Robert H. Paul
| Robert H. Paul | |
|---|---|
Pima County Sheriff Bob Paul c 1890
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| Born |
June 12, 1831 Lowell, Massachusetts |
| Died | March 26, 1901 (aged 69) Tucson, Arizona |
| Other names | Bob Paul |
| Occupation | seaman, miner, constable, sheriff |
| Known for | Sheriff, Pima County, Arizona |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Coughlan |
Robert "Bob" H. Paul (June 12, 1830 – March 26, 1901) was a law enforcement officer in the American Southwest for more than 30 years. He was sheriff of Pima County, Arizona Territory from April 1881 to 1886 and a friend of Deputy U.S. Marshall Virgil Earp and his brother Wyatt Earp. At 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) and 240 pounds (110 kg), he was described as "larger than life". Others described him as "powerful, fearless and very lucky".
Bob Paul was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on June 12, 1830 and at age 12 (some reports say age 14) went to sea from New Bedford, Massachusetts on the whaling ship Majestic with his older brother John. When the voyage ended two years later in the Sandwich Islands, the captain sold the cargo of whale oil and gave Paul his share, $250 (approximately $6,800 as of 2018). He shipped out as a merchant sailor for the next two years and when his ship put in at San Francisco on February 2, 1848, he left to try his luck in the California gold fields.
He worked a placer mine in Hangtown for several months without success. He followed others to fresh discoveries of gold on the Yuba River and then to the Mokelumne River, where he found and worked a successful mining claim. He was first elected constable in Campo Seco in 1854, and a month later was appointed Calaveras County Deputy Sheriff for the next three years. In 1857 he was appointed undersherriff. He was responsible for breaking up the Tom Bell gang that was operating in Calaveras and Placer County.
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