Chief of Police Ben Williams

Ben Williams

Chief Williams was shot and killed by a notorious outlaw known as the Apache Kid. The outlaw and his gang was also responsible for the murders of Sheriff Glenn Reynolds and Deputy William Holmes, of the Gila County Sheriff's Office, on November 2, 1889.

The exact date that Chief Williams was murdered in 1890 is not known.

The Apache Kid, a short stocky, full blooded apache, was a sergeant of indian scouts who assisted General George Crook in the capture of Geronimo in 1886 before he turned outlaw. In 1888 he was sent to Alcatraz for murder. A year later to the surprise of many he was pardoned by President Cleveland. Soon afterwards he and several indians were charged with murder. While they were being transported to the Yuma Prison they overpowered and killed Sheriff Reynolds and Deputy Holmes when they let them out of the prison wagon to give the horses an easier walk on an incline. Another deputy was shot and seriously wounded but escaped. For the next five years the Kid and his gang went along the U.S. Mexican border killing people and taking whatever they wanted. In 1894 the Apache Kid mysteriously dissapeared. It is not what happened to him.