush was shouting him down, turned a turkey red. His hand made a groping movement, a seeking gesture, and came in contact with a heavy inkwell. In those days, court inkwells weighed nothing less than two or three pounds. As Churchill's fingers closed around it, inspiration came to him and the baffled, angry expression cleared from his wrathy visage. The inkwell went sailing through the air, smashing Rush on the shoulder with an impact that caused him to stagger. 

Astonished, enraged and reeling from the force of the blow, Rush checked his fall by toppling against a pile of law books ranged on the table at his side. As his arms encircled the topmost book, he lifted the heavy volume, and with a roar of fury, heaved it over his head and crashed Churchill to the floor. 

Churchill was definitely out of the fight. But his client now enthusiastically entered the ring and took the fallen limb-of-the-law's place in a contest whose outcome was to be determined by physical rather than by mental prowess. With the speed of lightning, McIntire jerked a razor-edge bowie knife from its sheath and launched himself across the courtroom at Rush, the bowie knife flashing in mid air. 

At that instant, Jim Moore, a witness in the case, who had been giving testimony favorable to Beach and Rush, leaped from the witness stand and let his strength as well as his testimony to the side of the case he favored. His left hand gripped McIntire's coat collar, diverting his rush at the lawyer. McIntire swung around, his momentum half whirling Moore off his feet, dragging himself free. And as he did so, Moore's left arm came off at the shoulder. 

Bloody Bowie knife held aloft, McIntire gazed in stupification at the evidence of his surgical skill; the knife had sliced cleanly, severing every muscle and sliding between bone joints. Moore's still twitching arm lay on the floor between them. 

A blasting roar drowned the excited shouts of the courtroom. Grim-lipped, Charlie Beach stood behind McIntire, his Colt held level, pumping lead into the rancher's back. 

The judge, who, prior to this incident, had been drowsily lolling in his chair, suddenly came to life, convulsively drew up his legs, frantically kicked outwards against the edge of his desk and catapulted in a back summersault straight though the door that led to his chambers. 

The clerk and court reporter were found hugging the floor behind their respective tables. The windows vomited a stream of badly-scared, sickened humanity out onto the courthouse lawn. But where was the sheriff? He must have discovered that he had urgent business elsewhere. Else why should he have rocketed out of the courtroom just at the very time he was most needed? We are told that the bailiff attempted to shin up the chandelier, which gave way under his corpulence and dropped him onto the shoulders of a cowboy who immediately bucked him through a window. This latter sidelight, however, is not substantiated by the recorded facts. As a matter of fact, there were no chandeliers in the courthouse at that time. 

After the smoke of the battle had cleared, someone discovered a trail of blood leading across the street to Dr. McCandless's drug store. Somehow, Jim Moore had made his way over there, his armless shoulder spouting blood at every step, and had dropped in a dead faint at the doctor's door. Prompt medical attention and a constitution of iron was all that saved Moore from an early grave. 

By this time, the courtroom was clear of people. That is, all except one man who stood quietly behind a door, waiting for the maddened spectators to trample their way out. And when the coast was clear, he emerged from his retirement, leisurely strolled out to the hitch-rack, threw his leg over his horse and rode away, unobserved and free as air. Charlie Beach was the man - a man who, under such circumstances, must have felt that hanging was no part of his horoscope. 

Prescott Daily Courier, Courier Extra, Saturday, December 1, 1883: 
"Bloody Row in Court: One man Shot in the Back, Another Cut in the Arm and Still Another Cut in the Neck. 

The atmosphere, this Saturday morning, December 1st, 1883, was damp and sluggish. Our people had just fairly commenced their daily toils. C.G. W. French, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Territory, sat on the bench of the Third Judicial District Court, in the Court room, Prescott, surrounded by the officers of the Court, lawyers, witnesses and listeners. The case of Mrs. Kelsey and McAteer was on trial. District Attorney C.B. Rush; attorney for McAteer, and Clark Churchill, attorney for Mrs. Kelsey, were earnestly engaged on their respective sides of the case, which was brought by Beach and the Kelsey's with the hope of depriving McAteer of his right to the waters of Kirkland Creek. The case has been in court many years. Good, truthful citizens assure us that C.W. Beach is responsible for every raid that had been made on McAteer's rights, and we believe it. 

The trouble in court was started by Churchill. Here is the whole story as told to us by honorable gentlemen: C.B. Rush, on cross examination of Moses Langley, called attention of witness to an affidavit made by him (Langley), in 1878, which stated facts entirely different from what witness had just testified to. Mr. Rush first read the affidavit while it was held in his hand. Mr. Churchill then took it and Rush was reading it a second time over the shoulder of Churchill. On redirect examination Churchill offered to introduce the entire affidavit. Rush objected on the ground of its not being competent evidence. Churchill then said that Rush had garbled a portion of the affidavit. Rush then interfered. Churchill, in a sneering way, said he was addressing his remarks to the Court, no to Rush. The latter said: 'Mr. C., you must not charge me with garbling an instrument, even to the Court.' Churchill then said, speaking to Rush, 'I do not need the Court to protect me, and, if you say that you did not garble the affidavit, you lie.' With these words Churchill grabbed an ink stand and threw it at Rush just as Rush rose and struck Churchill in the face, with his hand. The two lawyers then embraced, not in a loving manner, you may be sure. James Moore, of Kirkland Valley, and C.W. Beach, of Prescott, rushed to Churchill's assistance, and, it is said, struck Mr. Rush some telling blows. Jon Herndon, Rush's law partner, then went to Rush's assistance, and we hear threw an ink stand at Churchill. Seeing the murderous attempts that were being made upon Mr. Rush, P. McAteer entered the combat, and with a knife cut James Moore in the left arm. Beach, who had his double action 38 caliber pistol drawn, shot McAteer in the back, the ball entering near the tip of the right shoulder. Beach, we hear, was cut in the neck. McAteer fell, but never uttered a word, while Beach moaned and groaned as if he thought death had called for him. 

The wounded were taken care of and the case put off to next term of Court. While endeavoring to hold McAteer, a man named O'Neill received a slight cut in the hand. We were not present, but learned that blood flowed very freely. It was thought that Moore, McAteer and Beach were dying; but this was a mistake. McAteer has for years suffered from heart disease, and it was the shock to that important part of his anatomy that caused the appearance of death. C.B. Rush's right hand was hurt by coming in contact with Churchill's head or face. Churchill, we understand, is somewhat disfigured. 

The Courier, its readers know, has always avoided taking sides in local or law squabbles. It has known, from the first, which McAteer was right and Beach was wrong, on the water question, and we do not hesitate to state that Beach has, for years, incited other people to bring suits against McAteer, trusting his base efforts to rob him of well acquired rights. McAteer's reputation is bright in this county, while that of Beach is spotted. To sum up: McAteer's friends believe that the disgraceful, murderous affair was planned by Beach, Churchill and Beach & Co. Beach was observed to be very uneasy in court, and to have touched Churchill with his elbow. The fact of his being, in the town in which he lives, and in one of its most sacred places, with a loaded pistol in his pocket, goes to show that his mind was intent on murder. 

The Courier hopes that our town, our temple of justice, will never again be disgraced by similar actions." 

Editors Note: P. McAteer died of his gunshot wound on January 2, 1884. Charles Washington Beach was never brought to trial for the death of McAteer. Beach himself was murdered by George Young of Skull Valley in 1889. The obvious bias against Beach in the Daily Courier newspaper article was most likely due to his ownership and publishing of the rival newspaper, Arizona Miner, from 1876-1883. 

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number:(po1905p)
Reuse only by permission.
Charles W. Beach, c.1885