Coleman, Prime Thornton Jr. (1868-1953) Find A Grave Entry, Gunfight

(Prime Thornton Coleman Jr. is the Granduncle of the contributor, Richard Neal Heywood.)

Click for Find A Grave entry for Prime Thornton Coleman Jr. 

Prime Thornton Coleman
Age 84

Three reports of Prime's gunfight follow-- 

Coleman vs. Barrett

Source of this clipping is not known

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TREACHERY IN ST. JOHNS -

THE 1903 BARRETT-COLEMAN GUNFIGHT

A TRUE STORY OF ST. JOHN’S HISTORY

WRITTEN BY GARY PLATT

           Perhaps this narrative should be called, “Treachery 1903 Style.” This account is a second retelling of a ten-year-old boy’s eyewitness account to the gunfight. Young Jay Patterson told his  older brother, Joy B. Patterson, what happened on a day at Sheep’s Crossing. Over 50 years later, Joy B. Patterson related the event to me, Gary L. Platt, his first grandson. And now, I am telling the story to you all. Grandpa Joy was an early winner of the St Johns Great Race and founded the Chevrolet dealership that still stands downtown. The Patterson family sold the dealership to Horne Chevrolet in 2001.

           Henry Barrett was a successful cattleman in Apache County. At the turn of the 20th century, He was 44 years old. In June 1903, Henry offered a younger cattleman, Priam (sic) Coleman, a gesture of friendship and goodwill. The year 1903 was much drier than usual and Priam’s cattle were doing poorly on the sparse feed at his ranch near St. Johns. The 47-year-old Henry offered to help Priam’s cattle survive.

          For years, Henry had been using a permit from the White Mountain Apache Tribe to graze his cattle near Sunrise during the summertime. Since there was abundant feed at the higher elevations near Sunrise, Henry offered to let Priam bring his cattle up to Sunrise for the summer along with his own cattle.  Grateful for this help, Priam began moving his herd to the mountains in the Sunrise area of the Apache Reservation. A Mexican cowboy and 10-year-old Jay Patterson were employed for the cattle drive to Sunrise. By June 16, the cattle had made the drive as far as Sheep’s Crossing above Greer.  This was a good place to rest the herd while several of the cows calved. There was the Little Colorado for water and abundant feed in the area.  For whatever the reason, Priam decided to capitalize on his good fortune. He left the hired help to tend the cattle and rode to the headquarters of the Indian Agency at Fort Apache. He convinced the officials issuing grazing permits that Henry Barrett was not bringing his cattle to graze on the reservation this year and that he had offered to let Priam Coleman to take over the permit instead of him. The officials then issued the permit to Priam.  A little later, Henry Barrett presented himself to the officials at the Fort Apache Indian Agency office to get his annual permit. Upon finding out that Priam was the sole holder of Henry’s former permit, He left the Agency office in a rage and rode “hell for leather” to Priam’s herd camp.  As Barrett approached Coleman’s camp, he shouted “Priam, you S.O.B., I am going to beat you to death!” Henry was a big man, and fearing the larger man’s strength, Priam answered “Henry, if you dismount, I’ll shoot you.”

Henry pulled out his Mauser rifle from its scabbard and stepped down off the horse. As his right foot hit the ground, Priam lifted his Mauser rifle and the first shot entered Henry’s left side. The fight didn’t last long. Both men emptied their Mausers and six guns at each other.

 

     Priam jumped behind a small jack pine when he started the gunfight. Though partiallyprotected, he took several hits to legs, arms and shoulders. The fight ended as Priam slumped to the ground and Henry, stumbled forward dropping to one knee and striking Priam to the head with his empty pistol. Slumping to the ground also, Henry’s last words were “oh my god, isn’t this horrible!”  When the fight was over, the Mexican cowboy returned to the scene from where he was hiding. Young Jay Patterson was still hiding, crouched behind one of a wagons spoke wheels. The two of them loaded the bodies of both men into the wagon, covered them with a tarp, hitched the team and started for Springerville. Halfway there, Priam sat up, ripping off the tarp. Joy and the cowboy were surprised as they thought both were dead. They hastened their speed, getting Priam to a doctor in Springerville in time to save his life. Treatment involved care of many gun shot wounds and a metal plate to repair Priam’s cruised skull.

Months later, when Priam recovered sufficiently to travel, a Grand Jury Hearing was convened in the territorial capital, Prescott. Both Priam and the only eyewitness, Jay Patterson were asked to

attend.

On the stand, the Judge asked Jay, “Young man, has anyone told you what to say here today?” Jay answered, “Yes sir, my dad told me what to say.” “And what did he tell you to say?” said the Judge. “He told me to tell the truth,” responded Jay.

Priam’s plea of self-defense held up and he was released, to spend the remainder of his long life as an Apache County cattleman. After he passed away, Priam Coleman was buried in the cemetery next to the St. Johns Airport. Nearby in the same cemetery, is the grave of Henry Barrett.

If you see two men behind the cemetery fence with Mauser’s firing at each other, they are the ghosts of treachery, Henry Barrett and Priam Coleman.

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