Newman returned to the
Arizona Territory in 1873 to the
Gila River valley, where he purchased or squatted on a large tract of land outside
Camp Thomas. However, his plans for a new town failed to materialize. He resumed cattle ranching, and most of his children followed him to Arizona. During these many moves, the Clantons had repeated scrapes with the law. Newman and his oldest son, John Wesley, were convicted of desertion during the Civil War. They developed a reputation for theft and thuggery that followed them to Arizona. The home became the headquarters of the Clanton Ranch. Phin obtained work as a freight driver. In the same year prospector
Ed Schieffelin discovered silver in the hills east of the
San Pedro River on a plateau known as Goose Flats, less than from the Clanton ranch. The family was very well situated to meet the demands for beef from the
booming town of
Tombstone. From its founding in March 1879, Tombstone grew from 100 residents to upwards of 15,000 citizens at its peak less than a decade later. The Tombstone Mill and Mining Company opened a
stamping mill about from the Clanton's ranch in 1879 to take advantage of the ready water supply. Another mill soon followed, and both began operations in 1879, The Clanton Ranch grew into a successful enterprise for many reasons. The Clantons also supplied beef to
Bisbee and other nearby towns. During his testimony after the shootout at the
O.K. Corral, Ike Clanton claimed to have raised and purchased about 700 head of cattle during the past year, and the Clanton ranch was one of the most profitable cattle ranches in that part of the country. However, the Clantons never registered a
brand in either Cochise County or
Pima County which was required to legally raise cattle. The Mexican government at the time placed high tariffs on goods transported across the border, making smuggling a profitable enterprise. The large numbers of men required to work the fast-growing mines led to a rapid increase in the demand for beef cattle. Although some of the cattle ranching was legitimate, the Clantons
stole cattle from across the nearby border in
Mexico. Clanton and his sons brokered the sale of the stolen animals in the United States. Other ranchers in the area, like that owned by
Henry Hooker, raised cattle in the relatively dry area around Tombstone but required a far larger workforce to the same number of animals and protect them from Indian attack in the time it took to raise them. Brothers John and Phin Clanton worked the family ranch.
Phin was arrested several times for cattle rustling and once for robbery but was never convicted. During the early 1880s, several outlaw Cowboys worked on the Clanton Ranch. These included
Pony Diehl,
"Curly Bill" Brocius, and
Frank and
Tom McLaury until the McLaurys bought the ranch.
Johnny Ringo who had participated in the
Mason County War, siding with
Texas Ranger and
gunman Scott Cooley, became associated with the Clantons.
First Skeleton Canyon massacre In July 1879, several rustlers attacked a rancho in northern
Sonora, Mexico, killing several of the inhabitants. While hunting the murderers, Mexican
Rurales led by Commandant Francisco Neri illegally crossed the border into Arizona and were ambushed. The posse leader was executed.
Johnny Ringo later said that he was among the murderers, who also included Old Man Clanton, his sons
Ike and
Billy, along with
"Curly Bill" Brocius,
Indian Charlie, brothers
Frank and
Tom McLaury, Jim Hughes,
Rattlesnake Bill, Joe Hill, Charlie Snow, Jake Guage, and Charlie Thomas. Clanton left his sons to run the San Pedro River ranch and moved to a new ranch in the Animas Valley of New Mexico, only a mile from the Mexico–United States border. This ranch was a staging ground for cross-border cattle raids into Sonora, Mexico.
Second Skeleton Canyon massacre Two years later, in July 1881,
"Curly Bill" learned that several Mexican smugglers carrying silver were heading to the United States through Skeleton Canyon. He along with
Johnny Ringo, Old Man,
Ike and
Billy Clanton, brothers
Frank and
Tom McLaury,
Billy Grounds, and
Zwing Hunt hid in the rocks above the trail. As the smugglers rode through the canyon, the outlaw
Cowboys opened fire and killed six of the nineteen men. They killed the rest when they tried to escape.
Death at Guadalupe Canyon On August 12, 1881, Clanton and six other men began a journey herding stolen cattle sold to him by
Curly Bill through Guadalupe Canyon near the Mexican border. Around dawn after the first day and night on the trail, they were ambushed by Mexicans dispatched by
Commandant Felipe Neri, in what was later dubbed the
Guadalupe Canyon Massacre. Five men were killed in the ambush. Clanton, who was cooking breakfast when he was shot, fell dead into the cook-fire. Drovers Harry Ernshaw and Billy Byers survived. Along with Dick Gray, who helped bury the dead, all said that the attackers were Mexican. The Byers family received a picture of Old Man Clanton from Ike and Phin Clanton, on the back of which they wrote, "Mr. Clanton killed on Aug 13—81 by Mexicans with 4 other Americans in Guadalupe Canon [sic] New Mexico." Both men signed the inscription. Another photograph of Will G. Lang, who was killed in the ambush, bears a similar inscription: "Will G. Lang killed by Mexicans—Animas Valley New Mexico Aug 13, 1881 together with Gray, Cranton, Clanton and Snow and Byers wounded." Along with Behan's involvement in King's escape, this was the beginning of increasingly bad feelings between the Earp and Cowboy factions. Snow was buried where he fell due to decomposition. The others were taken back by wagon and buried about ten miles east of Cloverdale, New Mexico. == Reburial ==