BRYANT, Joseph Allen

The Arizona Weekly Citizen, Tucson, Arizona Territory Sunday, October 23, 1881, page 2 An Officer Shot and Killed (Prescott Miner) C. A. Dare, a courier, arrived in Prescott this morning from Flagstaff, bearing dispatches to Mrs. J. A. Bryant of the wounding of her husband at that place on the 17th, while in the discharge of his duties as Deputy sheriff. An interview with Mr. Dare elicited the following particulars: A man from San Bernardino named Miller, alias, Grizzly, had threatened the life of railroad conductor King, who swore out a warrant for the arrest of Miller and placed the same in the hands of J. A. Bryant, railroad conductor and Deputy Sheriff. A man by the name of Holmes, a U.S. Marshal from Albuquerque, armed with a Remington rifle, accompanied Mr. Bryant to make the arrest of Miller. Bryant read the warrant and commanded the accused to surrender his pistol, which he pulled, shooting Bryant twice, one ball passing through the breast and the other through the abdomen. Holmes, the assistant, was posted behind a tree, and like a coward allowed his brother officer to be murdered. The assassin, after mortally wounding Bryant, took his arms and then demanded of Holmes his gun, which the valiant U.S. Marshall threw to him, and begged mercy at his hands. Miller, after coming off victorious, mounted a fine horse and started off into the mountains, waiving his hat at the enraged people of Flagstaff, who followed in hot pursuit. The Deputy Marshal also left to keep from being lynched by the citizens, who were rightly incensed at his beastly cowardice. It is thought that Miller will be captured, and it is to be hoped that he will never be brought to the county jail for safe keeping. Tie him with a stout piece of help is our advice. Mr. Bryant was not dead when the courier left, but he cannot possibly survive. He was an honest law abiding citizen, with an excellent wife, and to be thus ruthlessly shot down while performing his duty seems too bad. Flagstaff has a reputation for rowdyism equal to that of any place on the frontier, and the sooner those blood-in-their-eyes heroes are killed off, the better for the place and the whole country. We repeat, if Miller is captured don't bring him to Prescott. Later - Since the above was put in type the dead body of Mr. Bryant was brought to town, and to-morrow, the 20th, will be consigned to its last resting place. By the hand of a violent desperado, a good man has been sent to meet his Maker, a devoted wife bereft of her protecting husband, and three little children left to battle against the bitter vicissitudes and trials of this world without the counsel of a loving father. ----------------------------------------- The Weekly Arizona Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory Friday, October 28, 1881, page 4, column 5 The funeral of the late J. A. Bryant was largely attended to-day by citizens of Prescott. Eighteen carriages were out filled with people who sympathize with the family and regret the untimely death of a good citizen at the hands of a bloody assassin. ----------------------------------------- Transcriber's note: Mr. Bryant is most likely buried at the Citizens Cemetery in Prescott, Arizona. The Citizens Cemetery plot map lists a Joseph A. Bryant buried in plot # A/08/21 but no record of this Joseph A.'s burial location yet.