Fred White (marshal)
| Fred White | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Frederick G. White c. 1849 New York City |
| Died | October 30, 1880 Tombstone, Arizona Territory |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Marshal |
| Known for | First Tombstone town marshal |
Frederick G. "Fred" White (c. 1849 – October 30, 1880) was a young lawman, the first "town marshal" (equivalent to chief of police) of the new mining boomtown of Tombstone, Arizona Territory. White was elected to the town police position on January 6, 1880. At the time, Tombstone was officially still a town, defined as having fewer than 1,000 residents, and did not become an official city, with over 1,000 residents, until a year later. Before that time, White died in office in a notorious accidental shooting, and was succeeded in office by Virgil Earp.
In the months before his killing, Fred White formed an alliance and friendship with Wyatt Earp (then deputy undersheriff for the Southern portion of Pima County, which included Tombstone). White had established himself as a likable and professional lawman, and contrary to later depictions in film, was well respected by the Cowboys. He often arrested individual Cowboys, but rarely had any problems in doing so. On the rare occasion that one resisted arrest, he used force as needed, and seemingly had the support of other Cowboys in doing so. He got along particularly well with "Curly" Bill Brocius, and Brocius often joked with him.
White was regarded as removed from the complex business, personal, and political rivalries involving many of Tombstones residents. Unlike other city employees (including Earp and his siblings), who owned or at least partly owned many of the town's businesses and tried to steer its populace and visitors towards those under their ownership, White had no personal stake in any such enterprises, settling instead for his regular salary as town marshal. He was well respected by the town in general and by all accounts treated everyone fairly.
On the night of October 28, 1880, several Cowboys entered town and began drinking, with several of them firing their pistols in the air at different locations. Marshal White proceeded to confront each of them, disarming them. All of those confronted by him gave up their weapons voluntarily, without incident. Late that night, White encountered "Curly Bill" Brocius at the East end of town, on a dark street in a vacant lot where the Birdcage Theater now stands. Brocius was intoxicated and he (or his companions) were firing pistols into the air. White instructed Brocius to surrender his pistol. Brocius did this by pulling the weapon out of his pocket, handing it barrel first to White. Wyatt thought later that the pistol's hammer was "half-cocked" over a live round (it was later found to have contained six live rounds), and when White grabbed the barrel and pulled, the weapon discharged, shooting White in the groin area.
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