Johnny Behan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cochise County Sheriff | |
| In office February 1881 – November 1882 | |
| Member of the Arizona Territory House of Representatives | |
| In office January 1879 – January 1881 | |
| In office January 1873 – January 1875 | |
| Mohave County Recorder | |
| In office 1877–1879 | |
| Yavapai County, Arizona Sheriff | |
| In office January 1871 – December 1873 | |
| Preceded by | John P. Bourke |
| Yavapai County, Arizona Recorder | |
| In office 1868 – January 1871 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Harris Behan October 24, 1844 Westport, Missouri, US |
| Died | June 7, 1912 (aged 67) Tucson, Arizona, US |
| Spouses |
|
| Children | 2 |
| Known for | Testified against Earps and Doc Holliday during the Spicer Hearing, member of "Ten Percent Ring" |
| Signature |  |
| O.K. Corral gunfight |
|---|
| Principal events |
| Lawmen |
| Outlaw Cowboys |
John Harris Behan (October 24, 1844 – June 7, 1912) was an American law enforcement officer and politician who served as Sheriff of Cochise County in the Arizona Territory, during the gunfight at the O.K. Corral and was known for his opposition to the Earps. Behan was sheriff of Yavapai County from 1871 to 1873. He was married and had two children, but his wife divorced him, accusing him of consorting with prostitutes. He was elected to the Seventh Arizona Legislative Assembly, representing Yavapai County. In 1881, Wyatt Earp served for about five months as undersheriff of the eastern half of Pima County. When Wyatt resigned, Behan was appointed to fill his place, which included the mining boomtown Tombstone. When Cochise County was formed in February 1881, Behan was appointed as its first sheriff. Tombstone became the new county seat and the location of Behan's office. Sadie Marcus was his mistress, possibly as early as 1875 in Tip Top, Arizona, and certainly from 1880 until she found him in bed with another woman and kicked him out in mid-1881.
After the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Behan testified at length against the Earps. He supported the Cowboys' statements that they had raised their hands and offered no resistance, and that the Earps and Doc Holliday had murdered three cowboys. After the Earps were exonerated, Deputy U.S. Marshal Virgil Earp was maimed in an ambush on December 28, 1881, and assistant deputy Morgan Earp was killed by assassins on March 18, 1882. The outlaw Cowboys named as suspects in both shootings were either let go on a technicality or were provided alibis by fellow Cowboys. Wyatt Earp killed one of the suspects, Frank Stilwell, in Tucson. Deputy U.S. Marshal Wyatt and his federal posse set out after other suspects, pursued by Behan and his county posse composed mostly of Cowboys.
Behan's posse never caught up with the much smaller federal posse. The Earps left Tombstone under a cloud of suspicion. Sadie left Tombstone for San Francisco in early 1882, and Wyatt Earp followed her to San Francisco, where they began a lifelong relationship that lasted 46 years. Behan was arrested for graft and later failed to win re-election as sheriff. He later was appointed as the warden of the Yuma Territorial Prison and had various other government jobs until his death in 1912.