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Book offers exhaustive look at local outlaws

“Porter and Ike Stockton: Colorado and New Mexico Border Outlaws,” a nonfiction book by debut author Michael Maddox, displays his meticulous research into the colorful history of two of the Wild West’s most notorious, but little-known bad guys, Porter and Ike Stockton.

Maddox did well over five years of investigating the brothers by combing through libraries, newspaper archives, Fort Lewis College documents and interviewing family members. There were many conflicting accounts of the brothers’ actions, but Maddox worked to dig up the truth about the Stocktons and their involvement in infamous shootouts in Durango and Farmington.

Porter and Ike Stockton were born only two years apart in Erath County, Texas. Porter, born in 1850, was the older brother. By most accounts, Porter took to the role of bad boy early on, killing his first man at the tender age of 12. Ike was the more charming of the two, but he, too, was capable of violence.

The Stocktons took advantage of the growing Texas cattle industry and became practiced cattle rustlers. They followed the herds west and north, and in 1880 Ike Stockton moved to Durango with his wife and two children. Porter and his wife settled on the Animas River in New Mexico.

Porter continued stealing cattle with a vengeance and was reportedly so brazen that he sold both the meat and the hides, which still had the true owners’ brands on them. By the time he was 31, Porter was an infamous troublemaker who claimed to have killed nearly 20 men. Ike, meanwhile, managed to keep a lower profile and could put on the charm. Still the Stockton gang practiced their outlaw ways mostly undisturbed.

Then a series of events and killings started the Stocktons’ downfall. One was Porter’s attempt to cut the fingers off a dead man to get his rings. This did not sit well with some of his gang. This was followed by the murders of “Doc” George Brown and Os Puett on Christmas Eve 1880 by gang member Dison Eskridge in New Mexico and the death of Bill Swinfird at the hands of Bert Wilkinson in Durango.

With encouragement from two large cattle owners who had suffered huge losses at the Stocktons’ hands, New Mexico men Alf Graves and Thomas Nance planned to kill Porter. On Jan. 4, 1881, they and four others went to Porter’s ranch, killed him and injured his wife.

Ike returned to Durango from Texas and swore to avenge his brother’s death. On April 11, the violence between the New Mexico outlaws and the Stockton gang spilled over into the streets of Durango in a shootout. Ike Stockton survived.

On Sept. 26, 1881, Ike Stockton was confronted by Sheriff Watson and deputy Sullivan in Durango. He resisted and pulled his gun but he was shot in the thigh. He died in the early hours of the next day. With Ike’s death, outlaws began to leave the area, Durango eventually became more safe for residents, and the town prospered.

Maddox has produced an exhaustive tome that brings the realities of frontier life home to readers. Life was harsh and many times brief. Lawlessness was rampant, and help was often lacking. Maddox includes extensive notes (95 pages), and a bibliography 17 pages long. The book includes 70-plus black-and-white photos, maps and illustrations.

sierrapoco@yahoo.com. Leslie Doran is a Durango freelance reviewer.

If you go

Michael R. Maddox, will host a book signing at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Animas Museum, 3065 West Second Ave.



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