Frank Stilwell (1856-20 March 1882) was an American outlaw of the Wild West and a member of the Cochise County Cowboys gang.
Biography[]
Frank Stilwell was born in Iowa City, Iowa in 1856, and his family later moved down to Palmyra, Kansas. Frank moved to Prescott, Arizona Territory in 1877, and he became a rancher. On 18 October 1877, he shot the newly-hired cook Jesus Bega after Bega accidentally brought him tea instead of coffee, but he was later acquitted on the grounds of "self-defense". He went on to work as a miner in Mohave County, and he beat Colonel John Van Houten to death with a rock during a claim dispute, again being acquitted for lack of evidence. He eventually became a member of the Cochise County Cowboys and took part in stage robberies, and, in 1882, he took part in the murder of Morgan Earp. On 20 March 1882, Wyatt Earp received information that Stilwell and Ike Clanton were watching the passenger trains in Tucson intending to kill Virgil Earp as he travelled home to California, and Earp spotted Stilwell and Clanton on the platform that night. When Clanton asked Stilwell if he could see "Earp" (referring to Virgil), Wyatt told Stilwell to turn around and look at him, and he proceeded to blast him with buckshot. He then told Clanton to run back to Curly Bill Brocius and warn him that hell was coming for him.