Shakespeare

In November 1881 Shakespeare's vigilance committee took two prisoners from the jail and hanged them from a beam in the Grant House dining room: William Tettenborn, called Russian Bill, a horse thief who styled himself a nobleman, and Sandy King, one of the San Simon cowboys. Their shared headstone in the town cemetery says they were hanged by the vigilante committee. According to the cemetery history Rita and Janaloo Hill compiled in 1969, the postmaster wrote Bill's mother that he had died of throat trouble. The whole town was listed on the National Register in 1973.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Shakespeare Located at the north end of the Pyramid Mountains, near the old stage stop at Mexican Springs, Shakespeare was first known as Pyramid Station. Later named Ralston, a diamond swindle caused its collapse in 1874. The town was revived as Shakespeare in 1879, named for the Shakespeare silver mining company, but the economic depression of 1893 closed the mines and made it a ghost town.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Lordsburg — steps away
• Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument — steps away
• The Women of Shakespeare — steps away
• Lordsburg — 0.6 mi