Nabor Pacheco (left), Sheriff John Nelson, Undersheriff Joseph Hopley, Deputy Sheriff Charles Huss, and Jack the Dog at the Pima County Courthouse in the early 1900s.
by Steven “Pacheco” McCann
Arizona Territorial Sheriff Nabor Pacheco (1905-1908) was truly a man way ahead of his time. In his twenty-plus years as a Tucson lawman, he was responsible for a number of performance firsts in the then early Wild West law enforcement era. In addition to being the first Arizonan born of Spanish descent to be elected as Sheriff, he was also the first shield carrier to use a fierce canine named Jack that helped him in taking down lawbreakers for most of those years, and was one of the first lawmen to use an automobile in the performance of his duties. But one of his most whimsical firsts is that of being a “matchmaker” service.
As written in the Bisbee Review on May 9th, 1906, “The sheriff’s office in Tucson has been turned into a veritable matrimonial bureau for a romantic set of society girls in Cohoes, NY. A few weeks ago, Nabor Pacheco, Sheriff of Tucson, received a sweet-scented missive, a letter requesting him to hand the note to some young, bold, and dashing cowboy.
The writer, Miss Flourine Ford, said that she and some of her friends had been reading about the Southwest and were dying to know a real cowboy. The Sheriff handed the letter to Will Coberly, who has charge of his father’s vast ranches in the Arivaca County, and a lively romance was immediately set on foot. Hardly had young Coberly had an opportunity to write his first letter, when a half dozen similar missives reached the Sheriff’s office. They were all from the Cohoes’ girls, who wanted to know real cowboys.”
Although it took nearly three months, a successful match resulting in a marriage was achieved.
In a follow-up article by the Bisbee Daily Review on August 10, 1906, titled Arizona Cowboy Weds A Pretty Eastern Girl, How Cupid Brought Together Pinco Creek Cowpuncher and New York Girl. “Foxey, scheming, irresistible Cupid has scored another victory and two loving hearts now beat as one,” although three months ago they beat as two-one in Pinto Creek valley in Gila county, and one in Cahoes, New York, where theatrical attractions are frequently taken for baptism before being tried upon the New York public.
Cupid has taken some strange turns and used diverse measures in mating couples, but his procedure in this instance was absolutely unique. His strongest weapons in this case were the United States mail and the Territorial press. Sheriff Pacheco of Tucson also assisted.
It was three months ago that two young ladies of Cahoes, N.Y. wrote to Sheriff Pacheco and confessed that they longed to meet a real, live Arizona cowboy with his chaparejos, his spurs, his quirt, and his ruddy face.
The sheriff, willing to do all in his power, showed the letter to a reporter for the Citizen. The heart-yearnings of the young women were given to the public. Other Territorial papers took up the letter and published it. Some made light comments; others were more serious. Bachelor’s from the Territory over were suggested to the Cahoes’ young ladies, and they received many letters.
Riders among the cattle in Pinto Creek Valley, John Sanders, one day, met another cow-puncher, who showed him a clipping wherein was expressed the heart-desire of the young women.
Sanders became interested. He “dropped a line” to New York and received two in return. More letters were exchanged. Then came photographs. The real Arizona cow-puncher looked good to the Cahoes girl, and the veteran of the range was dead in love with the photograph of the pretty girl. A proposal by letter was made. An acceptance came back.
Early 1900s Wedding Photo
It is a long jump from Pinto Creek to Cahoes. Consequently, each decided to part of the distance. They met at Marion, Ohio, where the bride has relatives. There they were married. They will spend some time in Ohio and will come back to Pinto Creek to live”.
So in a job that Sheriff Nabor Pacheco often was duty-bound to separate loved ones by sending one of them to prison or worse, the gallows. In this situation, he was able to bring together two young lovers.
©Steven “Pacheco” McCann, for Legends of America, July 2026.
Author Steven McCann
About the Author: Steven “Pacheco” McCann is an Arizona native with a family history on his mother’s side dating back to the 1700s when the family patriarchs were ranching and farming on lands in southern Arizona. They used the state’s oldest recorded cattle brand, the Diamond Bell, granted to them by the King of Spain in 1888.
Steve grew up spending quality cowboy time with his grandfather on Ricardo’s ranches located around Tucson where his love of western life and its historical significance was born. During his youth he branded numerous cattle with his grandfather’s A Triangle Bar and Box 3 branding irons and learned to ride and rope right beside this giant of a man that he idolized.
With some knowledge of his great-grandfather Nabor Pacheco’s decade-plus time as an Arizona law enforcement officer, Steve’s interest in the history of early Arizona law enforcement has grown into a deep, sincere passion. Reading several books on the Arizona Rangers by renowned author Bill O’Neal lit a fire in Steve from Bill’s detailed accounts of several of Sheriff Nabor Pacheco’s co-captained posses with the Arizona Rangers. Captain Harry Wheeler, Captain Thomas Rynning, Sargent Jeff Kidder, Billy Old and many more of the Rangers’ best, just to mention a few. Steve has enjoyed the pleasure of talking and becoming friends with Bill O’Neal and has grown to share Bill’s fervor for these never to be forgotten heroes but especially the mutual love of Captain Harry Wheeler.
Photos of the family’s 1907 Colt Bisley, fully engraved & nickel plated 45 caliber revolver, a favorite gun of Lawman Nabor Pacheco.
The multiple assignments Pacheco and Wheeler performed together and their deep friendship has become one of Steve’s focused areas of interest. They shared so much in common, as both men were shot and wounded during in the line of duty gunfights, both men served as Arizona Sheriffs (Pima and Cochise Countys respectively), and both men wore the badge of Deputy U.S. Marshal. They both possessed strong convictions of righting the many wrongs they encountered during their time of service, both men were extremely proficient in handling their high caliber Colt 45 revolvers and lever action rifles and, unfortuately, both men died of natural causes much too early. Steve enjoys participating in local Cowboy Fast Draw competitions with his own Colt Bisley 45 Caliber revolvers when not researching and writing about Arizona’s Old West History in hopes his two sons will develop the “interest” as well.
Also see:
Nabor Pacheco – Pima County Lawman
Bound by Duty – United in Friendship (the Nabor Pacheco/Harry Wheeler Story)
Nabor Pacheco’s Three Draws: The Grit and Gun of An Arizona Lawman
The Original “Dirty Harry” (Harry Wheeler)
Marshal Virgil Earp’s “What If” Could Have Changed History Forever