In 1887, Arizona territory was divided into just eight counties. As a result, the counties

were enormous. A couple were almost as big as small states in New England. The two biggest

were Yavapai County and Apache County. They were right next to each other and they made

up almost half the territory. And the county line between them ran right through the

middle of Pleasant Valley. Half of the valley was in Yavapai County and half was in Apache

County. In the first week of September 1887, Apache County Sheriff Perry Owens nearly wiped

out the blevins family single-handedly during a shootout in the town of Holbrook. At the

same time in neighboring Yavapai County, the county sheriff was meeting with the territorial

governor to talk about the situation in Pleasant Valley. It looked like open warfare.

In just one month, from the beginning of August to the beginning of September, Andy

Blevins, Hampton Blevins, Samuel Blevins, John Tukesbury and Bill Graham had been killed

in gunfights. And that was just the list of the main players. All eyes of both sides had

also been killed and wounded. Apache County Sheriff Perry Owens tried to do his part by

attempting to arrest Andy Blevins, even though the attempt ended in a deadly gunfight.

Two weeks later, Yavapai County Sheriff William Mulvannon tried to do his part. After his

meeting with the governor, he grabbed three deputies and headed for Pleasant Valley. When

he arrived in the area, he recruited deputies from three other counties and formed a posse

to try to end the feud once and for all. The murder and mayhem in the valley had reached

the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C. Lawmakers were reluctant to add Arizona territory to the

Union because it was simply too violent. Unfortunately for Arizona, it was going to have to get worse

before it got better.

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