The Murders at Brunckow Cabin: A Bloody, Arizona Legend

There's a chilling legend around Cochise County. Brunckow Cabin's history was forged in bitterness and acrimony.

The bloody reputation began as an unassuming outpost for miners in the 1800s, just outside the small mining town of Tombstone.

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A history of “…uninterrupted…violence and murder!” proclaimed Prescott’s Arizona Democrat regarding Brunckow Cabin in 1881.

Newspapers in the late part of the 19th century screamed of the bloody murder in the area. Today, local ghost hunters and history buffs spend hair-raising nights looking for evidence that the spirits still roam the area.

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Legends and rumors have been whispered for over a hundred years. But are the rumors true? What started the outpost's reputation for violence?

The Early Settlers at Brunckow Cabin

According to Wikipedia, the story began when Frederick Brunckow arrived n the area, sometime around 1858.

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Brunckow, was an emigrant from Germany. He settled in near Tombstone after he found the San Pedro Silver Mine, a short distance from the area that would eventually be called Tombstone near the San Pedro River.

Brunckow's crew included John Moss, a chemist, his German cook David Bontrager, and two miners, cousins James Williams and William Williams. They also had a few laborers who’d come up from Mexico to help in the mine.

The group built a supply store and a cabin. The simple adobe structure was finished with a tin roof.

Murder in Arizona: The Brunckow Cabin Legend

On the morning of July 23^rd, 1860, William Williams made the trek to Fort Buchanan to get supplies for the encampment. When he returned, he found that the storehouse had been ransacked.

Then it got worse from there. Williams walked around and noticed things seemed...off.

That’s when he found the grisly remains of a violent confrontation. Williams' cousin James had been murdered and was lying on the ground in the pillaged storehouse. Williams fled back to Fort Buchanan, where he told the soldiers stationed there what he found.

The next day, Williams returned with soldiers. They found two more bodies lying near the camp.

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Frederick Brunckow’s body was also discovered near the silver mine. The most gruesome part: he’d been murdered with his own rock drill. The cook, David Bontrager, the Mexican laborers, and the livestock were all missing. Around $3,000 worth of goods and supplies were also gone.

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Brontrager later turned up at Camp Jecker and told a story that was almost too incredible to believe. He claimed that he’d been kidnapped by the Mexican laborers from the cabin, and then later released near the border because “they believed him to be a good Catholic”.

Brunckow and the others were buried near the cabin, but the killers were never found.

Sources: Wikipedia: Brunckow's Cabin | The American Cowboy Chronicles | Arcadia Publishing