Mollie was a "Lady of the Evening" in Tombstone, Arizona in the 1880s. She took up with old west outlaw, "Buckskin Frank" Leslie sometime late in 1887. Frank and Mollie moved to his Magnolia Ranch, around 45 miles from Tombstone. There, on the night of July 10th, or early morning hours of July 11th, 1889, as they were engaged in a heated argument, Frank shot and killed Mollie. She was buried in a field to the side of the ranch on one of the most desolate stretches of land to be found in southeastern Arizona. Sometime around 1960, A Tombstone resident erected a metal grave marker for Mollie. Her grave had, for many years, been marked only by a pile of rocks that covered it. The metal marker's inscription reads:
Gone, but not forgotten,
Mollie Williams
Shot by Frank Leslie
July 11, 1889.
Mollie's last name was Edwards, but she sometimes used the name Williams.∼Mollie Williams. Also known as: Blonde Mollie. Killed by Buckskin Frank Leslie at the old Leslie Ranch in Cochise County, Arizona. Mollie was a victim of 1880's brand family violence.
In 1887 Buckskin Frank Leslie was working as a bartender in Tombstone's Oriental Saloon, but preferred to spend much of his free time at the Bird Cage Theater. There, he met a young singer and prostitute by the name of Mollie Williams who had come to Tombstone from Nevada. She was accompanied by her boyfriend & promoter "E.L. Bradshaw." Bradshaw wound up dead and many believed he was killed by Leslie but this was never proven. Before long, Mollie and Frank Leslie were living together.
From the beginning Frank and Mollie's relationship was based on their mutual love of whiskey which led to frequent and violent quarrels. On July 11, 1889, the violence escalated and Leslie shot and killed Mollie.
The murder was witnessed by a ranch hand named James Neal, who had the nickname of "Six-Shooter Jim. Leslie then turned on him and shot him as well. The bullet had gone through Neal's arm and penetrated the chest cavity. Neal ran off, traveling about a mile and a half before reaching the Reynolds ranch. Reynolds administered first aid and saw to it that he was taken to Tombstone for further treatment.
After the killing of Mollie Leslie traveled to Tombstone, and related his side of the story to "Enoch Austin Shattuck" Undersheriff to John Slaughter. Leslie said "Neal killed Mollie and then turned the pistol on me. I fired back in self defense, and killed him." Unknown to Lelsie was that Neal had already arrived in Tombstone and told Shattuck what had occurred at the ranch. Neal was in an adjacent room and heard everything Leslie said. When Neal came out of the room and confronted Leslie, all Lelsie could say was "Oh my head hurts, I can't remember a thing." Jim survived his injuries and would later testify against Leslie.
Back at the Leslie ranch the coroners' jury exhumed Mollie's body which had been buried about 70 feet behind the house by either Leslie or friends. They examined the corpse, placed it in a coffin and re-interred it.
On July 14, 1889 the coroner's jury rendered it's verdict: Mollie Williams came to her death by being shot with a pistol and by criminal means, and that she was shot and killed by Frank Leslie.
Jan 5, 1890 Leslie pled guilty to murdering Mollie.
Jan 9, 1890 Leslie was sentenced to a life term at the Yuma Territorial Prison in Arizona. He was transported to Yuma by Sheriff John Slaughter and some reports said Leslie was staggering drunk when he arrived.
Leslie was 48 years old when received at the Yuma Prison. He was assigned number 632 and listed as 5'7&1/2" tall, 135 pounds, with a size 5 shoe. Leslie served 6 years and was granted a full pardon on Nov 17, 1896.
Here is another account from the book "Silver, Sex and Six Guns" by: Douglas D. Martin on how Blonde Mollie's grave was located in the early 1960's:
"THE EPITAPH REPORTED THAT A COFFIN FOR MOLLIE HAD BEEN SENT OUT TO THE MAGNOLIA RANCH (LESLIE RANCH) AND THAT THE BODY WOULD BE BROUGHT BACK TO BOOT HILL (IN TOMBSTONE) FOR BURIAL. BUT MRS. J.H. MACIA, PIONEER HISTORIAN OF THE TOMBSTONE ROSE TREE INN (NOW CALLED ROSE TREE MUSEUM) SAID THAT MOLLIE WAS BURIED WHERE SHE DIED. WHAT WAS MORE, SHE FELT SHE COULD PROVE THIS WITH THE HELP OF HER GIRLHOOD FRIEND, MRS. LOIS HUNSACKER CALDWELL, OF DOUGLAS WHO HAD LIVED ON THE MAGNOLIA WITH HER PARENTS AFTER THE MURDER OF MOLLIE.
