Judge Wells Spicer.
Wells W. Spicer was a journalist, prospector, politician, lawyer, and judge who was immersed in two significant events: the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre in the Utah Territory and the 1881 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.
Born near Chemung, New York, Spicer was related to the Earp brothers. After becoming an attorney, he moved westward, working as a lawyer and mining engineer in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1875, he unsuccessfully defended John D. Lee when he was charged with the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Three years later, he moved to Tombstone, Arizona, where he worked as an attorney, mining broker, and U.S. Commissioner for Deeds. When the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral took place, Spicer served as Tombstone’s Justice of the Peace. After Sheriff Johnny Behan arrested the Earp brothers – Virgil, Wyatt, Morgan, and Doc Holliday – a pre-trial hearing was held on November 29, 1881, where Spicer decided that the defendants had been justified in their actions. His concluding statement read in part:
“In view of all the facts and circumstances of the case, considering the threats made, the character and position of the parties, and the tragic results accomplished, in manner and form as they were, with all the surrounding influences bearing upon the result of the affair, I cannot resist the conclusion that the defendants were fully justified in committing these homicides that it was a necessary act done in the discharge of official duty.”
Spicer immediately became a potential target for the Cowboy faction, who began to take revenge. In December 1881, he received the following threatening letter:
“Sir, if you take my advice, you will take your departure for a more genial clime, as I don’t think this One Healthy for you much longer, as you are liable to get a hole through your coat at any moment. If such sons of bitches as you are allowed to dispense Justice in this Territory, the Sooner you Depart from us, the better for yourself And the community at large you may make light of this. But it is only a matter of time before you get it sooner or later. So with those few gentle hints, I Will Conclude for the first and last time.”
Though the Cowboy faction didn’t kill Spicer, his decision regarding the Earps ended his career, and he soon left Tombstone and worked as a mining engineer. Some sources indicate that he wandered into the desert in 1887 near Ajo or Quijotoa, Arizona, and was thought to have committed suicide. Other sources say he staged his demise and made his way to Mexico to evade creditors.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated June 2025.
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