Old West Lawmen List – P

Lawman Summaries (name begins with) A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Nabor Pacheco (1863-1920) – Nabor Pacheco was the first Sheriff of Mexican descent of Pima County, Arizona, serving from 1904-08. Pacheco also oversaw the last public hanging in Tucson and Pima County in 1908, which Pacheco criticized afterward as turning a “hanging into a morbid holiday.” His efforts to remove the responsibility from the county and place it with the territorial prison were successful and thus ended the public spectacle.

F.D. Parker – While serving as a deputy marshal at Prescott, Arizona, in 1876, apprehended an Army clerk attempting to steal a payroll.

Judge Isaac Parker

Judge Isaac Parker.

Judge Isaac C. Parker (1838- 1896) – Judge Isaac Parker, often called the “Hanging Judge,” from Fort Smith, Arkansas, ruled over the lawless land of Indian Territory in the late 1800s.

John V. Paul – While serving as an Arizona marshal,  he was accused of deporting Chinese laborers in 1890.

Robert “Bob” Havlin Paul (1830-1901) -Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Paul became a cabin boy on the whaling ship Catherine when he was just 12 years old. Three years later, when the ship docked in San Francisco, California, in 1849, Paul remained in the city and would make California home for the next three decades. The strapping six-foot, six-inch “boy” would soon choose a life of law enforcement, serving as a constable, deputy sheriff, sheriff, and Wells Fargo agent over the years. In 1878, Wells Fargo sent him to Tombstone, Arizona, where he often rode shotgun on the stagecoaches running through the area. In March 1881, a stage was held up near Drew’s Station, and the driver, Bud Philpot was killed. When the bandits tried to run off the horses, Paul brought them under control and brought the stage and its passengers safely into Benson, Arizona. That same year he was elected sheriff of Pima County, Arizona, and in 1883 was sent to Colorado with the warrants to bring back the Earps to answer to charges of murder but was unsuccessful. Six years later, Paul became a special officer for the Southern Pacific Railroad and in 1891, a U.S. Deputy Marshal for Arizona in 1891, a position he held for four years. The fearless and persistent career lawman died on March 26, 1901, of cancer in Tucson, Arizona.

Ransom Payne – While serving as a U.S. Deputy Marshal in Indian Territory in the 1890s, he actively pursued the Dalton Gang.

Junius Peak

Junius Peak

Junius “June” Peak (1845-1934)Confederate veteran of the Civil War, Dallas, Texas City Marshal, and Texas Ranger, Peak was involved in the hunting down outlaw Sam Bass.

George Peppin (1841-1904) – Served as Lincoln County Sheriff after the death of William Brady. A tool of the Dolan-Murphy faction of the Lincoln County War, Peppin led the raid on the McSween house on July 19, 1878, in Lincoln, New Mexico, which resulted in the deaths of several men. He was later indicted by a grand jury but all charges were dropped. Later, he worked as a butcher at Fort Stanton. He died in Lincoln County on September 14, 1904.

Cicero R. “Rufe” Perry (18??1898) – A lawman and Indian Fighter, he joined the Texas Rangers under Jack Hays in 1844 and became commander of Company D in 1874.

Ollie Perry – Served as a Texas Ranger in the 1890s and in 1897, helped break up a gang terrorizing San Saba, Texas.

Lyon Phillipowski – A lawman and gunfighter involved in a shoot-out with a store clerk in Lincoln County, New Mexico, on October 21, 1874.

Tom Pickett (1858-1934) – An outlaw and lawman, Pickett stole cattle and was captured with outlaw Billy the Kid in New Mexico in December 1880.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency (1850-present) – Founded by Allan Pinkerton, a Scottish immigrant, in 1850, the Pinkerton Agency quickly became one of the most important crime detection and law enforcement groups in the United States.

Allan Pinkerton, 1862

Allan Pinkerton, 1862

Allan Pinkerton (1819–1884) – Founder of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, which provided a variety of detective services, from private military contractors to security guards, but specialized in the capture of counterfeiters and train robbers.

William A. Pinkerton (1846–1923) – The son of Allan Pinkerton, William served as a Pinkerton Detective.

Robert Pinkerton (1848–1907) – The son of Allan Pinkerton, Robert served as a Pinkerton Detective.

Sumner Pinkham (1820-1865) – Pinkham, the first sheriff of Boise County, Idaho, was killed by gunfighter Ferd Patterson in 1865.

Henry Plummer (1837–1864) – Nevada City, California Marshal and Bannack, Montana Sheriff. He was accused of leading a ruthless gang called the Innocents and was hanged by vigilantes, just as he was about to become U.S. Deputy Marshal of the Territory.

John William Poe (1851-1923) – Poe was a U.S. Deputy Marshal in Texas and worked as a lawman in Fort Griffin, Texas, and Lincoln, New Mexico. He was with Pat Garrett when Garrett shot Billy the Kid.

J.A. Porterie – Served as a U.S. Marshal in New Mexico Territory and in 1907 was accused but exonerated of killing a Hispanic man.

Thomas William “Billy” Preece (1856-1928)Utah lawman, Thomas Preece, was best known for capturing several members of the Wild Bunch. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on February 11, 1856, he worked on the Uintah Ute Indian Reservation when he was a young man and later, as a freighter between Vernal, Utah and Rock Springs, Wyoming. He was elected sheriff of Uintah County, Utah in 1896 and as such, quickly came into conflict with members of the Wild Bunch, who were terrorizing the state. He was instrumental in capturing outlaws Harry Tracy, David Lant, and Patrick Johnson. In April 1900 Preece and other lawman caught up with Wild Bunch Flat Nose George Curry and in the ultimate gunfight that ensued, Curry was killed. Preece continued as Uintah County sheriff until 1906. In 1909, he became a U.S. Deputy Marshal at Whiterocks, Utah, and later served as city marshal at Vernal. During his lifetime, he married and fathered five children. He died on February 2, 1928, of dropsy, an old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water. He was buried at Rock Point Cemetery near Vernal, Utah.

Robert Jack Price (1848–1930) – Born in Arkansas in 1848, Price’s family moved to Texas in the late 1860s, where he married in 1872 and began a family.  In 1891, Priced moved his family to Oklahoma Territory and became the first constable for County B Township, which is now Pottawatomie County.  More familiarly called R.J., he was the first to put a man in the county jail and continued to serve as constable until 1894.  R.J. was also involved in the Anti Horse Thief Association and was a U.S. Deputy Marshal. He died in 1930 in Amber, Oklahoma at the age of 82.

 

© Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2022.

Also See:

Adventures in the American West

Lawmen of the Old West

Old West Photo Galleries

Outlaws Across America

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