IT HAS BEEN MANY YEARS SINCE THE HUNSACKERS LEFT THE RANCH AND MRS. CALDWELL HAD NO IDEA WHETHER SHE COULD LOCATE THE GRAVE. BUT SHE HAD A FADED OLD PHOTOGRAPH OF HER FAMILY POSED BEHIND THE RANCH HOUSE. ABOUT 60 OR 75 FEET IN THE BACKGROUND WAS A WHITE STONE, THE SIZE OF A 5 GALLON GAS CAN.
"THAT STONE," MRS. CALDWELL SAID, "MARKED THE SITE OF MOLLIES GRAVE WHEN I WAS YOUNG, ALTHOUGH MY MOTHER ALWAYS SPOKE OF HER AS MRS. LESLIE, FOR MY BENEFIT."
THIS SEEMED LIKE A PERFECT LEAD, SO ONE FINE OCTOBER DAY DURING TOMBSTONE'S HELLDORADO, MY WIFE AND I PICKED UP MRS. MACIA AND HER HISTORY MINDED DAUGHTER, JEANNE DEVERE, AND TOOK THE ROAD FOR DOUGLAS. WE FOUND MRS. CALDWELL WAITING FOR US AND THEN RODE OUT INTO THE SWISSHELM MOUNTAINS, 20 MILES AWAY. WE CAME OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS SUDDENLY AND LOOKED DOWN ON A LARGE CANYON, TEN MILES LONG BY FIVE MILES WIDE, RIMMED ON ALL SIDES BY ROCKY HILLS AND PEAKS.
IT WAS WILD AND BEAUTIFUL AND AT THE SAME TIME DESOLATE IN ITS LONELY SWEEP. OUT ROAD FOLLOWED A SPRING-FED CREEK, BORDERED BY THICK DESERT GROWTH AND ENDED AT A RANCH HOUSE HIDDEN IN A FOLD OF LAND. THE RANCHER THERE OFFERED TO GUIDE US OVER THE EASIEST ROUTE TO THE OLD MAGNOLIA RANCH AND TOOK US ACROSS THE TRACKLESS RANGE TO THE FOOT OF A SMALL HILL, TOO STEEP FOR THE CAR. WE CLIMBED THIS AND MRS. CALDWELL QUICKLY FOUND A CRUMBLING CORNER OF A ROUGH STONE FOUNDATION WHICH HAD SUPPORTED ONE CORNER OF THE BACK WALL OF THE LESLIE RANCH HOME.
SEVENTY FIVE FEET AWAY, EXACTLY AS IT APPEARED IN THE PHOTOGRAPH WAS THE WHITE ROCK AND LEANING ABOVE IT WAS ONE OF THOSE LOVELY DESERT PLANTS WE CALL THE "CANDLES OF THE LORD."
I THOUGHT OF THE 74 YEARS MOLLIE HAD SLEPT THERE, SCORNED AND ALONE, AND WONDERED AT THE KINDNESS OF NATURE WHICH HAD DECORATED THIS FORGOTTEN GRAVE OF A SCARLET WOMAN. THEN CAME THE DEEPER THOUGHT THAT PERHAPS THIS FLOWER WAS NOT THE PASSING WHIM OF NATURE, BUT THAT IN HIS OWN WAY AND HIS OWN TIME, HE WHO WOULD NOT CONDEMN MARY MAGDALENE IN THE TEMPLE, HAD TOUCHED THIS SPOT WITH BEAUTY AND MADE IT HOLY GROUND--AND THAT FOREVERMORE IT WOULD BE PART OF WHAT THE SAXONS CALL "GODS ACRE."
SO BEFORE WE TURNED AWAY I HUNTED ABOUT AND FOUND TWO STOUT PIECES OF WEATHERED MESQUITE. THE RANCHER HAD HARD TWINE IN HIS POCKET AND BETWEEN US WE FASHIONED A RUDE CROSS AND ANCHORED IT FIRMLY WITH STONES AT THE HEAD OF THE GRAVE OF LONG DEAD MOLLIE WILLIAMS....
Bibliography: "We'll All Wear Silk Hats" by: Lynn R. Bailey.
Contributor Notes*
Some accounts indicate Mollie was killed on July 10, 1889. Headstone indicates July 11, 1889.
The Leslie Ranch was also known as the: Magnolia Ranch, and the 7up ranch. It was located near the Swisshelm Mountains over 35 miles from Tombstone, Arizona.
