In the cold dawn of February 10, 1918, a posse of four lawmen approached a remote cabin nestled in the Galiuro Mountains of Graham County, Arizona. Among them was 36-year-old White/Caucasian male, Deputy Sheriff Thomas Kane Wooten. They were there to serve arrest warrants on the Power family, who were suspected of draft evasion and perjury. The tranquility of the snowy morning was about to be shattered by what would become known as Arizona's deadliest gunfight.
The lawmen, including
Sheriff Robert F. McBride, Undersheriff Martin R. Kempton, and U.S. Deputy Marshal Frank Haynes, had traveled from Safford with the intent to bring in Jeff Power, his sons Tom and John, and their hired hand, Tom Sisson. As the posse surrounded the cabin, a confrontation erupted. Accounts differ as to who fired the first shot, but the ensuing battle was swift and brutal. When the gunfire ceased, three lawmen lay dead: Sheriff McBride, Undersheriff Kempton, and Deputy Wooten. Inside the cabin, Jeff Power had also been fatally wounded.
The surviving suspects, Tom and John Power and Tom Sisson, fled the scene, sparking one of the largest manhunts in Arizona's history. For nearly a month, they evaded capture, navigating the rugged terrain and harsh weather. Their flight for freedom ended on March 8, 1918, when they surrendered to a U.S. Cavalry patrol just south of the border in Mexico.
Brought back to Graham County, the three men faced a swift trial. Amidst the heightened patriotic fervor of World War I, public sentiment was largely against the accused. The testimony of the sole surviving lawman, Frank Haynes, was crucial in their conviction for first-degree murder. All three received life sentences at the Arizona State Prison. Tom Sisson would die in prison in 1957. The Power brothers, after serving 42 years, were paroled in 1960 and eventually pardoned in 1969, closing a violent chapter in Arizona's history.
