Jeff Milton
| Jeff Milton | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
November 7, 1861 Marianna, Florida |
| Died |
May 7, 1947 (aged 85) Tucson, Arizona |
| Occupation | Texas Ranger, Deputy sheriff, Express messenger |
Jeff Milton (November 7, 1861 – May 7, 1947) was an Old West lawman and the son of the Confederate Governor of Florida, John Milton.
Jeff Davis Milton was born on November 7, 1861. His father committed suicide toward the end of the Civil War, when it became evident the south would lose. After the Confederate surrender, Jeff Milton was raised on a once proud family estate called "Sylvania", near Marianna, Florida. At age 15, he moved to Texas where he worked as a cowboy, then lied about his age and joined the Texas Rangers in 1878.
After serving with the Rangers for four years, he moved through west Texas and into New Mexico, where he became a Deputy US Marshal in 1884. For a time in the 1880s he worked under Sheriff John Slaughter in Cochise County, Arizona, during which time the two were involved in several manhunts and shootouts with outlaws.
One of their most well known accomplishments was their pursuit of the Jack Taylor Gang in late 1886 to the middle of 1887. Milton and Slaughter trailed the gang to the home of Flora Cardenas in Mexico. The bandits, however, had been tipped off that the American lawmen were after them and they left before Slaughter and Milton could reach the Cardenas' home.
Returning to Arizona, the two lawmen traveled to Willcox on the outlaw's trail, then to Contention City, where they found gang member Manuel Robles and one of the others asleep. When Slaughter shouted at them to put their hands up, a gun battle ensued. Guadalupe Robles, Manuel's brother, joined the gun battle, but he was killed quickly. Manuel Robles and Nieves Deron tried to run away and while still firing back, one of their bullets hit Slaughter's ear. Slaughter's next bullet killed Deron, but Manuel Robles escaped. Jack Taylor was soon arrested in Sonora, and Robles, along with Geronimo Miranda, were killed by the Mexican police in the Sierra Madre mountain area.
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