Frank Leslie also had a history abusing his first wife:
Mary Jane Evans Durward, Aka: May Kileen, "Silhouette Girl", Born May 25, 1856 / Died Mar. 24, 1947. Leslie married May Kileen after he and his friend George Perine were involved in a shooting which mortally wounded May's husband, Mike Kileen. Both Leslie and Perine were acquitted.
Mary Durward is buried at: San Gorgonio Memorial Park
Banning, Riverside County, California, USA
Plot: Block 6, Lot 18, 1 & 2
Gone, but not forgotten,
Mollie Williams
Shot by Frank Leslie
July 11, 1889.
Mollie's last name was Edwards, but she sometimes used the name Williams.∼Mollie Williams. Also known as: Blonde Mollie. Killed by Buckskin Frank Leslie at the old Leslie Ranch in Cochise County, Arizona. Mollie was a victim of 1880's brand family violence.
In 1887 Buckskin Frank Leslie was working as a bartender in Tombstone's Oriental Saloon, but preferred to spend much of his free time at the Bird Cage Theater. There, he met a young singer and prostitute by the name of Mollie Williams who had come to Tombstone from Nevada. She was accompanied by her boyfriend & promoter "E.L. Bradshaw." Bradshaw wound up dead and many believed he was killed by Leslie but this was never proven. Before long, Mollie and Frank Leslie were living together.
From the beginning Frank and Mollie's relationship was based on their mutual love of whiskey which led to frequent and violent quarrels. On July 11, 1889, the violence escalated and Leslie shot and killed Mollie.
The murder was witnessed by a ranch hand named James Neal, who had the nickname of "Six-Shooter Jim. Leslie then turned on him and shot him as well. The bullet had gone through Neal's arm and penetrated the chest cavity. Neal ran off, traveling about a mile and a half before reaching the Reynolds ranch. Reynolds administered first aid and saw to it that he was taken to Tombstone for further treatment.
After the killing of Mollie Leslie traveled to Tombstone, and related his side of the story to "Enoch Austin Shattuck" Undersheriff to John Slaughter. Leslie said "Neal killed Mollie and then turned the pistol on me. I fired back in self defense, and killed him." Unknown to Lelsie was that Neal had already arrived in Tombstone and told Shattuck what had occurred at the ranch. Neal was in an adjacent room and heard everything Leslie said. When Neal came out of the room and confronted Leslie, all Lelsie could say was "Oh my head hurts, I can't remember a thing." Jim survived his injuries and would later testify against Leslie.
Back at the Leslie ranch the coroners' jury exhumed Mollie's body which had been buried about 70 feet behind the house by either Leslie or friends. They examined the corpse, placed it in a coffin and re-interred it.
On July 14, 1889 the coroner's jury rendered it's verdict: Mollie Williams came to her death by being shot with a pistol and by criminal means, and that she was shot and killed by Frank Leslie.
Jan 5, 1890 Leslie pled guilty to murdering Mollie.
Jan 9, 1890 Leslie was sentenced to a life term at the Yuma Territorial Prison in Arizona. He was transported to Yuma by Sheriff John Slaughter and some reports said Leslie was staggering drunk when he arrived.
Leslie was 48 years old when received at the Yuma Prison. He was assigned number 632 and listed as 5'7&1/2" tall, 135 pounds, with a size 5 shoe. Leslie served 6 years and was granted a full pardon on Nov 17, 1896.
Here is another account from the book "Silver, Sex and Six Guns" by: Douglas D. Martin on how Blonde Mollie's grave was located in the early 1960's:
"THE EPITAPH REPORTED THAT A COFFIN FOR MOLLIE HAD BEEN SENT OUT TO THE MAGNOLIA RANCH (LESLIE RANCH) AND THAT THE BODY WOULD BE BROUGHT BACK TO BOOT HILL (IN TOMBSTONE) FOR BURIAL. BUT MRS. J.H. MACIA, PIONEER HISTORIAN OF THE TOMBSTONE ROSE TREE INN (NOW CALLED ROSE TREE MUSEUM) SAID THAT MOLLIE WAS BURIED WHERE SHE DIED. WHAT WAS MORE, SHE FELT SHE COULD PROVE THIS WITH THE HELP OF HER GIRLHOOD FRIEND, MRS. LOIS HUNSACKER CALDWELL, OF DOUGLAS WHO HAD LIVED ON THE MAGNOLIA WITH HER PARENTS AFTER THE MURDER OF MOLLIE.
IT HAS BEEN MANY YEARS SINCE THE HUNSACKERS LEFT THE RANCH AND MRS. CALDWELL HAD NO IDEA WHETHER SHE COULD LOCATE THE GRAVE. BUT SHE HAD A FADED OLD PHOTOGRAPH OF HER FAMILY POSED BEHIND THE RANCH HOUSE. ABOUT 60 OR 75 FEET IN THE BACKGROUND WAS A WHITE STONE, THE SIZE OF A 5 GALLON GAS CAN.
