Powers Cabin Cache Traditional Cache
RoadRunner: Pulled by rangers.
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This cache is near the Cabin where the historic Powers shootout occurred. Note: This cache is NOT in the Galiuro Wilderness. It is located in a non-wilderness "pocket".
We placed this cache near one of our favorite places in the Galiuros. When we placed this cache, we backpacked into the Galiuros and spent the night. If the High Creek trail head is ever opened up again, it is possible to do this hike in one day. The cache is near the cabin where the historic 1918 Powers' shootout took place. The nearest water sources are Holdout Spring, Kielberg Canyon Dam and Powers Garden Spring.
Here is some information on the Powers' shootout that we obtained from an Arizona Republic Article (May 20, 1990):
In 1918, when Tom Power was 25 and John Power was 27, they were accused of dodging the draft for World War I. The Powers and a friend, Tom Sisson, lived with the brothers' father, T.J. "Old Tom" Power, in a cabin in the Galiuro Mountains southwest of Safford.
A U.S. Marshal, Frank Haynes, led a small posse - Graham County Sheriff Robert F. McBride and Deputies Kane Wootan and Marton Kempton - to the Powers' cabin on a snowy February night. Just before dawn, Old Tom Power heard some noise, grabbed his rifle and went outside to investigate.
The Powers claimed that their father was confronted by the lawmen, put down his rifle and was promptly shot in the chest by Wootan. When the shooting was over, Wootan, Kempton and McBride were dead, and Old Tom was dying.
The brothers and Sisson fled to Mexico, but surrendered about a month later to U.S. cavalry troops.
They insisted that they acted in self-defense, and that Sisson played no part in the shooting. But it took a jury only 30 minutes to find the Powers and Sisson guilty of murder. They were sentenced to life in prison.
It was reported that there was "bad blood between the Wootans and the Powers," especially between the slain deputy and John Power. It was reported that Haynes, the U.S. marshal, told a fuzzy story of what had happened. And the jury was not allowed to hear testimony from a neighbor who heard Old Tom Power say that he couldn't understand why Wootan "shot me with my hands up."
In 1952, 34 years after going to prison, the Power brothers and Sisson were given their first hearing before the state Board of Pardons and Paroles. Parole was denied. Sisson died in prison on Jan. 23, 1957, at the age of 86.
They were given a second clemency hearing April 20, 1960 and the parole panel unanimously recommended that the brothers be freed. Gov. Paul Fannin commuted their sentences to time served. In January 1969, Gov. Jack Williams granted them a full pardon.
The Power brothers returned to Klondyke in the Galiuro Mountains to live in a small trailer. Tom died there Sept. 11, 1970, at the age of 81. John died April 5, 1976.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)