Brunckow's Cabin facts for kids

Brunckow's Cabin is an old cabin located southwest of Tombstone in Cochise County, Arizona. It is known as one of the most dangerous places in Arizona history. Between 1860 and 1890, at least twenty-one people died there, and many are buried right on the property. Today, not much of the cabin is left, just some foundations and small parts of the walls. Some unmarked graves have been found, but the site has been damaged over time.

History of Brunckow's Cabin

Who was Frederick Brunckow?

Frederick Brunckow was born in Germany in 1830. He studied to become a mining engineer. In 1850, he moved to the United States. He joined a company that explored for minerals, which brought him to the American West.

In 1858, Brunckow decided to start his own mine. It was called the San Pedro Silver Mine. It was about eight miles southwest of where Tombstone would later be built, near the San Pedro River. He built a small store for supplies and a cabin for sleeping. The cabin was simple, made of adobe (a type of mud brick) with a tin roof and a fireplace.

On July 23, 1860, one of the miners, William Williams, left to buy flour. When he returned on July 26, he found the store had been robbed. His cousin, James, was found dead among the supplies. William quickly went to Fort Buchanan to get help.

When soldiers arrived the next morning, they found two more bodies. Morse was found dead outside. Brunckow was found near the mine shaft. He had been killed with a rock drill. The cook, David Brontrager, and the Mexican workers were gone. About $3,000 worth of goods had been stolen. Later, Brontrager appeared at another camp. He said the Mexican workers had taken him hostage. He claimed they let him go at the border because they thought he was a good Catholic.

The soldiers buried Brunckow and the others at the cabin. The people who committed the killings were never caught.

Milton B. Duffield's Story

Milton B. Duffield was the first United States Marshal for Arizona Territory. He held this job from 1863 to 1865. People knew him as a fearless man, but he was not well-liked. He was known for carrying many weapons.

In 1873, Duffield took over Brunckow's Cabin and the mine. However, another man named James T. Holmes also said he owned it. On June 5, 1874, Duffield went to the cabin to force Holmes to leave. Duffield was known for being loud and aggressive. Holmes thought Duffield was armed and dangerous, so he grabbed his double-barrelled shotgun. Holmes shot Duffield dead. Then Holmes realized that Duffield was not armed.

Duffield was buried at the cabin. Holmes was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison. But he escaped before serving any time. The authorities did not try hard to find him, and he was never seen in Arizona again.

Ed Schieffelin and the Cabin

Ed Schieffelin in 1880.

Ed Schieffelin was a prospector who helped found the town of Tombstone. In 1877, before he discovered the silver that led to Tombstone, Schieffelin set up a camp at Brunckow's Cabin. He used it as a base to explore the area. He searched for weeks with his brother, Al, and another prospector, Richard Gird. They were always watching out for hostile Apaches. Their stay was peaceful, but they saw "several fresh graves" at the cabin. These graves showed that recent Apache raids had happened there.

Schieffelin is said to have used the cabin's fireplace to test silver ore samples. The location of the old San Pedro Silver Mine also encouraged him to look for more silver nearby.

Frank Stilwell's Connection

Frank Stilwell was part of an outlaw group called the Cochise County Cowboys. He was also involved in the famous Earp-Clanton feud. For a time, he owned the land and the cabin. On March 20, 1882, Wyatt Earp found Stilwell at the Tucson train station. Earp believed Stilwell was planning to kill Virgil Earp, Wyatt's brother. Wyatt Earp then killed Stilwell.

Mysterious Newspaper Stories

By the 1880s, newspapers in Arizona were already writing about strange things happening at the cabin. They reported on "ghostly apparitions" and the many deaths that had occurred there. In 1881, the Arizona Democrat newspaper talked about the cabin's history of "violence and murder." It said that seventeen more men had died at the cabin after Frederick Brunckow's death. The newspaper also mentioned the cabin's haunted reputation: "The graves lie thick around the old adobe house.... Prospectors and miners avoid the spot as they would the plague."

A newspaper called the Tombstone Prospector reported a story on May 20, 1897. It said that a group of bandits once fought each other at the cabin. They couldn't agree on how to split the gold they had stolen from a Wells Fargo wagon. So, they turned on each other and were all shot dead. All five bandits were found dead, and the stolen gold was recovered.

The Tombstone Prospector also mentioned a ghost that walks around the cabin at night. It said that if someone tries to get close, the ghost vanishes and appears somewhere else. The newspaper also reported that some people heard mining sounds coming from the old mine shaft. They heard "pounding on drills, pickaxes pulling away rocks, and the sawing of lumber."

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