"THAT STONE," MRS. CALDWELL SAID, "MARKED THE SITE OF MOLLIES GRAVE WHEN I WAS YOUNG, ALTHOUGH MY MOTHER ALWAYS SPOKE OF HER AS MRS. LESLIE, FOR MY BENEFIT."
THIS SEEMED LIKE A PERFECT LEAD, SO ONE FINE OCTOBER DAY DURING TOMBSTONE'S HELLDORADO, MY WIFE AND I PICKED UP MRS. MACIA AND HER HISTORY MINDED DAUGHTER, JEANNE DEVERE, AND TOOK THE ROAD FOR DOUGLAS. WE FOUND MRS. CALDWELL WAITING FOR US AND THEN RODE OUT INTO THE SWISSHELM MOUNTAINS, 20 MILES AWAY. WE CAME OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS SUDDENLY AND LOOKED DOWN ON A LARGE CANYON, TEN MILES LONG BY FIVE MILES WIDE, RIMMED ON ALL SIDES BY ROCKY HILLS AND PEAKS.
IT WAS WILD AND BEAUTIFUL AND AT THE SAME TIME DESOLATE IN ITS LONELY SWEEP. OUT ROAD FOLLOWED A SPRING-FED CREEK, BORDERED BY THICK DESERT GROWTH AND ENDED AT A RANCH HOUSE HIDDEN IN A FOLD OF LAND. THE RANCHER THERE OFFERED TO GUIDE US OVER THE EASIEST ROUTE TO THE OLD MAGNOLIA RANCH AND TOOK US ACROSS THE TRACKLESS RANGE TO THE FOOT OF A SMALL HILL, TOO STEEP FOR THE CAR. WE CLIMBED THIS AND MRS. CALDWELL QUICKLY FOUND A CRUMBLING CORNER OF A ROUGH STONE FOUNDATION WHICH HAD SUPPORTED ONE CORNER OF THE BACK WALL OF THE LESLIE RANCH HOME.
SEVENTY FIVE FEET AWAY, EXACTLY AS IT APPEARED IN THE PHOTOGRAPH WAS THE WHITE ROCK AND LEANING ABOVE IT WAS ONE OF THOSE LOVELY DESERT PLANTS WE CALL THE "CANDLES OF THE LORD."
I THOUGHT OF THE 74 YEARS MOLLIE HAD SLEPT THERE, SCORNED AND ALONE, AND WONDERED AT THE KINDNESS OF NATURE WHICH HAD DECORATED THIS FORGOTTEN GRAVE OF A SCARLET WOMAN. THEN CAME THE DEEPER THOUGHT THAT PERHAPS THIS FLOWER WAS NOT THE PASSING WHIM OF NATURE, BUT THAT IN HIS OWN WAY AND HIS OWN TIME, HE WHO WOULD NOT CONDEMN MARY MAGDALENE IN THE TEMPLE, HAD TOUCHED THIS SPOT WITH BEAUTY AND MADE IT HOLY GROUND--AND THAT FOREVERMORE IT WOULD BE PART OF WHAT THE SAXONS CALL "GODS ACRE."
SO BEFORE WE TURNED AWAY I HUNTED ABOUT AND FOUND TWO STOUT PIECES OF WEATHERED MESQUITE. THE RANCHER HAD HARD TWINE IN HIS POCKET AND BETWEEN US WE FASHIONED A RUDE CROSS AND ANCHORED IT FIRMLY WITH STONES AT THE HEAD OF THE GRAVE OF LONG DEAD MOLLIE WILLIAMS....
Bibliography: "We'll All Wear Silk Hats" by: Lynn R. Bailey.
Contributor Notes*
Some accounts indicate Mollie was killed on July 10, 1889. Headstone indicates July 11, 1889.
The Leslie Ranch was also known as the: Magnolia Ranch, and the 7up ranch. It was located near the Swisshelm Mountains over 35 miles from Tombstone, Arizona.
Frank Leslie also had a history abusing his first wife:
Mary Jane Evans Durward, Aka: May Kileen, "Silhouette Girl", Born May 25, 1856 / Died Mar. 24, 1947. Leslie married May Kileen after he and his friend George Perine were involved in a shooting which mortally wounded May's husband, Mike Kileen. Both Leslie and Perine were acquitted.
