By Dr. Ted Finkelston
(This is the second part of a two-part article written by Ted Finkelston to honor Sharlot Hall Museum volunteer Art Park. The first part is titled, "Transportation Building is a Colorful and Utilitarian Place.")
In March 1974 the Historical Society began its renovation of the new Sharlot Hall Museum's Transportation Building. At that time the rather grandiose plans for renovation were set aside because of budget restraints. Instead, the Board decided to have the lower half of the side windows blocked up for security reasons, repair the roof, and paint the outside of the building. Although the renovators tried to renew the building, the name "Milligan Bros" was still visible on the roof's north side. Two large doors that had been salvaged earlier from the Masonic Temple in the old Goldwater Building were rehung as entrance doors on the west side of the building. Although the renovation had been scaled back, the building was now ready for its displays. The work on the windows is still visible today and the same Masonic doors are used on the west side, although "Milligan Bros." is no longer visible because of later roof work.
The displays included several buggies, a delivery wagon, a hose cart, and several sleighs and bicycles from the nineteenth century as well as Sharlot Hall's 1926 Star touring car. But the centerpiece of the displays was the Modoc stage. Built in Concord, New Hampshire, probably in the 1840s, by the famous wagon building company of Abbot-Downing, it had a fascinating history. Designed as a twelve passenger mail stage to be pulled by a team of six horses, it appears to have been shipped around Cape Horn to its original destination in California. The stage was named after the Indian tribe in the area it serviced, but after several decades in California it was sold to a stagecoach company in Tombstone.
The notoriety of the stage was established on March 16, 1881 when the Modoc left Tombstone with several passengers and $25,000 in silver from local mines. Bud Philpot drove the stage and the shotgun guard was Bob Paul. Their destination was Benson about 30 miles north of Tombstone. The journey normally took about six hours, but this was not to be a normal trip. First of all, Bud Philpot complained of a sore right hand and couldn't drive the horses, so Bob Paul traded places with him and took over as driver. Philpot now took up his position as shotgun. About 10 miles north of Tombstone, Paul was bringing the stage slowly down a hill in preparation to cross a creek and then up a hill on the other side. As he reached the creek bandits jumped out from the bushes along the road and began firing at the coach. Bud Philpot was killed immediately and fell to the ground. Paul wasted no time. He cracked his whip, let out a yell and got his horses running at break-neck speed across the creek and up the hill on the other side. All of this took place in a hail of bullets. Unfortunately, one of the passengers, a miner named Peter Roerig, was hit by several bullets and died in the coach, but Bob Paul's quick thinking saved the money and the other passengers from harm.
A posse was called out when Paul reached Benson. Led by the Earp brothers and Bat Masterson they picked up the trail of the bandits where the attempted robbery had taken place. They followed the trail to a local ranch where they arrested Luther King. He confessed that he and three cowboys Jim Crane, Harry Head, and Bill Leonard had tried to rob the stage. The three cowboys were known members of the Clanton Gang, bitter enemies of the Earps. King was taken to jail in Tombstone, where he soon escaped. Then the rumors began that Wyatt Earp had planned the robbery and his friend Doc Holliday had shot Philpot and Roerig. But Holliday had a credible alibi and slyly noted that if he had been involved, it wouldn't have been an "attempted" robbery.
In the end King disappeared, the cowboys were not indicted, and the rumors about Earp and Holliday died down. As a result, no one was ever punished for the murders of Philpot and Roerig.
The Modoc stage was donated to the museum in the late 1930s and for years was a fixture in the "Frontier Days" parades. It was later retired to its permanent home in the Transportation Building where it can still be seen today.
In 1987, the Board of Trustees recognized the deteriorating condition of the building and acted to preserve it and safeguard the displays. Unfortunately, a state budget crisis froze any new funding, but the Board was able to spend some existing money on a new concrete floor before the budget freeze went into effect. By 1989, the budget crisis was over and money was received from the state to "modernize" the building. Under the supervision of Bob Fields of the museum staff, the original leaky roof was replaced, barriers were installed to prevent visitors from climbing on the vehicles, signage was installed on all the displays, and the restrooms were updated. The interior was painted and then museum artist Karen Lindquist also painted several wall scenes of early transportation in Prescott.
On June 1, 1990 the Sharlot Hall Museum opened its newly renovated Transportation Building. Although the displays were never intended to be a history of transportation, they present authentic examples of early modes of transportation in Prescott and Arizona. As for the building it has entered a new stage of usefulness to the Prescott community and visitors to the museum. So plan a visit to the Museum to see the Modoc stage or Sharlot Hall's touring car and then take a moment to look at the building itself. It is definitely worth seeing how this one time garage has become an important part of the museum experience, and to imagine its place in the community life and history of Prescott.
(Ted Finkelston is a volunteer at the Sharlot Hall Museum. This two-part article was published in tribute to Art Park, who was considered the expert on the transportation building)
Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (artpark). Reuse only by permission.
Art Park, longtime volunteer who recently passed away, sits in the Modoc stagecoach at the Sharlot Hall Museum. The Modoc was part of an exciting hold-up in 1881 and now is a cornerstone of the Museum's transportation exhibit.