THE LAST GUNFIGHT by Bob Frost, Scottsdale’s Poet Laureate
This true story was told to me by the town Mayor. Some of the actual facts are fiction, I have to be fair. It seems an argument broke out at the Lulu Bell saloon. The yelling got loud and everyone cleared the room. It seems a farm hand by the name of Ben had lost his temper Over the neighbor’s wife and the money he had lent her.
town in 1947. With just 2,032 people, Malcolm White was appointed by petition as the first city manager. Named as a “Most Livable City”in 2003, the 2010 census now brings our population to over 217,000. Mayor Jim Lane notes that unlike many of our sister cities, our history is so recent that it’s documented in photographs instead of illustrations. As a 38-year resident of Scottsdale, he is amazed by the dramatic changes he’s seen while raising his family here. “When we first lived here we were in the center of town at Thomas and Miller and then we moved to Cactus Road and it was the frontier,” Lane chuckles. If you ask most people what they love about living in Scottsdale, the answer is almost inevitably one of three things: the cleanliness, location and greenbelt access. Lane adds, “It’s important for Scottsdale to remember its assets. Growth of any kind is not easily done and Scottsdale has done it with sensitivity to its surroundings [1/3 of the geographic area is natural preserve].” Scottsdale can also proudly say that it’s a town of many firsts in the U.S.: • The “Godzilla”, mechanized garbage pickup debuted on our streets. • We had the first private fire department with Rural/Metro. • Billboards are not allowed to obstruct scenery. • The largest master-planned community, McCormick Ranch. With the Arizona Centennial coming up on February 14, 2012 the events planned for the 60th Anniversary have been authorized as a Centennial event. For more information on how you can celebrate Scottsdale, visit www.scottsdaleaz.gov/scottsdale60/ Scottsdale60Events
Well, Marcus Mallory wasn’t going to stand for any of that talk About then the bartender stepped in and suggested each take a walk. The dust had settled for that day, but the feud wasn’t over. Mallory couldn’t step back and still keep his wife’s favor. He sent a note through Elmer Holvek challenging him to a duel. Ben sent back a note with the picture of the back end of a mule. It had been many years since anyone had seen an argument like this. The usual way to settle things at that time was to use your fists. Dueling was a popular way for gentlemen to settle arguments at one time However, the practice lost favor, but it still wasn’t a crime. The date and time had been set and weapon would be a Colt .45. Honor would be settled in the streets when one man left alive. The time had arrived. It was three o’clock on Main Street. A crowd had gathered in the shade to stay out of the heat. Ben and Marcus stood back to back, guns raised and pale faces. Elmer counted as each man took a step to the pre-set thirteen paces. They turned and within three seconds four shots had been fired. Marcus fell to his knees, mentally and physically tired. Twenty-six paces away Ben laid still with blood coming out of his head. The feud was settled and one good man now lay dead. The event stirred up a lot of news and scandal at the time. So, that’s when the government made dueling in the U.S. a crime. It’s nothing to brag about and in the town there’s nary a sign. But the last gunfight in the U.S. happened in Scottsdale in 1949. McCormick Ranch Lifestyle