Mary Durward is buried at: San Gorgonio Memorial Park
Banning, Riverside County, California, USA
Plot: Block 6, Lot 18, 1 & 2
Mollie was a "Lady of the Evening" in Tombstone, Arizona in the 1880s. She took up with old west outlaw, "Buckskin Frank" Leslie sometime late in 1887. Frank and Mollie moved to his Magnolia Ranch, around 45 miles from Tombstone. There, on the night of July 10th, or early morning hours of July 11th, 1889, as they were engaged in a heated argument, Frank shot and killed Mollie. She was buried in a field to the side of the ranch on one of the most desolate stretches of land to be found in southeastern Arizona. Sometime around 1960, A Tombstone resident erected a metal grave marker for Mollie. Her grave had, for many years, been marked only by a pile of rocks that covered it. The metal marker's inscription reads:
Gone, but not forgotten,
Mollie Williams
Shot by Frank Leslie
July 11, 1889.
Mollie's last name was Edwards, but she sometimes used the name Williams.∼Mollie Williams. Also known as: Blonde Mollie. Killed by Buckskin Frank Leslie at the old Leslie Ranch in Cochise County, Arizona. Mollie was a victim of 1880's brand family violence.
In 1887 Buckskin Frank Leslie was working as a bartender in Tombstone's Oriental Saloon, but preferred to spend much of his free time at the Bird Cage Theater. There, he met a young singer and prostitute by the name of Mollie Williams who had come to Tombstone from Nevada. She was accompanied by her boyfriend & promoter "E.L. Bradshaw." Bradshaw wound up dead and many believed he was killed by Leslie but this was never proven. Before long, Mollie and Frank Leslie were living together.
From the beginning Frank and Mollie's relationship was based on their mutual love of whiskey which led to frequent and violent quarrels. On July 11, 1889, the violence escalated and Leslie shot and killed Mollie.
The murder was witnessed by a ranch hand named James Neal, who had the nickname of "Six-Shooter Jim. Leslie then turned on him and shot him as well. The bullet had gone through Neal's arm and penetrated the chest cavity. Neal ran off, traveling about a mile and a half before reaching the Reynolds ranch. Reynolds administered first aid and saw to it that he was taken to Tombstone for further treatment.
After the killing of Mollie Leslie traveled to Tombstone, and related his side of the story to "Enoch Austin Shattuck" Undersheriff to John Slaughter. Leslie said "Neal killed Mollie and then turned the pistol on me. I fired back in self defense, and killed him." Unknown to Lelsie was that Neal had already arrived in Tombstone and told Shattuck what had occurred at the ranch. Neal was in an adjacent room and heard everything Leslie said. When Neal came out of the room and confronted Leslie, all Lelsie could say was "Oh my head hurts, I can't remember a thing." Jim survived his injuries and would later testify against Leslie.
Back at the Leslie ranch the coroners' jury exhumed Mollie's body which had been buried about 70 feet behind the house by either Leslie or friends. They examined the corpse, placed it in a coffin and re-interred it.
On July 14, 1889 the coroner's jury rendered it's verdict: Mollie Williams came to her death by being shot with a pistol and by criminal means, and that she was shot and killed by Frank Leslie.
Jan 5, 1890 Leslie pled guilty to murdering Mollie.
Jan 9, 1890 Leslie was sentenced to a life term at the Yuma Territorial Prison in Arizona. He was transported to Yuma by Sheriff John Slaughter and some reports said Leslie was staggering drunk when he arrived.
Leslie was 48 years old when received at the Yuma Prison. He was assigned number 632 and listed as 5'7&1/2" tall, 135 pounds, with a size 5 shoe. Leslie served 6 years and was granted a full pardon on Nov 17, 1896.
Here is another account from the book "Silver, Sex and Six Guns" by: Douglas D. Martin on how Blonde Mollie's grave was located in the early 1960's:
"THE EPITAPH REPORTED THAT A COFFIN FOR MOLLIE HAD BEEN SENT OUT TO THE MAGNOLIA RANCH (LESLIE RANCH) AND THAT THE BODY WOULD BE BROUGHT BACK TO BOOT HILL (IN TOMBSTONE) FOR BURIAL. BUT MRS. J.H. MACIA, PIONEER HISTORIAN OF THE TOMBSTONE ROSE TREE INN (NOW CALLED ROSE TREE MUSEUM) SAID THAT MOLLIE WAS BURIED WHERE SHE DIED. WHAT WAS MORE, SHE FELT SHE COULD PROVE THIS WITH THE HELP OF HER GIRLHOOD FRIEND, MRS. LOIS HUNSACKER CALDWELL, OF DOUGLAS WHO HAD LIVED ON THE MAGNOLIA WITH HER PARENTS AFTER THE MURDER OF MOLLIE.
