Born in
Abingdon, Virginia; Granville Henderson Oury and his family moved to
Bowling Green, Missouri, in 1836 where he pursued his academic studies, studied law, and was admitted to the
bar in 1848. That year, he moved to
San Antonio, Texas, and in 1849 to
Marysville, California, where he engaged in mining. He then moved to
Tucson, Arizona, in 1856 and began a law practice and was appointed a
district judge for
New Mexico Territory in
Mesilla. Oury was involved in the infamous
Crabb Massacre of April 1857, during which no more than 100 Americans were killed after an eight-day battle with Mexican forces at
Caborca,
Sonora. The Americans were under the command of
General Henry A. Crabb, a former
California senator, who was allegedly trying to take over Sonora like the
filibuster William Walker. Oury was one of the men General Crabb had recruited in Tucson, and he was given the rank of
captain and ordered to follow the general into Mexico after recruiting more men. However, when news reached Tucson that a superior force of Mexicans was besieging Crabb's expedition,
Major R. N. Wood and Captain Oury were sent across the
international border to help their compatriots. Just after crossing the border, the rescue party encountered about 200 Mexicans. A skirmish ensued which forced the Americans back across the border into Arizona. There were no casualties on the Americans' side. Of the Crabb party, all were killed except a fourteen-year-old boy and possibly one other man depending on varying sources. ==American Civil War==