by John Mason Glen, Ph.D., for the Western Heritage Foundation
Over the last two months my offerings for Prescott Now magazine have discussed a quintessential “man of the west,” Tom Horn. Horn’s mentor, who taught him most of what he knew was Al Sieber, another true legend of the Old West.
Born in Germany in 1843, Sieber arrived in America in 1849, and the family settled in Pennsylvania, where his first employment was as a logger. Like numerous immigrants, he enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War and fought his way through the campaigns of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg — where he was severely wounded.
Unable to continue in the field, he was posted to guard Confederate detainees at the infamous P.O.W. camp at Elmira, N.Y.
After the war ended, Sieber found employment with the Central Pacific Railroad, cutting thousands of wooden ties. With the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, Sieber found himself in Prescott, helping run Curtis Bean’s ranch in Williamson Valley, at that time the heart of Indian country.
In 1871, Gen. George Crook arrived to take command of the U.S. Army’s Department of Arizona. Crook hired Sieber to command the Indian scouts — Apaches who were enlisted to track down renegade members of their own tribe who had left the reservation without permission.
Due to his ability as an excellent tracker and dead shot, Sieber was quickly promoted to chief of scouts at a pay rate of $125/month and based at Camp Verde. Sieber participated in the capture of Apache warrior Geronimo as well as numerous other Indian lawbreakers.
Sieber’s life was one of relentless danger. He was a hard man in a hard land. It is alleged that he personally accounted for the death of something close to 75 people, including Confederate soldiers, Commanche, Apache and Kiowa warriors, Comancheros (white miscreants who traded with the Natives), plus two train robbers. He is said to have suffered from no fewer than 128 wounds, ranging from a broken collarbone, bayonet wound to the stomach, several gunshots and even artillery shrapnel.
In 1907 Sieber was engaged in helping construct the road to build Roosevelt dam when he was crushed by a huge boulder. Some have theorized his Apache road gang actually pushed the rock as retaliation for past grievances.
For more stories about the west, visit the Western Heritage Center at 156 S. Montezuma, admission is free