IT HAS BEEN MANY YEARS SINCE THE HUNSACKERS LEFT THE RANCH AND MRS. CALDWELL HAD NO IDEA WHETHER SHE COULD LOCATE THE GRAVE. BUT SHE HAD A FADED OLD PHOTOGRAPH OF HER FAMILY POSED BEHIND THE RANCH HOUSE. ABOUT 60 OR 75 FEET IN THE BACKGROUND WAS A WHITE STONE, THE SIZE OF A 5 GALLON GAS CAN.
"THAT STONE," MRS. CALDWELL SAID, "MARKED THE SITE OF MOLLIES GRAVE WHEN I WAS YOUNG, ALTHOUGH MY MOTHER ALWAYS SPOKE OF HER AS MRS. LESLIE, FOR MY BENEFIT."
THIS SEEMED LIKE A PERFECT LEAD, SO ONE FINE OCTOBER DAY DURING TOMBSTONE'S HELLDORADO, MY WIFE AND I PICKED UP MRS. MACIA AND HER HISTORY MINDED DAUGHTER, JEANNE DEVERE, AND TOOK THE ROAD FOR DOUGLAS. WE FOUND MRS. CALDWELL WAITING FOR US AND THEN RODE OUT INTO THE SWISSHELM MOUNTAINS, 20 MILES AWAY. WE CAME OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS SUDDENLY AND LOOKED DOWN ON A LARGE CANYON, TEN MILES LONG BY FIVE MILES WIDE, RIMMED ON ALL SIDES BY ROCKY HILLS AND PEAKS.
IT WAS WILD AND BEAUTIFUL AND AT THE SAME TIME DESOLATE IN ITS LONELY SWEEP. OUT ROAD FOLLOWED A SPRING-FED CREEK, BORDERED BY THICK DESERT GROWTH AND ENDED AT A RANCH HOUSE HIDDEN IN A FOLD OF LAND. THE RANCHER THERE OFFERED TO GUIDE US OVER THE EASIEST ROUTE TO THE OLD MAGNOLIA RANCH AND TOOK US ACROSS THE TRACKLESS RANGE TO THE FOOT OF A SMALL HILL, TOO STEEP FOR THE CAR. WE CLIMBED THIS AND MRS. CALDWELL QUICKLY FOUND A CRUMBLING CORNER OF A ROUGH STONE FOUNDATION WHICH HAD SUPPORTED ONE CORNER OF THE BACK WALL OF THE LESLIE RANCH HOME.
SEVENTY FIVE FEET AWAY, EXACTLY AS IT APPEARED IN THE PHOTOGRAPH WAS THE WHITE ROCK AND LEANING ABOVE IT WAS ONE OF THOSE LOVELY DESERT PLANTS WE CALL THE "CANDLES OF THE LORD."
I THOUGHT OF THE 74 YEARS MOLLIE HAD SLEPT THERE, SCORNED AND ALONE, AND WONDERED AT THE KINDNESS OF NATURE WHICH HAD DECORATED THIS FORGOTTEN GRAVE OF A SCARLET WOMAN. THEN CAME THE DEEPER THOUGHT THAT PERHAPS THIS FLOWER WAS NOT THE PASSING WHIM OF NATURE, BUT THAT IN HIS OWN WAY AND HIS OWN TIME, HE WHO WOULD NOT CONDEMN MARY MAGDALENE IN THE TEMPLE, HAD TOUCHED THIS SPOT WITH BEAUTY AND MADE IT HOLY GROUND--AND THAT FOREVERMORE IT WOULD BE PART OF WHAT THE SAXONS CALL "GODS ACRE."
SO BEFORE WE TURNED AWAY I HUNTED ABOUT AND FOUND TWO STOUT PIECES OF WEATHERED MESQUITE. THE RANCHER HAD HARD TWINE IN HIS POCKET AND BETWEEN US WE FASHIONED A RUDE CROSS AND ANCHORED IT FIRMLY WITH STONES AT THE HEAD OF THE GRAVE OF LONG DEAD MOLLIE WILLIAMS....
Bibliography: "We'll All Wear Silk Hats" by: Lynn R. Bailey.
Contributor Notes*
Some accounts indicate Mollie was killed on July 10, 1889. Headstone indicates July 11, 1889.
The Leslie Ranch was also known as the: Magnolia Ranch, and the 7up ranch. It was located near the Swisshelm Mountains over 35 miles from Tombstone, Arizona.
