Augustine Chacon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Augustine Chacon
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| Born | 1861 Sonora, Mexico
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| Died | November 21, 1902 (aged 40–41) Solomonville, Arizona Territory, United States
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| Nationality | Mexican |
| Other names | El Peludo |
| Known for | Armed robbery, cattle rustling, horse theft |
Augustine Chacon (1861 – November 21, 1902), nicknamed El Peludo (English: "The Hairy One"), was a Mexican outlaw and folk hero active in the Arizona Territory and along the U.S.–Mexico border at the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century. Although a self-proclaimed badman, he was well-liked by many settlers, who treated him as a Robin Hood-like character rather than a typical criminal. According to Old West historian Marshall Trimble, Chacon was "one of the last of the hard-riding desperados who rode the owl-hoot trail in Arizona around the turn of the century." He was considered extremely dangerous, having killed about thirty people. He avoided punishment, escaping from his jail cell twice, before being captured by Burton C. Mossman and hanged in 1902.
Capture
At the turn of the century, Arizona was still the wild place it had been for years previously, especially near the border with Mexico. Armed robbery and rustling was so widespread that in March 1901 the territorial governor, Oakes Murphy, authorized the re-establishment of the Arizona Rangers. Burton C. Mossman was the first captain of the unit and his final accomplishment before resigning was tricking Augustine Chacon into crossing the border, where he could be apprehended legally. To do this, Mossman came up with an idea that involved posing as an outlaw and recruiting the train robber Burt Alvord, who was a friend of Chacon, to use him as a stool pigeon. However, to recruit Alvord, Mossman had to find his hideout in Sonora, where he would be totally helpless against both the bandits and Mexican authorities. Mossman had previously attempted and failed to capture Alvord and his gang. This time, Mossman hoped that Alvord would be willing to help him with Chacon and then surrender in exchange for a lighter sentence as well as the reward money offered for Chacon's head.
On April 22, 1902, after traveling for several days by wagon and on horseback, Mossman discovered Alvord's hideout, a small hut located some distance away from San Jose de Pima. The captain approached the hut unarmed and by chance found Alvord standing alone outside while the rest of the gang played cards inside. Mossman was first to introduce himself and though Alvord was immediately alarmed about the presence of a police officer at his hideout, he offered to feed Mossman and listen to what he had to say. When it was obvious that Mossman was not trying to fool Alvord, the two men agreed to cooperate. Another outlaw Billy Stiles acting as their messenger, for it would take a while for Alvord to find Chacon and convince him to cross the Arizona border and somebody had to warn the captain when the bandits arrived. When he finally did catch up with Chacon, over three months later, Alvord first accompanied him to the Yaqui River to sell stolen horses before going all the way back to the border. As the bandits were nearing the rendezvous, Alvord sent Stiles ahead to tell Mossman to meet them just south of the border, at the Socorro Mountain Springs in Sonora.
Mossman and Stiles failed to meet Alvord and Chacon in the Socorro Mountains, but, on the following night, they found the bandits at the home of Alvord's wife. There, after exchanging names, Mossman and the others agreed to cross the border back into Arizona the next day so they could steal some horses from Greene's Ranch that night. However, when it came time, it was decided that it was too dark for stealing horses so the party went back to their camp, which was located less than seven miles from the border. According to Raine, just before daybreak on September 4, 1902, Alvord was preparing to leave when he "tiptoed" over to Mossman and said: "I brought Chacon to you, but you don't seem able to take him. I've done my share and I don't want him to suspect me. Remember that if you take him you have promised that the reward shall go to me, and that you'll stand by me at my trial if I surrender. You sure want to be mighty careful, or he'll kill you. So long."
