By Norm Tessman 

This past week Prescott's home town hero, William Owen "Buckey" O'Neill, lived and died again. Turner Network's "Rough Riders" featured Sam Elliott as Buckey in the four-hour television special. Only this time his name is spelled B-u-c-k-y O'-N-e-i-l, his wife wears striped pants - no proper Victorian lady ever wore trousers in that time, and he departs with the Rough Riders from a railway station called "Sidewinder" instead of the Prescott depot.

In general, the movie presents the story of the Rough Riders and the Cuban phase of the Spanish American War reasonably well although the sequence and events of the battles are jumbled. However, when it comes to people, and particularly our own Buckey O'Neill, historical accuracy takes a very rough ride. With the Centennial of the Rough Riders coming in the summer of 1998, I would like to tell you a little of the real man, the authentic Buckey O'Neill. 

Author William McLeod Raine called Buckey "the most many-sided man Arizona has produced." Coming to Prescott in 1883, he was a court reporter, newspaper editor and publisher, mining entrepreneur, and railroad promoter. He was elected as probate judge, Yavapal County Sheriff, and Prescott's Mayor. Buckey captained Prescott's militia, the "Milligan Guards," later the "Prescott Grays," and was a well published writer. A complex man, he once fainted at a public hanging, and then wrote the incident into a short story. 

In 1898, Buckey was instrumental in founding the First Volunteer United States Cavalry, later famed as Roosevelt's Rough Riders. On April 29, 1898, Captain O'Neill became the first volunteer accepted into federal service for the war with Spain. Here the TNT movie makes two factual blunders: "Bucky" commands Rough Rider Troop G and says, "The Governor put me in charge of all the Arizona men." In fact, he commanded Rough Rider Troop A, while Major Alexander Brodie was in overall charge of the three Arizona troops. The real Troop G, New Mexico men, were captained by William Llewellen of Las Cruces. 

O'Neill, who earned his nickname "bucking the tiger" at Whiskey Row faro games, was restlessly energetic, of "black Irish" stock, and thirty-eight years old when he died. Gray-mustached Sam Elliott seems wrong for the dynamic O'Neill as he croaks out, "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing." "Bucky's" Chiricahua Apache warrior, who trains and intimidates the new recruits, is completely fictitious. Similarly, the television Bucky claims to have killed over 30 men but there is no record of the real Buckey shooting anyone, although he did exchange shots with the Canyon Diablo train robbers. 

An interesting side plot of the special revolves around the character of "Nash," a stage-coach robber. Fleeing a posse which includes both Sheriff "O'Neil" and his pistol-packing wife, he joins the Rough Riders. In Cuban combat, "Nash" panics at first-gunfire, is wounded by Spanish soldiers, but redeems himself by leaving the hospital to rejoin the fighting. The true-life Sergeant Henry Nash was a school teacher from Strawberry, AZ. Apparently, "Nash" is based upon William Sterin, one of the Canyon Diablo train robbers who Yavapai County Sheriff O'Neill captured in 1889. Legend claims Sterin joined the Rough Riders under a fictitious name and was killed on San Juan Hill. 

"Bucky's" television death perpetuates the myth that he said, "The Spanish bullet is not molded that will kill me", just before the bullet struck. Private Arthur Tuttle, interviewed by historian Charles Herner in the 1960s, denied that Buckey said this. The movie's dramatic ending has "Nash" visiting his captain's grave in a white picket-fenced prairie graveyard. The real Buckey O'Neill lies in Arlington National Cemetery where he was buried on May 1, 1899 after his body was returned from Cuba. 

In 1998, Sharlot Hall Museum will feature the true stories of Buckey O'Neill, his wife Pauline, and the Arizona Rough Riders. 

Norm Tessman is the Senior Curator at Sharlot Hall Museum.

Sharlot Hall Museum Photograph Call Number: (po1117p)
Reuse only by permission.
Captain William O. 'Buckey' O'Neill commanding Troop A of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry in San Antonio, TX, in 1896. Buckey was Sheriff of Yavapai County and later became Mayor of Prescott prior to joining the Rough Riders. Last Sunday there was a Turner Network Television production of "Bucky O'Neil" (correct spelling is Buckey O'Neill) in which actor Sam Elliott portrays Buckey. Encore presentations will be aired today at 9am and Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 pm.