Frank Leslie also had a history abusing his first wife:
Mary Jane Evans Durward, Aka: May Kileen, "Silhouette Girl", Born May 25, 1856 / Died Mar. 24, 1947. Leslie married May Kileen after he and his friend George Perine were involved in a shooting which mortally wounded May's husband, Mike Kileen. Both Leslie and Perine were acquitted.
Mary Durward is buried at: San Gorgonio Memorial Park
Banning, Riverside County, California, USA
Plot: Block 6, Lot 18, 1 & 2
Gone, but not forgotten,
Mollie Williams
Shot by Frank Leslie
July 11, 1889.
Mollie's last name was Edwards, but she sometimes used the name Williams.∼Mollie Williams. Also known as: Blonde Mollie. Killed by Buckskin Frank Leslie at the old Leslie Ranch in Cochise County, Arizona. Mollie was a victim of 1880's brand family violence.
In 1887 Buckskin Frank Leslie was working as a bartender in Tombstone's Oriental Saloon, but preferred to spend much of his free time at the Bird Cage Theater. There, he met a young singer and prostitute by the name of Mollie Williams who had come to Tombstone from Nevada. She was accompanied by her boyfriend & promoter "E.L. Bradshaw." Bradshaw wound up dead and many believed he was killed by Leslie but this was never proven. Before long, Mollie and Frank Leslie were living together.
From the beginning Frank and Mollie's relationship was based on their mutual love of whiskey which led to frequent and violent quarrels. On July 11, 1889, the violence escalated and Leslie shot and killed Mollie.
The murder was witnessed by a ranch hand named James Neal, who had the nickname of "Six-Shooter Jim. Leslie then turned on him and shot him as well. The bullet had gone through Neal's arm and penetrated the chest cavity. Neal ran off, traveling about a mile and a half before reaching the Reynolds ranch. Reynolds administered first aid and saw to it that he was taken to Tombstone for further treatment.
After the killing of Mollie Leslie traveled to Tombstone, and related his side of the story to "Enoch Austin Shattuck" Undersheriff to John Slaughter. Leslie said "Neal killed Mollie and then turned the pistol on me. I fired back in self defense, and killed him." Unknown to Lelsie was that Neal had already arrived in Tombstone and told Shattuck what had occurred at the ranch. Neal was in an adjacent room and heard everything Leslie said. When Neal came out of the room and confronted Leslie, all Lelsie could say was "Oh my head hurts, I can't remember a thing." Jim survived his injuries and would later testify against Leslie.
Back at the Leslie ranch the coroners' jury exhumed Mollie's body which had been buried about 70 feet behind the house by either Leslie or friends. They examined the corpse, placed it in a coffin and re-interred it.
On July 14, 1889 the coroner's jury rendered it's verdict: Mollie Williams came to her death by being shot with a pistol and by criminal means, and that she was shot and killed by Frank Leslie.
Jan 5, 1890 Leslie pled guilty to murdering Mollie.
Jan 9, 1890 Leslie was sentenced to a life term at the Yuma Territorial Prison in Arizona. He was transported to Yuma by Sheriff John Slaughter and some reports said Leslie was staggering drunk when he arrived.
Leslie was 48 years old when received at the Yuma Prison. He was assigned number 632 and listed as 5'7&1/2" tall, 135 pounds, with a size 5 shoe. Leslie served 6 years and was granted a full pardon on Nov 17, 1896.
Here is another account from the book "Silver, Sex and Six Guns" by: Douglas D. Martin on how Blonde Mollie's grave was located in the early 1960's:
"THE EPITAPH REPORTED THAT A COFFIN FOR MOLLIE HAD BEEN SENT OUT TO THE MAGNOLIA RANCH (LESLIE RANCH) AND THAT THE BODY WOULD BE BROUGHT BACK TO BOOT HILL (IN TOMBSTONE) FOR BURIAL. BUT MRS. J.H. MACIA, PIONEER HISTORIAN OF THE TOMBSTONE ROSE TREE INN (NOW CALLED ROSE TREE MUSEUM) SAID THAT MOLLIE WAS BURIED WHERE SHE DIED. WHAT WAS MORE, SHE FELT SHE COULD PROVE THIS WITH THE HELP OF HER GIRLHOOD FRIEND, MRS. LOIS HUNSACKER CALDWELL, OF DOUGLAS WHO HAD LIVED ON THE MAGNOLIA WITH HER PARENTS AFTER THE MURDER OF MOLLIE.
IT HAS BEEN MANY YEARS SINCE THE HUNSACKERS LEFT THE RANCH AND MRS. CALDWELL HAD NO IDEA WHETHER SHE COULD LOCATE THE GRAVE. BUT SHE HAD A FADED OLD PHOTOGRAPH OF HER FAMILY POSED BEHIND THE RANCH HOUSE. ABOUT 60 OR 75 FEET IN THE BACKGROUND WAS A WHITE STONE, THE SIZE OF A 5 GALLON GAS CAN.
