In the lawless days of the Old West, Holbrook was “too tough for women and churches.” The violent Pleasant Valley War involving the Hashknife Cowboys made law enforcement a deadly business. When Sheriff Frank Wattron had to carry out Arizona’s first execution in Holbrook, he made a fatal mistake that would echo through eternity.
The Hanging
Convicted murderer George Smiley was sentenced to hang on December 8, 1899. Sheriff Wattron, required by law to “invite” other sheriffs to witness the execution, jokingly had formal invitations printed and sent them out. When a reporter got hold of one, the story went worldwide.
President McKinley himself intervened, forcing a postponement. Smiley was finally hanged on January 8, 1900 — the first legal execution in what would become the state of Arizona.
The Haunting
Smiley’s ghost is said to haunt the basement prison cells and Sheriff’s office where he spent his final days. Visitors report cold spots, disembodied footsteps, and an overwhelming sense of dread in the old jail. Some claim to see a shadowy figure pacing in the cells, eternally waiting for his date with the gallows.
The Campy Detail
The sheriff’s joke invitations became national news. The printed cards read like genuine formal social invitations, complete with decorative typography — inviting fellow lawmen to witness a hanging as if it were a dinner party. The public outrage that followed forced a federal intervention in a local criminal matter, something almost unheard of in 1899.
Historical Context
The courthouse, built in 1899, represented law and order in a town where gunfights and theft were commonplace. It stands as a monument to the Wild West’s transition from vigilante justice to proper legal proceedings — though the ghost of George Smiley suggests the old ways die hard.