When Chacon awoke later that morning his suspicions were aroused when he found that Alvord was no longer in camp. After breakfast, Stiles suggested they steal the horses in daylight, but Chacon was uninterested and said he was going back to Sonora. Mossman knew his time to act was now. Chacon and Stiles were sitting on the ground next to each other when Mossman stood up. First he asked for and received a cigarette from Chacon, then, as he dropped the twig he used to light his cigarette, Mossman pulled out his revolver and aimed it at Chacon. According to Raine, Mossman said, "Hands up, Chacon," to which the bandit said, "Is this a joke?" Mossman replied: "No. Throw your hands up or you're a dead man." Chacon then said: "I don't see as it makes any difference after he is dead whether man's hands are up or down. You're going to kill me anyway, why don't you shoot?" Mossman had Stiles disarm Chacon and then put him on a horse for the journey to the railroad, where they boarded a train to Benson, Arizona. Chacon attempted to escape several times along the way by throwing himself off his horse, presumably at a place where Mossman could not easily follow, such as a steep hillside.
Death
The final capture of Chacon proved to be anticlimactic, but Mossman's plan worked exactly as he had hoped. At Benson, Mossman delivered Chacon to Jim Parks, the new sheriff of Graham County, and from there he was returned to Solomonville. Because he had already been sentenced to hang, Chacon's appearance in the Solomonville courthouse was merely to set a new date for execution. The first day chosen was November 14, 1902, but a group of local citizens petitioned to have Chacon's sentence reduced to life in prison. The effort failed, and the court decided to hang Chacon on November 21.
While waiting, Chacon was held in a specially built steel cage that was kept under heavy guard. The scaffold on which Chacon was to hang had also been built specifically for him in 1897, though he had escaped before it could be used. A large fourteen-foot adobe wall was built around the scaffold so only people with invitations could view the hanging. When the day of execution came, Chacon had a good breakfast and was permitted to see two of his friends, Jesus Bustos and Sisto Molino. He was also allowed to see the Catholic priest several times that day and after lunch he was given a shave and a new black suit to wear. Chacon was delivered to the scaffold at 2:00 PM and, as he entered the courtyard, about fifty people were waiting to greet him. The bandit chief, who had for over a decade eluded the law, asked for a cigarette and a cup of coffee before death and then began an unprepared thirty-minute speech to the crowd. Speaking in Spanish with an English interpreter, Chacon claimed he was innocent of killing his friend, Pablo Salcido, or anybody else for that matter, but he did say that he was guilty of stealing and "many other things." After a second cigarette and cup of coffee, Chacon requested that he be allowed to live until 3:00 pm, but his request was denied. While walking up the steps of the scaffold, Chacon shook the hands of his friends and admirers. When the rope was in place and the executioner was ready, Chacon's final words were "Adios, todos amigos." On the day after the execution, the Arizona Bulletin reported: "[A] nervier man than Augustine Chacon never walked to the gallows, and his hanging was a melodramatic spectacle that will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it."
Augustine Chacon was known to have fathered at least one child in his lifetime, a son, and his descendants still live today. In 1980, some of Chacon's family members dedicated a marble gravestone at the San Jose Cemetery, which holds his remains. Chacon's gravestone says the following:
- AUGUSTINE CHACON
- 1861–1902
- HE LIVED LIFE WITHOUT FEAR,
- HE FACED DEATH WITHOUT FEAR.
- HOMBRE MUY BRAVO
In popular culture
The native Mexican-born actor Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr., played Chacon in a 1955 episode of the syndicated television series Stories of the Century, starring and narrated by Jim Davis.
Michael Pate played Chacon in the 1963 episode "The Measure of a Man" of the syndicated western television series Death Valley Days, narrated by Stanley Andrews. In the storyline, Burt Mossman (Rory Calhoun) convinces a reluctant Burt Alvord (Bing Russell), who is promised a light sentence on his surrender, to set a trap to catch the elusive bandit Chacon. Mossman, though no longer technically an Arizona Ranger, has Chacon handcuffed and orders Alvord to toss away the key. Chacon is hanged thereafter for the past conviction of which he had escaped.
