JOEL FOWLER: A Killer OF 20 Meets His Fate in Socorro, NM

AI brings outlaw Joel A. Fowler briefly back to life.

It’s been more than 141 years since outlaw Joel A. Fowler met his fate in Socorro, New Mexico. The alleged killer of a reported 20 men died at the hands of a group known as the “Socorro Stranglers,” who decided they would handle the man’s legal appeal with a neck-tie party off the branch of a hanging tree.

Fowler’s mark in Wild West history is a bit unusual, as he went from being his uncle’s law student to a 15-year-old killer who would add 19 more bodies to his count by the age of 38.

Many at the time might argue that Joel’s double-barrel shotgun killing of Texas Tarrant County Sheriff John B. York was revenge or vengeance. Still, Fowler’s uncle Archibald Young Fowler had a long simmering dispute with Sheriff York.

Archibald Fowler was a man with a quick temper, and his dislike for Sheriff York stemmed from county election results six years prior in 1856. When the two ran into each other by chance on the Fort Worth city square, things boiled over.

Despite being considered a wise man, Archibald made the mistake of bringing a knife to a gunfight, and after being severely slashed, Sheriff York shot and killed the attorney. Moments later, after realizing his uncle had been killed, Joel Fowler unloaded on the lawman with both barrels of a shotgun, and he died instantly.

Fowler fled the scene and through legal means, escaped any punishment for his killing of the sheriff.

Inherited money, a temper much like his uncle’s, and a love of alcohol meant more disputes and killings over 18 years of outlawry in Texas before Fowler left for Las Vegas, New Mexico.

A successful dance hall business added to Fowler’s riches, but alcohol fueled street shootings over six months quickly wore out the outlaw’s welcome. Pulling up stakes, he invested in the Texas Saloon and Dance Hall in Santa Fe.

It was a short-lived venture, and Fowler and his wife pulled up stakes once again for White Oaks and a third saloon. Despite his troubles with the law, the money continued to pour in, and Fowler also became a rancher with a knack for rustling cattle and double-crossing his outlaw partner, Whiskey Jim Greathouse.

Greathouse owned a ranch north of White Oak and counted Billy the Kid among his “clients” from whom he bought stolen cattle. The Wild West’s most famous outlaw hid out on the Greathouse ranch on more than one occasion.

Despite his “local businessman” persona, Fowler ran with dangerous company, and by all appearances, he was equally feared. However, his time in White Oaks was running out, and unbeknownst to him, so was his luck.

After selling his ranch, Fowler made his way to Socorro for some partying and met J.E. Cale for a drink at a bar in a hotel. Putting his pistols on the bar and having the bartender take them sent Fowler into a rage.

According to a dying Cale’s affidavit, Fowler went berserk and stabbed him in the chest. A tiny wound in the man’s heart would cause his death a day later on November 7, 1883.

Despite being armed with some of the best lawyers money could buy, Fowler was found guilty, but Santa Fe Ringleader Thomas B. Catron was set to appeal his case.

Catron’s involvement in the case worried the citizens of Socorro, who were well-versed in Fowler’s legal escapes from justice. Rumors that Fowler’s wife was hiring gunmen to release him fueled their late-night bravery.

An estimated 200 “Socorro Stranglers” made their way into the night on January 23, 1884, pulling a screaming and cursing Fowler from custody. They ignored his offers of bribes and pleading for forgiveness as they dropped a noose around his neck and sent him to his doom.

There are reports of some half-hearted attempts to bring the lynch mob to justice, but the lack of witnesses stymied further investigation.