William Brazelton, also known as Brazen Bill spread a scare from Tucson to Florence, Arizona. Brazen was a single-handed highway robber and he was the most notorious in his time. After he died, there was a scarier tale that came to life.
John Clum, a local of Tucson, Arizona ride on a stagecoach going to the ‘Point of Mountain’ on a sunny day. He is a very busy and anxious person because he was always pressured to meet deadlines for work.
Clum was a local newspaper editor and a part of his job is to think of articles he need to submit. While he was contemplating at peace he was disturbed by the presence of a man masked in white muslin. All the passengers were terrorized by the horrifying appearance of the robber. The robber took all their money in the middle of a daylight robbery, one experience he will never forget.
Before this robbery, the person behind the white muslin cloth was just an orphaned child, with no one to rely on, he became a notorious outlaw. Would you ever imagine a child growing up alone and abandoned in an old boiler? At the age of 15, he developed violent tendencies and he had his first kill and allegedly followed 7 more killings.
He single-handedly robbed nine stagecoaches in the Territories of Arizona and New Mexico.
He was even more famous for being a 6-foot-tall conman who came to Arizona. One day he came to a crowd saying that he can eat a wagon wheel, so he need to show them he really could. But the catch is they need to give him cash. After gathering the money from the people, he then excused himself saying that he needs to get ready. The crowd has been waiting, but Brazen Bill on did not return.
The same ghostly man appeared holding a pistol against the barrel of his rifle, it was another successful heist where Brazelton went away with a pocket full of money.
Soon, Sherriff Charles A. Shibell arrived at the scene, he had no clue where the rubber went. It was until a seasoned tracker entered the investigation and the horseshoe tracks had led to someone’s horse corral just bout four miles south of Tucson. They arrested a man named Nemitz who was allegedly having a conspiracy with Brazen Bill.
Along with his posse, Sherriff Shirbel set up a trap when Brazen Bil was on his way to meet Nemitz to fill up his supplies. They hid in a bush and the posse fired a gun, following another blast of pistol shots. Brazen Bill was killed on the spot.
Locals avoided the spot where he died. They would rather travel miles than experience seeing the ghost of the stage robber who was always seen standing on the road.