"THAT STONE," MRS. CALDWELL SAID, "MARKED THE SITE OF MOLLIES GRAVE WHEN I WAS YOUNG, ALTHOUGH MY MOTHER ALWAYS SPOKE OF HER AS MRS. LESLIE, FOR MY BENEFIT."
THIS SEEMED LIKE A PERFECT LEAD, SO ONE FINE OCTOBER DAY DURING TOMBSTONE'S HELLDORADO, MY WIFE AND I PICKED UP MRS. MACIA AND HER HISTORY MINDED DAUGHTER, JEANNE DEVERE, AND TOOK THE ROAD FOR DOUGLAS. WE FOUND MRS. CALDWELL WAITING FOR US AND THEN RODE OUT INTO THE SWISSHELM MOUNTAINS, 20 MILES AWAY. WE CAME OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS SUDDENLY AND LOOKED DOWN ON A LARGE CANYON, TEN MILES LONG BY FIVE MILES WIDE, RIMMED ON ALL SIDES BY ROCKY HILLS AND PEAKS.
IT WAS WILD AND BEAUTIFUL AND AT THE SAME TIME DESOLATE IN ITS LONELY SWEEP. OUT ROAD FOLLOWED A SPRING-FED CREEK, BORDERED BY THICK DESERT GROWTH AND ENDED AT A RANCH HOUSE HIDDEN IN A FOLD OF LAND. THE RANCHER THERE OFFERED TO GUIDE US OVER THE EASIEST ROUTE TO THE OLD MAGNOLIA RANCH AND TOOK US ACROSS THE TRACKLESS RANGE TO THE FOOT OF A SMALL HILL, TOO STEEP FOR THE CAR. WE CLIMBED THIS AND MRS. CALDWELL QUICKLY FOUND A CRUMBLING CORNER OF A ROUGH STONE FOUNDATION WHICH HAD SUPPORTED ONE CORNER OF THE BACK WALL OF THE LESLIE RANCH HOME.
SEVENTY FIVE FEET AWAY, EXACTLY AS IT APPEARED IN THE PHOTOGRAPH WAS THE WHITE ROCK AND LEANING ABOVE IT WAS ONE OF THOSE LOVELY DESERT PLANTS WE CALL THE "CANDLES OF THE LORD."
I THOUGHT OF THE 74 YEARS MOLLIE HAD SLEPT THERE, SCORNED AND ALONE, AND WONDERED AT THE KINDNESS OF NATURE WHICH HAD DECORATED THIS FORGOTTEN GRAVE OF A SCARLET WOMAN. THEN CAME THE DEEPER THOUGHT THAT PERHAPS THIS FLOWER WAS NOT THE PASSING WHIM OF NATURE, BUT THAT IN HIS OWN WAY AND HIS OWN TIME, HE WHO WOULD NOT CONDEMN MARY MAGDALENE IN THE TEMPLE, HAD TOUCHED THIS SPOT WITH BEAUTY AND MADE IT HOLY GROUND--AND THAT FOREVERMORE IT WOULD BE PART OF WHAT THE SAXONS CALL "GODS ACRE."
SO BEFORE WE TURNED AWAY I HUNTED ABOUT AND FOUND TWO STOUT PIECES OF WEATHERED MESQUITE. THE RANCHER HAD HARD TWINE IN HIS POCKET AND BETWEEN US WE FASHIONED A RUDE CROSS AND ANCHORED IT FIRMLY WITH STONES AT THE HEAD OF THE GRAVE OF LONG DEAD MOLLIE WILLIAMS....
Bibliography: "We'll All Wear Silk Hats" by: Lynn R. Bailey.
Contributor Notes*
Some accounts indicate Mollie was killed on July 10, 1889. Headstone indicates July 11, 1889.
The Leslie Ranch was also known as the: Magnolia Ranch, and the 7up ranch. It was located near the Swisshelm Mountains over 35 miles from Tombstone, Arizona.
Frank Leslie also had a history abusing his first wife:
Mary Jane Evans Durward, Aka: May Kileen, "Silhouette Girl", Born May 25, 1856 / Died Mar. 24, 1947. Leslie married May Kileen after he and his friend George Perine were involved in a shooting which mortally wounded May's husband, Mike Kileen. Both Leslie and Perine were acquitted.
Mary Durward is buried at: San Gorgonio Memorial Park
Banning, Riverside County, California, USA
Plot: Block 6, Lot 18, 1 & 2
