OVER THE MOGOLLON MESA 87 



I had the good fortune and the pleasure of 

 meeting here Mr. Chester Houck, the only liv- 

 ing ex-sheriff of Navajo County. It was the 

 custom in Navajo County until recently — it is 

 said to be no longer necessary — to choose for 

 the important office of sheriff some one of 

 known merits as a gun man. Commodore 

 Owens, previously mentioned, was a notable in- 

 stance of this, and Mr. Houck can manipulate 

 his six shooter with an ease and readiness that 

 rendered him exceptionally well qualified for 

 the position. However, as he told me, he had 

 to kill only one man while he was sheriff. 



This happened some four or five years ago. 

 One of the saloons in Winslow had a gambling 

 layout. Two strangers held it up one night and 

 got away with a pretty good amount of cash. 

 Sheriff Houck pressed into service as deputy a 

 man named Pete and in company with Pete 

 traced the pair to Canon Diabolo and came 

 upon them in the open. The sheriff engaged 

 one, Pete the other, and a pretty gun fight be- 

 gan with the result that the sheriff's antagonist 

 was killed and Pete's badly wounded, while 

 Sheriff Houck had only a slight scratch from 

 a .45 bullet. 



Some time later this same Pete had a mis- 

 understanding with a bartender in Winslow 



