Arizona Charlie

Tulare County history buff Terry Ommen is one of those pholks who loves tracking down people and learning and telling about their pasts.

As a Visalia Police officer for many years, Ommen learned how to follow leads which most often brought bad guys to justice. Having a lawman's background naturally has led Ommen to study and research the Valley's famous and infamous outlaws and rascals, although his interest covers a wide spectrum of Tulare County and Valley history.

But one Wild West character with roots in Tulare County has captured Ommen's attention for more than two decades, sending him and his wife thousands of miles following Charlie's trail. It's a trail which continues to lead the Ommens from the Yukon Territory of Canada, to Arizona and many stops in between.

Charles Meadows, as he was known in his early life in Tulare County, became “Arizona Charlie,” a real life character who still is a legend and the namesake of resorts and other current enterprises.

To Ommen, Arizona Charlie is kind of like Paul Bunyon, except that it's a proven fact that Arizona Charlie was a real person. Think of Arizona Charlie as an overachieving John Wayne without a script, director or acting lessons.

Consider these legendary facts about a real legendary hero of the mid-1800s and early 1900s – then judge for yourselves, pholks:

In his early 20s, Charlie stood at 6'5” molded over a well-proportioned 200-pound frame with long flowing hair and exaggerated handle-bar mustache and piercing blue eyes, which of course attracted attention. But his family background only added to the lore.

A brief sketch of the Meadows family exploits proves my point.

Born Abraham Henson Meadows in 1860, he was the sixth of 11 children whose family had a cattle ranch in the Elbow Creek area. His father, John Moberly Meadows, was not a slave owner but a steadfast Confederate and staunch believer in states rights. John Meadows had no use for President Abraham Lincoln so he changed his son's name to Charles. Charles grew up riding horses and was skilled at herding cattle, usually riding bareback, a skill he later parlayed into various business ventures and enterprises. When California passed legislation requiring cattle ranges be fenced, John Meadows had had enough and in 1877, with several wagons and about 300 head of cattle, headed for the Arizona Territory where cattle could roam freely and political freedom reigned.

The Tonto Basin was a rugged area also known as “Apacheria,” the final sanctuary of the Apaches in the United States. The Meadows took up “squatters rights,” laying claim to and paying taxes on the land.

In 1882, a fierce group of renegade Apaches killed John Meadows and one of his sons. Charles, then 21, was away from the ranch during the raid and, according to historians, the anger over the slayings caused Charlie to hone his rifle skills along with his already renowned riding and roping skills.

At the time, Charles was basically a drifter but obviously not a deadbeat.

In 1886, Charles reportedly became involved in another Apache incident when Geronimo and his band attacked Charlie and some soldiers. Reportedly, Charles was singled out for personal attack and, according to reports, he shot and hit the famed Indian leader in the thigh. As the story goes, wounded and on horseback, Geronimo attempted to escape up a cliff but his pony was lassoed by Charlie, but Geronimo escaped. Legend has it that the wound was the only one ever inflicted on the great Indian renegade.

Charlie's fame took off when he became a part of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show specializing in riding, roping and bulldogging. In about 1890, Charlie formed the Arizona Charlie Wild West Show, touring Europe and other overseas locations, giving audiences a theatrical look at the “Old West.”

He brought the show to California but after a horse was killed in Stockton and Charlie discovered some of his performers were using live ammunition, he walked away from the show in Sacramento.

Next, he went to Australia to head up a Wild West Show attached to a circus which reportedly went broke. Undaunted, Charlie and his troupe finished the circuit and returned to the States.

Naturally, more adventure was to come.

Gold was discovered in the Yukon in 1896, and the stampede to the Klondike was on. Charlie was the leader of a band of about a dozen cronies and they gathered about 200 feral burros from the Gila River bottom and shipped out from San Francisco with tons of provisions for the herds of miners and other fortune seekers.

According to historical reports, a glacier “calved” and much of Charlie's investment in provisions and animals was lost.

Of course, our hero made it to Dawson and reportedly filed on some paying gold mining claims which apparently help refill his pockets.

Dawson, which erupted into an instant city, was clamoring for entertainment and Charlie, ever the one to fill such a need, hired a San Francisco architect who modeled the Grand Opera House after renowned European and American venues. Built in about six months, despite the scarcity of timber, the music hall was an overnight success.

When the Klondike busted, Dawson shrank. Now gold was discovered in Nome, Alaska and Charlie continued to scheme. Historians say he considered loading the Grand Opera House on a barge and floating it down the Yukon River, through Alaska and on to Nome. But he nixed that idea and in 1901 sold it for a reported $17,000, about a third of what he had spent to build it.

That building, of course, is legendary and more than 50 years ago, the Parliament spent $750,000 to restore it.

There is more to this guy, pholks, and I'm only touching a few highlights. Consider that Charlie later came up with a plan to take over Tiburon Island and do away with the reported “cannibalistic” Seri Indians who lived there.

But no pholks, the story of this hero does not end with him being eaten by savages on an island he intended he was to invade.

No, his death was just a tad more common. He died in Yuma in 1932 after he operated on his own varicose veins with a pocket knife.

What a guy.

Terry Ommen and his wife say there always seems to be new tidbits about Charlie coming up and they will continue to track much more about Visalia's own “Arizona Charlie.”

Miles can be reached at mshuper@valleyvoicenewspaper.com