The Boneyard cops
The entire Tucson Police force, Dec. 5, 1916, 100 years ago today.
The change was complete from Old Western lawmen who wore a Colt SAA openly to men in suits– with their Colt worn slightly more concealed but no less ready.
Standing, L-R: Dallas Ford, Arthur Peter Nelson, Jesus Camacho, Frank Bailey, Rye Miles, John Belton, Unknown, “Red” Osborne.
Kneeling, L-R: Tony Grosetta, Martin Duffy, Anthony O’Donnell, Ramon Salazar.
At the time this was going on, the border– just 60 miles to the South– was ablaze with the Villa Punitive Expedition, Arizona had become a state just four years prior, and the city’s population stood at about 15,000.
The Tucson Rodeo Grounds had seen its first “aeroplane” land there that year and in 1919 would be turned into the nation’s first municipally owned airfield, later moved to become Davis-Monthan Field which was renamed in 1948 as the Air Force Base that is home to the Boneyard today.