Showing posts with label San Juan County's notorious character. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Juan County's notorious character. Show all posts

Dr. William Wallace

In our quest of identifying photos in the family album, we were able to identify "Doctor" William Wallace. He was a very colorful character in New Mexico History.  William Wallace is not a relative but it was easy to include a bit of his history.
Dr. William Wallace courtesy of San Juan Historical Society


Doctor William Wallace aka Navajo Bill




The Morning Democrat (Davenport, Iowa) 10 June 1894

The Morning Democrat (Davenport, Iowa) 10 June 1894


The Santa Fe Daily, 20 August 1895

Chippewa Herald Telegram, 24 April 1895


The Times, 13 January 1895
The Times, 13 January 1895
The Times, 13 January 1895
The Times, 13 January 1895




. The St Louis Post Dispatch, 25 December 1898

The St Louis Post Dispatch, 25 December 1898

As I researched I ran into many stories about "Navajo Bill." It appears the name was a popular character to base Wild West stories upon. There was another gentleman in New Mexico who went by this nickname He lived well into his 90's and his last name was Gordon. "Navajo Bill"  Gordon and "Navajo Bill" Wallace's stories do not jive and I don't believe they were the same person.