The Kelvin Grade massacre was an incident that occurred on November 2, 1889 when a group of nine imprisoned Apache escaped from police custody during a prisoner transfer near the town of Globe, Arizona. The escape resulted in the deaths of two sheriffs and triggered one of the largest manhunts in Arizona history. Veterans of the Apache Wars scoured the Arizona frontier for nearly a year in search of the fugitives, by the end of which all were caught or killed except for the famous Indian scout known as the Apache Kid.
Background
When the reservation system began in Arizona, the local Apache peoples were among the first to be subjugated. Throughout most of the Old West period, the reservations were undersupplied, which led to starvation, and their operators tended to be corrupt. This led to conflicts such as Geronimo's War, beginning in 1881, during which Geronimo and his band of Apaches left their assigned reservations and evaded capture until 1886. The Apache Kid, or Haskay-bay-nay-ntayl, had for most of the 1880s served as an Indian scout for the U.S. Army in the Apache Wars, having been involved in the mutiny during the Battle of Cibecue Creek and the Crawford Affair. Though many people at the time believed that the Apache Kid did not kill any of the soldiers at Cibecue, he left the reservation system in 1887 after an incident at the San Carlos Reservation. The Kid was also a friend of Al Sieber, Chief of the Army Scouts, who allegedly betrayed him after the Cibecue affair. Sometime in 1888 the Apache Kid was caught, put on trial in Globe for various crimes, and sentenced to spend the next seven years in Yuma Territorial Prison. The Kid had already served over a year of prison time at San Carlos and Alcatraz Island, so the prospect of going to the prison at Yuma was intolerable and he conspired with his fellow inmates to escape whenever and wherever possible.
After the trial, on the morning of November 1, 1889, Sheriff Glenn Reynolds arrived at the jail in Safford to pick up eight Apache prisoners and one Mexican who were to be transferred to Casa Grande by stagecoach, a two-day ride, and from there to Yuma by train. Sheriff Reynolds made arrangements to be taken to Casa Grande by stagecoach owner Eugene Middleton, who had survived several conflicts with the Apaches since 1881. Reynolds also collected $400 from the county clerk to pay the expenses of the trip. Accompanying Reynolds and Middleton was Sheriff William A. "Hunkydory" Holmes. When the prisoners were loaded into the coach the party headed north for Globe. Sheriff Reynolds rode his horse, Tex, while Middleton and Holmes rode in the coach. The trip was long; Holmes spent the time target-shooting with his rifle, while Middleton sang and drank whiskey. After stopping at Pioneer, Arizona for lunch, the party continued on to the Gila River in a rainstorm. Just beyond the Gila was the little town of Kelvin, or Riverside Station, where the party stopped for the night.
Escape
On the next morning, Saturday, November 2, Sheriff Reynolds woke the others early so as to leave by 5:00 AM, in order to make Casa Grande that night before the train was scheduled to leave. Around this time Reynolds expressed concern about a section of the road outside of town known as Kelvin Grade, and also left his horse Tex behind so as to ride in the coach with Holmes. The road was very steep and with the coach loaded with nine prisoners, the horses were not strong enough to pull the wagon up, especially since it had been raining heavily the night before. In order to ascend Kelvin Grade, Reynolds decided the prisoners would have to be offloaded and then walk up. When the party reached the grade, seven of the prisoners were taken off as planned, but the Apache Kid and one other man were considered too dangerous and left on board. Middleton stayed on as well, to drive the coach, while Reynolds led the prisoners with Holmes in the rear. The coach proceeded up the grade first and was followed by the line of prisoners and sheriffs. The prisoners were all in handcuffs and bound together in pairs, except for Jesus Avott, the Mexican in the group. Gradually two of the Apaches moved in close to the unsuspecting Reynolds, and after the coach had pulled out of sight, they suddenly pounced on the sheriff to wrest his shotgun from him.